Standout Shade - Born Pretty Colour Change #100, silver stamping polish, BM-201

Here's a mani I did earlier this year, combining a thermal colour change polish and some stamping!

[Blingy treadmarks almost..]

Haha, I don't even know where this came from. I think I may have just received the silver stamping polish and wanted to try it out...

[2 coats: Born Pretty temperature change polish #100]

I started out with two coats of Born Pretty thermal colour change polish in #100. This is a creme shade that is a nice sunny yellow when cool and a warm red when warm. A nice dramatic colour change!

[2 coats: Born Pretty temperature change polish #100]

I was pretty happy with this and it works really well as just a regular creme yellow, a shade which can be pretty hard to find in a easy-to-apply formula.

[Base: Born Pretty temperature change polish #100 (2 coats);
Stamping: Born Pretty silver stamping polish, Bundle Monster BM-201]

So I stamped over it with Born Pretty stamping polish in silver with one of the designs from Bundle Monster plate BM-201. This is how it looks over the yellow, and then with slightly warmed up tips!

[Base: Born Pretty temperature change polish #100 (2 coats);
Stamping: Born Pretty silver stamping polish, Bundle Monster BM-201]

I think my original idea may have been to have stamp shade that blends into the base but becomes more obvious when the temperature change happens. Turns out that the metallic silver stands out no matter what though! I'll keep this in mind for next time...

Spring in Sydney - Water Decals, OPI Muppets World Tour

Spring is in the air! Or so I thought. This is turning out to be a really cold Spring in Sydney.

[Water decals
Tips: OPI Muppets World Tour]

Ev got me quite a selection of water decals for my birthday earlier this year and this is one of them. I like water decals, because they're easy to apply and can be fancy.

I thought the application of water decals would go nicely against a glittery French mani. I applied a clear base polish, applied the water decals and then painted on OPI Muppets World Tour on the tips. Muppets World Tour is a silver foil-like polish with white and silver hex glitter as well as the occasional blue hex glitter. I sealed it all with a quick dry top coat which also serves to make it extra glossy.

Overall, I loved how it turned out!

Tequila Sunrise - China Glaze Yell-O-Neil, Orange Marmalade; Revlon Orange Fizz

I can't believe this is the first time I've done a jelly gradient! Jme did a great explanation of jelly gradients here, but somehow i just never got around to trying it out.

[Bottle to nail: China Glaze Yell-O-Neil]

Today's theme is Tequila Sunrise, as you may have guessed from the title! So out come the yellows and oranges! This lovely sunny yellow shimmer is China Glaze Yell-O-Neil from the Surf Summer collection. Yellows have a reputation for being difficult, particularly cremes. This one however was great to work with. I only did one coat since I was putting orange layers over it but it looks pretty opaque even so!

[Bottle to nail: Revlon Orange Fizz]

Revlon Orange Fizz was the transition shade in this manicure and it was definitely the workhorse! I think I did three gradual coats to make a nice gradient from the cuticle to tip. Nice thin formula with lots of lovely flakies so it didn't thicken up the mani too much!

[Bottle to nail: China Glaze Orange Marmalade]

And finally a thin layer of China Glaze Orange Marmalade from the Summer Days collection right at the tips. Orange Marmalade was actually a touch too opaque so I had to blend it down with a bit of Orange Fizz.

[Cuticle to tip: China Glaze Yell-O-Neil, Revlon Orange Fizz, China Glaze Orange Marmalade]

Slap on the topcoat to even everything out and you get a super juicy, summery manicure! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

[Cuticle to tip: China Glaze Yell-O-Neil, Revlon Orange Fizz, China Glaze Orange Marmalade]

All the girls at work liked it! But the guys didn't, how funny! It was more the colour combination that put them off, for some reason yellow and orange just didn't cut the mustard...

Ash Diamond - Sally Hansen Glitz Gal

There are not enough hours in a day! I wish I had more time to do more complicated manis and longer posts, but I'm still so busy all the time... =S

[Bottle to nail: Sally Hansen Glitz Gal (2 coats)]

This is Sally Hansen Glitz Gal from the Gem Crush collection. Jme has previously posted this polish, so it's not even a new one! You can check out her post here.

[2 coats: Sally Hansen Glitz Gal]

Glitz Gal is a charcoal glitter polish with holo hexes sprinkled throughout. Formula is good, great glitter density, and nice even coverage. I used two coats for these photos.

[2 coats: Sally Hansen Glitz Gal]

It dries rough, as expected from a glitter polish, but I think the finish actually adds to the sparkle. Of course, a layer of topcoat doesn't hurt!

Voices of the Mountain - Glam Polish Harmony Wind

This is a beauty, another gift from Ev. It's Glam Polish's Harmony Wind. What a gorgeous name to go with a gorgeous polish.

[4 coats of Glam Polish Harmony Wind]

The flakie craze meant that we have so many different flakies for us to choose from now, which I absolutely love. These are metallic multichrome flakies that colour shift from teal to green to purple. The colour shift is strong and beautiful in this one. The manicure looks almost textured because of the flakies.

I did these with no coloured base but it did take about 4 coats to build it to opacity. You can sponge it for quicker application.

[4 coats of Glam Polish Harmony Wind]

I'm including these pictures where I photographed at a more acute angle because the purple looks so pretty here. You can still see the greens at the edges in the first one. At this angle, you can see that it colour shifts to gold as well. What a pretty polish!

(And yes, I'm slipping in some Pocahontas in the title. I thought Colors of the Wind was an apt choice for this post!)

Floriental Change - Born Pretty Color Change Polish #104, Konad White, BP-28

So I couldn't leave such a lovely creme polish from last week alone... so I did some stamping over it!

[Spring flowers in winter??]

This is definitely one of the stamping experiments that I was pleased with!

[Base: Born Pretty Color Change Polish #104 (2 coats)]

 Just a quick reminder - the base was Born Pretty thermal Color Change Polish in #104 which shifts from a blurple when cool to a candy pink when warm.

[Base: Born Pretty Color Change Polish #104 (2 coats);
Stamping: Konad White; Born Pretty BP-28]

Uhmm this is another Born Pretty plate, BP-28. I used that swirly flower pattern you can see on the lower right there. Using Konad special polish in White, I stamped it on then finished with topcoat. Once again, using good stamping polish makes a difference when picking up the fine details of the curlicues.

[Base: Born Pretty Color Change Polish #104 (2 coats);
Stamping: Konad White; Born Pretty BP-28]

And this is the finished product when warmed up at the tips! I rarely saw it pink though, but that's okay because I really like the contrast of white against the blurple!

Armoured in Style - CrowsToes Dragon In Drag, Kleancolor Metallic Black

I rediscovered a nail polish that was given to me by Ev for my birthday this year. This is CrowsToes' Dragon In Drag.

[Base: Kleancolor Metallic Black
Topper: CrowsToes Dragon In Drag]

Isn't it pretty? The colour combination makes it really stand out.

[Base: Kleancolor Metallic Black
Topper: CrowsToes Dragon In Drag]

First, I think Dragon In Drag is a perfect name for the nail polish. It has green, teal, purple and iridescent hex glitters of all sizes. It looks like a flamboyant, scaley polish!

I have to admit that I think I overloaded it with glitter. I should have stuck with one or two coats instead of going for a third. There really was no reason for that third except for greed. My top coat bubbled as a result because I had to really lay it on.