Black and blue nail art

Hi! Here's my latest nail art, done using Kiko 624 as blue and Essence Stamp me! Black.
My very first plan was to stamp the pattern on all nails...

I have the best background paper

... using my trustworthy galscosmetics stamping plates. However I liked how it turned out so much when I had only done two fingers, that I left it as it was. Plus it allowed me to play with different finishes, as I left the black matte and made the blue nail and the stamped ones shiny with seche vite. I quite like this one!

Green and black nail art

 Hello! Today I want to show you a nail art inspired by this. Don't you miss Nailside? I do.
I didn't want to use pink, so I used Essence L.O.L., my favourite lime green creme, topped with essence Stamp me! black polish. Nailside covered it with a matte topcoat but I left it shiny (with Seche Vite obvs.). These geometric shapes aren't as easy as it seems, especially since the tape I use doesn't stick to the nail as strongly as I wish. Still, the result ain't that bad!

Galaxy nails

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in almost two weeks. The life I am leading now makes me quite busy, I still miss posting regularly but I can't deny that this is a good moment for me.
I haven't stopped painting my nails (pfft as if it could ever happen), I just have less time for more elaborate nail art.
Anyway I want to show you this attempt at "proper" galaxy nails. I have nicknamed it Galaxy Fail because, as pretty as it is, it doesn't make me think of a galaxy when I look at it.
Or maybe it's just me.

The base was Rimmel Blue Vogue, the other polishes are Essence Over The Rainbow, Catrice Play it Blue, Revlon Ginger Melon, Essence Elves Like Liliac and some Sinful Colors Snow Me White.
My favourite thing of this nail art was having it topped with Essence's More Than Words from a very old (almost 2 years old, I believe) Valentine's day LE. The glitters are in warmer colors which allows for a very nice effect.
Not perfect, but I enjoyed having it on my nails.
I hope I'll be able to post regulary soon!

Magical girl transformation nails

Why yes, I did wait too much to take a pic of this nail art, resulting in some chipping in the index.
Besides that, I created this nail art using the Sailor Moon transformation sequences as inspiration source, I wanted to create that bubbly gradient effect.
I used Revlon Ginger Melon again, because it's a great color, with Kiko 830 as a gradient color. I used Kiko 617 and Galscosmetics stamping plates to draw the bubbles on it.
And I topped everything with Seche Vite, ofc.
I really love the colors on this one!

Colorful Galaxy

I wanted to do something colorful over Revlon Ginger Melon and I sponged a few colors on it to create a galaxy effect and it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but I am still posting it because the color scheme is pretty and it reminds me of the effects during a magical girl transformation.
I used Essence Elves Like Liliac, Essence Over The Rainbow, Sinful Colors Snow Me White and a bit of Catrice Play It Blue.
I still don't know what to think of it... but the colors are pretty, of that I am sure! I still want to try a "proper" galaxy nail art.

Christmas nail art and gifts

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you had a nice day (whether you celebrate it or not)
I always love looking at what other people received so I'm showing off my gifts, because why not.
The bag is kinda like the Freitag bags, this one is made with old ads and recycled seat belts. All recycled! I really wanted something in that style so I'm really happy!
And the beauty case is a nice addition too, it's very big.

Aaand a close up of the Sugarpill makeup I received! I've been wanting this palette for so long! And finally a good matte yellow eyeshadow!

Aren't those the prettiest colors you've ever seen?! Look at that palette, seriously! It's all my favorite colors combined in one palette, I can't wait to try this!

And my Christmas nail art. I didn't want to use red, so I used Essence Colour 3 Midnight Date and Catrice Bronze Deco for a simple star-inspired nail art. Not a typical Christmas nail art but I really like it.

Lavender and black

And for today, another small gradient experiment, done using Kiko 338 and Pupa 209.

I wanted to create a gritty urban effect, and quite frankly I am satisfied. I still have lots to learn about gradients, and I also want to try gradients with three colors. But for now, enjoy this. I've been having more time for myself, since I'm waiting for the feedback on my thesis, which I'd say it's 95% complete.
I've also planned another color spotlight post, so stay tuned for details!

Dots on pink

Can you tell I'm in a dots mood? I used Essence Ben & Cherries as a base and added green dots with Essence L.O.L. I was tempted to stop there because the pastel pink and the acid green looked wonderful together. But I decided to add some dots, this time with a textured polish, Essence Hello Rosy. I didn't apply seche vite over the dots in order not to lose the liquid sand effect of the dots. I personally think it's a lovely color combination!

Dots over the rainbow

A simple nail art, I haven't done dots for a while so I tried putting some dots over Over the Rainbow with Kiko 830. I want to experiment more with dots in the future, for now, I really liked this because it makes me think of Sailor Mercury...

Teal and pink

I can't believe I haven't posted anything with this color combination yet.  And look, no triangles for this time! I wanted to make dots, but I realized I liked the little strips more...
For this I used Deborah 55 Blue Lagoon, Kiko 284 and an Essence tip painter from the old Tribal Summer set.

Orange triangles

Yes, it's triangles/stripes again! This time with Snow Me White by Sinful Colors as base (and what a great white base it makes!). I used Kiko 356 and 640 above it, the last one being a textured/sand effect polish. I love this simple, sunny color combination, it makes me think of fruit...

Violet and stripes

Let's face it, this kind of nail art is perfect when you don't have much time on your hands...to use for your hands, I mean, nails. Bad puns aside, it's a great way to explore new color combinations.
I spiced up the Pupa polish, 410, that I had worn during the second ballot at the elections, with some colorful stripes.
I used Kiko 284, Shaka Juicy Pumpkin and Essence L.O.L. 
Personally I love this color scheme! And the Seche Vite makes it look soo shiny!

Orange and Blue

May has not been a good month for blogging. But here I can show you a pretty Shaka polish, Juicy Pumpkin, that should have appeared before in my blog because damn. Shimmery in the bottle, like some OPI polishes the shimmer is not much visible on the nails. It gives it light without being a "ooh look at me I am clearly a shimmer". Here I used 3 coats, but 2 would have been enough. It's a magnificent shade of orange, almost a neon orange. Definitely recommended.
Kiko quick dry 830, one of my favourite blues, covers the tips creating a nice color and finish contrast.
Simple nail art, but I love it.

Gradient and dots

Here's another gradient I tried, with Snow me White by Sinful Colors and Kiko 294. It didn't end as smooth as I would've wanted to, but it's still pretty. I added some dots with Essence L.O.L. since I wanted a touch of green.
I need to get better at gradients but I love this color combination a lot, it puts me in a good mood.

Holo gradient

Yes, I know the gradient isn't much visible, but it's still some holo goodness shining under the sun! The basis is the old Kiko 400, with some Kiko 399 spinged on the tips.. It might seem like a cloudy nail art, unfit for spring, due to the color.. but as soon as sunlight hits it, bam, instant awesomeness!
A very short post today, since I had an exam yesterday and I have another next monday so life's keeping me busy (and tired).

Stamping and gradient over Essence 182 Hello Rosy

The gradient is barely visible here, but under sunlight the yellow/gold particles of Kiko 640 really pop out! I stamped a nice geometrical pattern with Kiko 328 and it kinda looks aztec/pre-colombian to me, it reminds me of The Road to El Dorado. It's the first time I stamp over a sand effect polish and I am not disappointed at all, it was easy. The only downside is that you cannot fix your design with topcoat.
I love this pattern, the only problem I have is that the design on the plate is much bigger than my nail (not only longer, it's wider too) and it's hard to restamp always the same portion of the design. Ah well, it's still a nice mani so I wont complain.

Green Gradient

Of course, as soon as I said "look, it's sunny, I'll better take a pic of my nails", the sun went away.
Anyway, I hadn't done a gradient nail art in a lifetime so I figured out it was time to try it again. I probably can do better, but I'm still satisfied with the result. I'd love a more blue-to-green effect rather than a dark teal-to-green, and also some other color combinations...
Here I used two Essence polishes, L.O.L., a personal favourite, and 03 Life is a Freeride, from the old Snow Jam LE. If you look at the teal part closely, you can still see the shimmer, and it's something I love.
I'm probably going to add something to this gradient, like a cracking effect or I could use Sephora's arty pois top coat..

Grey and pink swirls

Don't you just hate when you do a nice nail art, take a pic and see all the small mistakes and imperfections brought to light? Like the line left by the Seche Vite on my middle finger... anyway, here's a nail art done yesterday evening while rewatching Hunger Games: Catching Fire in search of an inspiration.

Effie Trinket is my spirit animal

I wanted to use Kiko 328, a simple cold-toned grey, and Effie's outfit, which looks more lavender or blueish according to the light, was my inspiration source. I wanted to recreate something "round", no hard edges, and fluffy. The grey is reminiscent of the outfit and the pink of her makeup. Plus, I just really love grey and pink together, I think they look fine.
The swirls were stamped using Kiko 617 and 618, the pink is Kiko 375.

Camellia petals nail art

In my parents' garden there's a camellia (in Italy known simply as camelia), and last week the flowers had opened their petals in all their magnificence. Our camellia makes fuchsia and rose with fuchsia stripes flowers, like the image above kindly supplied by Wikipedia, because I forgot to take a picture of our own. As pretty as they are, they last only a few weeks, sometimes even less, which is a real pity. When I was a kid I used to play with those flowers a lot, because when they're fully open they weigh too much and fall from the plant, especially when they're already decaying. Sometimes they just lose petals, so that part of the garden is filled with petals in a very fairy-like atmosphere.

This is my tribute to those petals, done with Kiko 284 (I had forgotten the amazing quality of this polish!) and Essence's fuchsia tip painter over Ben & Cherries from the Me & My Ice Cream LE. It really looks like the real thing, so I'm quite satisfied with it!

Sci-fi fishtail nail art

Aka my very first fishtail nail art. The base is Sinful Colors Snow Me White, the other two colors are Pupa 001 and 002 of the Cosmic Beauty LE. I topped everything with an old, discontinued top coat by Catrice called Prismatic Effect, that adds a blue-ish shade. On the white it's nicely visible but nearly impossible to capture in photos.

It's called sci-fi fishtail because of the colors (shiny white, grey.. they're all colors that make me think of spaceships) and because I did it while rewatching Judge Dredd on tv xD.

And I'm afraid that's all for today, and sorry for the tipwear..