Shrug.

Mostly, nail polish is my ally. Some days it just refuses to work with me.
My previous polish had long since started to come off but I just didn't feel like sitting down to remove its remnants and put on something new. After trying a polish on my pinky that refused to apply properly, and then trying another on my ringfinger that had other issues I was starting to regret ever beginning.

Still, I'm not somebody that can stand bare nails for long so I grabbed Rimmel's '600 Deliciously Dark' and applied that, it being mostly and untried after all, with my only holo, Koh's 'Metallic Green (127)' as an accent.

The result.. meh. Deliciously did not apply well and looks messy. It also started to flake very quickly.

They can't all be winners.

It's purple, I promise. It just refused to come out that way.

The Culprit.

An oldie, but a goodie. Originally done late August 2011, this style of mani (which I've come to refer to as half rhombus) has easily become one of my absolute favourite and go-to kinds (hence I call this post 'the culprit' - this mani is to blame for my frequent use). They're relatively easy to do and don't comparatively take as long as more elaborate styles of nail art, but when you choose the right colour combination they'll make no less of an impact. People tend to compliment these whenever I do 'em!

Used here are Koh 'Metallic Green' for the lower layer (though through use of top coat the 'holo' effect was reduced as they sadly do) the pinkish/purple is Essence's 'Do a Floating Pirouette' from the Ballerina Backstage LE.

Zzzap!

Oops!

I've been dying to try the double lightning bolt as seen in a tutorial on Nailside, and when I bought Catrice 'C01 - Innocent Toxin' and NYC '206 - East Village' I knew I had to use them to do it. The separating lightning bolt is a Koh holo by the name of 'Metallic Green (127)'.
It didn't all go.. exactly according to plan. I did learn some valuable lessons for next time! For example, the drying time for holo polishes is so short that you can't do your whole hand and then go back and peel the tape off; it's really a one-at-a-time thing. And East Village turned out to be a lot sheerer than I had anticipated, resulting in me making a mental note to check the polishes I want to use before hand and not rush into an idea, no matter how nice it seems at first. Sadly it has been a teeny bit damaged already (as you can see on the ring-finger there), but packing will do that to your newly polished nails.

A decent looking, flashy (pun intended) mani, some experience gained and lessons learned!
What more could I ask for?