In the spirit of Holo-ween and Frankenpolish!

I've definitely been on a Halloween nail art kick all month!  And a holo kick.  Thus, Holo-ween.  I know, I know, it's not original, but it's definitely a good pun.

I sort of did this mani twice.  I originally did a vertical gradient using each of these colors, but I didn't like it much.  Shortly after I finished I realized that I should have done this version - sort of a gradient French tip design.

The purple polish is Heather's Hues Vampirette, which you saw me use last Halloween.  The red is Firecracker Lacquer Stop and Smell the Blossoms (from the Powerpuff Girls box, ahh!), and the green is Daily Hues Nail Lacquer Fiona.

 

I definitely wanted this entire mani to be holographic, but my only black holo is Gothic Gala Lacquers The Search for Spock - which is beautiful and stunning, but leans a little bit purple, and I wanted a truer black for this design.

And, I don't have a holo yellow or orange!  Well, I do have Gothic Gala Lacquers My Partner in Crime, but it's a more mustard-y yellow, and I wanted bright yellow, more like candy corn.  Yes, I am picky, but that's what being an artist is all about, right?  Knowing what you want and making it happen?

So, I looked at my polish collection and thought, "these would look good mixed together!"  And I had several old, unusable bottles of top coat lying around, so I cleaned them out and mixed up some frankenpolish!  I'm calling them "Kate Concoctions" so that I can have a "brand" to tag if I ever use them again.

The first one I made is the orange, which I dubbed Pumpkin Sparkle.  It's a mixture of mostly OPI It's a Piazza Cake and Deborah Lippmann Don't Stop Believin, with a bit of Sally Hansen Orange Zest and a dash of Salon Perfect Traffic Cone (because I used too much Piazza Cake and the color was looking darker than I wanted it).  Then I added three different holos to the mix: China Glaze Fairy Dust, Deviant Polish Lori, and Sally Hansen Disco Ball.  I think Disco Ball shows up the best.  In the end I decided to add literally like 6 drops of Zoya Jesy, both to brighten up the color and add a touch more sparkle.

Next, I made the black, which I named Night Sky and I think came out the very best.  It's also the simplest: a large amount of  Sinful Colors Black on Black, with a couple drops of The Search for Spock, and the three holos that I added to the orange - Lori, Fairy Dust, and Disco Ball.  I'm sooo happy with how this came out, and quite happy that I made it in a full-sized bottle!

I made the yellow last, and I kind of like everything about it the least.  The name, A-maize-ing, isn't great but I couldn't think of anything better.  The holos barely show up in it, even though I added plenty of all three, which is the most disappointing of all.  The color is mostly China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, with a dash of Finger Paints Master Muse and just 3 drops of Orange Zest.  I suppose every indie maker winds up with slight disappointments like this!

What do you think of my Concoctions? Is there anything you'd like to see me do for Halloween nail art?  There's still time - let me know in the comments!

Purple and black holo nail art

The only nail art I've had the energy to do lately is using nail vinyls.  In fact, I've had such low energy lately that for this look, I didn't do the vinyls part until a few days after painting on the purple!

These gorgeous polishes are both by Gothic Gala Lacquers, who has sadly just closed their polish-selling doors. :'(  The purple is Sinfully Stephanie, and the black is The Search for Spock.

I adore the long handles of Gothic Gala Lacquers, but I've never been completely satisfied with my hand pose for them.  I can never seem to get it just right - the long, elegant shape of the handle demands a more elegant hand pose in my opinion, and that's hard to do with a tabletop tripod!

I actually pulled out my floor tripod for this one!  What do you think of the pose?  I think I would like it better if my pinky finger were a bit longer. ;)

Either I didn't get a sunny day while I was donning this manicure, or more likely, I simply failed to take a sunlight picture.  Both of these polishes definitely show off their holo flashes the best in direct sunlight, but direct light shows it off pretty well too!

What do you think of this manicure?  Let me know in the comments!

HOLO RAINBOW

I've recently discovered that gradient nail art is one of my favorite things to do.  But so far, I've always done the same gradient on all 10 nails, using a maximum of four colors.  This time, I decided not only to do each nail in a different color, but also to switch up the direction of my gradient!

This vertical rainbow holographic gradient turned out pretty darn awesome, although it looked a little bit neater in my head.  And I couldn't stomach the idea of leaving out an entire nail, or of photographing my right hand, so once again you get to see my stubby little broken pinky nail!

I used Gothic Gala Lacquers Make It So, My Partner In Crime, It's Green Sir, The Dancing Doctor (all from the Star Trek collection), Sinfully Stephanie, and All Mixed Up Lacquers Look At My Holo from the Nail Chicks Be Like... collection.  Each nail got two colors, starting with red and ending with pink as the rainbow goes.  Then I topped it all off with China Glaze Fairy Dust because why not make it sparkle even more?

As you can see, I had a bit of a hard time sponging the colors all the way down to my cuticles.  Even though I used a latex mani barrier and sponged all over it, I just couldn't fill in that little line of black base around my cuticles.  A problem I find unique to vertical gradients.

This was all done on top of a black base, Salon Perfect Oil Slick.  I decided to use black as a base instead of white to help make the holos pop, and to make the mani look a bit darker overall.  I'm pretty sure that a white base would have made the colors look a lot more pastel, which would be nice but that wasn't the look I wanted today.

SHAZAM!  Look at that holo polish + Fairy Dust in action!

I had intended to make a video tutorial for this look, but as I was setting up my tabletop tripod, one of the legs snapped right off!  I do still have my full-size tripod but it was way too awkward to work around.  Maybe when I get a replacement tripod, I'll just have to do another gradient and make a tutorial!

Side note: my right pointer finger has had a nerve twitching in it on and off for a few weeks now.  It's not painful and it stops for a day here and there, so I haven't bothered to get it checked out.  Anyway, when that nerve twitches, it causes my pointer finger to twitch really quickly.  It's been annoying to have to deal with that while painting my nails - this was going on the whole time I swatched the Nail Chicks Be Like collection - but, clearly, I managed to work through it!  I'm impressed that I was able to do a full nail art mani with my twitchy finger.

What do you think of this design?  Let me know in the comments!

Winter Break Nail Art

I was super busy over the holidays!  Derek's parents came to visit us in mid-December, and we went to the Poconos for a week.  They were with us for the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve, as were Derek's brother and his girlfriend.  Six of us in one apartment sure was crowded, especially for a whole week!  Derek's parents stayed with us until halfway through the first week of January.  And then two days later, Derek and I headed out for Jamaica for his former roommate's wedding!  It. was. incredible.  We stayed at the Half Moon Resort in Montego Bay, and it was absolutely paradise.  A week after we got back, my best friend since 8th grade came to visit us for a few days!  So, basically, I was in vacation mode from mid-December to mid-January.  It was a lot of fun but honestly kind of exhausting - I'm really happy to be back on my regular schedule.

Despite all of the awesome things I did throughout the month, I still had time to do my nails several times, plus Maddie's and Allison's.  Rather than spread everything out over the course of several posts, I figured I would just dump the month's nail art into one post.  Get ready, there are a LOT of pictures ahead!

First up is my first Christmas-themed manicure, which I did in the first week of December (I think. it's been a while.)  I used Zoya's Naked system to clean up the color of my nails and brighten my white tips, then painted on stripes using Spoiled by Wet n'Wild Show Me the Money, OPI Wocka Wocka, and OPI My Voice is a Little Norse.

This look was inspired by Juli of Juli's Nails and Co.  Her original post can be found here.  I loved her design so much that I had to recreate it using Christmas colors!

Right before we left for the Poconos, I once again recreated my favorite winter wonderland scene.  Only this time, I used a different color for the background: Julep Margaret.  The white is Salon Perfect Sugar Cube, and the glitter flakes are once again Nicole by OPI Heavenly Angel.  I also threw a coat of Nicole by OPI Confetti Fun on my middle finger, because more glitter = more fun!

Since we were in the Poconos for a whole week, I of course wanted to redo my nails.  We were planning on going to see the new Star Wars movie while we were there, so I did a sort of abstract representation of the Force: Dark Side/Light Side.  For this look, I used Gothic Gala Lacquers The Search For Spock, Sally Hansen CSM Hi Ho Silver, and China Glaze Fairy Dust.

I kept the Force look on for as long as possible, but sadly we didn't end up going to see the movie.  On Christmas Eve, I did both my nails and Maddie's for Christmas!

My middle finger nail was inspired by one of the Christmas ornaments that I made!  I used Sugar Cube as a background and topped it with Twisted Colors Elf Vomit and some Fairy Dust.  I also used Gothic Gala Make It So and It's Green, Sir. 

The overall idea for this look was vaguely inspired by an old mani made by 3girlsnails on Instagram.  I actually can't find a link to the original post because I can't find 3girlsnails anymore!  I've had a screenshot of her mani on my phone since last May, and this user must have changed her IG handle or something.  If anybody knows what she calls herself now (or if she has disappeared from the nail art community), please let me know! 

Maddie wanted a very similar look for Christmas, although she didn't want the glitter accent.  I used the same colors on her as I did for my own Christmas nails - after all, I only had a small assortment of polishes with me on vacation!  One difference I made for Maddie was that I used a thin layer of CDB Lacquer Spirited underneath the red and green to make the holographic features of the colors pop a little better.

Maddie and James have a pretty big group of friends who live quite close to us near DC, so we all went to party with them on New Year's Eve!  I wanted to have another chance to wear my gorgeous flapper dress that I won from Unique Vintage, so I asked Maddie to glam it up with me.  Only this time, I did my makeup and nails in a more modern fashion! 

I went for a glitzy gray-to-blue metallic gradient on my nails.  The blue is actually a thermal nail polish, but I think because of the gradient you couldn't really tell.  Either that, or because it's winter my nails were just constantly super cold ;)  I sponged CDB Lacquer Angelic Demon and He Sees All on top of Zoya Ryan.  The two CDB Lacquers are from the Apocalypse Averted collection, which I own in its entirety and will eventually get around to swatching!  And because I was feeling glitzy, I put two little star studs on my pointer and ring finger nails.

The main reason we didn't get around to seeing The Force Awakens is because Maddie had never seen the original movies, and she wanted to see them first.  We did manage to watch the three films over the course of the two weeks that we spent together, but unfortunately we didn't see Episode VI until their last day with us.  So after they left, Derek and I FINALLY got to go see the new one together!  (I solemnly swear to see the next two episodes on opening weekend.  Waiting three weeks to see this one was agony for me!) 

I of course wore my Han Solo dress from Hot Topic.  And I figured that if Han Solo was a girl (Hanna Solo?), she would totally paint her nails to match her favorite outfit.  So I did just that!

I used Zoya Demetria and Ling, and Salon Perfect Oil Slick and Sugar Cube.

I was quite proud of the vests I painted on my thumbs. :3

Naturally, I did paint my nails to match my dress that I wore for the wedding in Jamaica, but I didn't take any pictures of the look.  It was a very simple mani - Zoya Zuza with an accent nail of China Glaze I Brake For Colour.  Since I've swatched both of those polishes on the blog already, I didn't really feel like taking photos of it for the blog.

Allison's nails were something new for me!  Her nails are usually very short, but she got some acrylic tips put on right before she came to visit us.  I've never painted acrylics before, nor such pointy stilettos!  There were a lot of exciting things I would have liked to do, but Allison prefers a more simple look, so we went with a black and silver French manicure using Oil Slick and Hi Ho Silver.

 I like interlacing fingers with someone when I do our nails together:

Ugh, please ignore the giant ugly cut on my knuckle.  There will be more details on my pink nails next week!

What do you think of all of this nail art?  Which look is your favorite?  What kinds of holiday designs did you wear during the holidays?

Gothic Gala Lacquers Holo-Deck Collection

I'm a Trekkie.  I like the new reboot movies and I've seen most of the original movies (minus the ones that were evidently so horrible that my Dad banned them from the house as I was growing up), and I'm not too proud to admit that I watched a handful of Enterprise back in the day, but I am a Next Generation girl through and through.  The show may have ended when I was three, but I grew up watching reruns and taped episodes.  (Remember the days of VHS?)  When I was in elementary school I got in an argument over whether Star Wars or Star Trek was better, and I almost ended a friendship over someone thinking it was called "Star Track."

So when Gothic Gala Lacquers announced the re-release of their Holo-Deck collection, I was ecstatic!  I'd seen pictures of it from when she first released it a year ago and I was really disappointed that I'd missed it.  The moment I saw the photos on her Facebook page I knew I'd need the entire collection.  At first, I thought it would have been inspired by either the original series or the reboot, so I was extra excited when I saw the names and realized that this collection gathers its inspiration from Next Generation!

This post is going to be incredibly photo-heavy, because I couldn't resist capturing tons of macros of these amazing polishes.  To save a little bit of time, the formula on these polishes is all pretty much the same: opaque at two coats, a tiny bit streaky but evens out perfectly with top coat.

Make It So

Inspired by Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his favorite way of issuing an order, Make It So is a lovely raspberry-red scattered holo.  It's a bit less raspberry and more true red in sunlight, but inside it definitely has that juicy, berry-red look to it.

The holo effect is pretty subtle in the light of my lamps, but take it outside and WOW!  Truly stunning.  I hadn't had enough holos in my life until now.  I'm very happy that I bought this collection in its entirety!

My Partner In Crime

This mustard-y yellow polish is inspired by the character Geordi La Forge.  Normally I wouldn't be crazy about this shade of yellow, but it is absolutely the EXACT shade of yellow that Geordi and the other engineering officers wear in Next Generation, so I love it.

The holo effect is much more subtle than Make It So.  Unfortunately I didn't have any direct sunlight when I swatched this one, but you can see it pretty well in this bottle shot:

The Enterprise

It should be pretty obvious what the inspiration behind this polish is - the Federation Starship Enterprise herself!

The Enterprise is a lovely shade of gray.  Inside, whether under artificial light or indirect sunlight, there's a hint of purplish undertones to it, though my camera didn't really pick that up.  The holo sparkle is absolutely brilliant!

It's Green, Sir

This lovely forest green shade is inspired by Data.  (If it's inspired by Data, shouldn't it be called "It Is Green, Sir"? hehe.)  Data has been my favorite character for my whole life.

 

This shade of green is super versatile.  I can see it working perfectly for a Spartan green-and-white mani, a Christmas mani, and pretty much any time I need a holographic green.  It's a totally true green - doesn't really lean yellowish or blueish.

Are you ready for this storm of macros?

The Dancing Doctor 

Inspired by Doctor Beverly Crusher, The Dancing Doctor is a gorgeous shade of blue.  Like It's Green, Sir, it's a true blue that doesn't really lean greenish or red - although in some lighting, it does exhibit ever-so-slightly blurple undertones.  But in most lighting, it's very very blue.

And the holographic sparkle is quite pronounced, even in dimmer lighting!  I love it.

When taking macros of this one, I thought perhaps I was moving too much and that's why the sparkles never appeared to be in focus.  But I think that the holo dust in Dancing Doctor is actually shaped like little Ts!  They looked like that in every macro, no matter how still I held my hand.

I thought I'd try out a new angle for a macro shot - what do you think?

The Search For Spock

The Search For Spock actually takes its inspiration from the original series - it shares a name with the third Star Trek movie.

Oh. my. goodness.  This polish is absolutely 100% breathtaking.  It has some small flakie glitters that none of the other polishes in this collection have, and it totally looks like space.  It's like a one-step galaxy mani!  I'm totally in love.  The holo effect is the most prominent in this one, reflecting rainbows even in dim indoor lighting.

The formula was a tiny bit thinner than the others - it was mostly opaque at two coats, and while there wasn't really a visible line where the whites of my nails start, it definitely looked lighter at the tips of my nails.  I used three coats of The Search For Spock in the photos.

This collection is sadly no longer available in Gothic Gala Lacquer's shop as of 9/20/15, but who knows, maybe Gothic Gala will reboot these beauties again in another year!  If you missed out on these, I highly recommend checking out some of Gothic Gala's other holo polishes - I haven't used any myself, but judging by the photos, they all look just as incredible as these six.

Which polish from this collection is your favorite?  Are you also a Star Trek fan?  Let me know in the comments!