Polishing and Sponging - Zoya Crystal + China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

As I promised last week, this entry will be about gradient manis again (I do love them so), but using the sponging method instead.

We didn't come up with the gradient-sponging method, but it was Ev who actually described it to me. It's really easy to do though and one explanation was pretty much all I needed!

Before we start, I do apologize for these photos! They are older pictures, all taken with the iPhone.

Zoya Crystal and China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

The base colour here is Zoya Crystal, which is a gorgeous almost-dull blue with gold glitter. Then I used China Glaze Emerald Sparkle to gradient over Crystal. Emerald Sparkle is a dark green jelly with green glitter. With the sponge method, you don't actually need a jelly polish for the top layers.

I dabbed some Emerald Sparkle on a sponge and pressed the sponge lightly around the middle of my nails, adding the green polish from the middle up to the nail tips. Then I just kept building up the green colour by adding more of Emerald Sparkle closer and closer to the nail tips.

Then as always, a layer of dry fast top coat over everything! I was a bit too enthusiastic this time and you can see the top coat past the edges of my nails, urgh. As my nails were pretty long then, the gradient looks like a change of colour on the tips of my nails, which is pretty nice as well.

For the spongey material, I have used a variety of things before, including a cheap make-up sponge (which was actually a little too fine for this), the soft side of a dish-washing sponge, and when I was really desperate, a cloth. The cloth works pretty well, surprisingly.

Zoya Crystal and China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

This photo is out of focus to show the pretty sparkles in both polishes.

You can also add one coat of a sheer polish over the mani to make the gradient even more subtle.

In this case, I added a coat of XOX 24, which is a sheer, zingy white-blue glass fleck. XOX polishes really do smell toxic, I have to say, and despite the pretty, I'm reconsidering the wiseness of using them.

XOX 24 over Zoya Crystal and China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

 It's still obviously a gradient, but it looks more gradual now.

Let's hope I have something other than gradients next week! :)

Jme's Past Plischtures - Catching Up Like A Boss

Here we go, these are a few nail polishes I swatched in the last few months and that I quite liked.

Most of the glossy polishes have either Seche Vite Quick Dry, or Orly In A Snap over them because I am impatient, and because the topcoat tends to make them shinier which is always a plus.



[Ulta3 English Rose]

Ulta3's English Rose is a very pretty red with gold shimmer. I find Ulta3's formula to be rather nice and I like that it isn't streaky like some shimmers.

[LA Splash Ocean Sprinkles over Zoya Tiffany]

I don't have any pictures of LA Splash's Ocean Sprinkles on its own, but it is a light blue-base jelly-ish polish with sparse gold glitter in it. I quite like it and often layer it over other polishes to get that blue hint and glint of gold.

[Orly Here Comes Trouble]

Orly Here Comes Trouble, which is an amusing name to me, consists of small hexagonal glitter among other tiny glitters! Would look gorgeous as one layer against black I think, but only needs two coats for full coverage.

[China Glaze Tarnished Gold and Platinum Pieces over Nubar Night Sparkle]

I have read that the metallic crackles are as good as the creme crackles, but I don't find this to be the case. I think China Glaze's Black Mesh (as seen below) cracks a lot better than China Glaze's Tarnished Gold or Platinum Pieces, both of which tends to be a bit thick.

[China Glaze Black Mesh over Revlon Tropical Temptation]

I do love Revlon's Tropical Temptation, because it's such a cheerful, summery colour. With China Glaze's Black Mesh over it, the mani suddenly gains a cool edge!

[XOX 24 (white-blue) over China Glaze Black Mesh over Zoya Tiffany]

XOX 24 is a sheer white polish packed with electric blue micro-glitter. I have tried it layered over all sorts of dark colours and it really does give manis a zingy, almost sci-fi look. However, XOX polishes also smell incredibly foul. Eaurgh. Use only in well-ventilated places.

[China Glaze Black Mesh over Ulta Silver Glitter]

Black crackle polishes against bright glitter ones are gorgeous! Ulta's Silver Glitter is a dense silver glitter with random holo glitters through it. Quite pretty and only requires two coats for full coverage if your nails aren't very long.

[BYS Cracked Red over China Glaze Black Mesh over Ulta Silver Glitter]

BYS Cracked Red doesn't crack much. It cracks slowly in fine spiderweb cracks as it dries. But it does make the polish easy to flake off in cracked pieces, so you can control how it looks. I think this one looks like an odd macabre goth polish. Topcoat over the lot makes the red crackle stay on.

[China Glaze Atlantis from index to ring finger, Mio Piccolo 03 on pinkie and thumb]

China Glaze's Atlantis is a holo glitter in blue-green jelly base that dries matte. Needs about three/four layers for full coverage. Mio Piccolo 03 (from Korea I believe) comes in a small little rose-shaped bottle, which is quite cute.

 

[LA Splash Embellished]

 LA Splash Embellished (which is actually spelled Embellshed on the bottle) is a very striking magenta polish with holo glitter. One of my favourites from LA Splash.

[LA Splash Sparkling Torpedo]

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh, LA Splash's Sparkling Torpedo is another favourite. Densely packed silver holo glitter, one of the most holographic polishes I have seen. It also dries smooth instead of rough and gritty, unlike most dense glitter. The formula is a little gloopy, but the negative is well worth the pretty you get. Needs about two/three layers for full coverage.

[Essie Matte About You over Nubar's Nubar 2010 over OPI My Private Jet]

I love flakie polish, yes I do. Oh, and because I use matte polish over OPI My Private Jet, the holo disappears of course. But the duochrome (triochrome?) flakies from Nubar 2010 are still as gorgeous as ever.

[Nfu Oh Nfu 40 over Savvy Coal]

Nfu Oh's Nfu 40 (not terribly creative names here) is one of my favourites of all times! From certain angles, it has a purple tinge my camera is not picking up, and it's more blue or green depending on how you turn your hand. Blurple-green flakies are so lovely, and they really remind me of opals, so I had to do a comparison:



How gorgeous is that? Just looking at the pictures make me want to try them on again.


That's all for my catch-up post for now! Tell me what you think~