Green and Orange Abstract Mani: September NCC #3

So far this is my least favorite manicure for September’s NCC theme of geometric nails. Better to start you off with low expectations, right? 🙂 I don’t think the mani came out poorly or anything… I just didn’t quite like it. Anyways, let me show you to see what you think:

My meh mani

See? Not awful, but I guess it’s just not quite my style. I basically grabbed some single chevron vinyls and played around with different patterns, then threw some dots up on there.

Look at that crazy amazing mango orange polish!

I think it would, however, be great for a St. Patricks day mani! Especially if you don’t want to paint 4-leaf clovers, leprechauns, or rainbows… this is kind of a abstract homage to the holiday. 🙂 I wasn’t going for that when I did this mani, but the colors definitely scream St Paddys!

Excuse the lobster hands – I was trying to get that light green to look color-accurate

The orange and light green did freak my camera out, so my skin looks a little lobster-esque!

Here’s what I used:

• Base color: My go-to white, Rica’s Whiteout
• Light Green: piCture pOlish Tail Feather… such a gorgeous almost-neon mint with subtle scattered holo
• Darker Green: ILNP Reminisce (H)… the holo version of Reminisce, an ultrachrome from my favorite indie brand that shifts from different shades of green to blue and gold. When it was in a small accent on my nails, it didn’t show the shift very well, but it was still there!
• Orange: Orly Tropical Pop… this is sooo pretty! It’s like a mango/ tangerine yellow-orange neon. It is sheer, so as a full mani you’d have to have a white undie!

So what do you think? Are you as “meh” about it as me? Or is it super appropriate for the March holiday?

Check out the other geometric manis:

Blue Mosaic Color Blocking: September NCC #2

For my second geometric manicure for the September NCC, I played with striping tape and ended up with what looks like an abstract R2D2. I find striping tape so annoying to work with sometimes – this manicure was certainly one of those times!

My abstract R2D2 mani

I really do love the end product though. This took foreeeever (does anyone else get flashbacks to The Sandlot here? Fooor-ev-eeer… loved that movie as a kid!). All that hassle with striping tape resulted in a really pretty manicure! I used a bunch of new polishes I recently picked up, including my very first Chaos & Crocodiles polish!

Sparkly striping tape mani

Ugh, that C&C holo is digustingly beautiful! C&C put out a Secret Agent collection, filled with a rainbow of gorgeous holos. I picked up 3 – the blue you see in this manicure (Sleeper Cell), a lavender called Decoy, and a red called Security Breach. They are all just soooo stunning. Oh! And I saw that people who bought the whole collection got a really amazing package with Secret Agent-themed items. I kind of wish I bought the whole collection now… Hey, there are always restocks right?!

Look at that Blonde Ambition in my hands! So pretty!

Anyways, I just love this manicure!

Colors used:

• Base: OPI My Vampire Is Buff… I can’t believe I didn’t own this before now! I love this super-smooth creamy nude!
• Barry M Damson… a stuuuunning cornflower vibrant blue! Love this so much!
• Chaos & Crocodiles Sleeper Cell… very strong blue holo with some hues of teal. Love love love!
• Colors by Llarowe Blonde Ambition… a gorgeous golden nude with a very strong linear holo. Someone posted in a polish-themed facebook group that this is almost identical to Color Club Cherubic, so you need to own one of them! I haven’t swatched them next to one another yet, so I can’t say for sure if they’re dupes (& which one you need). BUT the color and holo is to die for, so you have to have one!

So yeah, I love it! Do you see what I mean about an abstract R2D2 though? Do you have Chaos & Crocodiles polish – if so, what others are must-buys? Also, any suggestions on making striping tape less annoying?

Check out more geometric manicures:

Watermelon stamping: September’s NCC #1

September… it’s September already – that’s just plain crazy! For September, the Nail Challenge Collaborative theme is Geometric Manicures. This should be a fun one! My first manicure is a simple stamping one using a few new polishes I picked up.

I’ve been hearing sooo many amazing things about the Barry M brand that I finally gave in and bought a few from Llarowe. I have to say, I’ve tried 2 already and I get the hype – the formula is great and the colors are so vivid!

Sort of geometric I guess? Overlapping rounded squares = geometry, right? I guess this is a slow intro to the theme. But I have some good ideas for my other manis, so don’t you worry!

What I used:

• Base color: Barry M Watermelon… a stunning teal-leaning hunter green with a perfect formula and opaque in 2 coats. Doesn’t even stain!
• Stamping plate: Cheeky CH14
• Stamping polish: Rica Pinky Promise… a beautiful bright pink! Love this polish on its own, but it didn’t pick up as perfectly as I would have liked for a stamping polish. You can barely tell in the pic, but there are some small patchy bits. Also, it does look a little purple over the Watermelon base in some areas.

A pic in direct lighting for you:

 

Do you have any Barry M? Do you love it as much as I now do? I bought 4 as a starter – any suggestions for other must-haves from their collections?

Time to check out the other NCC geometric manis: