Smooth Moves

One of my favorite blues, Smooth Sailing is a gorgeous periwinkle/cornflower from Essie's summer collection last year. It also has a really unique glass-flecked texture with a subtle purple, pink, and teal sparkle.

Essie Smooth Sailing

The formula is fantastic, easy to work with and only needed two coats.

Later I topped it with a coat of Zoya's Opal, one of their beautiful new flakies with pink & green iridescent fire. I think it complements the blue nicely!

+ Zoya Opal

A long time lemming of mine is Misa's Decadent Drifter, a greyish green with stunning coppery-pink shimmer. So with my trusty CND Effects Copper Shimmer and Crimson Sparkle, I decided to see if I couldn't recreate this beauty with some of my colors. Behold the quick and dirty swatches!

[1] Rimmel Steel Grey [2] Revlon Gray Suede [3] MAC Quiet Time [4] Sally Hansen Wet Cement [5] Sonia Kashuk Fatigued (All + CND Copper Shimmer & CND Crimson Sparkle)

Well... not quite, but still pretty cool nonetheless!

Velvet Sparkle & Shimmer

I've been really into green & teal polishes recently, and one of my all-time favorites is Finger Paints Vintage Velvet, a really lovely dusty teal-green.

Finger Paints Vintage Velvet + CND Copper Shimmer & CND Crimson Sparkle

Of course I wanted to add some glitz so I have CND Copper Shimmer and Crimson Sparkle layered on top.

Moar picture spam.

Just look at that pink sparkle! *Mesmerized*

These CND Effects polishes are just amazing, they add another dimension to an otherwise "flat" (if not gorgeous) color.

Chanel Peridot Golden Rose Metallic 08

While this beauty is no dupe for the infamous Chanel Peridot, she's definitely in the same family of pure gorgeous.

Golden Rose Metallic 08

Metallic 08 has a stunning color range, shifting from a cool golden green to teal blue.

There are even a couple of shades similar to 08, including Missha HGR01 and PeriPera Metallic Green. These are both European/Asian brands, but can sometimes be found on Ebay.

The next day I decided to try layering Hard Candy Break up over one nail, a multichromatic glitter that shifts from gold to pink to blue depending on the light & color. The texture got a little weird though, kind of resembling fish scales, so I tried a glitter gradient with Sinful Colors Nail Junkie on the rest.

+ Sinful Colors Nail Junkie and Hard Candy Break Up

Although Golden Rose is a European brand (this lovely flew all the way from Poland!), we've been seeing a few metallic duochromes here, too. China Glaze is coming out with a line of six metallic duochromes this spring/summer. One looks very similar to GR 08, and another may be a dupe for Peridot. I hope these come out soon, because they all look amazing.

Left to Right: Unpredictable, Rare and Radiant, Swanky Silk

More info on China Glaze's Bohemian Luster Chrome Collection at Chic Profile.

Spring Colors

Thus far I haven't really tried much in the way of nail art. I've made attempts at dotting, some taping, and a few glitter gradients that looked pretty decent. So I thought I'd try some free-hand design, and I think it turned out rather well!

Bottom to Top: Wet N' Wild All in the Cut, Zoya Rica, Love & Beauty Aqua Blue + Zoya Rica & Reece and Diamond Cosmetics Don't Teal My Heart Away, Zoya Reece + L&B Aqua Blue

I'd still love to get my hands on some Konad stamping plates for more intricate designs, but simple flowers and dots were really pretty easy.

I mainly photographed my right hand because of the ultra-fail on my left (as seen above), which is rather sad considering I'm right-handed. >.>;; But the problem is that I didn't wait long enough for the flowers to dry and ended up smearing my design, very boo!

My inspiration for this mani was from the upcoming colors for Cult Nails Divas & Drama Collection, here's a sneak-peek that Maria posted. Can't wait for that flakie!