NOTD: Stamped Gradient

Hi ladies! This is a bit of a different post today, I never usually post Nail Art posts outside of a challenge, but since I'm completely out of fresh swatches, I thought I would post this as a substitute. Please excuse the crap photo quality/clean up. It looked a lot better *I thought* IRL and I took these very early morning before running out the door to go to work.

I started out with a base of OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls to bring out the gradient colours that little bit more, then using a cut up make-up sponge, I painted a strip of OPI - Can't Find My Czechbook and OPI - You're Such A Budapest from the new Euro-Centrale collection (swatches of my picks will be coming shortly). After the gradient was dry, I knew I wanted something stamping over the top, so I went through various image plates before settling on CH-53* from the Cheeky Summer 2012 collection, which was stamped using a White polish from the Rio Nails Stamping set*. I finished off with Eye Candy Gel Wrap Top Coat* to smooth out the Gradient and protect the stamping and here is the result.

I was really pleased with the overall look of this mani, and it's only the second time I've ever done a gradient! it took a while for me to make sure the transitions were good enough, but I think I got there in the end. To give you an idea of how pleased I am with this, I did this mani on Monday night and I'm still wearing it now! Yes, that's 5 days of the same nails, which is a rarity. The best thing? There's only minor tip wear!

What do you guys think? Would you like to see more of my stamping adventures or would you rather me stick to swatching terribly.

Challenge: Day 24 - Inspired By A Book

Hi ladies! The end is almost here! I honestly can't believe I've made it to the 24th day and haven't thrown in the towel yet! If you saw my previous 31 Day Challenge attempt when I first started blogging, I gave up around day 12/13...quitter. Today's inspiration post comes from a book. Now I searched high and low for a book that 'inspired' me, and I was about to give up when I thought about 'The Mighty Book Of Boosh' which I bought a long time ago, but it was at my mums house. I knew that this was the book I wanted to do, since the cover is so colourful, so when I went to work on Friday, I stopped by my mums house to pick it up. For this mani, I applied the gradient technique with Purple Professional - 52*, OPI - Dim Sum Plum, beautyUK - Bon Bon*, Essie - Coat Azure and BarryM - Red Wine over a base of OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls. I then used Black & White Acrylic paint for the 'eyes', which I messed up since they weren't supposed to be so big, and the mouth. The Pink 'stitching' is China Glaze - Pool Party.

The Mighty Book of Boosh cover.

So there you have my entry for Inspired By A Book, what do you think? I wish I hadn't have messed the eyes up as much, but oh well! Remember, those of you wanting to add the inlinkz to your own posts, click here to be taken to the google doc with everything you'll need for the next 30 days!

Untrieds Used;

Purple Professional - 52

OPI - Dim Sum Plum