NotD - Gradient Glitter

I've been seeing gradient manicures on various nail blogs a lot, most recently gildedangel's Missing Lincoln Park. I had painted my nails black last night, so I thought I'd try this gradient thing. And I love the result, so you get a bunch of photos today (remember to click them for lots of shiny).

Lacquer Link Love

It's Link Love time again!

A few fellow bloggers help Babbling Brooke come up with a Konad of the Day that's a dazzler.

Lavender lady bugs in silver spacesuits, Naive Nails shares her very cute, but accidental mani.

Bright Lights Big Color brings out the Vampy Varnish as she shows off the stunning OPI Blackberry Chutney

Blogger Euridice continues with her Rescue Beauty Lounge binge posts and shares a limited edition polish we lacquer fiends love.

To help those of you who might be taking advantage of Models Own's special 72 hour sale and in celebration of the fact they now ship internationally, Helen's Nice Things has decided to compile some of her personal Model Own Swatches, for reference and your polish viewing pleasure.

Polished Beauty Blog brings an old color back to life and shows a good thing can never go bad.

Polish Galore shows a shade I've deemed her new lucky polish and a few personal highlights as well.

Manicure Mommas has received her first Diamond Cosmetics package and shares with you the 8 new editions to her collection.

Polish Up breaks out a diamond dust polish and shows just how diamonds sparkle in the light.

and Chromatic Misadventures continues her "Week in Red" and shares with us different shades of this classic hue.

And now,

on to the Network Giveaways....

Tuli's Nails is having a fabulous V-Day giveaway for all her fabulous followers, so be sure to check her blog for the details.

Also, Babbling Brooke is having a contest to Thank all of her wonderful followers and has tons of goodies she plans to share as well.

NotD - Of Mint And Stripes

Isn't it annoying when you have a pretty manicure and then the top coat smears the lines. That's what happened to me today, but I'm still going to post my NotD because the colours just work so nicely together.

NotD - Applicious

I was quite busy these past few days, so I did a couple of quick layered manicures. Today's post is brought to you by the colour green.

NotD - Holy Pockmarks, Batman

"Holy Pockmarks, Batman," I cried as I saw the devastating(ly beautiful) effects of layering China Glaze Snow Globe over Sci-Fi. This is, of course, a reference to one of my favourite webcomics: Questionable Content.
At this moment I'm still experimenting with the various combinations of my latest batch of creme, Khrome and glitter polishes, so this is today's layering experiment.

NotD - A Three-Year-Old Did It, Honestly

As you can read in today's title, a three-year-old did my nails. Totally. That's the story and I'm sticking to it.

NotD - I Don't Even Like Football

What's with the strange title, today? After I finished my manicure I realized that it might be mistaken for a symbol of support for the local football (i.e. soccer) club. I don't like football, I especially don't like living close enough to the stadium to hear goals (though that used to be much worse at the parents' place).
Of course, none of this has anything to do with my nails. ;-)

NotD - Green Agate Revisited

When I complained about not knowing what to do with my nails today, Evil Angel of Black Nail Polish and Lip Gloss came to the rescue, suggesting that I should Konad over the my last manicure. So I tried to get a veiny gem look:

Polish Bloggers Network: Lacquer Link Love 1/15/10

As you may have noticed I've recently joined the Polish Bloggers Network. *points towards badge in left sidebar* Therefore you'll see a link roundup post every Friday. Please go and check out these blogs!
There's a neat little selection in this post and I have two blogrolls to the left, I'm sure you'll find something of interest.

ChromaticMisadventures brings you Victoria's Secret Rush Beauty with a Cherry on Top...
NaildPolishd brings to you the highly coveted American Apparel polishes in Mousse and Hassid and Body Soul Beauty has managed to get her hands on some new Milani Holographic nail color.
You've Got Nail trials a Racing Green that will make your heart flutter... as Travels with Euridice tries out the dazzling China Glaze Ginger.
Now it's Time to Add Some Chic with Tuli Nails but don't forget to check out a few tools everyone needs over at Nails of the Day

There are also a few giveaways going on.

Be sure and check those out too!

PolishFreak is giving away a set of American Apparel's backordered nail polishes.
Polish Galore is giving away Cina Glaze's Up & Away Grape Pop, Seche Vite Top Coat, and a bottle of Matte Magic.
The Swatchaholic is giving away a host of different polishes along with some nail jewel accessories and Body Soul Beauty is hosting her weekly Friday Freebie giveaway.

I'll be back with a new manicure tomorrow. Have a fantastic week-end.

NotD - Green Agate

What look do you try to achieve when you water marble? I try to emulate agate, the banded or faceted kind. I love the variety of colour, opacity and texture. This is why I like using cremes combined with shimmers, opaque polishes with sheer ones. I don't make pretty geometric pattern, I just drag a toothpick through the rings of polish in my cup three or four times and dip.
Take a look at these lovelies:

KotD - Stamping with a Matte Top Coat

I've seen posts about stamping over a matte base, but I can't recall any about just using matte top coats for Konadicures. If I forgot or missed them, please point me in the right direction, I'd love to see how others have fared. So that's what I wanted to try today. Of course I was aware that it would be tricky, as the top coat I used, Essie matte about you, dries very quickly and is therefore not an ideal polish for stamping.
And I was right, but it wasn't a total fail and I do like the result.

KotD - Brightening the Psyche

It's Konad time! Once again I felt compelled to paint my nails in bright, bright colours. I love my pinks and today I paired this favourite of mine with a vibrant sparkling yellow.

NotD - Lavender Holo French

I've been busy today, fixing my borked blog roll and finally changing the layout of this blog (I'd be happy to hear what you think, by the way), so I just did a quick french manicure. I haven't done many of those because they're not my favourite, but on occasion I feel like something 'classic.' ;-)
Only problem: my camera really doesn't like light colours and I can't get it to stop overexposing.

A Bunch of Swatches

Last year I entered a giveaway at Kellie's blog and was lucky enough to win. Yay! So today I have swatches of the polishes for you. Kellie, who is made of awesome ;-) , also added a couple of bottles of Sinful Colors, which I've used in previous manicures but haven't swatched properly.
Just a jump to the left to see the swatches.

Another Tag: Happy 101 Meme

The Happy 101 meme is making the rounds. Thanks, LiAnne of Sparklecrack Central, for tagging me!

How it works: list 10 things that make you happy and tag 10 blogs.



1. Music. Yes, I realize that this is a generic answer, but there is so much about music that makes me happy that I could probably fill this list. One of the best things I've ever done was performing Bruckner's Mass in E Minor in a church with great acoustics. Or his motets. Listening to cake on the way to Uni or to Johnny Cash when I'm down. These days I can't really play the piano any more, but I used to be decent and the few times I had the opportunity to play on a harpsichord were so thrilling. Music = Love!

2. Reading. Reading practically anything, really. I get enjoyment out of reading and re-reading novels, plays, ancient literature and (dare I admit it) fanfiction. Seriously, a tiny fraction of that stuff is really good. Sometimes I read horrible books and fic on purpose and smirk for hours. My first love was the Odyssey, but I quickly found Science Fiction and spent most of my high school years with Asimov and Heinlein.

3. My pets. I currently share two cats with my sister, but occasionally give in to my rodent urges. Isn't it the best feeling when you come home grumpy after a sucky day and purring felines wind around your feet?

4. Joss Whedon. I don't like everything he ever did, but another 'instant happy' is watching Dr. Horrible or an episode of Firefly or Buffy.

5. Cooking and baking. When I'm stressed I get the urge to bake, but any kind of cooking or baking activity can smooth out a spiky mood.

6. Nail polish. That should be kind of obvious. Painting my nails is sort of zen, I just wind down. Doing nail art can be challenging and creative and so much fun. And when the polish is dry, rubbing over the smooth surface is so soothing!

7. Tea. It's not just for brits.

8. Epigraphy. Reading, translating, dating and interpreting an ancient inscription is incredibly satisfying. Try it!

9. Knitting. I knit and spin off and on and take great pleasure in wearing the things I've made. I've improvised a few pieces, though I usually work with patterns. Of course it's a bit annoying that I have to be very careful not to damage recently painted nails.

10. DIY. Whether it's just some IKEA furniture or building smething from scratch, I love seeing things take shape in my hands.


Now who to tag (and feel free to ignore this if you don't want to do this meme):
Kellie of Also Known As...
gildedangel of Naive Nails
Evil Angel of Black Nail Polish and Lip Gloss
PolishedPrude of PolishSWATCHES
Cindy of Nail'd & Polish'd
Deniz of Emerald Sparkled
Heather of Lambchop Mobile
Jaime of nails of the day
Tatiana of By Lumin0us
Sarah of Glitter Millie

NotD - Firefly

This is a theme I've been meaning to do for some time, but I kept procrastinating because of the freehand skills I don't possess. So feel free to mock me, my Chinese calligraphy is worse than my Greek or Etruscan handwriting. Because I don't know any Chinese other than Firefly-isms. ;-)
Anyway, here's my Firefly manicure, you get to see six fingers, which is a pretty good average.

NotD - S-he Likes Pink

Some days I just don't know what I want to do with my nails. So when I only knew that I needed something bright earlier, I went through my stash until I came upon s-he 467, a vibrant sparkly pink. But what kind of design could I do?

NotD - Purple French

After yesterday's epic fail nail art I wanted to do something safe and still pretty today. My internal random colour generator ordered me to use purples, so I went for a purple french manicure.