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| Zazzy chevrons nail art |
Showing posts with label Misa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Misa. Show all posts
25 July 2014
GOT Polish Challenge: Zazzy Chevrons With Misa Lime Love
Hi everyone! I'm two weeks behind on the "Golden Oldies Thursday" challenge, and since I'm very determined to finish this time (not that I get a certificate or any kind of credential!), I'm going to be playing catchup. So I spent the last day pulling out a few of my favourite polishes to do some nail art. For more on the GOT Challenge, you can read my last post.
28 September 2013
31 Day Challenge: Day Twenty-Three, Inspired By A Movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Hi everyone! It looks like both Lindsey and I are late again on this challenge. Suffice it to say that our posting schedule is now Tuesday or Wednesday and Friday or Saturday. I feel like we've come so far on this challenge that I'm actually starting to feel sad that it will soon be over - then I realize we have another month because of our two day a week schedule!
About this design: I had two criteria for the movie for today's challenge: first, it had to be something that I could easily translate to nail art. Many movies have amazing imagery and effects, but much of it is too difficult to make into nail art. And second, it had to be available on Netflix, because I actually wanted to see the movie while I was doing my nails.
I had seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind several years ago, and for some reason it popped into my mind. If you are familiar with the movie, then you will know I took the design from the cover image. My thumb nail is an abstract representation of Clementine's hair, which changes colours throughout the movie, from green, to red, to orange, to blue. It's a bit disjointed from the rest of the design, but I felt it needed something else.
To get this look: I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Using a tiny piece of makeup sponge I dabbed on a mixture of blues and greys until I had a nice background that went from dark to light. For that step I used Misa Blueberry Blast (pale blue), Girly Bits Elephant Shoe (grey creme), My Boyfriend Scales Walls (white), and Essie Smooth Sailing (mid-value greyish blue). My index and pinky fingers were topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust.
I painted the ice break with white polish and Smooth Sailing to define it. The figures were painted freehand with black polish thinned with nail polish thinner. For the colours on the thumb I used Nubar Resort Yellow, Forbidden Fruit (orange), On The Radar (red), My New Obsession, and Into the Wild (green). The yellow and orange I mixed together to make a brighter orange, the other colours I used straight.
Overall, I like how it turned out, despite the more literal representation. However, if I were to do it again, I'd take out the figures and make it much more abstract dealing with the idea of fractured memories. After watching the film again, that was one of the themes that really stood out for me.
What do you think of this? How would you do the "inspired by a movie" prompt?
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| Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind inspired nail art |
About this design: I had two criteria for the movie for today's challenge: first, it had to be something that I could easily translate to nail art. Many movies have amazing imagery and effects, but much of it is too difficult to make into nail art. And second, it had to be available on Netflix, because I actually wanted to see the movie while I was doing my nails.
I had seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind several years ago, and for some reason it popped into my mind. If you are familiar with the movie, then you will know I took the design from the cover image. My thumb nail is an abstract representation of Clementine's hair, which changes colours throughout the movie, from green, to red, to orange, to blue. It's a bit disjointed from the rest of the design, but I felt it needed something else.
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| Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind inspired nail art |
To get this look: I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Using a tiny piece of makeup sponge I dabbed on a mixture of blues and greys until I had a nice background that went from dark to light. For that step I used Misa Blueberry Blast (pale blue), Girly Bits Elephant Shoe (grey creme), My Boyfriend Scales Walls (white), and Essie Smooth Sailing (mid-value greyish blue). My index and pinky fingers were topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust.
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| Thumb design inspired by Clementine's hair |
I painted the ice break with white polish and Smooth Sailing to define it. The figures were painted freehand with black polish thinned with nail polish thinner. For the colours on the thumb I used Nubar Resort Yellow, Forbidden Fruit (orange), On The Radar (red), My New Obsession, and Into the Wild (green). The yellow and orange I mixed together to make a brighter orange, the other colours I used straight.
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| Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind inspired nail art |
Overall, I like how it turned out, despite the more literal representation. However, if I were to do it again, I'd take out the figures and make it much more abstract dealing with the idea of fractured memories. After watching the film again, that was one of the themes that really stood out for me.
What do you think of this? How would you do the "inspired by a movie" prompt?
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25 September 2013
31 Day Challenge: Day Twenty-Two, Inspired By A Song: Yesterday
Hi everyone! I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words yesterday regarding my piCture pOlish Blog Fest award. It really means a lot to me. I've been very bad about not responding to comments, but I hope to catch up in the next day or two.
Today's challenge was another one I struggled with. The prompt asks you to do nail art that is inspired by a song. I have seen people do more literal representations of songs, and others do interpretations that are broader and only take the song as a starting point. I would think this design falls into the latter category.
About this design: I took the Beatles' song "Yesterday" as my inspiration. Specifically I was interested in the idea of an end to a love affair. The idea is that love can be described as "la vie en rose" which is a French expression meaning "life through rose-coloured glasses." The grey represents the shadow that encroaches on life after love ends. I designed it so that it would be read from left to right.
To get this look: My first step was to sketch the fracture, then I painted my nails with the base colours, Misa Blueberry Blast and Girly Bits Elephant Shoe (for the grey), being very careful when I got near the fracture. I painted the grey stripes with Elephant Shoe, Orly Liquid Vinyl (black), and Sally Hansen White On, mixing them to get the shades of grey I wanted. The roses were painted with Misa Lovely Lychee, Ripe Rashberry and Lime Love. I then repainted the fracture line.
I'm not sure if this really represents the song, but as I said, it was inspired by it, so technically that counts. Regardless, I really like this design and love how it looks on the nails.
What do you think of this? What song would you chose for this prompt?
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Today's challenge was another one I struggled with. The prompt asks you to do nail art that is inspired by a song. I have seen people do more literal representations of songs, and others do interpretations that are broader and only take the song as a starting point. I would think this design falls into the latter category.
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| 31 Day Challenge: Inspired By A Song |
About this design: I took the Beatles' song "Yesterday" as my inspiration. Specifically I was interested in the idea of an end to a love affair. The idea is that love can be described as "la vie en rose" which is a French expression meaning "life through rose-coloured glasses." The grey represents the shadow that encroaches on life after love ends. I designed it so that it would be read from left to right.
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| 31 Day Challenge: Inspired By A Song |
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday...
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| 31 Day Challenge: Inspired By A Song |
To get this look: My first step was to sketch the fracture, then I painted my nails with the base colours, Misa Blueberry Blast and Girly Bits Elephant Shoe (for the grey), being very careful when I got near the fracture. I painted the grey stripes with Elephant Shoe, Orly Liquid Vinyl (black), and Sally Hansen White On, mixing them to get the shades of grey I wanted. The roses were painted with Misa Lovely Lychee, Ripe Rashberry and Lime Love. I then repainted the fracture line.
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| 31 Day Challenge: Inspired By A Song |
I'm not sure if this really represents the song, but as I said, it was inspired by it, so technically that counts. Regardless, I really like this design and love how it looks on the nails.
What do you think of this? What song would you chose for this prompt?
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12 July 2013
31 Day Challenge: Day One, Red: Freehand Poppies
Hi everyone! Today I'll be starting the 31 Day Challenge along with Lindsey of Wondrously Polished. I'm very excited because I've heard that the 31 Day Challenge is a good way to improve your nail art skills, also I love Lindsey's nail art, so she's the perfect partner in crime! We won't be doing it everyday, instead we're on a two day a week schedule, which will be Tuesdays and Fridays for now. Make sure you check out Lindsey's blog for her design.
About this design: Day one is red, and I originally planned some gradient/tape/stud skittle mani, but at the last minute changed my mind to do some flowers instead. Here I've done some red poppies, made to look like they are in some field. The original inspiration was the watercolours of Emile Nolde, or some vague memory I had of his watercolour paintings of flowers. But I was also thinking of a nail art design I did over the holidays, coniferous trees in the winter done in a painterly style. So I really liked the idea of doing something impressionistic and painterly.
To get this look: I started with a base of Sally Hansen White On, and I sponged on some medium blue along the top, light blue in the middle, and light green along the bottom. I just dabbed on the colours with bits of sponge until I had a gradient that I was satisfied with.
Then, I did a light sketch of my flowers in orange, which I thinned down. After that, I painted in the poppies with my red, and when that was dried, I added some highlights with an orange-red and shadows with a purple-red. The stems were painted with a darker green, then a touch of dark blue where I needed the darks to be emphasized.
After it dried I finished with a coat of KBShimmer Clearly On Top, then when that had dried, Essie Matte About You.
Polishes used:
Cover Girl Go-Go Mango: orange used for highlights on flowers
Essie Snap Happy: red for poppies
Essie The More the Merrier: lime green used for grass
Nubar Into the Wild: darker green used for grass, stems
Nubar My New Obsession: darker blue used for sky
Polished By Alexandra Beach Glass: light blue used for sky
Misa BreakAway: purple used for darkening the red and green
Essie Midnight Cami: deep blue, used only a touch to add dark edges on some stems
Tips for freehand painting: I like to thin my polishes with thinner to make them easy to work with. It's good to let things dry first before painting over them or adding highlights/shadows. Sometimes I like to use a drybrush technique. This is when you have hardly any polish on your brush and it makes a line that is broken. You can see this in the grass area.
Overall, I really love this design, but I'm hoping that I'm not cheating because my nails aren't completely red.
What do you think of this? Would a tutorial on freehand painting be useful or of interest?
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| Freehand poppies nail art |
About this design: Day one is red, and I originally planned some gradient/tape/stud skittle mani, but at the last minute changed my mind to do some flowers instead. Here I've done some red poppies, made to look like they are in some field. The original inspiration was the watercolours of Emile Nolde, or some vague memory I had of his watercolour paintings of flowers. But I was also thinking of a nail art design I did over the holidays, coniferous trees in the winter done in a painterly style. So I really liked the idea of doing something impressionistic and painterly.
 |
| Freehand poppies nail art |
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| Freehand poppies nail art |
To get this look: I started with a base of Sally Hansen White On, and I sponged on some medium blue along the top, light blue in the middle, and light green along the bottom. I just dabbed on the colours with bits of sponge until I had a gradient that I was satisfied with.
Then, I did a light sketch of my flowers in orange, which I thinned down. After that, I painted in the poppies with my red, and when that was dried, I added some highlights with an orange-red and shadows with a purple-red. The stems were painted with a darker green, then a touch of dark blue where I needed the darks to be emphasized.
After it dried I finished with a coat of KBShimmer Clearly On Top, then when that had dried, Essie Matte About You.
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| Freehand poppies nail art |
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| Freehand poppies nail art |
Polishes used:
Cover Girl Go-Go Mango: orange used for highlights on flowers
Essie Snap Happy: red for poppies
Essie The More the Merrier: lime green used for grass
Nubar Into the Wild: darker green used for grass, stems
Nubar My New Obsession: darker blue used for sky
Polished By Alexandra Beach Glass: light blue used for sky
Misa BreakAway: purple used for darkening the red and green
Essie Midnight Cami: deep blue, used only a touch to add dark edges on some stems
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| My "palette" and tiny workstation |
Tips for freehand painting: I like to thin my polishes with thinner to make them easy to work with. It's good to let things dry first before painting over them or adding highlights/shadows. Sometimes I like to use a drybrush technique. This is when you have hardly any polish on your brush and it makes a line that is broken. You can see this in the grass area.
Overall, I really love this design, but I'm hoping that I'm not cheating because my nails aren't completely red.
What do you think of this? Would a tutorial on freehand painting be useful or of interest?
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24 May 2013
Misa Fresh & Fruity Collection, Swatches and Review
Hi everyone! This may not come as much of a surprise, but I've really been enjoying all the pastel and bright colours that have been coming out lately. I don't care how many I've added to my collection, there's always room for a few more! ;) If you're feeling the same way, you will want to check out this collection.
I first saw the Misa Fresh & Fruity collection posted on Work/Play/Polish, and I was really attracted to the fun colours. Work/Play/Polish always has the most flawless swatches, so I was also curious to see if they were as good as they looked. I've never tried Misa polishes, but I had a good feeling about these when I bought them from my local Trade Secrets store. The manager confirmed my suspicions when she told me that she believed the formula of the Misa polishes was superior to OPI and Essie (the store carries all three brands). Another interesting fact is that these polishes are vegan and cruelty free.
Since the application on all of them was similar, I will show you swatches first, then sum up my experiences at the end of this post.
Blueberry Blast is a pastel baby blue creme that is absolutely perfect on its own or underneath glitter polishes. I love blue, so this was one of my favourites. 2 coats.
Great Grape is a nice periwinkle creme. It was very flattering on my skin tone, and another great colour. 2 coats.
Lime Love is bright lime green with a gorgeous yellow shimmer. I don't normally go for lime greens, but this is amazing! Also 2 coats.
Lovely Lychee is a vivid fuchsia creme. It's not quite neon, but still very bright. Another great colour for summer. Again, 2 coats here.
Peach Passion is a pastel peach creme. When it goes on the nail, it's a bit brighter than in the bottle. This one was a bit more sheer than the others, but I still only needed two coats. My second coat was a bit thicker though.
Ripe Rashberry is a pastel pink with slightly cool tones. Another perfect summer colour and great on its own or under a glitter polish. Also 2 coats.
I'm so in love with these colours, and I can see myself wearing them a lot this summer. I'm also happy to say that the formula on all of these was flawless, these are seriously some of the best mainstream polishes I've tried in awhile. For all polishes, I needed two coats for full coverage, no exceptions. The polish went on absolutely smooth and even - and all of them were perfectly self-leveling. The formula on these was perfect consistency, not too thin, not too thick; they were a dream to apply. I really have no issues to report with any of them. All of them dried to a very high shine, with the exception of Lovely Lychee, which has a semi-matte finish.
As I said, I got these at Trade Secrets, but if you are in Canada or the US, Misa is also available through Nail Polish Canada. Misa can also be bought directly from their website. It seems they ship internationally, but shipping is a bit expensive if you are outside the US.
What do you think of this collection? Do any stand out for you?
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| Misa Fresh & Fruity collection |
I first saw the Misa Fresh & Fruity collection posted on Work/Play/Polish, and I was really attracted to the fun colours. Work/Play/Polish always has the most flawless swatches, so I was also curious to see if they were as good as they looked. I've never tried Misa polishes, but I had a good feeling about these when I bought them from my local Trade Secrets store. The manager confirmed my suspicions when she told me that she believed the formula of the Misa polishes was superior to OPI and Essie (the store carries all three brands). Another interesting fact is that these polishes are vegan and cruelty free.
Since the application on all of them was similar, I will show you swatches first, then sum up my experiences at the end of this post.
Blueberry Blast is a pastel baby blue creme that is absolutely perfect on its own or underneath glitter polishes. I love blue, so this was one of my favourites. 2 coats.
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| Misa Blueberry Blast |
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| Misa Blueberry Blast |
Great Grape is a nice periwinkle creme. It was very flattering on my skin tone, and another great colour. 2 coats.
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| Misa Great Grape |
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| Misa Great Grape |
Lime Love is bright lime green with a gorgeous yellow shimmer. I don't normally go for lime greens, but this is amazing! Also 2 coats.
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| Misa Lime Love |
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| Misa Lime Love |
Lovely Lychee is a vivid fuchsia creme. It's not quite neon, but still very bright. Another great colour for summer. Again, 2 coats here.
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| Misa Lovely Lychee |
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| Misa Lovely Lychee |
Peach Passion is a pastel peach creme. When it goes on the nail, it's a bit brighter than in the bottle. This one was a bit more sheer than the others, but I still only needed two coats. My second coat was a bit thicker though.
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| Misa Peach Passion |
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| Misa Peach Passion |
Ripe Rashberry is a pastel pink with slightly cool tones. Another perfect summer colour and great on its own or under a glitter polish. Also 2 coats.
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| Misa Ripe Rashberry |
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| Misa Ripe Rashberry |
I'm so in love with these colours, and I can see myself wearing them a lot this summer. I'm also happy to say that the formula on all of these was flawless, these are seriously some of the best mainstream polishes I've tried in awhile. For all polishes, I needed two coats for full coverage, no exceptions. The polish went on absolutely smooth and even - and all of them were perfectly self-leveling. The formula on these was perfect consistency, not too thin, not too thick; they were a dream to apply. I really have no issues to report with any of them. All of them dried to a very high shine, with the exception of Lovely Lychee, which has a semi-matte finish.
As I said, I got these at Trade Secrets, but if you are in Canada or the US, Misa is also available through Nail Polish Canada. Misa can also be bought directly from their website. It seems they ship internationally, but shipping is a bit expensive if you are outside the US.
What do you think of this collection? Do any stand out for you?
