Polish Days To Boldly Go: Battlestar Galactica Cylons with Illamasqua and Nerdlacquer

I always seem to get my inspiration for the Polish Days challenge at the last minute, and this month was no different.  I was trying to think of my favorite scifi shows, which are pretty much all of them, and realized that I needed to do something for Battlestar Galactica.  I didn't watch this show while it was airing, instead, I discovered in on Netflix after the series had ended.  I was addicted after watching the first episode, and watched back to back episodes of all four seasons over the course of a few weeks, sometimes cramming in five or six 1 hour episodes in a night.  It was thrilling and novel, and the storyline was epic.  I think it's probably one of my all time favorite shows ever to date.  That being said, if you haven't seen it, you need to watch it. Like, now!!

I based my mani on the Cylons in the movie, because I think the robots are so creepy but the women are stunningly beautiful.  For the red, I used Illamasqua Throb, a highly pigmented creamy red that is nearly a one coater, and then for the black, I used Illamasqua Boosh, a creamy black with similar formula.  The glitter on my pink and ring is Nerdlacquer HOCCHHHKSSSHHHHH(yes, I know it's not from the same series but hello, it's scifi!).  For the Cylon robot I used Illa Snap for the dark shimmery silver and DSW for the lighter grey areas.  The characters I cheated and used a silver Sharpie that was nearby.  The number 8 represents Grace Park's character Boomer, and the number 6 represents Tricia Helfer's character, over red polish to represent her iconic and sexy red dress. And how could I not use the word "Frak," BG's favorite curse word throughout the entire series?

Polish Days Sci Fi:  Battlestar Galactica Cyclons with Illamasqua and Nerdlacquer

Polish Days Sci Fi:  Battlestar Galactica Cyclons with Illamasqua and Nerdlacquer

Polish Days Sci Fi:  Battlestar Galactica Cyclons with Illamasqua and Nerdlacquer

Polish Days Sci Fi:  Battlestar Galactica Cyclons with Illamasqua and Nerdlacquer

I'm sure the other ladies contributing to Polish Days came up with some out of this world ideas, so please check them out below!

Polish Days The Number 5: The 5th Element

My post is late for this month's Polish Days Theme because inspiration hit me late this time.  I had a hard time coming up with something involving the number five, but then remembered I had Emily de Molly's The 5th Element polish that I hadn't fully swatched yet.  I centered my manicure around this polish and the movie, and had a lot of fun incorporating taping and texture.  The EdM polish is a blue cream base with orange and blue hex glitters, and it took three smooth and easy coats for opacity.  I combined this with Zoya Purity for the white and Jessie G's Sugar Rush for the orange.

Here's the finger breakdown of this mani:  my ring finger is Leeloo's orange suspenders that I did with striping tape and a dotting tool.  My index is the textured Sugar Rush which reminds me of Leeloo's hair, and finally my thumb is a heart to represent the 5th element, Love.  I used two pieces of tape to cut out halves of the heart and then after placing it on my nail, I painted the heart in with Sugar Rush.  All fingers are finished with a layer of topcoat except my index to maintain the sand finish.

Polish Days The Number 5: The 5th Element

Polish Days The Number 5: The 5th Element

Polish Days The Number 5: The 5th Element

Polish Days The Number 5: The 5th Element

Polish Days The Number 5: The 5th Element

I'm actually pretty pleased by the way this mani turned out.  I still have a long way to go before I'll become comfortable doing nail art, but by keeping it simple, it turned out fairly clean and eye appealing.  I really love the movie The 5th Element too, it's a movie that I watched quite a lot when I was younger. What's not to love about a kick ass orange haired girl that says Multi Pass??

Be sure to check out the rest of the brilliant Number 5 manis by the other Polish Days ladies by clicking on any of the pics below.

Polish Days 7 Deadly Sins: Lust

Today is Polish Day and the theme for this month is the seven deadly sins.  I had a hard time coming up with a mani, at one point I wanted to do Greed but then after it got too complicated, I decided on a simpler approach and opted for Lust instead.  And what better way to transform Lust into a mani than a red and black french tip mani?  I used two coats of China Glaze Red Satin and then finished the tips with two coats of Sinful Colors Black On Black.  Pardon the bubbles in the mani, LO was playing with my nearly empty bottle of SH Insta Dri and she dropped and shaked the bottle quite a bit. Pesky vapor bubbles!

Polish Days Seven Deadly Sins: Lust

Polish Days Seven Deadly Sins: Lust

Polish Days Seven Deadly Sins: Lust

Polish Days Seven Deadly Sins: Lust

For more deadly sins manicures, click on one of the other ladies posts below!  They're all great.

Polish Days: Vintage Newspaper Print Collage

Hi!  It's another installment of Polish Days and this month's theme is Vintage.  I must admit, I had a lot of trouble coming up with a mani for this theme since I'm not really a fan of vintage.  I tend to steer towards more contemporary art, or more specifically, street art.  I think that's why I chose to do a vintage newspaper background for my nails and stamped flowers and leaves over top.  Here's a picture that inspired me:

I used OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons for the base, and then used Sinful Color's Sweet Nothing for my dots and stripes.  I used my bundle monster plates to stamp the flowers and leaves using Essence Into The Dark.  It didn't turn out as clean as I wanted it to, but overall I don't think I did too bad for my first stamping mani. :)

Polish Days: Vintage Newspaper Print Collage

Polish Days: Vintage Newspaper Print Collage

Polish Days: Vintage Newspaper Print Collage

Polish Days: Vintage Newspaper Print Collage

Polish Days: Vintage Newspaper Print Collage

I'm still trying to grow out my middle finger after the big break so you can see that it's still a bit stubby.  Hopefullly in another week I'll be up and running full steam because I've got some great polishes to show you.   Stay tuned, and in the meantime, check out the other ladies Vintage themed manis for this month down below.  Thanks for stopping by!

Polish Days Nature - Sunrise Clouds with Rescue Beauty Lounge

 I had a lovely day today, LO and I started it off with a movie at the theater.  Not the typical movie I would want to see, but Warm Bodies actually turned out to be enjoyable and fun.  I would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a lighthearted and funny movie.  My in-laws just arrived this afternoon, so I have the week to look forward to spend with them.  Yay.

When I found out what the next Polish Days theme was, Nature, I knew I was going to have trouble coming up with a good mani.  I'm not super talented with nail art, and the theme itself was a bit of challenge.  I didn't want to do something too easy like white glitter for snow or an underwater themed blue nail polish, so I came up with an idea of lightning, but after trying it out with a sponge gradient, I totally failed. I couldn't get my art brush to make thin enough lines for the actual lightning.  So instead I went easy and did a simple cloud manicure.

I envisioned this cloud manicure as that moment during sunrise when the sky is dark to the west and you can see the progressive lightening of the sky towards the east into shades of purple and blue.  I started with a dark blue base of Rescue Beauty Lounge Under The Stars, which I thought aptly named for this mani.  I then used a a middle layer of Rescue Beauty Mismas, a medium blue based purple creme.  I used Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant for the last cloud layer, and then topped it all off with a iridescent glitter by NYX to represent the stars that would still be in the sky. I added a layer of SH Insta Dri to quicken the drying time.  If you're wondering why I used RBLs for this mani, it's because they're the most organized polishes in my helmer and I know that they're all nearly one coat opaque polishes so they'd be ideal for layering light colors over dark.

Polish Days Nature - Sunrise Clouds

Polish Days Nature - Sunrise Clouds

Polish Days Nature - Sunrise Clouds

Polish Days Nature - Sunrise Clouds

Polish Days Nature - Sunrise Clouds

Polish Days Nature - Sunrise Clouds

 All in all I don't think it turned out too bad, but I'm not sure if it's really a "nature" themed mani, although I think sunrises and sunsets are nature at it's full glory.  What I liked best is that I didn't have any cleanup!  Imagine that, a nail art mani with no clean up.  LOL.

Please check out the rest of the awesome nature themed manis for Polish Days by clicking on any of the pictures below!

Polish Days Something New: Saran Wrap with Rescue Beauty Lounge GOMM

I'm the first to admit that I'm a terrible artist so as a warning, so never expect much from me when it comes to nail art.  I'll dabble here and there but I can never get any of the techniques right. I'm envious of the girls that do it well and I'm happy to drool over their work.  Since this month's Polish Day theme is Something New, I'd figured I'd do something easy in the nail art realm and that's a Saran Wrap manicure.  I used two polishes from the Rescue Beauty Lounge GOMM collection, Faraway as my base and Ghost for the Saran Wrap effect.

Saran Wrap with Rescue Beauty Lounge GOMM

Saran Wrap with Rescue Beauty Lounge GOMM

Saran Wrap with Rescue Beauty Lounge GOMM

I love how these two colors compliment each other.  Both colors were well pigmented and I had no trouble with streaking or application during the process.  I used two coats of Faraway followed with a layer of Poshe before applying Ghost and doing the Saran Wrap effect.  I learned the hard way though - my right hand I did first and it's a mess because I didn't do each nail individually.  Instead, I painted Ghost on all of them and then tried to do the Saran Wrap effect at the same time but despite working quickly the polish dried too much and the effect majorly failed.

Overall, not a bad mani for my first nail art post here on the blog!  I had fun doing this and I thank Polly and Polish Days for motivating me to try something new.

Bonus pics:  Rescue Beauty Lounge Faraway before Saran Wrap effect.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Faraway

Rescue Beauty Lounge Faraway

Rescue Beauty Lounge Faraway

Rescue Beauty Lounge Faraway

Be sure to check out the rest of the manis below for Polish Days!

Polish Days: Bling it like Beyonce!

Today is December's Polish Day event and the theme is Bling.  I wanted it to be supertastic sparkly so I started with a gold foil, Revlon's Gold Coin, and then topped it with Matesse Elite Je Taime and finished with Funky Fingers Golden Coast.  The result is a gold glittertastic bomb, and I love it!

Revlon Gold Coast - formula was watery but full coverage in two coats.

Revlon Gold Coin

Revlon Gold Coin

Now, with a layer of Matesse Elite Je Taime, a golden iridescent hex glitter.  Formula was thick but workable.  I prefer this combination the best but for this theme, it needs a little more glitter.

Matesse Elite Je Taime

Matesse Elite Je Taime

Now the final coat, Funky Finger's Golden Coast.  The formula was easy to apply and not thick.

Funky Fingers Golden Coast

Funky Fingers Golden Coast

Funky Fingers Golden Coast

Funky Fingers Golden Coast

Funky Fingers Golden Coast

There you have it, my take on a blingtastic mani worthy of Beyonce.  If you'd like to add your mani for today's theme, make sure you click here and add your submission.  Follow me for more fun manis to come!