Reddit Challenge - Green

I'm sure I could have done something fancy with this one, but I wanted to do a plain colour.

This is Rimmel Rags to Riches.

A friend gave this one to me a couple of months ago, and when I saw there was a green challenge coming up, I knew I wanted to use this one.
It is a light metallic silvery green. I used three coats to get coverage that I was satisfied with (you could probably stop at 2, but in case you hadn't noticed by now, I like my polish very opaque). each coat dried very quickly.

In other news ... I got back from two weeks in England yesterday!
No, I didn't make the last two posts from there - I did the manicures before I left and scheduled the posts.
Later this week, I'll show you my nails for the trip along with some highlights from the trip!

Reddit Challenge - Delicate Print

I knew this one called for stamping, so I went through all my stamp plates, and finally settled on something lacy.

I started off with three coats of Revlon Nude Beige, then stamped on the diagonal lace pattern from Bundle Monster plate BM-323 using Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Pretty, simple and delicate!

Guest Post - Shilak

My Friend Miss Manpreet sent me a photo and writeup about a Shilak manicure she had done, and I wanted to share!

"So, I was in Prince George for my high school reunion and decided to treat myself with a Shilak. I went with a shimmery black. They applied 1 coat of Gel base and then 2 coats of the black. She then used the thin design brush from Sally Hansen in white and silver to create a design on my ring finger. She drew an eye shape with the white and then added on some silver dots. Loved them!"

Reddit Challenge - Inspired by Colour

I have really liked blue lately, so I figured, why not choose blue for this challenge?

I started with two coats of Ardene's Elektronika - a very pretty dark blue creme that I've used quite a bit. I used this as a base for the star of this manicure ...
Color Club Total Mystery - a sheer blue base with a blue-purple shimmer. I'd put this as a subtle duochrome - you can see it in the bottle, and you can sometimes see it on your fingers. I like it a lot, it's really pretty. I wish I could get better photos of it.

Hard Candy Black Tie Optional

Everyone is going crazy over this polish.
I get it now.

After failing with China Glaze Whirled Away a second time (no pictures were taken, but it was bubbly, lumpy and did not dry for /hours/), I grabbed a bottle of Black Tie Optional from my local Walmart.

Now, everyone says they have a very hard time finding this polish, but I've seen it every time I've been at Walmart. In fact, when the Hard Candy display was mostly empty, BTO was one of the only bottles left.
I guess the nail polish fanatics in Vancouver don't care for the black & white glitter trend? or they don't venture into Walmart?

Anywyas ... The black and white glitter thing started with indie polish makers. They were hard to find and often out of stock - when they came back in stock, they would sell out very quickly. Then everyone jumped on the bandwagon. Here is a not-so-complete list, because companies are still releasing new ones - I've seen new offerings from Maybelline, Claire's and a few others.

For this manicure, I applied two coats of Barrielle Joytini, a peachy-orange almost jelly polish. I got this in a box set of polishes at Winners. The box said "New York Style", but when I looked up that set, Joytini wasn't in it (though, there was an orange), and there were other shades I didn't get. I guess it was random polishes thrown in the box. Not too surprised, because that's what happens with other sets at Winners. I've only actually seen one complete set. Not a big deal, I grabbed the set, because I liked the shades I saw, not because it was a specific set.

After those coats were thoroughly dry, I applied  a single coat of Black Tie Optional.
How was it? 
It was PACKED with glitter, so you can apply it like any old polish. And yes, that is only a single coat in the photo. Unlike Whirled Away, there was no dabbing was required. It is also super quick dry, so I could  apply a topcoat and be on my way without fear of denting or smooshing. I will say I had to dig a little bit to get the big hex glitter, but nothing like Whirled Away, where you had to dig for any glitter.

Reddit Challenge - Half-Moon or Border

The challenge had a choice for this one, and I chose border - half-moons can be really nice, but I had something specific in mind for Canada Day, and the border fit better.

On each finger I did two coats of OPI's Nice Color Eh? - I used this one for last year's Canada Day manicure
Over top of that, I did two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White, leaving a border around the top and sides of my nails. I considered closing off the bottom with a strip of Nice Color Eh?, but thought it looked nice without it.
After that was all dry, I stamped on some maple leaves from Bundle Monster plate BM04 (also used last year). Since the design is 3 maple leaves stacked on top of each other, I used the largest one for my thumb, and the mid-sized one for the rest of my fingers.
Unfortunately, I mucked up my pinky after applying topcoat :(