Fruity Sunset - Maybelline Lux Lobster, Rimmel Peaches & Cream, Australis Bless Thy Socks, pa AA38, Born Pretty BPL-023

Ah! After last week's gradient on my long-ish nails... I totally broke a nail! So I chopped them all back down, phew~

[Pining for apples]

And stuck a stamp over the top! Cutting my nails down also conveniently solved the tipwear issue, hehe...

[Cuticle to tip: Maybelline Lux Lobster, Rimmel Peaches & Cream,
Australis Bless Thy Socks; Topcoat: pa AA38]

Quick recap, here's my base which was a sponge gradient manicure using Maybelline Lux Lobster, Rimmel Peaches & Cream and Australis Bless Thy Socks, with pa AA38 flakie polish over the top.

[Stamping: Hit the Bottle As Black As Night; Born Pretty BPL-023]

Using a plain black stamping polish (Hit the Bottle As Black As Night) I used the pineapple stamping design from Born Pretty plate BPL-023.

I think this may be the first time I've used a stamp where the base polish is in the negative space! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to get a nice coverage over the base polish. You can see a bit of the orange base peeking through but it's not particularly visible to the eye.

[Stamping: Hit the Bottle As Black As Night; Born Pretty BPL-023]

I quite like the look of a stamped-over gradient, however I'm not sure how clear it is that these are pineapples! As you can see, I didn't quite manage to pick up the fine hatching on the pineapple itself. I know what they are meant to be so it seems obvious to me, but I asked someone and they had some trouble at first.. I think it would be more in-your-face if this design was stamped in black, and then leadlighted in green and yellow - just a thought for next time!

Juicy Jubes - Maybelline Lux Lobster, Rimmel Peaches & Cream, Australis Bless Thy Socks, pa AA38

Once in a while, my nails get long and I feel like I should probably do something to take advantage of it. 

[Sparkles for spring..]

Which in this case, means gradient time! I decided to go for some juicy fresh shades as the weather is just starting to warm up here in Sydney.

Here are the polishes I used - from left to right, Maybelline Color Show 60 Seconds in Lux Lobster, Rimmel Brit Manicure in Peaches & Cream and Australis Bless Thy Socks. I applied a base layer of Lux Lobster, and then painted stripes of all three onto a little cut-up square of (dishwashing!) sponge and sponged over the base to create a gradient from the darkest to lightest shade.

I then coated the gradient with a layer of that polish there on the right - pa AA38, a polish I picked up in Japan. This ones a translucent orange base with a generous helping of orangey-gold flakies all throughout. The flakies do settle, as you can see in the photo, but are very easy to resuspend. 

[Cuticle to tip: Maybelline Lux Lobster, Rimmel Peaches & Cream,
Australis Bless Thy Socks; Topcoat: pa AA48]

I think the jump from Lux Lobster to Bless Thy Socks was a bit much actually! Maybe just the first two shades would've been enough for a gradient. I know my nails don't seem all that long in these photos, but trust me, when I cut them down, they are totally nubbins!

Juicy Shine - Maybelline Cuddle Me Mauve, PA AA38

I went on a flakie kick for a bit (I'm working up to glitter manis at work... just watch me go!)... and here's one of my manis using a flakie topper.

[Bottle to nail: Maybelline Cuddle Me Mauve (2 coats)]

As a base shade, I used Maybelline Wet Shine in Cuddle Me Mauve. An adorable name and a gorgeous polish. Cuddle Me Mauve is a dusty pink creme filled with subtle gold sparkles. Very pretty, very worksafe.

[2 coats: Maybelline Cuddle Me Mauve]

Cuddle Me Mauve has a pretty good formula and reaches opacity in two coats. It also dries glossy, as the name suggests!

[Base: Maybelline Cuddle Me Mauve (2 coats); Flakies: pa AA38]

To add a bit more sparkle to this mani, I put on a layer of orange-to-green duochrome flakies by PA in shade AA38. I purchased this in Japan at Don Quixote! I know some Japanese stores in the US do stock PA flakies, and I've seen PA polishes in stores in Sydney but not the flakie range so far.

[Base: Maybelline Cuddle Me Mauve (2 coats); Flakies: pa AA38]

At any rate, these flakies are fairly small in size and apply smoothly, no trouble at all! This combination blends well with my pinkish base shade so it doesn't stand out too much, while lending a bit of extra oomph to a regular work mani. =)

Speckled Pink - Pa Color Premier Lame Grande

Ev came back from Japan with gifts awhile ago, and here's one of them!

[Pa Color Premier Lame Grande AA63]

Pa Color Premier Lame Grande AA63 is produced by Dear Laura and it's a pink polish with black glitter. There looks to be round and hex glitter. The colour on the polish is a little darker on the nails than in the bottle.

I looooooove it so much. The polish is opaque in two coats, yet it doesn't cover the black glitter so much that you can't see the colour and shape of it. I just love the speckled look over the base colour, and since it's all in one polish, application is easy.

[Pa Color Premier Lame Grande AA63]

With longer nails like below, getting a perfectly even spread of the glitter is a little bit harder, but still doable.

[Pa Color Premier Lame Grande AA63]

[Pa Color Premier Lame Grande AA63 under indoor light]

Some dollar stores in Australia stock Pa polishes, but I haven't yet found this particular line, which is a shame, because I want to buy all of it aaaahhhhh. They sell them for around AUD5 per bottle (approximately 5ml I think.)