Flip Flop February-Day 21

I have SO been looking forward to today's challenge-I have never tried Flames!
Unfortunately, I ended up not doing them, but only because I saw a gorgeous Dot mani that I wanted to copy!
I feel certain that I Pinned it, but "ain't nobody got time for that".
So, I present to you-

My Dot manicure!
I think I was thinking of this for Day 7-Pattern, because the color order is the same on all the nails, outside the accent nail which got a row of purple also, but I then did my chevron stamping and saved this for today!

Loads of colors went into this.
Base color coat of Zoya Purity (previously untried) and Revlon Snow Bunny, and then dots of Essie Geranium (red), Sally Girl Amped (orange), Julep Courtney (green), Madison (neon pink) and Hayden (peach), and the accent purple is OPI The One To Watch.

Love this mani!
Definitely going to be a repeat!

Have you had a mani that you just LOVED recently?

Please take a few minutes and look at the other nail fiends who are doing this 28 Day Challenge that Jilltastic Nail Design put together.

Adios!
Lizajane~~

Flip Flop February-Day 19

Welcome to my entry for Day 19 of Jilltastic Nail Design's 28 Day Flip/Flop February Challenge.
This didn't start out to be for the challenge, it was just something I was trying, but as it evolved, it ended up being JUST RIGHT for today.

I started out with a color base of Revlon Coastal Surf on most of my nails and then China Glaze White on White for the accent nail.
After giving them a few minutes to set, I added some Darling Diva Snowball.
Gelous, Seche Vite and I was good to go, I thought.

I wore them that way to work and they just didn't feel...right.
The white wasn't working for me.
So I clipped most of the bristles off the brush on the back side of my dotter (something I had been thinking about doing for some months now) and framed the white out with Coastal Surf.
Ah! That hits the spot!

This is my only Darling Diva Polish, so far!
But her service was so incredible that I will be happy to order from her again.

Be sure to check out the other participants in the challenge, and see all the Wings and Outlines.

Adios!
Lizajane~~

Flip Flop February-Day 18

Yay! I have been waiting for this one!

Today's options are Galaxy or Rhinestones.
I chose to do the Galaxy-I totally love these manis, even though I don't wear them often enough.
I used a TON of polishes in this mani!
Thirteen different polishes and two top coats-that is even more than the last time I did them!
They were Zoya Raven & Charla, Revlon Snow Bunny and Impulsive, Sally Hansen Vibrant and Hard Lemonade, Sinful Colors Cloud 9 and Call You Later, Wet and Wild Kaleidoscope, OPI Ski Teal We Drop (and Start to Finish topcoat), Rimmel Promiscuous, Butter London The Black Knight, NYC Matte Me Crazy.
And last, but not least, Enchanted Polish "Across the Universe"! (See what I did there?)

Okay, but I felt they were missing something.
So I matted them.

See the shiny of the Kaleidoscope?
But it still didn't feel right, so I top coated it.

Almost.
And then I realized what was missing.
Individual stars!

There! That does it!
I love Galaxy Nails-there really isn't a wrong way to do them!

Take a look at the other participants in Jilltastic Nail Design's fantastic 28 Day Challenge!

Adios!
Lizajane~~

Flip Flop February-Day 13

Hey, today's Wednesday!
That's usually my day off, but I picked up some hours and will be going in to work at 9.
Change of pace.
Something different.
And that is what I did on my nails today, something different.
I had never tried the Watercolor manicure until today's mani, and I don't think you could say that this one is successful, either.

The tutorials I looked at said to apply other colors to the base coat and then use a brush dipped in acetone to soften the look.
I tried this twice, but the first one looked too acid wash/goth for me.

This uses China Glaze Immortal, Rimmel Black Satin, Revlon Snow Bunny and Sinful Colors Thimbleberry.
I think it might have been more successful without the Snow Bunny.

So I tried again.
This time I used softer, more springlike colors.
I don't even remember what the base color that I put down is.
(I'll tell you  a secret, I have almost all of these already done, but for Days 25, 27, and 28, and they were almost all done before February started, although I did last Thursday's on last Wednesday-but that was another failure that I want to put behind me.)
So looking at my picture today, looking at my notes, I don't see what I used as a base.
It might be Zoya Farah.
The colors I DO know are Sally Hansen Quick Canary and Green with Envy, Revlon Coastal Surf, and Thimbleberry again.

This time, the colors work better, but the watercolor effect just isn't there.
Smudged, yes, but not diffuse enough to be called watercolor, at least not to my hypercritical eyes.

But at least I tried.
Maybe I should have tried the alternative, Sponging.
A nice gradient would have been better than these.
But this is about challenging oneself, and learning.
And I have learned from each of these failnails.

Clear your palate by looking at what the other participants have to show you!

Adios!
Lizajane~~

Flip Flop February-Day 9

Today is Day 9, and our choices are Abstract and Plastic Wrap.
I chose to do the Plastic Wrap manicure because I had been wanting to try it, and my personality likes more concrete things, so abstract is not for me.
Of course, when the other Challengers post their manicures, I will have ideas to follow, but to come up the initial idea is beyond me.
That is why we read blogs, right?
For ideas.
And swatches.
But mainly ideas.
And cats.
But no cats here, sorry.

I put down a base coat of Cover Girl Outlast #115 Forever Frosted, then used plastic wrap to dab on three different colors-the blue is Revlon Coastal Surf, the pink in Sinful Colors Thimbleberry, and the yellow is Sally Hanson Quick Canary.

(I had previously tried the removal method-where you put a dot of the color on the nail and then use the plastic wrap to lift off some of the color-but that didn't work for me.)

I liked this method a lot. 

Probably 8 years ago, I wouldn't have, but that is because this is the same technique I used on my kitchen walls, and I really hated it by the time I was done with 1.5 walls, and I still had 2.5 to go.

Enough time has passed that I can look on it with pleasure again.

And it is super speedy! 

If you need a quick update to a worn manicure, I can highly recommend this technique.

If you have a little time, check out the other participants.
They are so creative!

Adios!
Lizajane~~