Franken: Invidia / Envy

Sorry for interrupting the mini Lynnderella series but I thought I should do a brief post on a franken I had made a short while ago. ^_^ It's been a long time since I've dabbled with frankening because I didn't have many empty bottles or interesting glitter polishes to work with. But recently, I chanced upon some green glitter polishes and took the opportunity to make another franken when I received a small complimentary bottle of Seche Vite with an old polish purchase. (Yes, I emptied the SV into my usual bottle of SV ;) ) Although I didn't have much to work with, I was rather pleased with how this turned out:

Invidia / Envy. One/two coats over Illamasqua Rampage. Envy is a mix of large and medium hex and small round green glitters with a handful of brooding black glitters and an occasional flash of gold from some green/gold color-shifting glitters in a clear base. Best layered over dark colors for that truly sinister look. :vD

Close up of Envy on the nail

Bottle shot of Envy

What do you think of Invidia? Envious? ;)
I only wish that the glitter could be slightly more dense - the polishes that I used had a surprisingly generous amount of suspension base >.<

To be honest, I had been mulling over creating a '7 Deadly Sins' collection (and other collections) ever since the start of this year. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the franken supplies to play with (especially the suspension base) so I have to put all my ideas on hold. :(

Do you know where I can get some suspension base?

xoxo,
mich

Lynnderella: Connect the Dots

I believe I hardly need to introduce today's Lynnderella. It's one of the most popular (and I dare say, iconic) polish from her line - and for good reasons too!

Connect the Dots. One coat over China Glaze For Audrey (as usual, shake to loosen the glitters first). CtD is a mix of black and white hex (and some small square) glitters with a handful of bar glitters in a clear shimmery base.

This is simply genius. It looks dead simple but it packs tons of fun - we all did connect the dots when we were young, don't we? (Gotta admit that it is a pretty smart way to get kids to familiarize themselves with numbers) ;) The black and white combination gives it a very clean look. More importantly, they look great over almost any color. It looks fun over a bright color and even takes on a touch of class over nudes and greys (I love it over Misa Grey Matters!). It's the perfect glitter top coat that suits everyone - whether you like blues, pinks or greens! I don't even know why I didn't fall in love with it at first sight. I must have been out of my mind.

Love the shimmer! <3

If you can't lay your hands on CtD, fret not! There are now several other combinations of black and white glitter to satisfy all our wants needs. You can head over to Chalkboard Nails for a useful (read: mindblowing / awesome) comparison post by Sarah. :d

Here's a pic of the underwear I chose for today's layering:- China Glaze For Audrey

For Audrey. Two coats (just because I was clumsy with the application). A very pretty tiffany blue lookalike. It was one of the first China Glazes that I bought. Not quite my usual blue or purple but I bought it on impulse and, again, I'm glad I did. I find myself reaching for it very often for some strange reason. :L

What are the colors that unexpectedly caught your heart?

xoxo,
mich

Lynnderella: Nosegay

This was the only polish that I got from Lynnderella's 'Lovely is as Lovely does' collection. Its name caught my attention first and my inner child had a good laugh over it. It's a flower, I know, but it's still an amusing name nonetheless. ;) I had thought to get this another time (my wallet was already weeping over the other lynns) but the purple glitter called out to me so I grabbed it. And I'm really glad I did.

Nosegay. Two coats over China Glaze Light as Air. A milky lavender polish with small and medium purple glitters and sprinkles of soft pink glitters to complete the sweet and demure look. Really pretty. I didn't expect to like this as much as I do. :L

Look at the pretty shimmer too!

Bottle shot of that milky glitter goodness <3

Here's the underwear polish that I used:- China Glaze Light as Air

Soft pastel lilac with a hint of grey. Very pretty on its own too! I hardly buy pastel shades because they tend to make me look too tan in the sun and too ashy in the shade. But for some inexplicable reasons, I found myself craving pastels and soft nudes badly since the start of this year. To be more specific, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the soft shades from Zoya. There was just something about the brand, the bottle, the packaging... that caught my heart. It was driving me mad. But since Zoyas are relatively more expensive here and I couldn't bring myself to spend too much money, I settled for Light as Air to satisfy my lemming for Zoya Marley instead (there was a discount for CGs at that time!). One day... just one day... I will get meself some Zoyas. *pinky promise*


Anyway, it seems like I've picked a bad time for my mini Lynnderella series >.< I've thought about it and decided to go ahead with swatching the rest of the Lynnderellas I have since I'm already halfway done. Like I've said before, let's not venture into prickly topics and just admire polishes, shall we?
Just take note that Lynnderellas will no longer be available at Llarowe but will be sold by Lynnderella herself on eBay. I'm not sure about the details but you can check out her blog for more information.


xoxo,
mich

Lynnderella: Mysterious Ways

Mysterious Ways is one of the rare polishes that I bought without looking at swatches. It looked too pretty in the bottle!

Gahhh!! I'm about to go nuts trying to get this to photograph properly - it's not as blue as it looks in this pic; it is more grey like the pictures below.

Mysterious Ways is a gorgeous dreamy-looking polish with a milky blue-grey base filled with white/silver glitters of different shapes and sizes (I believe I saw a diamond glitter in the bottle!). There is also a scattering of holographic glitters that adds to the dreamy, mysterious look. Really pretty and delicate :L

Bottle shot of Lynnderella Mysterious Ways

Here's the underwear polish that I used for Mysterious Ways:- Misa Grey Matters

Grey Matters is the only Misa I have in my stash. It's a light grey (again, not as blue as in the pic above; more like the pic below) with silvery shimmer and black specks! I don't quite know why I'm such a sucker for the speckled look but I really love it! :O

*love*

Hmmm, I'm loving how the grey looks so clean on my hands. What about you? Are you into neutrals too?

xoxo,
mich

Lynnderella: All Hallow's Eve

While replying to the comments for my last post, I received a warning that my site may contain malware from certain websites. I'm not quite sure what was going on but I've remove them from my blogroll for now, just in case... (no offense intended! >.< )

Anyway, I finally mustered enough willpower to wrench myself away from my k-dramas to do some quick Lynnderella swatches for the next one or two posts. I'm such a drama addict :P

Let's have a look at another one of my favorites, shall we?

I have to confess that I didn't use to like green. While I gravitate towards blue and purple, I hardly reach out for green polishes on the shelves. But when I saw swatches of All Hallow's Eve, I was stunned. I had to have it.

As with most other Lynnderellas, All Hallow's Eve is a mix of various glitters in different shapes and sizes. While it is predominantly green, there is also a handful of black and gold glitters for that added depth and dimension. To top it off, the very fine shimmer complements the dark and mysterious look. It's simply too gorgeous for words. :L

Application was fairly easy as the glitters are rather dense. I only used one coat of All Hallow's Eve in the pictures above. Just be sure to shake the bottle to loosen the glitters before application.

Here's the underwear polish that I used in the swatches: Illamasqua's Rampage

Rampage is another gorgeous green beauty that unexpectedly caught my heart. It is so dark, mysterious and... a jelly! I love it so much that I wore it on its own when I first put it on. I would have given it a full post by itself but its beauty cannot be appreciated by a simple picture spam. You have to try it for yourself to know why I'm raving about this. The intoxicatingly rich color and the seductive shine just exude so much class! To top it all off, application was excellent - from the brush to the formula. Perfect! It took me only two coats to get this look. <3

Yup, I'm a total green convert now. Who's with me? 

xoxo,

mich

Lynnderella: Mercurial

Again, I blame Stef for this... well, and my obsession with Lynnderella in general.

Mercurial is a sheer grey polish with a crazy mix of glitters. The silver glitters come in various shapes and sizes - from hex to square, from small to huge (see the giant hexes on my index and pinky?). Then, there's also some small and medium square black glitters to add some depth. What I love most are the lavender hex glitters that add a soft and interesting touch to the metallic look. Unexpectedly beautiful.

I took quite a while to wear Mercurial because I couldn't quite find the perfect underwear color for it. >.< I didn't want a black base to swallow up the black glitters but the silver glitters also would not stand out against a silvery base. In the end, I decided to go with China Glaze's Stone Cold and I must say I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It wasn't too dark or too light for the glitters and the shimmery black went very well with the fine green and lavender shimmer in Mercurial. <3

And just because I fell in love with Stone Cold all over again:-

One coat matte wonder <3

Application for Mercurial is a little more tricky because of the larger silver glitters. The giant hexes curl a little and may need a little manipulation for proper placement. Of course, it's nothing that a gentle prod and topcoat couldn't cure. ;)

What do you think of Mercurial?

xoxo,
mich

Lynnderella: Very Pretty Vampire

It's time for some Lynnderella spam... I was lucky enough to get my hands on some Lynnderellas a long time ago (like even before the current wishlist system) and haven't had the time to do proper swatches ever since I've tried them. I've heard of some controversies with these polishes but let's not venture into prickly subjects and just admire beautiful polishes, shall we?

Funnily enough, one of the first Lynnderellas that I fell in love with was not Connect the Dots. Blasphemy, I know! >.< But I was on a vampy polish kick and Stef's swatches of Very Pretty Vampire caught my heart - how could it not?! Just take a look at this vampy momma! :L

Very Pretty Vampire is a sheer dark-red polish with a mix of burgundy, red and black glitters of various sizes and shapes (hex and squares). If you look close enough, you can also see the very fine shimmer in the base too! The bright red glitters actually remind me a little of Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers but the burgundy and black glitters added a lot more variation and depth to the color, making it vampier and edgier. I likeee. :v

Pictures show one coat of VPV over three coats of Silky Girl's Berry Vampish.

Closeup shot of nail - *fail*

Bottle shot for some glitter spam!

So pretty right?!

Application was pretty ok. As with glitter polishes, it is best to give that bottle some good hard shakes to loosen up the larger glitters from the bottom and sides of the bottle. If it helps, you can groove and shake to one-full song. That should be long enough to do the trick ;) The glitter is also really top-coat hungry so be prepared to plop on two or three coats of top coat for a smooth shiny finish!

And here's the color I used for the underwear: Silky Girl's Berry Vampish!



Well, as the name suggests, it's a dark berry red polish - right up my vampy alley! <3 You can't really see it in this picture but I've used up almost 4-fifth of the bottle - I love it so much! It dries really shiny because it's a jelly. This was three coats. The first coat is slightly streaky but it evens out by the second. I did a third coat for a richer color. You need to be really careful with the nail painting though because it's a nightmare to clean up! >.<

So, what do you think of these vampy shades?

xoxo,
mich

Nail Ideas: Stripes

Hello everyone!!

I apologize for the short hiatus that I took for the week! I had been pretty busy... shopping and catching up on my TV dramas. I hate to admit it but I'm really enjoying the Korean dramas that my sister recommended to me. I just can't stop watching them! :$

Anyway, as an apology for being a bad blogger the whole of the week, I decided to do a bumper post for the entries I did for another nail art competition on Instagram - stripes! Although I made it as one of the finalists, I didn't manage to win the competition but it sure was fun doing all these mani-s! ^_^

This was my first entry for the competition - purple ombre stripes! I thought that it would be fun to try my hands on some ombre nails and added some stripes to make it more interesting.

The base colors used are (from left to right):
Illamasqua - Baptiste
a-england - Lady of the Lake
Purple franken
China Glaze - Light as Air

Hamburglar nails! I did these after McDonalds started having those cute Hello Kitty plushies again. The hamburglar hello kitty was my favorite but I didn't manage to get my hands on any :( Ah wells...

Love-lines! I did these after trying out Essence's A Lovely Secret and decided to add something sweet to the mani. The stripes are done using the stringing method that I've used for the Rainbow Stripes and the hearts are added using a toothpick. I think the hearts need a little more practice :et

Watermelon nails! This mani was done after I was inspired by the watermelon that my mum bought for dessert. My mum thought that the stripes were too straight - in my defense, I did try to make them more wobbly! Funnily enough, when I actually need to make straight stripes, I couldn't for my life get them to be straight enough. :|| Anyway, the watermelon was sure yummmy! ^_^

Gradient effect using stripes! I actually saw this design on someone's T-shirt and I thought it was pretty cool so I tried to do it on my nails. It may not be obvious but when seen from a distance, it does have some gradient effect. I loved how these turned out <3

What do you think of these stripes? Which striped mani is your favorite?

xoxo,
mich