The Neverending Pile Challenge - Glitter and Pastel

I like challenges - they make me think outside the box, and help me with posting regularly. Recently, I came across a challenge that is based on using untried polishes from my stash, and I thought it's the perfect challenge for me. While my stash is not as massive as some, I do have a fair share of polishes I just had to buy, but didn't have the time or inspiration to use.

I only came across this yesterday, so in today's post I am combining the first two prompts into a simple manicure. I started by picking out a pastel I bought two months ago, but didn't use yet - Sally Hansen Palm Treat.

Sally Hansen Palm Treat, no topcoat.

It's a very pretty pale green with no hints of blue - I have many mint polishes, but this one is unique! It's also super easy to apply and fully opaque in two coats. I then topped it off with a glitter I bought a few months ago and again, haven't even swatched on a stick: Maybelline White Splash.

Maybelline Street Artist White Splash

White splash is a mix of matte white and metallic blue, green and purple glitter in hexes and bars. The bars are very long, and I don't really like them very much, but the overall effect on the green background is very pretty - makes me think of spring. The sky was overcast when I was taking the photos, so they don't really show off how bright the combination really is.

Thanks for looking, and check out other manicures in the challenge below!

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Tri-Polish Tuesday - April week 2

This has been quite a busy weekend for me, and the camping trip means I am a bit behind in the posting schedule. It's been hell on my nails as well, so I apologise in advance for my fingers!

Polishes Used: Ciate Main Stage, Color Club Poetic Hues and Barry M Cyan.

This week my new Vivid Lacquer stamping plates have arrived, so I decided to play around with them for the challenge. While I have a few stamping polishes I am confident using, I always try to find out what else I can use for stamping. After some experiments, I decided on two very opaque and saturated crèmes - Cyan and Main Stage. Both of these stamp well over pale backgrounds (as I found out when I tried a different colour configuration), so I decided to use the pale peach/yellow Poetic Hues as my base.

Stamping with Vivid Lacquer 019 plate.

 I started with two coats of Poetic Hues, and once these were dry I used the blue and pink polishes with the Vivid Lacquer plate number 019. I still seem to have random problems with stamping - sometimes it works perfectly, sometimes the design breaks a bit on my nail.

Blue and pink stamping.

The Vivid Lacquer plates are great - the designs are beautiful and fun, and large enough to cover my entire thumb with space to spare. Some designs work better with thinner polishes, especially the ones with a lot of tiny details - so if something isn't working, don't give up and try a different polish.

Polishes I used:

• Ciate Main Stage - an eye-catching saturated berry pink crème, one of the few pinks I like! Very opaque (two coats alone), with a creamy consistency and excellent application.
• Color Club Poetic Hues - peach leaning off-white crème, opaque in two coats and great as a base for nail art. The first coat is a bit uneven, but a thick second one solves any issues.
• Barry M Cyan - intense blue crème, opaque in a single coat and easy to apply. Very good for stamping over lighter colours.

Thanks for looking and check out other TPC manicures below!

An InLinkz Link-up

ILNP Reminisce swatch & nail art

Today I want to show you my second I Love Nail Polish colour - Reminisce. I've been hunting for a polish like this for a while because it looks just like beetle wings. I have a pair of earrings made with these, and I love the amazing green/blue/purple/gold colour shift on the chitin.

ILNO - Reminisce in natural daylight, with top coat.

This polish is simply stunning - opaque in two coats with no need for black undies, and much more colour shifting than I managed to catch in my photos! Due to where my light source (i.e. the window) is located, I couldn't capture the blue shift - but it's there and it's very strong indeed!

This polish was such a treat to wear! However, I chipped it pretty soon during drumming. Instead of removing it, I patched it a bit and then created an impromptu Hulk manicure by layering over it with OPI Superbass shatter. It looks like Hulk is ripping through his purple pants :D

Hulk smash!

Thanks for looking, and check out what other British Bloggers have been up to this week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Golden Oldies Thursday - Pastels

I seem to be perpetually stumped for GOT challenges - it might be because my old polishes are often boring! This week's prompt was also difficult - I used to hate pastel colours, and never bought them until quite late in my collecting career. Hence, I only had one candidate for this manicure - Sally Hansen Loyal Lavender.

Polishes used: Sally Hansen Loyal Lavender and OPI Alpine Snow, stamped with MoYou London Sailor 06

Do you know those bad hair days, where no matter what you do your hair looks horrid? I was definitely having a bad nail day when I took this - the stamping was muddled, the base had shrunk and my cuticles suddenly dried up like the Sahara. And yet, here it is - my first effort at stamping with a white nail polish. I promise, the next manicure will be much nicer :)

 Polishes used: 

• Sally Hansen Loyal Lavender - a pale lavender base with an intense violet shimmer. It's lovely on the nail, and applies like a dream in two easy coats. Quite an achievement for a pastel!
• OPI Alpine Snow - a white crème polish, and in my hands, not ideal for stamping with. It's great for other nail art purposes though!

Thanks for looking, and check out other GOT manicures below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Tri-Polish Challenge - April week 1

This month's Tri-Polish challenge brings us new colours - blue, yellow and pink. It's such a summery combination! Blue sunny skies and pink flowers, that's what I'm thinking. This week I went for something simpler, and returned to my staple technique - dotting.

Polishes used: Nails Inc Sumner Place, Orly Snowcone and Ciate Candy Floss

 
For this manicure I started with a base of the pale yellow Sumner Place, which is one of the few yellows I can deal with applying. I then took my largest dotting tool and added semi-random dots of the blue Snowcone close to the free edge, and some smaller ones closer to the nail bed.I then did the same thing using the pink Candy Floss, filling in the gaps I left. Once everything was dry, I used a coat of Seche Vite to keep it all safe.

Summery dotticure - looks like bubbles!

This was a super-easy manicure, and I must say the effect is so much better than I had expected. I was a bit stumped for this challenge, but I guess dots are always the answer to everything :D

Polishes I used:

• Nails Inc Sumner Place - pale yellow crème, opaque in 2-3 medium coats. It's quite manageable for a yellow polish, it's a bit streaky in the first two coats, but the third one fixes most of the problems. I wouldn't wear yellow as a main colour, but it's actually pretty sweet as a base for nail art.
• Orly Snowcone- dusty pale blue crème that leans a bit towards the periwinkle side of blue. Nicely opaque and super easy to apply, on its own it's nearly a one coater. What a gorgeous colour!
• Ciate Candy Floss - pastel pink crème with a touch of dustiness. Like all my Ciate crèmes, it's a treat to apply, and would be opaque in two easy coats.

Thanks for looking, and  check out other challenge manicures below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Blue manicure for Autism Awareness

April is autism awareness month, and I've joined the Paint it Blue initiative. While I'm not sure how much actions like these spread awareness, I am very much interested in autism - I teach psychology, and the topic of what exactly happens during the development in autistic children is a fascinating one.

So, let's start with a basic intro! This will only cover the basics of what autism is and the symptoms. If I were to write about the exact cognitive and developmental issues, or the brain correlates of autism, I would write a book and still not address everything.

Autism is classed by the DSM-IV as a pervasive developmental disorder - this means that problems arise in the developmental process itself, and the child's development is not delayed, but atypical. Autism is one of the five disorders grouped under that heading, alongside Asperger's disorder and  Rett's syndrome. The main features of autism are the presence of markedly abnormal or impaired development in social interaction and communication and a markedly restricted repertoire of activity and interests, which include repetitive and stereotyped behaviours. This is often presented as a 'triad of impairments' in social interaction, communication and behaviour patterns. However, the individual presentation of these problems can be very varied, and different children can present with markedly different symptom and behaviours.This variability has contributed to the use of the 'autistic spectrum' term, which is better at describing the different levels of functioning and impairment children and adults with autism can present.

The first identifiable signs of autism start appearing around the second year of infant's life, but there is evidence that the brain differences that give rise to autistic behaviour are formed in the second trimester of pregnancy. The usual signs are lack of eye contact and smiling, lack of engagement with toys, especially for pretend play, or excessive attachment to a single toy. Children that develop autism usually don't point to objects, rarely babble and are generally impaired in their language skills and corresponding social skills. Children can also show various hypersensitivities - to sound, to touch and to light, and are attached to routines. Later in development, people with autism show a very literal approach to language and often describe themselves as thinking in pictures rather than words. If you're interested in an autistic person's perspective, head over to Temple Grandin's page!

The current prevalence rate of autistic spectrum disorders (including Asperger's) has been estimated at one in 88, and there is considerable debate about whether the increase in diagnosis is due to an actual increase in incidence, or due to different approach to diagnosis and a widening of the diagnostic criteria. If this is something that interest you, I can recommend this Science Based Medicine post.

The manicure is more of a post script to this, so I won't post the usual details on how it was done. It's here for a different reason.

Blue skittlette for Autism Awareness.

Polishes used: A-England Order of the Garter, OPI Pure, Color Club Sexy Siren and Stargazer 232

Thanks for reading!

An InLinkz Link-up