Black lightning crackle

This is the first time I do a whole-nail crackle pattern. I tried various applying techniques on the same set of nails so I could evaluate the effect. The crackle polish is by Kelier from Born Pretty. I've worn this crackle before here with CG Millennium.

Here's the base: Seafoam Green mood polish by Nubar. Not so dazzling by itself... Just when I've gotten rid of the stains on my nails and I'm happy to have healthy "nude" color I go and put this over them! I've worn it once before - almost a year to date, here. My son said: "Mom, how quickly can you take off that color...". I initially planned to "plant" some flowers over it but decided to cover it up to the max after his words LOL

So here's the Kelier crackle effect. I applied it fairly soon after the third coat of Seafoam green.

The index finger with 3 quick vertical strokes, the middle finger after 2 curvy strokes (and touch ups on the sides), ringfinger with two generous vertical strokes and finally the pinky with 3 strokes that I painted like J (starting from the bottom, curving down and then upwards).

I like the middle finger best: it resembles a lightning most of all these. The others are more like plaids. I smoothed the surface with 2 generous coats of Rimmel Max Wear topcoat.


I like the effect but on my length of nails I think I prefer the french tip -crackle. This is a bit too dark overall look, especially for springtime...

For the start of May I'll change up to something brighter. I have some new nail art stuff to play with.. :)

Have a great start for your weekend!

2Nite by China Glaze

This is one beauty I've never worn on this blog on its own, to my shame! I did a pattern with it over black when I first got it, see: Black and holo . But somehow never wore it like this here.

The pic above is indirect light and below it reveals the true magic...

On the bottle it's so modest it hardly calls out to but once you put it on you can't take your eyes of it! Next time I start to doubt it I'll browse back to these shots.

These pictures were taken before Easter and it already seems my nails are a lot longer now. Got to love the Spring!


Currently I have a crackled mani on - quite basic but to me a new experience to have a whole-nail crackle look. I will post pics later today ...but now I guess I should get some more sleep before the morning (it's over 3 a.m. here... and this is not a scheduled post LOL).

See you soon with a darker look :)

Willow nails for Easter

Here's my Easter look. I wanted pussy willows again, but this time as a detail on a french tip. Last year I did the branch on the whole nail, see here: Pussy Willow for Palm Sunday


It's more of an interpretation than exact match LOL

Also it would be more fitting (for the season) on a yellow base. I did consider that, but I wanted sweet pink for a change. It's been so long since the last time I had pink on my nails!

Here's what I used over the base coat: Pastel Pink by Model's Own, brown by Nail Star, pearly white by Migi.

This is very pretty pastel shade but terrible to apply... I don't usually put on top coat, but this time I went over the color base twice with top coat (Rimmel) to get it smoother. After that I started the nail art.

The white dots are with the tip Migi nail art pen has, no additional dotting tool. It provides just enough color to form even dots (not blots). I've had that pearly white for over a year now and its still performing like it was new - the consistency is like it was before and the needle is still working.

The needle on the Nail Star on the other hand is not working anymore but I did use its own brush to make a stroke. I also had to thin the brown polish a bit with acetone-free nail polish remover for it had gone quite sticky since the last time I used it.

Have a relaxing long weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

3d nail art pens (pt 2) Guest artist - all by and on her hand

Here's a work of my very own little artist. On her, by her. I only did the base for which she selected For Audrey by China Glaze. She fell in love with the 3D nail art pens and I let her give it a go.

All by free hand :) It's not as messy as with nail polish stripers. These don't pour out of the tube while holding the tip downwards. Also it's quite easy to fix the errors while not dry, like in using acrylic paint!


Here are her designs from left to right: a bow, a butterfly, a heart and a flower. Pretty and simple. I'm surprised how neat they are! She's only 10. As I told you before the patterns dry slower than regular polish, for it has quite a thick pasty/ gel-like consistency. That actually makes it ideal for the beginners - it doesn't just run out of the tube but requires a bit of a squeeze.

These were good to touch in about 30 minutes but should not be made right before bedtime or putting on gloves; The color doesn't stain while still soft but the surface can get bumpy if it's not completely dry. If you want that smooth and sculptured effect then give them enough time.

Here's a link to the product description once more: Born Pretty.com


She also wanted to do her toes like "All Sorts liquorice" - but for that polish would've been better choice! She learned that the hard way when changing the pedi and trying to rub the thick coats of color off LOL

Have a great week!

3D nail art pens (pt 1)

I'm slowly warming up to 3D patterns on my nails. Although I admire so many nail bloggers /tubers for their kawaii style skills I've been quite light handed with glitter and cuteness. Now that I got my first fimos I also wanted to try 3D nail art pens. We'll see how crazy I get with all these as the summer approaches..!

These are the 3D pens with 12 colors on the lot - no need for UV-light or anything, just paint on and let air dry. I was a bit skeptical about that: if it's thick enough to look like a sculpted detail, how could it dry fast... The drying time indeed is looong compared to nail art polish but the effect is so cool I didn't mind waiting. It's not like it takes half a day anyway but not as quick as with a coat of polish obviously.

These were sent to me from Born pretty when they kindly asked if I'd like to review some of their products. Click here for the product description on their site.

Oh and if you're wondering about the bikini-girl on the package: my daughter put the sticker on there (and I couldn't get it off anymore), it's not a brand thing LOL

While trying these out I had to have something conservative to wear the next day. I picked a neutral base color and started my tryout with traditional flowers.

The colors come in plastic tubes with plastic tips, consistency being quite pasty, so the application was easy. With a polish + a dotting tool or a nail art striper I tend to get some spider legs around the dots no matter how careful I try to be. But with this one it was most like painting with a pen really. You just squeeze to get more color, it doesn't drip out like some nail art polishes do.

The neutral base is Palisade by Nubar. One of the greys I bought a while back, the most blue-toned of the lot. This polish didn't win me over. It's thick and dull. But with right nail art I'm sure it comes alive just well. Now it's just what I needed for a modest look :)

Interested in seeing some more cuter looks with it?

I'll bring you more experimental 3d nail art soon enough ;)

Fimos for nail art

I finally gave in and got me some fimos... Here are the canes I ordered (from eBay).

I mostly wanted fruits for summer manicures. When you order you don't get to choose which ones you get but I'm happy with the canes I got. There were only two doubles on the lot.

I'm a bit worried about how to fit them on my nails since my nails do curve quite a lot.

But just when I was thinking maybe fimos are not ideal for me and my shape, then Tartofraises uploaded this totally delicious design Tarte aux fraises Nail art! Yes, that's what fimos are all about - having fun with it, not worrying about whether they pop out too much. They are meant to pop out a lot LOL

Here's the row of canes I got, and below is a fruit wheel of ready-to-go fimo slices I ordered just before.

I might like the canes better, since they feel softer. I assume they are more easily forced to curve on the nail than the dried slices on the wheel. But that remains to be seen.

I just hope I can cut as neat slices as in this wheel!

Here are all the floral fimos I got. I like the black one on the center the most and the blue one next to it is also something that inspires me right away.


Here are the many butterflies I got as well as the rest of the lot - see that cute teddy bear on the center? I'm glad these canes can be cut to many slices. Those teddies are going on the nails of many little girls here... :)

Lime Time again!

I wanted something more colorful for a change. I was unsure if I'd ever worn this color before (because it's so funky...) and so I did a search on my blog: to my surprise I have worn it and for the same reason I went for it this time - May is approaching!!

This is Lime Time by Wet'n'Wild. You can see my last year's whole nail manicure & read about the "lemon time" it represents to me by clicking here :)

Here it's just on the tips so I went with only one coat. It's more yellow and less of a green when in just one coat. The base is Ticklish Toes by Wild and Crazy. Which reminds me, it's time to start to pay attention to my feet also. Too bad I can't currently bend so well so all the detailed nail art on toes is out of the question atm :)

I just had to get to pose with this beautiful Narcissus on the evening light... vain? me? no! LOL

I'll be back with my new fimos soon. My nails are so curvy I have to figure out a way to place them neatly on the nail. But the fimos sure are cute!

Have a great weekend!

(btw. I hate it how grainy the new pics look now! They're perfect on my files. Why is it that sometimes the quality stays the same and sometimes it's just unbearable when uploaded to Blogger? )

Clover Nails matte

Yesterday I was a bit dissapointed with the close pics of the clover mani, so I decided to lay a topcoat over it. It was shiny already so I thought why not try it matte... Here's the mani with Rimmel Matte Finish.



It evens out the rough edges of the leaves and adds a new perspective to the glitter base.

Which one do you prefer: the shiny or matte?

Clover Nails and some nail art inspiration

More breath of spring, though our garden is still full of snow... I planned to paint some flowers on the nails but ended up doing lucky four leaf clovers instead. Somehow I'm hooked on blue-green nail looks at the moment :)

My source of inspiration was this post by Vanessa from Guilty little Pleasures: Spring NOTD (<-click).

She got her idea from Robin Moses - I'm sure you've heard of this lady already but if you haven't then head out to her YouTube channel here: robinmosesnailart .

Anyway... I love it when people share their ideas to feed other's creativity. And in my case, I end up doing simplified versions of nail art I see/imagine because - let's face it - I'm no pro and I'll never be one. But it's fun all the way :)


I wanted a dark base but also some good sparkle. So here's what I used: black GOSH lacquer called Nero - very opaque, one coat was enough! Then "cool" toned glitter by Wild and Crazy called Sand Turtle.

For clovers I used jade green polish by Depend called #054. They are freehanded, dotted & dragged with a good old toothpick...


The pics are bit of a blur due to glitter and shine. It looks more 3d in real life. I'm really happy with my clovers although the design is less colorful from what I planned it to be. After I'd painted the clovers I just couldn't imagine adding any more color to it, it's just so me right now. Doolish?

Have a great weekend!