31 Day Challenge (v.2!) Day 14: Flowers

Morning Ladies! Welcome to Day 14 of the 31 Day Challenge!

Today's theme is Flowers! I have to admit, I was very close to going with stamping (I LOVE stamping and sometimes I have to remind myself that there are other forms of nail art), but I decided to try something a bit different.

It's no secret that I love water marbling. I don't do it often since it can be time consuming, but it's one of my favorite types of nail art, and I always love the results so much that I'll wear a water marble for as long as I can get away with. I actually did this mani earlier than I normally do with challenge manis just so I could wear it for awhile.

I chose to use the standard flower water marble design for this mani, but I took my inspiration from something a little different. My favorite flower is the Orchid. Particularly Black Orchids. I think they are just the most amazing flower.  Here's a quick pic of one (Source: Orchid Care via Google Images):

Gorgeous right? I love the duochrome petals on these flowers, and really wanted to try to create something like it.

I started with a Base of Finger Paints Black Expressionism, my go to one coat black. Once that was nice and dry, I water marbled using Sally Hansen Black Tie, Orly Mysterious Curse and China Glaze Want My Bawdy (oh how I hate that name!).  I chose Black Tie for obvious reasons, and since there was no way anyone would see the design had I used the actual colors of the Orchid, I decided that Mysterious Curse and Want My Bawdy would look nice and give the design some much needed contrast. I did originally try this with Black Tie and Black, and although it looked kinda cool, there way no way to capture it on camera. It was pretty hard to see IRL and I'm sure I only was able to see the design since I knew exactly what I was looking for.

The downside to this design is that it is near impossible to truly capture it with my camera. Or any camera really. Trust me, I tried several. In the end I had to use 2 very bright lights shining directly on my nails and at very close range, which made my skin look strange and washed out in some pics, but hey...I'd rather you see the mani than stare at my skin color anyway! IRL these are much darker and mysterious and more closely resembles the petals of a black orchid. I wish I could show you guys but on camera it just looks like black with an itty bitty bit of random color. Maybe this wasn't my best idea.....

Enough of my babbling explanations of why this isn't as bright IRL and my photography woes! I give you.....Black Orchid Inspired Flower Water Marbled Nails!

IRL in Natural Light these are much more subtle, but for photo purposes I chose to light these babies up like crazy so you can see the design. Most of the time they look like a flower shaped oil slick on my nails, and I'm really enjoying the effect! I will say the Mysterious Curse was rough to marble with. It made a great ring, but dried very fast so I had to make sure I dropped my polish at lightening speed and created the design even faster. I had originally intended to do a different shaped petal design, but the polish wouldn't cooperate for that due to the quick dry time in the water, so I decided this worked too. I know it's hard to see, but trust me, it's there!

What do you think of dark water marbles like this? I love it, but I think I'll end up sticking with marbles that are easier to see!

Don't forget to check out all the Varnished Vixens' flower nails!

 Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles  

Be sure to check back Monday for Delicate Print. And of course I'll be spamming you guys with polish posts in between!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing! 

-Kimber

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Black Tie and a quick pic of a stamping mani!

Hi guys! I'm still feeling under the weather, so this post may not be as wordy as usual. However, it's time to post some pics of my nubbins, even if they are growing rather well and aren't quite as nubbin-y as they were last week. Thank you Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator, for actually working!

Today I have Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Black Tie for you. I have been lemming this polish since it came out, but out here in NM, we're literally the last to get anything new. Seriously, we just now managed to get Pure Ice Crackle. Pretty behind, eh? Anyway, hubs managed to snatch this little baby up for me, and I had been dying to wear it. As you all know, I'm pretty sick, but last night I managed to sit up and paint my nails. They had been naked since NYE (I had just started a mani when my lungs seized up - kind of had to abandon my mani in favor of breathing. Was actually close to calling an ambulance, but thankfully the hospital is fairly close and I made it there in time), and I just had to do something with them. I wanted something beautiful that I could wear alone, but still had all the flashiness that I adore, so I chose Black Tie.

Black Tie is actually a stunning duochrome polish, which is something I wasn't expecting from this line. It is almost impossible to capture it on camera though, which is frustrating since the deep charcoal base with flashes of bright turquoise and purple is an amazing combo - this is one of those polishes that you just have to experience for yourself. I did manage to capture the flecks of color for you guys, but my camera wasn't able to catch the duochrome shift in the lightbox, and since I'm sick as a dog still, going out into the cold to grab some pics isn't an option at the moment.

I apologize for the cuticle oil and gnawed on index finger. I reverted to nibbling on that finger while in the ER, hospitals freak me out. There's also a little dog hair, since Marleigh thought picture time was "gnaw on the light box" time. :)

Even without being able to see the duochrome flash, this polishis gorgeous. But with it, it really transforms into an amazing polish. It tends to lean teal most of the time, especially in shade, with the purple flashing in higher light conditions. I'm already going to hunt for a backup bottle of this beauty.  Formula was actually pretty impressive, despite the fact that my hands are ultra shaky due to having to ingest high amounts of Albuterol every 4 hours. It was very close to opaque in 1 coat, but 2 coats really brings out the colors. I did have some issues with bubbling, but that could also be my base coat.  Dry time was a bit high, but nothing a coat of SV can't cure!

I also decided to toss in a pic of my final mani of 2011. This is Essie School of Hard Rocks stamped with one of my Mash plates and Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Silver Sweep. I foresee alot of stamping manis while I'm growing out my nubbins, since my nails are actually small enough to use the Mash plates without having to double stamp! School of Hard Rocks is one of my favorite colors as well, a beautiful dusty teal with olive undertones, it's one of my favorite cool toned polishes. I really dig it with some stamping as well!