Renaissance Cosmetics - Rosie-Osie

Hi Goddesses

Oh I feel I have been such a very bad blogger this week.  I had so much planned but I have been utterly knackered, and most nights I’ve just come home and watched TV.  Previously I’d have STILL blogged, so it’s progress that I “allowed” myself time off with no guilt, but I am now behind.  Oh, and I have nothing planned for DD Week next week – eeeeeeeeeeek!

This was supposed to be Tuesday’s post haha, the 2^nd of 4 reviewing the Renaissance Cosmetics polishes I was sent for review.  Today’s deliciousness is Rosie-Osie and she’s quite the fantastic red.

If you only own one red glitter polish, I would suggest you make it this one.  It really is special.  It’s crammed with shimmer and flash and “just” enough glitter.  It’s better than all the millions of other red glitters I have in my box,  and super damn sexy it is too!

There’s nothing not to like about this polish.  It’s on the cranberry to ruby side of red, which plays up the drama of the glitters perfectly.  It’s also a 1-coater if you want it to be, AND it looks awesome matte.

For funsies, I added some nail vinyls and used Barry M Espresso over the top.  I love the plainness of the black matte polish against the kitchen-sink qualities of Rosie-Osie.

I listened to The Nailasaurus this time, and applied my tape with tweezers.  Whaddya know, she’s right lol.  It was much easier to get them in “just” the right position.

This polish was sent to me for an honest review and can be bought HERE.

The Digit-al Dozen DOES Countries - Northern Lights

Hi Goddesses

You may have seen my joke mani for DD Week featuring a white mani as the Antarctic.   Bizarrely, a joke provided some inspiration, and as I thought about polar regions I thought of the Northern Lights and saw this photo on Google.

It appealed to my artistic sensibilities, such as they are.  Requirement for precision?  Low.  Opportunity to slop polish on randomly?  High.  Done.

For my base, I used the matte base of Barry M Espresso, and then I picked my Northern Lights.  I ended up settling for 3 Lilypad Lacquers - Slimey Limey, She's All That and Bubble Yummo.

Because I wanted a streaky effect and didn't want the colour to be too saturated, I mixed my polishes with top coat to thin them out.  I lined them up as if I were doing a gradient, looked for my fan brush, couldn't find it, gggggrrrr'd, picked up the largest brush I could find, and applied the polish in vertical lines.  I then added extra pink on top to create the effect seen in the original photo.

It's a really simple technique that created quite a spectacular mani - next week you'll see this as the base to possibly the best stamping mani I have ever done.

Bravo for the Northern Lights!   Don't forget to check out the other ladies :)

An InLinkz Link-up

The Digit-al Dozen DOES Countries - Abstract Mexican Nail Art

Hi Goddesses

Here we are again with the Digit-al Dozen and a BEAST of a theme.  I really struggled with this one, and I don't know how I've actaully ended up with some manis I actually like!

Usually for DD Week I sit and trawl Google images for a while, looking for inspiration.  THIS mani started the opposite way.  It's a mani I'd been meaning to do for the longest time, and it wasn't until I'd finished that I realised the colours were quite Mexican.  I can get away with that, right?

So this is a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, with added colour blobs from -
* Morgan Taylor - Lost in Paradise
* OPI - A Definite Moust-Have
* Rimmel - Ora-gasm

I used one of my new nail art brushes to add the lining with Barry M Espresso.  Although I love that this polish is matte, it did mean it dried too quickly.  However, I think the pay-off is possibly worth it, because I love the glossy base and the matte lining.

Overall, I'm super happy and have loads more manis like this planned.  They're simpler than they look - the issue has always been whether I could get my lines thin enough!  Working on it!

Don't forget to check out the other ladies - 

An InLinkz Link-up

The Digit-al Dozen DOES Metal ..... Metallic Roses

Hi Goddesses

I hope you're enjoying this DD theme.  I really thought I'd struggle with it, but so far, I'm having fun.  I'm also amazed that instead of 5 posts featuring a swatch and a nail stud, so far there are none (that will change tomorrow) lol.

I've had an idea to do gold and silver roses for the longest time, and in my head, I always saw them on a white background.  The problem with that idea came, I discovered, when I realised I didn't have a clue then what colour to do the petals in ...

Eventually I settled on a background of Barry M Matte Black / Espresso, a great polish.   I contemplated a turquoise or fuchsia background, but wanted to keep it more dramatic!

My roses are OPI Haven't Got The Foggiest - a fabulous grungey pewter - and China Glaze Angel Wings - the sparkliest gold ever.

The roses looked great on the matte background, but I just couldn't get the thing to dry without Poshe, so glossy it became, and whilst I still like it, I wish I could have kept the drama of just the black being matte.

I used an acrylic green for the leaves, with a weeny itty bitty brush, and my Sam Biddle nail art pen and OPI MBSW for the petals.  


Don't forget to check out my fellow DD ladies!

An InLinkz Link-up