31 Day Challenge (v.2!) Day 20: Water Marble

Morning Ladies! Welcome to day 20 of the 31 Day Challenge!

Today's Challenge is Water Marble Nails! Yay!!! I love water marbling, despite the fact that I have yet to master the mess. Someday I will be able to tape well enough to not have to spend 8 hours cleaning up my fingers, but that day is not today. Despite the mess, water marbling is still one of my fave forms of nail art. I really need to start marbling more often.

For this mani I decided I wanted to try something other than the usual flower petals, stripes, and swirls. I started with a base of good ole Wet N Wild Black Creme. For my marble colors I used Sally Hansen Black Out (Since it works fabulously for water marbling) and Sally Hansen Silver Sweep. For my design I too inspiration from the Queen of Water Marbling, Colette from My Simple Little Pleasures. Back in March, she had done this really cool star water marble. She had mentioned that when she used more points, it looked like a pinwheel and since my nails are nowhere near as long as hers, I decided to try something closer to the pinwheel version. However, instead of using 8 points, I used 10, which made it look almost like a starburst/firework on my nails.

Isn't that eye catching? My camera kind of flipped out trying to focus on it!

I'm pretty pleased with how these came out given that it's my first attempt at this design. I do wish that my middle finger was centered, but y can't win em all, right? The overall effect is pretty cool though! I will definitely be trying this design with different colors, as well as Colette's original star design. If you dig water marbling, I highly suggest checking out her blog as well as her youtube tutorials. She is amazing and I have learned everything I know (not much compared to her!) about marbling from Colette's blog and videos.

What do you think of this mani?

Be sure to check out all the water marbled Varnished Vixens today!

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 


We'll be back on Friday with the start of the Inspiration Manicures - Inspired By A Color!


Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

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

Final 30 Days of Blue Mani: Water Marble Stripe (or Does this mani make my nails look fat?)

Few words today since I'm still feeling quite tired, even though I'm slowly improving. I did this mani a good 4 days ago when I was feeling inspired to try out some water marble stripes, and although it doesn't look as bad in person, I wasn't all that happy. I used a Milani White, and it kept blending with the blue (China Glaze First Mate), and my hands just weren't steady enough to really get clean lines. Damned albuterol! I also added the stars on the second day, which made my top coat bubble and pool around them. I think they're a bit too tall to really cover with top coat and keep them clean looking.

I think this mani made my nails look a bit wide, don't you? Sorry for the crappy pics, I didn't have much patience for photography that day. I also didn't bother shaping my nails before working on this mani. Man, sick people are damned lazy, right? ;)

Fun, but I really wish I had attempted this when I wasn't so sick. Next time I'll know to stick with my usual white, and to go slow. I like my lines a bit strighter, and when they aren't they tend to throw me off visually and I can't tell if my nail is shaped weird, or if the lines make them look that way. Not fun for someone with OCD, lemme tell ya!

Thus ends the 30 days of nothing but blue, which was fun and a cause so dear to me. Thnks to everyone that read our story, shared it, and spread some awareness. I am so touched that so many people commented, emailed and posted. You guys rock. And of course a special thanks to Megan for creating this 30 day campaign. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dying to wear a different color though! ;) Let's hope my body cooperates and lets me stay awake to change my polish tonight. I don't get much rest, which is one of the reasons I'm not kicking this virus very fast, so my body has been just shutting down at night lately. And since I really want to feel better, I haven't been fighting it.

Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

It's been awhile - Pink Water Marble!

Hi guys! Happy Friday!

I'm actually a little embarrassed to post these pics. I am in desperate need of some cuticle remover, but since my cuticles have been waaaaay less swollen, sore and sensitive since I've started using Solar Oil and Burt's Bees to moistuize and cut back on the cuticle remover to once a week, I didn't want to tempt fate by using it before my 7 days are up. I'm actually at day 6 today, hence the ugly cuticle growth. Blech! As a bonus, since I don't actually "edit" my photos past cropping and watermarking, you can also see some Burt's Bees hanging out in my cuticle area. I thought I had rubbed it all in, but macro shots don't lie! But I digress....let's get to the mani!

For this mani I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Bubblegum Pink. This is the polish that made me really want to wear pink again. I love a good bubblegum pink creme, and once I pulled this girl out of my unused stash while organizing, I just knew I had to give her some love. I had planned on using BP for a water marble originally, and I decided to stick to the plan. I grabbed Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Grey Area and Essie's Cocktail Bling and voila! Water Marble goodness!! It's not perfect - I'm a bit out of practice - but it's pretty nifty and I really like the color combo. Now that I'm past the uber nubbin stage, I foresee more marbling in my future.

I had so much fun doing this mani. I love to marble, and I can't believe I went so long without a single water marble mani! I think one of the reasons I love this mani so much is that I used all Cremes this time around. Usually I marble with shimmers, since they ring-out so well and I just love the way they look marbled. But lately I have been just head over heels for Cremes, which is bad timing since most of my new (to me) polishes are Shimmers! I do wish my index finger had come out better, but I didn't hate it enough to spend the time on re-doing it.

Bubblegum Pink, although a really awesome pink, was a bit of a PITA. Very thick and gooey, yet still able to flood a couple cuticles. Not only was it too gooey to really apply well in one shot, but it also dries so fast that it clumps up if you have to double dip to cover the nail. Thank God for SV!! It was an uneven mess before I added a good coat of SV, but looked absolutely gorgeous afterward.  In fact, it was so pretty that I wore it alone for half a day before I marbled. Grey Area, being an Xtreme Wear, is wonderful for marbling. It rings out fast and dark, and no issues getting a good, quick drop off the brush. Cocktail Bling marbled much better than I had anticipated. I thought it may be too light to use over BP, but the coverage was just fine. It also rings out well, but takes a bit of wiggling to get the drop off the brush. CB is one of my very fave polishes, and I really want to use it as a base for a water marble soon!

Hope you all are enjoying the start to your weekend! I plan on hitting the cuticle remover and playing with yet another pink polish.

Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

More fun with watermarbling!

I hate falling behind on his blog. But, I have a little time at the moment, so I'm going to show you guys my most recent watermarble. I actually wore this mani for 2 days earlier this week while I was still recovering from my bout with the evil cold plague, and it held up rather well. I think that's one of the reasons that I love marbling - they wear very well and look soooo neat!

 I loved wearing this one, guys. It came out a lot better than I had anticipated, namely because I wasn't sure the colors would play well together, but they ended up working very well. I used Sally Hansen Marine Scene and Sally Hansen Pronto Purple for this watermarble, and instead of using the usual flower design, I went for something a little more stripey. My camera really did not want to pick up either color very well at all, which peeved me, but I assure you the teal is very vibrant with lovely shimmer and the purple is a bit brighter.

All of these pics were taken in the light box due to another winter storm killing off all the sunlight!

I was very happy with how this one turned out. This was the first time I have used Marine Scene, and I was let down by the formula. Very sheer and thin with lots of drag. I used 3 coats as my base, and it was still rather sheer with very obvious VNL. The water marble took care of that, but worn alone this would probably be a solid 4 coater. It is, however, a very beautiful teal, but if I'm going to wear a teal I'm more apt to wear Trophy Wife than anything else. It does marble very well though, so I will more than likely incorporate this into another water marble mani sometime in the future.

I'm hoping to have time to post my first holiday mani in the morning. I have a bunch that I really want to do, but I'm not sure I'll have time to do all of them before Xmas!

Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

Happy Pink Wednesday!

I have to admit that I came very close to skipping Pink Wednesday this week since I just finished the 31 day challenge and really didn't want to do another mani where the color or theme was chosen for me. However, I had recently acquired a new pink polish and was itching to wear it, so I gave in! It took me a long time to decide on what I was going to do with it, though. I had originally planned on doing another tape mani, but that would make 3 in a row, and I wanted something awesome, but also something that I hadn't done in awhile. I finally settled on water marbling, but I wanted to use the new pink and black, and the pink doesn't ring out very well. It needed a polish that spread well to push it into the ring, and none of my blacks managed to do that. I was bummed out, thinking that there was no way to marble with this pink. Strangely enough, I also have a new purple polish that I've been wanting to try out, and that one did the trick! It ringed beautifully as soon as it hit the water, and was able to spread the pink out with it, making it possible to water marble with the pink after all.

For this mani I started with my usual base coat of Instant Artificials and 2 coats of Orly "Oh Cabana Boy", a beautiful hot pink with subtle blue shimmer. I then marbled with Oh Cabana Boy and Revlon "Decadent", which is a stunning blue/purple - not quite blue enough to call it blurple, but it does have the blue to it. I then used a very light coat of Essie "Carnival" (One of Essie's rare glitter topcoats pre Luxeffects. Carnival is a  sparse Holographic Glitter in a clear base.), and topped it all off with Seche Ultra-V.

Please forgive my pics! I was groggy when I stumbled out to take these pics this morning and didnt realize that I still had cuticle balm stuck in my cuticles! Ack!!


First, with flash:

Outdoors, Direct Sunlight, left hand:

Outdoors, Direct Sunlight, Right Hand:

And in shade, right hand:

I didn't think I would love this color combo as much as I do! In person, it's just stunning. Bright and fun, yet not as in your face as my last water marble.  The light coat of Carnival added just the right amount of sparkle without being overwhelming. I'm actually keeping this on for more than 12 hours.  I also just love how my right hand turned out. As I progressed, I was able to make crisper designs, and since I used a smaller cup to marble, the designs were small enough to show more than just a few swirls.  Very awesome since I'm so used to having just a few swirls when I marble with my nails at this short length.  I forgot to get pics of my thumbs, but I was able to fit the entire flower design on them.  I can't wait to try out the smaller cup marble again!

I am expecting my new MASH 2012 stamping plates tomorrow, so expect a stamping post soon! I have no idea what color I'm going to be posting next; I have so many untrieds that it's almost impossible for me to pick! I plan on wearing Wallis, Big Smoke, and layering with Essie Luxeffects Shine of The Times this week, as well as swatching the last of my Sally Hansen smooth and perfect polishes.

Speaking of swatching, do you guys think I should swatch more? I'm not sure what you want to see, so I'm asking for some input here! :)

Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

31 Day Challenge. Day 20: Water Marble!

Don't have a lot of time to post tonight since I am nursing an injured dog. Our 120lb Labradane injured her leg last night and we are having to nurse her giant butt back to health. Good thing I spent so many years as a Veterinary Technician with a specialty in Orthopaedic Surgery huh?

Anyway, this mani received a ton of attention while I was out and about today; more than any other mani have ever done! Maybe it's because it's so bright that you can't miss it, but I think it came out pretty awesome for only my second attempt at water marbling!

For this mani I used Sally Hansen White Out as my base, then water marbled with Sally Hansen Black Out, Mellow Yellow, and Sun Kissed as well as Confetti The Red Carpet. I created a pointy little flower pattern to make it look a bit like flames, and this is my result:

Indoors In Natural Light:

And a rare right hand shot! Don't laugh at my nubbins! :)

I dunno about you guys, but I LOVE this mani! Taking it off will suck! The one little imperfection on my pointer makes me a tad nuts tho. I accidentally touched my orange stick to my nail while pulling my middle finger out of the water and there was no way to fix it. Makes me crazy tho!

Tonight is the start of the Inspiration portion of the challenge, and man I am excited and afraid. Tonight's challenge is "Inspired by a color". What does that even mean? Colors hold a lot of meaning to me, so I guess I'll just go with my mood and call that Inspiration. :)

Happy Polishing!
-Kimber