Complementary, my dear Watson.

Okay, I'm semi-sorrry for this post title.
Anyway, a good complementary contrast always stands out so I wanted to apply that in a nice sponge gradient mani.

Polishes used:
2true, 'Shade no. 25' (orange)
2true, 'Shade no. 15' (blue)
Essence, '01 - Wonderlicious Green' (it's blue, damnit)
Golden Rose, 'Scale Effect 12' (flakies)

2true's shade of blue works very poorly as a polish on itself, so I layered it over the ever misnamed Wonderlicious Green, to have a good blue base. The 2true blue is a very sparkly polish, and so is its orange, so those work together very well. The orange is pretty well pigmented, and though a bit coppery now, is really a very bright orange when used on its own.

And finally, I feel the largely orange flakies tie the whole together quite nicely

...And a happy New Year!

The year is coming to a close, so I wanted to post my Christmas nails at least before January. Basically a repeat of the previous snowflake theme, but in more traditionally Christmassy colours.

Have a fantastic 2013, everyone!

 

Nautica.

It's a bit silly, really. I intentionally started this blog in English - but the past few days I kept catching myself compiling posts for it in Dutch mentally. Oh well!

This is Nautica, from Catrice's 'Cruise Couture' LE. Meh. I'm not blown away. It started off quite badly - I found my brush to be a bit choppy, but was willing to write this off as simple bad luck and a manufacturing error. Nautica seemed to have quite a nice blue shimmer in the bottle, but on the actual nail I don't find it all that visible. Furthermore, it started to chip the same day I put it on! I apply all my Catrice polishes the same way - base coat, two layers and top coat, and for most of them that works fine. Apparently for Nautica, it wasn't good enough.

Flash - artificial light.

I think Nautica's problem is that it seemed a lot more impressive than it actually turned out to be. In the bottle, there's a hint of gray that may have given it an interesting dusky feel but it has all but disappeared on the nail, leaving an okay but hardly impressive blue.

After wearing it 'as is' for a day, I threw some flakies over it in the hopes to spruce it up a bit, but it didn't make it all that much better for me. The fact that it started chipping the same day I put it on (when I did no more with my hands than normal) is just a really heavy turn off for me. I have actually taken it off already, and don't think I'll be wearing this polish again too soon. I have prettier blues that do know how to stay put.

I'm in love.

No, this isn't a belated Valentine's Day post. No, I'm not actually in love. Not with a person, anyway. When I ordered Watermelon Rind, I also ordered my first flakies (Golden Rose -  12). I had been wanting to get some for quite some time but never actually made an effort to get them, y'know what I mean? This was before I considered buying nail polish online. Well, that day I made the effort anyway. And I couldn't be happier.
How incredibly stunning they are! I spent a considerable amount of time getting distracted by the pretty shinies on my fingertips, I must admit.

Flash - Artificial light

 The polish underneath is one of my (now previously) untried, and it's a nice chocolatey (depending on the light) brown by Miss Sporty, from their 'Lasting Colour' collection. Not a very special colour, but the application is fine, the coverage is a little sheer but it's a budget polish so I shan't complain.
The effect of the flakies is sadly a bit lost indoors or when there's a lack of sun. Which sadly is mostly, nowadays. But I will love their goldish-orangish-greenish shine all the same in whichever light I find myself in.