Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Treasure in a deep sea cave

Hello ladies,

My manicure today reminds me of treasure found in a deep sea cave. What kind of wonders would one encounter? The glinting of diaphanous fish scales, ocean worn coins, deep water plants aglow in the blackened green waters...perhaps the curl of a mermaid's tail?

I began with Hard Candy Envy as the shimmering green base. I used an Art Club striper in Limeade to define a Funky French. Then, I layered the glittering wonderland that is Break Up over two thirds of my nail.

The sun was very playful late this afternoon. In a short period, the lighting ranged from blaring brightness to a diffuse glow. I captured my nails under all the different lights available. I was really intrigued how the hex glitter in Break Up altered under varying conditions. I can't decide which I favor most. Each has it's charm.







I was able to achieve a nicely arched smile line with the Art Club striper. It's easier to see the look in the photo above.
I was so excited to see a yellow, peach tipped rosebud! My favorite flowers are emerging!

I created another look with Envy in January. Some of you may remember my green faery manicure. This polish is versatile and works well as a base for design ideas. It's easy to apply and opaque in two coats. Perfect!

Break Up is a well behaved hex glitter. There is no fishing for glitter pieces with this polish! The formula is packed with tiny silver sparkles and large hexagons that glint orange, gold or green at different angles. It's a fascinating polish!

Envy and Break Up are part of my personal collection. You can view the entire line of Hard Candy cosmetics and nail polish at hardcandy.com. To purchase, visit a Walmart retail location or shop on-line at walmart.com. For a chance to win all 16 polishes in the Hard Candy Just Nails line, stop by the contest post to enter.

Happy painting, ladies!

19 comments:

  1. That is mesmerizing. The colors remind me of pearl inlay.

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  2. Diana, this is really a beauty! I just love it. And the name is perfect!

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  3. What you did is amazing, but I think your nails are too long. No offense, just thinking it would look better on a lil bit shorter nails. :)

    Anyways, nice job!

    xoxo

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  4. i absolutely LOVE your polished but i have to ask- do you have an efficient way to get off the glitter polishes? i have used acetone and acetone free polish removers but i have to scrub like crazy to get ALL the glitters off. Thanks!!! charlie

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  5. I am LOVING the chunky glitter!! So pretty.
    CharlieFlii if you get a white piece of felt( it has to be white otherwise the color will run onto your nail and stain) and use it with nail polish remover you shouldnt have a problem:)

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  6. Laura: Thank you! I see what you mean. The iridescence does look a bit like the sheen on a pearl, especially the ones with a peach tint. We could find those in a sea cave too. ;)

    Skulda: Thanks so much! I appreciate your compliment on my photography.

    Jean: *curtseys*

    Nicole: Thank you, sweetie! I have been wanting to pair these two polishes for awhile. I'm so glad you like what I came up with!

    nusa ann: Thank you for the compliments on my nail art. I'm not offended at all. No worries. When I put 'long nails' in the header under my blog title, it wasn't with any intent to take off length. I can appreciate it's not a length for everyone. ;)

    Liana: Thank you, dear! <3

    charlie: Please don't scrub. That's all I ask. It can really cause damage and eventually breakage. I love glitter too, but there is a safer way.

    First, check under my apothecary label for some salon quality polish removers. A good remover will be so very useful. Then get white felt from the craft store and cut it into squares that are slightly larger than you nails. It's important to choose white because the dye in colored felt could dissolve with polish remover and be messy.

    What comes next will sound crazy, but it works. Place the saturated felt over your nail and wrap a piece of tinfoil around the nail to hold the felt firmly in place. Wait 5-7 minutes. Remove the foil. The toughest glitter should slide right off. I do one entire hand at a time. I need to put a tutorial on this together! I hope this helps you! <3

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  7. paintedbluestars: Thanks so much! Break Up is amazing! I think we were both writing about our devotion to white felt at the same time. :)

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  8. It's really pretty! I wore Break Up on sunday and I was suprised how nice it looked on top of Mr. Wrong.

    Now I want Hard Candy polishes and they're not available here, mehhh!

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  9. This is really unique :) I've not seen a mani quite like it before.

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  10. Wow ! Really beautiful ! I love your manicure ^^

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  11. That is a great combination!
    I didn't think I needed Break Up, but now I do. Beautiful mani!

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  12. Gosh! What a lovely mani! And Break Up is out of this world! Might be a nice sub for the new Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. What a gorgeous layering glitter.Looks like a flakie!

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  13. A mermaids tail would be a lovely match for your manicure. Another favorite one of mine. I adore watching underwater specials on the Natinal Geographic channel. They are mesmerizing as this manicure is. I always see another sea creature with such beautiful colors on it. Yellow roses are my girlfriends favorites. I love pink and red roses. Well I can say I love them all. Wish I could afford to have fresh flowers sent weekly. I remember reading about someone who had money who had fresh flowers delivered a few times a week. They said that was their favorite indulgence. Wouldn't it be wonderful?

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