SWATCHES: China Glaze // Grass Is Lime Greener, Too Yacht Too Handle, Thistle Do Nicely

More China Glaze! I recently bought another 8 CG polishes off NailPolishDirect because I wanted to. Summer is here and I'm really into neons and I'm missing bright shades in my collection so I went for these 3!  (The other 5 are pink/peach surprise surprise...)

Grass Is Lime Greener // neon satin lime

Collection: City Flourish

Release: Spring 2014

Coats: 3

I love this shade. I read quite a few reviews on this particular shade and most complain about the streaks. I've found that applying on top of a white base reduces the need for 3 coats but without the base it's definitely streaky to start out with. This doesn't bother me as neon green is super hard to do so I think CG did a pretty good job. It dries really fast with a satin finish (like most neons). It kind of reminds me of tennis balls.

Too Yacht To Handle // light teal crelly

Collection: Sunsational

Release: Summer 2013

Coats: 2

This is a great summer shade that's ready in 2 coats with a beautiful  shiny finish thanks to it's creme/jelly finish. It's not quite neon but it's nice and bright and will do well in a gradient and mermaid nails.

Thistle Do Nicely // satin neon coral

Collection: City Flourish

Release: Spring 2014

Coats: 2

Another one from the City Flourish collection. I wish I knew of China Glaze back in the early 2010's as I love the entire collection. I think I've almost got all the shades now. At first I wasn't sure of I'd like this shade as it's too red/orange for my tastes but now it's on my hand I love it. I imagine this is what radioactive tomatoes would look like. It's so bright. No one will miss your hands with this bad boy applied. It was a bit tricky to use as the formula is thick and gloopy but it doesn't dry with streaks or lumps so it's all good.

NailNerdChallenge July 2021 // Beach/Ocean Nails

So I didn't miss the first weeks challenge; I just never posted it. Lol, I'll do that now. So anyway, here is the next prompt; beach nails!

I wanted to do something different than my usual sunset gradient with silhouette palm trees and opted for this negative space wave look and I have to say wow. Not to toot my own horn but I think I knocked it out of the park lol.  This has to be one of my favourite looks that I've done and it took me less than 20 minutes. It's so simple that I could do it on my other hand (not that I'm going to but it's nice to have the option).

Overlapping plates are simply the best kind of stamping plates. Not all of us have the artistic talent of Lieve91 (and I probably never will) so I love that these plates come to my rescue. This little plate I got off eBay a while ago and the wave designs are perfect.

I started out with my favourite OPI base, then added a layer of thirsty nails. It's honestly the best polish for giving the perfect flush pink natural nails that look great in negative space looks. For the waves I applied little blobs of Lillian, Super-trop-i-cal-i-fiji-istic and I'm on a sushi roll to the plate then blended it all together when scraping. When picked up it creates a nice blend of shades which give more depth. I used normal polishes because I wanted some sheerness as water is see through after all. I then added on some white detail and applied a glossy top coat.

These are perfect no maintenance nails as you don't have to worry about growth too much and I love the splash of colour at the tips of my nails (sea what I did there?? and there??)

Polishes/Tools used:-

Nails:

- OPI Infinite Shine // Conditioning Primer

- NailsInc // Thirsty Nails (sheer pink)

- Revlon Colorstay // Diamond Top Coat

Stamping:

- Pict You Stamping Plate // PY-F001 (overlapping waves)

- What's Up Nails // Blanc My Mind (white)

- OPI Infinite Shine // Super Trop-i-cal-i-fiji-istic (deep blue), I'm On A Sushi Roll (teal)

- Zoya // Lillian (pale blue)

Leaf Me In Paradise // Matte Green Glitter & Palm Leaf Tropical Look

Now this is the type of nail design that I could wear all day every day; it combines all my favourite things. Tropical, matte glitter and leaves. I think this is one of my favourite designs I've done in a while.

I'm glad I did them on false nails so I can keep them forever like the weirdo I am.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

Nails:

- Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine // Cotton (white)

- Zoya Pixiedust // Chita (green glitter)

- H&M // Witching Hour (dark green)

Stamping:

- Twinkled T // Liquid Gold (gold)

- OPI Infinite Shine // Teal Me More (dark green), I'm On A Sushi Roll (green)

- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Scandi Sun (light green)

- MoYou London Stamping Plates // Paradise 05 (leaves & text), Tropical 37 (line pattern) 

The gold nail decorations were from a random wheel I bought off eBay.

Spring Clean-Lines // Pastel Butterfly Nails

Today I present to you this glorious pastel offering. It took me a while to decide on what shades to use. I'm a pastel polish hoarder so trying to select the "right" shade of pastel pink is excruciatingly hard. I ended up choosing Spring In My Step by China Glaze; I adore this shade. It's a bit of an arse as it's streaky with a satin finish and needs about 4 coats but it's such a wonderful shade of pink. That's mainly the reason I did this on false nails as I can just let the false nails dry whilst I'm off doing something else and I don't have to worry about messing it up.

Originally I was going to leave it at just the lines but Lieve91 has been doing some wonderful butterfly nails lately so I decided to add some using her collab plate with MoYou London.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

Nails:

- L'Oreal Color Riche // Jaune Citron (yellow)

- Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine // Sour Candy (blue), Pistachio (green)

- Ciaté Gelology // Spinning Teacup (lilac)

- Born Pretty Soak-Off Gel Polish // Previous Gum (white)

Butterflies:

- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Lieve91 x MYL 03

- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Turquoise Min (blue), Orchid Chic (purple), Candy Floss (pink), Coral Crush (red)

- Twinkled T // Vibin' (black)

Starry Glow // Pink Shimmer Constellation Look

A quick look that I did back in April when I bought the Kelli Marissa plate from MoYou London. I actually wore this without a peel off base so it lasted me all week! It's rare I wear the same look for longer than 6 hours lol.

I knew when I saw the beautiful constellation designs on the plate that it would suit the heavenly shimmer from Give It A Glow.

Polishes and Tools Used:-

- H&M // Give It A Glow (duo-toned pink/green shimmer)

- What's Up Nails // Blanc My Mind (White)

- MoYou London // MYL x Kelli Marissa 04 Stamping Plate

- Revlon Colorstay // Diamond Top Coat