Catching up!

Hi everyone,


I'm so sorry to have been absent for over a week. I really wish life would just send a small announcement before it switches to rollercoaster mode :( I did paint my nails though and took pictures, I just didn't have the time to edit the pictures and write an article... So before continuing, make sure to have some beverages and snacks within reach as I have three manicures to show you so it's a long post this time.

The first (and most eye blinding one of the lot) is one that I totally blame my husband for! I asked him to pick out a color. I should have known he would pick one that I had never used before out of fear of causing accidents while in traffic... so you are warned! Are your sunglasses in place? ;)

On my thumb, index and middle finger you see one coat of Cirque Colors Carpe Diem (to make it pop even more) and three coats of Cirque Colors Electric Daisy. I combined this ultra bright neon marker yellow with the only two colors that didn't clash: white Carpe Diem and black Cirque Colors Memento Mori and stamped palm trees from Born Pretty plate BP-31 using Memento Mori. I finished with a generous coat of Seche Vite. Oh, and did you notice the trees aren't upside down? *gives self pat on shoulder*


Next is a much more subdued manicure that I did after blinding myself and my surroundings for four days. I really craved something a little less obvious so I chose two neutrals from the new Catrice ICONails line, nude colored 38 Honeymoon Is Coming Soon (HICS) and brownish pink colored 10 Rosywood Hills. I combined them with a-england Briarwood, a pretty brown red scattered holo.

I started by painting two thin coats of Briarwood on my thumb, index and pinky and a thin coat of HICS on my middle and ring finger. When that had dried a little I did a gradient using HICS and Rosywood Hills and finished by stamping a geometric image from B Loves Plates B.07 Beauty of Simplicity using Briarwood, and a coat of Seche Vite of course.


Unfortunately my demure manicure didn't live very long as it started chipping after a day (no idea why as normally I don't have any problems with chipping) so I decided to once again go for more summer-y colors. This time I picked a lovely periwinkle blue, Catrice C03 Côte D'Azur-Flair (CDAF) from the Marina Hoermanseder collection, and ILNP La Catedral, a medium gray holo with flakies in it.

I painted my thumb, index and pinky with three thin coats of CDAF. The color is absolutely lovely, the formula isn't as lovely though as it didn't want to self level very well (but a coat of Seche Vite evened it out nicely) but it was manageable. Next I painted my middle and ring finger with OPI Alpine Snow and a coat of Seche Vite. When that had dried completely I used pieces of Scotch tape to create a triangle at the tip of my nails that was filled in with CDAF. Another coat of Seche Vite to help it dry and more Scotch tape to block off the space to paint with La Catedral. In hindsight I should have picked a different polish as La Catedral is gorgeous but doesn't cover very well so I had to use quite a thick coat to get it sort of opaque. I could still see the blue peeking through a little when I looked at my nails in close up but fortunately other people don't tend to look at my nails like that so it was good enough for me ;) Of course a coat of Seche Vite finished the manicure as well.


As usual the bottle shots:

Cirque Colors Carpe Diem, Cirque Colors Electric Daisy, Cirque Colors Memento Mori

Catrice Honeymoon Is Coming Soon, Catrice Rosywood Hills, a-england Briarwood

OPI Alpine Snow, Catrice C03 Côte D'Azur-Flair, ILNP La Catedral

I really liked all three manicures as they each suited my mood at the time I wore them but the first one is my favorite. I have to admit I had a 'gulp' moment when I saw my husband picked Electric Daisy but it was gorgeous weather and everyone seemed a bit happier than usual so it was absolutely perfect for the occasion and seeing it again brings a big grin to my face. Do you have a favorite?



Cirque Colors Carpe Diem, Electric Daisy and Memento Mori, and a-england Briarwood were bought from Pretty Polish.
ILNP La Catedral was bought from Hypnotic Polish.