NOTD: Born Pretty Store nail wraps!

Hahahahahaha, ok, I'm really glad that I decided that I'm not going to try to hold myself to any kind of posting schedule, because whatever that schedule would have been obviously I failed it. Whoops! It's not that I haven't been doing nail art (I even did two more Hanukkah manis), but I've had some IRL drama, particularly a bad computer crash that didn't allow me to even edit posts for a while. So I have a bit of a backlog to work through. I'm always active on Instagram though, so check me out there @fedoraharp if you want more regular updates and shop stuff like cool discounts!

Anyway, I got a tooooooon of really nice wraps from the Born Pretty Store for Black Friday, and I'm gonna start wearing them!

Polishes Used:
Ga-de- Rose Fiction (pinky)
Ga-de- Mint Green (index finger)
Color Club- French tip (white base for decals)

NOTD: Abstract Kitties + Pink

There's never a bad time to have cat themed nails. Never. Wedding? Kitties. Funeral? Kitties. Presidential inauguration? KITTIES. I don't have a whole lot to say about these nails besides KITTIES. I did them over a distressed pink brushstroke manicure, and I drew them with acrylic paint.

This was also my first time trying out the Poshe fast dry top coat. It came highly recommended, and I felt like trying something new, so I picked it up along with a bottle of Duri Rejuvacote. I've always defaulted to Seche Vite and OPI Nail Envy, so I'll see how these work out for me! For the time being I don't see a huge difference between dry time/durability/application, but I'm happy with them, b/c I was happy with what I was using before. If I begin to notice a difference I'll post about it!

Disclaimer: I basically drew these kitties from my brain, however my brain is very easily influenced by outside sources. So if you see a resemblance to something you've seen online before, odds are I subconsciously copied it from there, and I'll be happy to credit them if you let me know! Unfortunately off the top of my head I have no idea where I got any of these ideas.

#31DC2015 Day 28- Inspired by a Flag

I honestly wasn't feeling this challenge so much. I haven't in previous years, either, so I guess this category just doesn't do it for me. On the other hand, this did give me the opportunity finally to sneak in some Steven Universe! The flag I chose for this challenge is Rose Quartz's battle flag. I also tried a drag marble on my pinky that's vaguely inspired by Rose's shield, but... it's kinda meh

Polishes used:
WOW cosmetics- 436 (darker pink)
Sacara- 032 (lighter pink)
Acrylic paint

An InLinkz Link-up

#31DC2015 Day 21- Inspired by a Color

My name is Leah, and I have a confession to make...

...I really like the color pink. Like, a lot. When I started out blogging, I objected to it. I felt like it had been force-fed to me too much as a kid and even as an adult, and I had a knee-jerk reaction to pink as a "stereotypically girly" thing. I felt like, well, if I'm going to indulge in this girly hobby, at least I won't fall into excessively girly color habits, right?

And look, I'm still as much of a grumpy feminist as I ever was. I still oppose the whole idea of branding everything and anything for little girls in eye searing pink, with no other color options available. I'm miffed when "his" and "hers" items are allllways pink and blue. It just annoys me, because there are other beautiful colors out there, and all genders should be allowed to partake of all colors with no shame or pressure. It's just that me, as a nail artist, I've grown to appreciate it personally. And so, as my own kind of apology to the color pink, today's post is dedicated to all of it.

I've kind of had similar epiphanies about orange and yellow, although my objection to those had always been aesthetic rather than oversaturation related. I have learned to give my love to all the different colors of the rainbow

I can't believe I just went on a feminist rant about pink nail art. My apologies. Here, have my nails:

Polishes used:
Perfect Chic- Mist (gold base)
Perfect Chic- Hot Fuchsia (fuchsia shimmer)
Perfect Chic- Lovey Dovey (baby pink [dries matte w/o topcoat])
ILNP- Champagne Blush (pink holo [!!!!!!!!!! i need to swatch this on its own at some point it's amazing])

An InLinkz Link-up

#31DC2015 Day 12- Stripes (+ swatch!)

So yeah... this is definitely a holo streak. We're on day five straight where holo is a main component in my manis. What can I say, I have a type! I regret nothing. I also have a particular attachment to this color combo- I love the teal/fuchsia/orange look, or variations on it.

The base for this polish was ILNP Mega, and this is my first time wearing it, so I decided to snap a few photos of it by itself before I put the stripes on top. I'm going to say something blasphemous, and I'm terribly, terribly sorry! But I'm not that impressed by this polish! It took four coats to reach opacity, and while the holo does look really lovely, it wasn't as strong as I expected. I've always thought of ILNP as the benchmark brand for indies, but Mega was kind of a disappointment for me. It was fine, but it didn't wow me like I was hoping for it to.

That said, the formula is fine, if thin, it dried reasonably quickly and to a completely smooth finish with no patches or streaks. Even though I used four coats, I was able to put the striping tape over it after about fifteen minutes (with the help of some fast dry topcoat but still) and it didn't dent.

Polishes used:
ILNP- Mega (holo base)
Color Club- Mrs. Robinson (fuchsia stripes)
Ga-De- Orange Poppy (orange stripes)
China Glaze- Custom Kicks (teal stripes)
LeChat- Black Magic (black stripes)

An InLinkz Link-up

#31DC2015 Day 10- Gradient

The nail polish gods have smiled down upon me today. I wanted to see if I could still get a linear holo effect if I did a sponge gradient with holo polishes, and it worked!! In fact, it kind of looks even more holo than it did pre-gradient. I wonder why that is?

Polishes used:
Color Club- Cosmic Fate (orange holo)
Color Club- Miss Bliss (pink holo)
Color Club- Eternal Beauty (violet holo)
Essence- Glorious Aquarius (old formula) (glitter accent)

An InLinkz Link-up

Gradient/Geometric nails and a Youtube video!

It's been a while! I really should stop making excuses, I should just own up to the fact that I'm an infrequent blogger and be done with it. I have no plans of abandoning this blog, but I also recognize that my life is pretty full right now, so while I might sometimes post multiple times per week, I might also sometimes not even post once a week. Maybe in the future I'll have a little more control over my free time, but for now I'm just going to update when I can. I'll try not to go more than two weeks with no posts though!

Also, I'm somewhat more active on Instagram, since it's a more spontaneous sort of medium, so check me out there! (@fedoraharp)

Recently I got a few new plates from MoYou London, and as with all MoYou plates, I absolutely LOVE them. For this manicure I used the Holy Shapes collection plate #1. And since I love the pairing of vibrant gradients with sharp clean geometric lines, I decided to do that kind of mani.

Colors used:
Golden Rose Color Riche 16 (blue)
China Glaze Custom Kicks (teal)
Color Club Disco Dress (purple)
Ga-de Burgundy Velvet (fuchsia)
Konad black stamping polish

You know, I have a HUGE nail polish collection, but I constantly gravitate towards these polishes in gradients. I should really branch out more XD Not that I don't love this color combo, or these polishes (clearly I have the opposite problem), but I feel like I'm probably not using my collection as effectively as I should.

I almost forgot! I recently published a cute (albeit somewhat pointless) little Youtube video, just a few of my recent pouring videos stuck together one after another set to calming music. Still, I like them better with the music. For some reason I find these things really hypnotic, don't you?

Sinful Colors + GoldNails summer collection

Recently Sinful Colors released a new bright, summery collection in collaboration with Goldi from GoldNails, and they sent me a few nail polishes to review and create some designs with. I am very excited to show them to you here!

לאחרונה, סינפול קולורס הוציאו קולקצית לקים בהירה וקיצית בשיתוף פעולה אם גולדי מ-GoldNails, ושלחו לי חלק מהלקים לסקור ולהכין איתם נייל ארט קייצי. אני מתה להראו לכן מה הכנתי!

In this post I have swatched each of the three colors I was sent, plus three different nail designs, each on a different base.

בפוסט הזה עשיתי סוואצ'ים לכל שלושת הלקים שנשלחו אלי, פלוס שלושה נייל ארטים- כל אחד על בסיס אחר.

Cinderella:

Cinderella is a soft blue cream polish with a hidden pink shimmer. What a perfect name for this polish! This color is perfectly reminiscent of Cinderella's beautiful blue ball gown from the classic Disney movie. The shimmer doesn't change the overall color, but it adds a softness and a magical tone to the look. I used four coats for this swatch.

Cinderella זה לק תכלת אם גימור קרמי עם שימר ורוד עדין. איזה שם מושלם לצבע הזה, נכון? זה בדיוק מזכיר את השמלה המהממת שסינדרלה לבשה בסרט דיסני הקלאסי. השימר לא משנה את הצבע עצמו, אלא מוסיפ לו גימור רך ועדין וקסמי. בתמונות האלה אני מרחתי 4 שכבות.

Easy Going:

Easy Going is another very soft shade, this time a pale nude/pink color that is almost white. I can see why it's called Easy Going, this is a very laid back and easy to wear polish. It's a great base for nail art, too! This polish applied very streaky at first, but after three coats and top coat it is smooth and even.

Easy Going זה גם צבע מאוד עדין, הפעם ניוד/ורוד שכמעט לבן. גם ללק הזה יש שם מאוד מתאים לצבע שלו- זה צבע שממש קל ללבוש אותו, הוא נטרלי אך לא משעמם בכלל. בשכבה הראשונה הלק הזה יצא מאוד לא אחיד, אבל שמתי שלוש שכבות והוא קיבל מראה אחיד ומבריק.

Boogie Nights:

Boogie Nights is a bright, cheerful cream/jelly hybrid which is almost but not quite red. I can't quite call this orange either, I don't really know how to describe it! This one is definitely my favorite nail polish of all three, it's so energetic! I used three coats for this swatch.

Boogie Nights הוא צבע זוהר ושמח, עם גימור קרמי/ג'לי ממש מיוחד. הוא יושב על קו התפר בין אדום וכתום, כך שאני לא ממש יודעת איזה מהם להגדיר אותו! הצבע הזה הוא בהחלט האהוב עלי ביותר מבין שלושתם, הוא ממש אנרגטי ומרענן! בתמונות האלה שמתי שלוש שכבות.

Now for the nail art!

ועכשיו לנייל ארט!

I created this look with a dotting tool, but it can also be recreated with a toothpick or a bobby pin.

את הלוק הזה הכנית עם כלי מנקד, אבל אפשר להכין אותו אפקט אם קיסם שיניים או סיכת סבתא.

I created this look using striping tape as guidelines, but regular tape will work as guidelines too- just be sure the nail polish underneath is 100% dry before applying it.

את הלוק הזה הכנתי עם סלוטייפ שמיוחד ללקים, אבל אפשר גם עם סלוטייפ רגיל. רק ממש חשוב לוודא שהלק 100% יבש לפני ששמים עליו סלוטייפ!

I created this look using the water spotting technique. There are many tutorials for this technique and I am not sure where it originated, but I will briefly describe it: Place a few drops nail polish on the surface of a cup of water and let them spread out for a couple of seconds. Then spray the surface of the water with a mist of cosmetic alcohol or hairspray. The nail poilsh will begin to bubble and split, and in a few more seconds it will look the way it does on my nails. Then you dip your fingers into the water, so that the pattern is transferred on to your nails. It is quite easy to do, although it's pretty messy.

את הלוק הזה הכנתי עם טכניקת "Water Spotting". יש הרבה טיוטוריאלים לזה, אבל אני אסביר בקצרה: לוקחים כוס מים (כדאי בחד-פעמי) ומניחים עליו כמה טיפות לק. אחרי כמה שניות הלק יתפזר על משטח המים. משפריצים קצת אלכוהול קוסמטי או ספריי לשיער עליו, ומייד הלק יתחיל לבעבע ולהתפרק בצורות שנראות כמו מה שיש בתמונות כאן, טובלים את הציפורניים בתוך הכוס, והלק נדבק לציפורניים. זה ממש קל לעשות, אבל עושה המון בלגן!

Sinful colors can be purchased at Superpharm branches all over Israel, and it usually costs between 10-15 shekel per bottle. They have a lot of beautiful colors, and they are very affordable, go check them out!

ניתן להשיג סונפון קולורס בסניפי סופרפארם ברחבי הארץ, בדרך כלל במחירים של 10-15 ש"ח לבקבוק. יש להם המון צבעים מהממים, תלכו לראות!

NOTD: Pastel gradient with flower glitter

This mani is from quite a while back- I have a little bit of a backlog to work through. I may have neglected this blog, but I still did some nail art!

This is a sweet little spring color gradient I made, and for the finishing touch I added some flower glitter on two accent nails:

Polishes used: (I think! This is pretty old so there's a little guesswork involved)
Ga-De 505 Mexican Rose (pink)
Ga-De 435 Peach Sorbet (orange)
Ga-De 502 Curry Delight (yellow) (special thanks to Yael from PaintThemAll for showing this gorgeous yellow to me! I don't often buy yellow so I never would have purchased it otherwsie)
Ga-De 60 Pink Daisy (glitter topper)

NOTD: Thermal gradient

I recently picked up a bunch of polishes from Superficially Colorful, and among them were several thermal polishes. Her thermals are really great, the color shift is always super dramatic and they are great to apply and have fantastic opacity. So what's better than a thermal polish? Three of them, gradient-ified!

Warm

Cold

I also took a video of the transition, which is pretty dramatic:

Sadly, I don't remember the name of the blue polish (I lent it to a friend so I can't check) but the middle polish is Giggly and the red polish is Enthralled. They're all a little bit more vivid when worn on their own (since it's sponged on it's a little more sheer), but I love them this way too!

NOTD: Lacy accent stamping

This was a fairly simple manicure, but I always love going back to the simple-outer-nails + arty-inner-nails pattern. It's a great classic and I don't think it'll ever go out of style. Two noteworthy things here: The outer polish is a standard cream, but it actually stamped really nicely! And the pale base for the inner two nails is technically a pale pink, but I guess the teal stamping reflected off of it and made it look almost white.

Polishes used: 

Ga-De Denim Dream (swatched here)

La Sera 44

Swatched: Ga-de Designs collection

Ga-de has done it again! They are definitely scoping the market, because they just released a collection (called Designs from what I've been able to ascertain) that is similar to a lot of the glitter bombs put out by some of the more well know indies out there.

This series has four polishes, each composed of two different sizes of hexes plus one larger type of glitter. For two of them the larger glitters are flowers, and for the other two they are stars.

A note on the formula: They all have the same application- it's very easy to apply the hexes, and you have to do a little fishing around and placement to get the larger glitters out. Still, it's not very hard to 'catch' the larger glitters, they're fairly cooperative. And that's more or less the standard application for particles that size. I noticed that the stars were slightly easier than the flowers, possibly because the pointy tips get caught in the brush more easily. Then again, it was really a very slight difference, so I could be imagining it.

Pink Daisy (60)

Daisy Bloom (61)

Blue Star (63)

Rising Star (64) (aka why did Ga-de make a Captain America polish? Not that I'm complaining)

Each of these polishes can be purchased at Superpharm for around 15 shekel, unless they're not 'on sale' (really they're usually 15 shekel or so and occasionally they 'end the sale' to show us what a good deal we're getting paying 15). Sometimes you can get Ga-de polishes at Hamasbir too, but they usually have a smaller selection, and not so much new stuff.

Which one of these do you want?

31DC2014 Day 12- Stripes

I am trying to get more creative with my color schemes, and I came up with this. One of my coworkers commented that it looked "very 1980's". Whaddaya think, should I call this retro? Or accidentally retro?

An InLinkz Link-up