Thursday, October 29, 2009

Sequins and spiders

Hello ladies, 

Today my nails are embellished with silver spiders and diaphanous sequins. This Halloween look is a blend of  spookiness and elegance. It would be a festive decoration for a costume ball or carnevale. The base color for this design is Crushed Velvet from the Diamond Cosmetics Winter Collection. I will be showing the other three polishes from the winter release next week. The spiders are found on Konad plate M28. The design was stamped in silver special polish. The funky french with hexagonal glitter was painted with Hard Candy Breakup.

My friend Sarada came by the store today and spirited me away for lunch. We went out for a pot of Earl Grey tea and plates of Thai noodles with steamed vegetables. We walked along the canal path to gaze at leaves. Come, share our view!





This was our view as we dined on Pad Thai in outdoor terrace seating.  The bamboo is lacy in the sunlight.

The canal path is like the yellow brick road, formed of fallen leaves. 

The area above has provided backgrounds for many Thursday manicures. I set up props and polishes on the wooden posts.

Crushed Velvet is a dark purple creme. It could easily be compared to an eggplant in color by someone without food allergies to that baneful vegetable. I am going to classify Crushed Velvet as an inky purple. The polish appears almost black in low light. Crushed Velvet is the perfect shade for vampy lovers. 

My first experience with Diamond Cosmetics began with this bottle of Crushed Velvet. The winter collection was sent to me for review. I am pleased by the application this polish. It was perfectly opaque and even in two coats. The retail price point is $2 USD per bottle. The quality far exceeds the cost. I'm looking forward to exploring the offerings of this brand. 

The thought of Hard Candy Breakup almost makes walking into a Wal-mart a bearable experience. I don't have a single polish quite resembling it in my collection. I was so surprised how much the green, orange and gold undertones were highlighted when the glitter was layered over a dark base. Sarada commented that the glitter has a Nfu-Oh flakie quality. There is an incredible depth and expression to these tiny sequins on my nails, much like looking at autumn leaves. 

Happy painting, ladies.

13 comments:

  1. I really like that funky French though as I am dreadfully scared of spiders I would probably have used another design ^_^

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  2. I love spiders so this one is right up my web!
    Have you tried HC Sugar Daddy it looks fabulous layered over Black, navy and deep purples. It has a great gold flash and very subtle green and pink/red shimmer.

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  3. This is really cute, I love the polish that you used for the tips!

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  4. chocaddict: Thank you! It was so sweet of you to comment given your feelings about spiders. I'm glad you found the funky french more inviting.

    Evil Angel: Thanks so much! I knew this is a look you would wear! I did pick up Sugar Daddy. I am excited to try that it. <3

    gildedangel: Thanks! Breakup really glows! I wish the polish expressed itself as well in photos as in person.

    LiseyDuck: Thank you! I decided to wear this look an extra day because the spiders enchanted me so. ;)

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  5. Very sweet mani! Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos too.

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  6. When I saw this in person I was completely blown away by the purple polish in this -- it's such a deep creamy grape, it's my dream purple polish!! I already have the glitter so I could almost recreate this if I can get some! :D

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  7. That is an awesome glitter! I love the spiders and Crushed Velvet as well! Sounds like a lovely lunch! I am wondering if you ate at Wildflowers! I love that little restaurant up there ;)

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  8. Nice nails! Your nails are sooo long!!!

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  9. Love this manicure! The Hard Candy used for the French is absolutely fantastic. Love the spiders. Thank you for all the beautiful photos. Nothing more beautiful as Fall leaves.

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  10. Autumn is so nice.. All the colours out there.. such an inspiration and nice before the winter sets in :)

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  11. Velvet: Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the fall scenes I had captured.

    artbysarada: It's the perfect purple for you. Diamond polishes are a great value. I have a swatch page of their inventory. I bet you would love Chainmail Charm and Never So Evergreen!

    beautyjudy: It was Wildflowers! I love dining on the terrace especially when the Thai chef is in the kitchen. We should go sometime! Glad you liked the manicure too! :)

    Lisa: Thank you! Indeed they are!

    Lucy: Thank you greatly! I am so happy you like the look. I love spiders. They are such wonderfully creative beings. I have been enjoying the bit of fall around us and am happy to share. <3

    rijaH: I love colors on the trees and on my nails too. <3

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  12. oh I am much too late on commeting for this notd, but since I often wear spiders and spiderwebs on my nails, I just have to *g* I really like the contrast of the "scary" spider to the opalescent flakies :) and I really like that you often enclose photos of landscapes, flowers or plants. I like going for walks a lot and I often photograph the scenery. Now that I have a digicam, this is really easy. When I was younger, we only had those normal cams with some sort of raw film in them and you never saw how your photos turned out until you got them as paper-photographs ... digicams are so much better :)

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