Holiday Nails

I hadn't really planned on posting nails today, especially since I have a whopping four FOs I haven't photographed or posted yet, and three new projects going!  But I did this combo last night, and really love it:

Midnight Kiss is my favorite gold polish - I just love the sparkly finish, and the light silvery-gold shade is so perfect.  With the little black polka dots added on top, it reminds me of champagne bubbles rising to the top of the glass!

Fellow polish-lovers, do you also gravitate toward metallic polishes at this time of year?  It seems to be all I'm wearing lately!

Coral and Blue Hydrangea

A quiet, rainy laundry day.  I don't have a whole lot of time for crafting today, but I wanted at least to get a small start on my next project.

I was thrilled to discover that I have enough of my coral silk left to make a Sorbetto!  Yes, I'm a copy-cat! Do you think it will make me look as gorgeous as Sarai?  I hope so!

I think I'm one of very few people who really enjoy making bias tape.  That little gizmo is just so much fun!  And then I wrap it on an empty toilet paper roll, because I'm classy.

Last night, I did up my nails in my favorite light blue:  Blue Hydrangea by Nubar.  It has a lovely subtle sheen on its own, but I decided to top it off with some Essie As Gold as it Gets.  I really love the effect:

And it looks nice with my bias tape too!

New Polish

I recently picked up Nubar's White Polka Dot and Black Polka Dot, so yesterday I decided to try one out.  Here's 2 coats of White Polka Dot over China Glaze Secret  Peri-Wink-le:

picnik made the blue darker than it really is :-(

Word on the street is that White Polka Dot is an alternate name for a polish Nubar did for The Painted Nail called Moon Drop.  It's not a very bright white, but neither is it quite grey; it has a very slight silvery, opaly sheen.  The black one is just plain, shiny black though.

I found both these glitters a little tricky to apply.  The glitter particles are quite heavy, so they sink pretty quickly, and the clear base is thick.  It worked best for me when I put the cap back on and turned the bottle upside down for several seconds after every couple of nails.  Slow going.  But once you get it on your nails, the glitter is pretty smooth, so that's a plus.

I've got Zoya Raven and Purity on their way to me thanks to the two free polishes promo (ends tomorrow), and once they arrive I'm going to try the black and white polka-dotted mani.

Opal Nails

I've been pondering for a while how to make my nails look like opals using flakie nail polish.  The other day I made my first attempt.  I don't think I'm quite there yet, but I thought I'd share it anyway:

The top photo is the first version.  I used one coat of Essie Absolutely Shore, and didn't worry about it being streaky.  On top of that I put two coats of China Glaze Moonlight, a very sheer off white.  Then I topped the whole thing with three coats of Nubar 2010 and one coat of Essie Good to Go.  It was very shiny and I felt like it didn't look too much like opals.

The next morning I realized it might look a little better with some matte topcoat, so I applied that, and sure enough, it started looking more like opals!  Very hard to photograph though!  The second photo is a tiny ray of sunshine in which I tried to catch the opalescence, and in the third I finally captured a little of the pink.

I think next time I try this, I'll add in some pale pink blobs while the green is still wet, and then cover it with the sheer white and the flakie.  This was a good start though, and I'm glad I finally tried it - it's been in my mind for a couple months!

Almost

I decided to go ahead and do a comparison with Zoya Elodie, since I was getting some tip wear and I wanted to add a little sparkle over Jaffa.  Here it is, with Elodie on the middle finger only, three coats:

To my eye, Elodie is ever so slightly darker and pinker, but they are very close. Good thing I love colors like this!

Next I added Nubar 2010:

Mmmmm . . . sparkly!  I used to have a polish just like this years ago, Creative "Sugar" (before they changed to CND).  I really loved it but it got gloopy and I had to get rid of it.  I was planning on ordering 2010 from Nubar's website, but a few weeks ago when I went to the fabric store, I wandered into a nail art and jewelry store (!) a few doors down, and they had a couple of Nubars, including this one! Score!

Over the Moon

Thanks to the Yarn Poet's comment the other day, I can't get the cream and coral color combination out of my head!!

Here's my first real attempt at a half-moon mani using reinforcement stickers:

Half-moon mani with:
American Apparel California Trooper
Nubar Belize Coral

As of this writing, I've only done my left hand.  I did a basecoat, then one coat of the cream followed by a coat of Seche Vite.  I waited about 20 minutes and then applied the reinforcement circles one nail at a time, placing them directly on my nail from the backing paper (i.e. without softening the adhesive by pressing them against my skin first).  After placing a circle and pressing it down really well all along the curved edge, I applied one thick coat of the coral then immediately pulled off the sticker.  After doing all five nails, I topped it off with one more coat of Seche Vite.

I'm going to wait a few hours to do my second hand.  I found that on a few fingers, the adhesive pulled up some of the cream polish near the cuticle, so I think I'll have more luck after the first coat has cured well.

The coral polish is actually much more vibrant in real life!  I'm really liking this look, and I'm glad it's having a comeback!

The Following Day

Konad on Nubar Purple Aster:

Nubar Purple Aster
China Glaze Harmony
Konad plate m77

The Penultimate Nubar

Here is Purple Aster:

Nubar Purple Aster
Spring Garden Collection, 2011

I actually really like this one.  It applied much easier than some of the other colors for me.  This is two coats; nice and opaque, no bald spots.  The brush was just right, not too floppy.  Win!

You're seeing it next to a ball of Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb in Morel.  This is a really lovely lace weight yarn, soft and springy.

I have a funny quirk . . .  sometimes, the nail color I'm wearing will influence what I want to knit.  Don't these two colors go together nicely?  I love to look down at my knitting and see beautifully polished nails in a color that goes well with it.  The pastel shades in this collection go so nicely with this shawl I started as a travel project in September, so I dug it out and started working on it again.  Here's another look:

Meandering Vines Shawl

It ended up not being a such great travel project.  For me, it requires constant counting, so that makes it alone-time knitting.  And these taupe shades that I keep choosing for this type of thing are difficult for me to see in anything but rather bright light (therefore excluding the airplane).  And the only needle I could find that gave me the gauge I wanted was an old Addi, so the whole thing is kind of a slippery mess.  But over the last few days, I've managed to do two lace repeats. Thanks to the nail polish.

White Peony: the Last Nubar

Here she is, already Konaded:

Nubar White Peony
Spring Garden Collection, 2011
China Glaze Admire
Konad plate m8

Application was about like I expected:  three coats for opacity.  Not as sloppy as some of the other colors, but not as nice as Purple Aster.  I really like the color - it's a white that's a little softer, not stark or chalky.

I went straight to the Konad because we're going out to the jazz club again tonight (Brad Mehldau, my all-time fave!  so excited!!) and I'm wearing this green dress:

Anthropologie Mary Shirtdress
winter 2011, by Maeve

 And this cream, taupe, pink and green scarf:

silk scarf from India
Anthropologie, winter 2010

I know.  I'm a dork.

Nubar Yellow Primrose

Two more Nubars to go after this one.

I really love the color, but I'm starting to suspect I may not become a bona fide Nubar fan.  This one was just as difficult to apply as all the others I've tried.  I needed three coats to cover the bald spots.

Nubar Yellow Primrose
Spring Garden Collection, 2011

Yellow is my favorite color, and I really love this soft yellow shade.  Perfect for spring.  I did these last Friday, and the following day I added the Dewdrop topcoat, which also looked very pretty, but I didn't get a chance to snap a picture before it got all messed up by doing dishes.   But I should mention that the Dewdrop makes the whole thing very difficult to remove.

Two for One

Knitting and Nails, on the same day!

Knitting and nail polish - my
favorite things!

Aren't they pretty?  What we have here is Nubar Pink Lily and Adore, by Kim Hargreaves, a wide scarf knit in Kidsilk Haze.

Pink Lily is the sixth polish I've tried from this collection.  Maybe this one applied differently, or maybe I've just resigned myself to the fact that these take 3 coats to be opaque.  But I really love this.  I had a hard time capturing the true color; it's quite a bit darker and more Pepto-esque in real life.    In the bottle it looks like it would have a more pronounced shimmer (like Blue Hydrangea), but I can't see it on the nail.

It makes me feel pretty.  Isn't it funny how pink can do that?

Nubar Pink Lily
Spring Garden Collection, 2011

The Adore scarf is a project I started to take with me to California last month.  I didn't work on it a whole lot because I was busy taking long walks on the beach  . . . I get it out every once in a while and do a few rows.  It's the kind of thing I like to keep going, for when I get bored with whatever else I'm working on.

Adore, by Kim Hargreaves

It's done in a very easy but very effective stitch.  The yarn is a shade of Kidsilk Haze called Majestic.  It's a hard color to describe.  Is it grey?  Is it lavender?  Is it taupe? Whatever it is, it's very pretty.  And it goes great with pink nails.  I think I'll do a few rows now . . .

Again with the Nubar

Today I'm bringing you Baby Sprout and Honeysuckle.

I did Honeysuckle first, on my toes:

Nubar Honeysuckle
Spring Garden Collection, 2011

I LOVE this.  This one applied like a dream, covered completely in two coats and is just all-around gorgeous.  I can't wait to try this one out on my fingers too.

Then I used Baby Sprout on my fingers.  This is one of the colors I had to have when I ordered the set.  I have to admit, it's not exactly what I was expecting:

Nubar Baby Sprout
Spring Garden Collection, 2011

I thought it would be a tiny bit greener.  To my eyes, it looks almost white.  I photographed it here against an off-white chair, to show how little contrast there is.  In low light, it reminds me of the green of glow-in-the-dark paint.  I find it rather stark.  I do like it, but it's not the go-to color I was thinking it would be for me.  Also, I had a really hard time applying this one.  Pictured above is my normal two coats, and you can still see bald spots.  I was just too tired to add another coat. I had a hard time manipulating the brush too, to get even edges.  The whole process just felt kind of sloppy.

I decided to snazz it up a little with some Konad.  I stamped my fingers with Honeysuckle and my two big toes with Baby sprout, all in the same pattern:

Konad plate m8

These both worked pretty well for stamping.  

Anyone reading this for the polish may have noticed I never address wear.  That's because, on fingers at least, it's usually not an issue for me.  I usually change my polish every day or two, mostly because I just get bored with a color after that amount of time!  But on my toes, I do like a polish with good wear time.  For me, China Glaze never lets me down, and Essie is a close second.  I haven't had as much luck with Zoya, but still, it will last me at least a week.  But compare that to a pedicure I did once with China Glaze 'For Audrey' that lasted an entire month while I was in Turkey, and still looked great when I got home!  So, I'll be interested to see how the Nubars wear on toes.  I'll let you know.

Earthen + Dewdrop

The second New-bar I tried was Earthen (see how I did that?), which I then topped with Dewdrop.

Nubar Earthen + Dewdrop, Spring Garden Collection

I also liked Earthen a lot more than I expected to.  It's a pretty greige, again with a subtle shimmer.  I'm wondering how close it is to Essie's Playa del Platinum.  I suspect it's a little darker.  I really liked it on its own.

Dewdrop . . . not so much.  It was kind of a disappointment, I have to admit.  It reminded me of glitter nail polishes that were popular when I was in high school (we're talking the '70s here, kids).  It was also really difficult for my amateur photography skills to capture:

All of these photos were taken in "natural" light (or what passes for it
in Chicago in March) with no flash.

I purposely tried to unfocus this to show how the glitter reflects.
Sadly, I haven't fully learned to use my camera yet.

I would call this a medium glitter.  I can feel its texture even under a heavy coat of Seche Vite.  It's kind of driving me nuts.  I really like my nails to be perfectly smooth.  Just one of my many idiosyncrasies.

Anyhoo . . . this polish is quite thick, and loaded with glitter, so you really don't have the option to apply it lightly or layer it more heavily.  The glitter particles look silvery-gold, and mostly reflect green and blue and maybe just a smidge of pink. Just not super-unique, IMHO.

I like it OK - it's pretty -  but I guess you can tell I'm not a huge fan.  And I've got two bottles . . .

I'm definitely too old for this . . .

Nubar Blue Hydrangea
Konad plate m79 (clouds)
Bundle Monster plate bm05 (butterflies)

But obviously, I don't care.

Blue Hydrangea

I kind of surprised myself by trying this one out first.  But it's what I was in the mood for this morning!

Nubar Blue Hydrangea
Spring Garden Collection, 2011

See the subtle shimmer?

This one is just what the color looks like in natural light,
at least on my monitor.

This is my very first experience with Nubar.  I liked the formula - neither too thick nor too thin.  The brush was really nice, very soft but not so soft that it made application difficult.  I felt like this color went on a little streaky.  This is two coats, and I really should have done three - it didn't totally cover the ridges on my nails.  (Yes, I am too lazy for ridge filler.)  It will be interesting to see how the other colors are.

At long last

I have been waiting for this for what seems like forever!

Nubar Spring Garden Collection, spring 2011
along with Dewdrop and Belize Coral

Ever since I first saw the promotional material on this collection a little over a month ago, I've been stalking the Nubar website waiting for it to come out.  When it finally appeared on Sunday, it kind of took my breath away!  Needless to say, I ordered Sunday evening, and these goodies arrived Friday morning.

I don't really think of myself as a pastel lover, and yet, it seems that every pastel collection that comes out ends up in my cupboard!  This collection made me realize why I'm drawn to them.  Call the colors what you will:  women's names, French allusions, balloon-related piffle.  These colors, while for the most part not particularly unique, have names which hit the nail on the head.  These are the colors of the spring flowers I love so much.

Actually, there are a few colors in this collection that fill in a void in my polish cupboard.  I'm most excited by White Peony (off-white), Yellow Primrose (very pale yellow), Baby Sprout (very pale yellow-green) and Color of the Year:  Honeysuckle (coral pink).  Yes, I ended up with yet another lavender polish (and another greige as well), but it actually cost less to order the whole set than to just order the five I wanted.  The eight 'colors' come in the case you see above, but the set also includes Dewdrop, which I was intrigued by.  It ended up being a pretty straightforward rainbow-like fine glitter in a transparent white base.  I misunderstood when ordering - I thought the set didn't include Dewdrop, so I ordered it as well and ended up with two.  I ordered the Belize Coral to put me over the minimum for free shipping.  And because I've been looking for a salmon-coral to replace the old OPI I can't use any more.  I would really recommend ordering more to get the free shipping, as the shipping cost  seemed high to me (at least to Chicago).  All told, these ended up costing me about $5.49 each, rather than the normal price of $7.49.

I've never tried Nubar before, and am really looking forward to trying these out over the coming days.