The Lacquer Legion - Adoration: Duck Dynasty

Recently I got a bit of the blues and I wanted something to pick me up and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about with the show Duck Dynasty. I ADORE THIS SHOW! Can you say INSTANT LOVE!!! I never thought I would like a reality show that has no drama and bearded guys with long hair *a bunch of my pet peeves*

But yeah ... the show picked me up and all my friends have been hearing about it so I decided to bother my cyber buddies with my current love also :)

For this look I used Barry M Key lime as base. Over it I stamped with Essence The green & the grunge and Catrice Holo in one with BM416 to make a faux camo look. Over it I stamped with BM424 to make the swap flowers effect. The accent finger has a though bearded guy stamp done with Essence stamp me! Black and MoYou London Biker 02. 

Gahh I love the accent finger! So though looking <3

A random funny quote :)

Here is the Opening theme of the show <3

So this is my part of the Lacquer legion Adoration challenge :)
  My motto is: 'If you love something put it on your nails' :)

xoxo
gin

Nail art a go-go challenge recap

So we are done with the art portion of the challenge now back to random stuff :) Since I was in a time crunch I participated only partly but I still loved the challenge! Thank you Missy from Gnarly gnails for organising this!

Color theory week: Achromatic

Color theory week: Primary

Art101 week: Night sky

Art101 week: Camouflage

Art history week: Sci-fi

Art history week: Snow day

Art movements week: Surrealism 

Art movements week: Pointillism

My favorite is the snow day one! Which is yours? :)

xoxo
gin

TNCC: Summer - Arabian night

This month I didn't have the time to participate in the TNCC challenge. The theme was summer, don't get me wrong I miss the hot temperatures as the next girl since the winter was so bitter here, but I know there will be plenty of time to make summer nails during the actual summer :)

But the other day I got this amazing Catrice Chromeo & Julie from the recent Luxury lacquers LE. It is the most amazing duo chrome that ranges from gold, bronze to red. And the colors reminded me of an Arabic theme so I added some MJ XIV stamps that have Arabic script in it. The stamps are done with Kiko Gold.

I must admit I love these nails! The duo chrome effect is amazing! Nice work Catrice <3 Since they have a tendency to say they will release a polish with a special finish like holo or duo chrome but it just ends up a normal glitter or shimmer finish :) I am glad you finally check out a polish dictionary :) Can't wait to see what will you come up with next!

P.S.: Sorry for the weird lighting on the picture but the chrome was very hard to capture :)

Did you got anything from this LE?

xoxo
gin

Nail art a go-go challenge:Art movements: Pointillism

Pointillism is one of those fun and pretty movements - when every picture you see blows your mind, how much work and foresight was put in the art.

But I don't have that in me so I wanted to make dots for days in one look :) And don't judge me but the base is Essence LE Dark night starlight that is one of those stubborn purples that appears differently in every picture - so this is why they look so different :) The dots are done with Catrice LOVEnder and S-he no. 247. The the accent finger I put some Silly lily polish Lavender fields under the artwork. It seemed appropriate since it's all dot glitters :)

I love this look because it looks so much like snow falling. Once again I don't like the accent finger - I don't know why. What would you make different about this look? :)

xoxo
gin

LoL mani: Kha'Zix the Voidreaver

Kha'Zix is League of legends champion that is a 'space bug' that during the game you have to evolve as you progress. You can choose what you evolve and that attack will become stronger. It's fun - but if you are a n00bcake player like me it gets a bit overwhelming :) Since he is crazy organic they made a skin of him as a robot. It reminded me so much of transformers I had to use the QA4 stamping plate with the Decepticon face - so similar! :)

I wanted to make the wings his using in flight with Color club Cosmic fate as base and stamped over it with Kiko Gold, Barry M Passion fruit, BM422 and BM21. The face part was done with Catrice Back to black as base. The stamp is done with QA4 and Barry M Silver foil. I did the eyes with Barry M Passion fruit and Gold foil. The pinkie has some hand painted spikes just like the ones on his shoulders. The base is Catrice Back to black and Color club Diamond drops.  

Mecha Kha'Zix 

I love how this turned out! And I just love it when you find a stamp that fits the theme you are making :) 

My favorite Kha'Zix in game quote:
''I ate an optimist once, but I couldn't keep him down''

xoxo
gin

Sunday stamping: Plate ending with 2

This weeks challenge is use a plate ending with 2 - I used my new MoYou London Biker collection 02. I love it because it has such tough girl images on! For the base I used Catrice Hugo moss and over it I added 2 layers of Maybelline Polka dots 200. The stamps are all done with the same plate and the polishes I used are Stargazer no.232 and Kiko Emerald. 

I thought I will like this mani more since it's made of a bunch of stuff I like - but I dunno :( Maybe next time, because I am realising more and more that most metallics don't look good to me when they stamp :(

And here are some 'old vault swatches' of Maybelline Polka dots 200. I did it with 3 layers and the depth is amazing! I think it looks cooler then on the top picture where I used Catrice Hugo moss as base :)

xoxo
gin

Nail art a go-go challenge: Art movements: Surrealism

For my Surreal art piece is this winter wonderland forest - but not relay - is it there or is it just a bunch of random stuff put together? That is what surrealism means to me - confusion :)

The base is p2 Artful. Over it I added Femme fatale Snowy bramble, a polish full of bar glitters, dots and stars :) Over it all I stamped with Chic I'll break your heart and BM407, I also made some extra dots to make the look more complex.

I love this look :) I know it's no Dali but still I like it how dreamy it looks like :)

P.S. : Please try to ignore the up side down watermark :)
xoxo
gin

Nail art a go-go challenge:Art history: Snow day

I did this look I call snow day in the 60ies! The base pattern reminds me so much of the old wallpaper found in any 60ies house. It's made with Essence Grey-headed lovebird as base, stamps are done with Pueen48 and Essence stamp me!black.
Then I added Etude house Sea waves on top to make it seem like snow. When it all comes together to me it looks like a snow day in the 60ies :)

What does it remind you off? I hope you like it :)

Here is the picture before the snow. So you can see the 60ies wallpaper pattern :)

xoxo
gin

International Catrice giveaway still going on!

Hello all new claw lovers *welcome* I am so happy you all joined in here <3 <3 <3

But there is still time to join in the fun for all you who haven't had the time to stop by here :)

Here are the 2 international prices :

Price no. 1:

Catrice  (Rocking royals):  Royal blood and Pink punk

Catrice (l' Afrique c'est chic): L'Orange and So classy 

Here are some pretty promo pictures to get you in the mood :)

Price no. 2

Catrice (l' Afrique c'est chic): Sunny side and Quel bleu turquoise

Catrice (Feathers and pearls): Roaring red and Golden twenties

Another pretty promo picture :) I love their promos for the Limited editions so much <3

To enter just fill the Rafflecopter below :) Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I HAVE BEEN FEATURED IN NAIL IT! MAGAZINE

I can't believe it but my work has been featured on the Nail it! magazine page - You can check it out HERE! I can''t describe it how honored I feel :) And at the same time we are nearing 400 GFC followers so a big CYBER HUG to all you new lovely people <3 

So here is what I did for the amazing folks at Nail it! magazine :)

I wanted to make a nail look a lot like my 'chinese new year' nails. But this time I wanted to make it with polish from only European brands :) I made a lot of pictures of the process on how to get these glittery and multi-colored nails :)

For this look I used Catrice Inner Purple of Trust as base. The 2 glitters are Golden rose Carnival no. 06 and no. 15. The stamps are done with Essence stamp me! Black. The plate is the only non European thing it's QA66.

A good tip for nails this is, since they are so full of different colors try it out if they work on paper first. Also feel free to stamp over that chosen combination with the stamp pattern you like. That is a great way to check if the stamping polish works and that the pattern doesn't overwhelm the glitter :)

Step 1: I used a shiny and bright fuchsia from Catrice called Inner Purple of Trust. This are 2 layers and no top coat. 

Step 2: Add one layer of glitter, no need to top coat this. I used Golden rose Carnival no.15.

Step 3: Add the second layer of glitter of another color. I used Golden rose Carnival no.06. After it dries add some top coat, to make the nail surface flat and if you mess up the stamp you can wipe it off.

Step 4: Apply your stamp. I recommend that you use some dark stamping polish if the base is very bright and colorful. Also it's better to use a pattern that is made of thin lines so the glitter doesn't get lost in the stamp. Don't forget to apply a last layer of top coat ... and you are done :)

I hope you enjoyed this simple step by step tutorial. I love making this layered looks because we all have these glitter polishes at home that have only one or two shade of glitter in. And after mixing them together and some stamps they all get a completely new personality :)

xoxo
gin

Nail art a go-go challenge:Art history: Sci-fi

I always choose fantasy over sci-fi but when I got my hands on this Essence Power girl polish I thought to myself that this duo-chrome color would be perfect for a futuristic movie costume!
And that was the inspiration for this part of the challenge. I wanted to make a look that would pass as a pattern that you could find on a sci-fi outfit :)

The base on them all is Essence LE Power girl and the stamps are made with Essence stamp me!black or Color club Beyond on the accent finger. The plate I used was Pueen20.

Get ready for a photo spam because we all know how hard a duo-chrome polish is to capture in all it's glory:)

I love this look - thou I do regret making the accent finger because the holo clashes with the chrome. So for future reference holos and duo-chromes don't mix :)

xoxo
gin