Ashley is PolishAddicted: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 31 - Recreate A Manicure You Love

FINALLY!!! The last day of the challenge is upon us! I am very proud that I completed this challenge without missing a day. I am even more proud to say that I feel this has improved my nail art skills.

Today's prompt leaves so many choices, there are so many manis that I love and would love to be able to recreate. And maybe I will someday. But when I saw this particular mani in the challenge I knew which one I was going to use for today.

I absolutely loved this mani. I have mentioned in the past that I love purses. While I don't own any Hermés, I hope to someday. And even without that, I love the color combo and style of this mani. First up, a photo of the original mani from Sheila at Pointless Cafe.

Original Hermés Manicure from Pointless Cafe

Link to original post

My Hermés Manicure

How do you think I did? It's not as good as the original but I am pretty happy with it. I can't stop staring at my nails!

Don't forget to check out the other awesome bloggers participating in the challenge below! If you'd like to join the 30/31 Day Challenge, go here to grab the codes to embed in your posts for the next 30 days and add your post using the link below!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 30 - Inspired By A Tutorial

Happy Saturday!

I had several different tutorials in mind for the challenge today but life has been busy lately and I wound up with only an hour, right before time to post, to do this mani. LOL So, I chose one that LOOKED fairly easy and didn't require tape (because tape manis take forever for me to do).

I decided on this cloud tutorial from Nailside. This design ended up being more difficult than I anticipated. I think if I were to attempt this again I would use a large dotting tool for the design, I think it would make it easier (for me).

I do love how these colors look together. I used La Femme Unica as my base, Zoya Monica as the middle color and Zoya Brie as the tip color.

Cloud Manicure

Friday, September 28, 2012

Nails Inc. Old Park Lane - Swatches and Review

I have a quickie for you tonight. I have been doing a lot of glitter posts and my 31 DC posts but that hasn't left time for much else. I actually have other pics just waiting to be posted. LOL So I thought I would share one with you tonight.

Nails Inc. Old Park Lane is a metallic taupe with perfect formula (as I have come to expect from Nails. Inc.). This is two easy coats and no top coat. (This also happens to be the base of an upcoming Shimmer post. *wink*)

Nails Inc. Old Park Lane

What do you think of this one? Metallics aren't my favorite finish but I do really enjoy this one.

Nails Inc. polishes are available in select colors in the US at Sephora.com and some Sephora locations. They are available for purchase in the UK at nailsinc.com but they do not ship internationally at this time.

31 Day Challenge Day 29 - Inspired by the Supernatural

Happy Friday everyone! I didn't have much time to do today's challenge mani so I decided to go with something I thought would be fairly simple, ghosts!

I didn't wait long enough to apply my top coat and they smeared, which I attempted to fix. I think I made them worse instead of better. LOL But I think they're pretty cute anyway.

Ghost Mani

Thursday, September 27, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 28 - Inspired by a Flag

Inspired by a flag was an easy one for me to choose. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a bit of an Anglophile (although I really love all of the UK and hope to visit there someday) so I wanted to attempt a Union Jack.

I remember a few months back when we were celebrating the Queen's Jubilee I wanted so badly to do a Union Jack on my nails but didn't think I would be able to pull it off. I decided to stop whining and put on my big girl panties and try. And guess what, I totally surprised myself! I am really happy with how this turned out.

I used Zoya Song as my base and the red and white were Sinful Colors Nail Art Stripers in Be My Valentine and Bad Chick.

Union Jack Manicure

Shimmer Polish Jennifer - Swatches and Review

How about some shimmer for this Thursday afternoon? I think this is my favorite Shimmer combination so far, I LOVE it!

Shimmer Polish is a new-to-me indie brand and I couldn't be happier with these polishes. They are very good quality - no sinking, no bleeding, absolutely no curling glitters and application was a breeze.

All Shimmer Polishes have names that come from the creator, Cindy's, own life. Here is what Cindy has to say about that:

"My polishes are named after my wonderful friends and family. Each and every name has an important significance to me. Each shade of Shimmer is inspired by that person, from favorite colors, things that are reminiscent of that person, and even personal requests from these great ladies. Each and everyone of my Shimmers have shaped and influenced me to become who I am today. In a way, this is my tribute and gratitude towards having so many amazing people in my life."

Jennifer is described as "light blue pastels" but I see so much more. There are medium size gold glitters, as well as a few black glitters, but the microglitter in this one is what did it for me. The smaller glitters are pastel blues, greens and purples and the combination is absolutely amazing.

I tried this out over several colors and decided to layer it over Sinful Colors Leap Flog (as well as Zoya Song on my thumb) - LOVE! I used one coat on all fingers except for my ring finger, where I used two.

Shimmer Polish Mary in the shade

Shimmer Polish Mary in the sun

Shimmer Polish Mary

What do you think of this one? Did I mention that I love it? *grin*

Shimmer Polish retails for $12 for a full size (0.5 oz.) bottle. Shimmer Polish links:

www.shimmyshimmer.com

www.facebook.com/shimmerpolish

www.etsy.com/shop/shimmerpolish

*This polish was provided to me for my honest, unbiased opinion.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 27 - Inspired By Art

We are nearing the end of the challenge and I must say that I am enjoying it much more than I thought I would. While I still don't think I am "good" at nail art, I definitely think I am improving.

This day of the challenge is definitely my favorite so far. It is my favorite because it's been kind of special for me. If you have been following me for any length of time at all you have probably seen me mention my good friend Sheila from Pointless Cafe. In fact, you more than likely follow her too. (And if you don't, you really should.) But something most people don't know about Sheila is that in addition to her amazing nails, swatches, writing and numerous other talents, she also happens to be a FABULOUS painter. So, when "Inspired by Art" came along I asked Sheila if I could use one of her paintings as inspiration and was so thrilled when she said yes.

It was a hard to decide which of her paintings I wanted to use as my inspiration because I love them all. I tried to choose one that I felt, with my limited skills, I could replicate somewhat well. My mani did not turn out as well as her painting but I am fairly happy with it. It actually looks better in person, macro is not my friend. LOL

You can check out the rest of Sheila's amazing artwork here.

Ethereal Purple Painting by Sheila of Pointless Cafe

Inspired by Ethereal Purple Painting Manicure

Ethereal Purple Painting and my "Inspired by Ethereal Purple Painting" Manicure

What do you think of my attempt to recreate this gorgeous piece of art? I wish it had turned out better but with my skill level, I am pretty happy with it.

I want to thank Sheila again for letting me use one of her amazing paintings! ♥

Don't forget to check out the other awesome bloggers participating in the challenge below! If you'd like to join the 30/31 Day Challenge, go here to grab the codes to embed in your posts for the next 30 days and add your post using the link below!

Blog Sale Updated!

I have updated my blog sale! Click here to see what's up for grabs!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 26 - Inspired By A Pattern

It was easy for me to decide which pattern to go with for today, I have been wanting to attempt plaid nails for a long time. They were difficult (for me), just as I had expected, but I am pretty happy with how they turned out.

My base was Filthy Gorgeous London Judy Baby and my design was done with Revlon Sassy and Sinful Colors Nail Art Stripers in Bad Chick and Time Off.

Plaid Nails

Enchanted Polish Lost My Mind In A Sunrise - Swatches and Review

Hello everyone! I have a gorgeous Enchanted Polish to show you tonight!

Lost My Mind in a Sunrise is a light blue and purple slight duochrome with linear holographic properties. I chose to layer this one over a black creme and I really love how it pops! As you can see in the photos, when layered over black the purple really stands out.

I had no issues with application, it went on very smoothly. This is 2 coats over black with no topcoat.

Enchanted Polish Lost My Mind In A Sunrise

What do you think of this one? You can see more swatches of it over an array of different colors, as well as on its own, at Pointless Cafe.

This is exclusively available at MeiMei's Signatures, she offers international shipping as well as free shipping in Singapore. Enchanted Polishes retail for $15 for a full size 0.5 oz. bottle. Make sure to follow MeiMei's Signatures on Facebook and Enchanted Polish on Facebook for information and stock updates.

*This polish was provided to me for my honest, unbiased opinion.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Shimmer Polish Mary - Swatches and Review

I think it's time for another Shimmer Polish!!

Shimmer Polish is a new-to-me indie brand and I couldn't be happier with these polishes. They are very good quality - no sinking, no bleeding, absolutely no curling glitters and application was a breeze.

All Shimmer Polishes have names that come from the creator, Cindy's, own life. Here is what Cindy has to say about that:

"My polishes are named after my wonderful friends and family. Each and every name has an important significance to me. Each shade of Shimmer is inspired by that person, from favorite colors, things that are reminiscent of that person, and even personal requests from these great ladies. Each and everyone of my Shimmers have shaped and influenced me to become who I am today. In a way, this is my tribute and gratitude towards having so many amazing people in my life."

Mary is primarily red, black and silver glitters and this one is very densely packed. I have used one coat on all fingers except my ring finger where I have used two coats over Sinful Colors Dancing Nails. On my thumb I have used 3 coats over my bare nail. I topped it off with one coat of Poshe but I would recommend either one coat of Gelous or 2 coats of regular topcoat to make it completely smooth.