OPI Man of la Mancha

  I did quite of bit of layering today. I was really happy with the result! I started with OPI Grape Set Match, then put on a layer of the beautiful multichrome OPI Man of la Mancha, and topped it all of Finger Paints Flashy. I loved the way these polishes played in the light! 

Finger Paints Amethyst Atelier

Finger Paints Amethyst Atelier

This is a super rich purple creme. It really makes me think of a purple after dark, lurking around the cool of midnight. The polish was very easy to paint with, and if I recall correctly, two coats at most gave complete coverage.
I hope you like this too!

Finger Paints Art You Wondering?

Finger Paints Art You Wondering? was a gift from a friend. Boy does she have good taste!
This fine teal glitter twinkles in any light, and you can't help but simple when wearing it. Because it is so fine, it doesn't leave a gritty texture, like some courser glitters can. You could probably use three coats of this glitter on its own if you wanted to wear it solo, but I prefer to wear glitter layered over a solid color.
As shown, this is two coats of Art You Wondering? over Barielle End of the Rainbow and OPI Ski Teal We Drop

Finger Paints Circus Peanut

I didn't get this color when it first came out, despite all the hype behind it. I have consumed, even enjoyed circus peanuts, but I didn't imagine it would be a color I would want on my nails. Despite those reservations, I was more than happy to pick it up at Sally Beauty Supply when it went on clearance for only $1.99. Now, I really am not sure that this is the artificial orange I associate with circus peanuts- I almost thought the color was more melon, like a cantaloupe. No matter what you want to call the color, I will say it was a delight to use. The consistency was terrific and it only took two coats to reach full opacity. I think this is a great color for summer and if you can still find, I would recommend grabbing it up!

Finger Paints Motley

Finger Paints Motley from the 2011 Specific Effects collection
over Venique Shady Ombre

Since Venique Shady Ombre did not have as much shimmer as I had hoped, it seemed like an ideal time to pull out another flakie polish!
Finger Paints Motley is a flakie polish with beautiful blue and green flashes. I used two layer in this manicure. Some people have said that the flakies are a bit sparse in the Special Effects collection- I personally do not agree, and once again must say that this was probably my favorite collection for 2011. I really like the way the blue and green flakies looked on the gray base- it look a calm, chic color and added a little pizzazz, reminded me of an Easter Egg.
Not much else to say about this polish, but I can not way to try it over other colors!

Finger Paints Vintage Velvet and Finger Paints Flecked

Layering flakies!

Base color: Finger Paints Vintage Velvet

Next layer: Finger Paints Flecked

Topped with: Pure Ice Heart Breaker

Finger Paints are available exclusively at Sally’s Beauty Supply. As I’ve mentioned, I have no real qualms with this brand. I will say the brush isn’t ideal for my nails. With wider brushes, such as OPI’s brushes, it is quite easy to reach very close to the cuticle without actually touching it by applying gentle pressure and bringing it slightly when painting center portion of your nail. With Finger Paints, the brush is a bit narrower, and I found I really wasn’t able to use the same technique. The clean up wasn’t terrible, but you can easily see a few spots where I got polish on the skin. The color was worth it though. Vintage Velvet is a dusty true teal- it’s much darker than OPI Mermaid’s Tears, but much lighter and less blue than OPI Ski Teal We Drop. I am a sucker for a good crème.

The next layer was another Finger Paints polish. Flecked is a wonderful flakie polish packed with green, teal, and blue flakies depending on how the light hits them. As my friend put it, they look like mermaid’s scales.  Because Flecked is in a clear base, it is ideal for layering- I can imagine wearing it any other way. I really liked this one over teal because the flakies were present, but subtle.

To top it all off, I used Pure Ice Heart Breaker. I’ve seen Pure Ice in Walmart and Walgreens, but I know it is available elsewhere. It comes in a square shaped bottle, not completely unlike Barielle’s, and like the Barielle, it makes for easy storage. The brush was acceptable for a budget polish. Heart Breaker is another great layering polish! This polish has a sheer aqua base and a green/aqua shimmer. I love how fine the shimmer is- it adds a sparkle, similar to glitter, but in a delicate dusting. I thought this would be a great polish for giving the entire nail a beauty sparkle, even in spots where there were no flakies.

You’ll probably see more layering manicures posted. I love doing these because I can try several polishes at once, and create a look you just can’t buy in the store.

Do you have a favorite teal?

How many layers was your thickest polish layering?

Fun with layering featuring Finger Paints Asylum

I was inspired on this one, but for the life of me, cannot remember where I saw it.

Base color; Essie Midnight Cami from Essie’s 2009 Cuddle with Color collection

I do like Essie, while I have heard mixed things on them; I have yet to have one that didn’t play well with me. The square bottle makes storage easy, and while the brush is small, it’s still easy to use. Midnight Cami was nice navy shimmer, and for layering, one coat was fine. If I was wearing it on its own, I would likely use two coats because I like my color opaque. Midnight Cami is such a great color because it’s dark blue, but without being so dark you’d mistake it for black.

Layer 1; Orly Androgynie from Holiday Soiree 2011

Orly is a favorite brand of mine. They have so many good qualities! The bottles are a full .6 oz! For reference OPI’s are .5 oz, Essie’s .46 oz, and Ulta’s current bottles are .3 oz, so this is quite generous. Second, the bottom heavy design is great because it prevents them from toppling over easily. Finally, that rubberized cap rocks! I have actually chipped nails trying to remove stubborn caps from nail polish, so I am in love with their easy grip tops.

Androgynie is a mix of glitters, gold, multicolored, small and large in a black jelly base. In the bottle, it rocks my world- when I first got it I just played with the bottle, examining, and admiring the contents. On the nail, I was a bit disappointed. The density of the glitters in the bottle looks perfect, but it would take many, many layers to build it up to what you see in the bottle. I still liked it, but I think I was so excited for what I saw in the bottle that not having that same density was a letdown.

Layer 2; Finger Paints Asylum from Finger Paint’s 2012 Special Effects collection

I don’t own many bottles of Finger Paints polish. I think because it’s a Sally Beauty Supply store brand, I’ve discounted it. To top it off, not many of their collection have blown me away. The bottle is okay, I believe it’s supposed to look like an ink well. The cap doesn’t quite thrill me- it’s a very thin top, and when it gets stuck, it’s quite a chore to remove.

That said, Finger Paints shocked and surprised me with the release of an entire collection of flakies! Oh, I love flakies- they can take a dark color and make it pop, they are more subtle than glitter (in my opinion), and they make my heart pitter patter. I stalked Sally’s after seeing the press release for this collection because I did not want to miss out. This collection was amazing- it brought flakies to the masses at an affordable price. Many of these are dupes of Nails Inc. flakies, sets which run $20 for a set of a .33 oz base color and .33 oz flakie. Asylum is a stunning mix of deep blue, purple, and orange flakies with some green and gold. I couldn’t help but stare at my nails when this was on.

Overall, I think this layering experiment was a success, though my nails did end up a bit thicker than I would have liked. It was very pretty- you could see little bits of the Androgynie glitter peeking out from the Asylum flakies. I had used Midnight Cami as a base hoping some of the blue would come through, but it seems the black jelly from Androgynie canceled out the blue.

What are your thoughts on flakies?

Do you ever layer your polishes?

Do you have a favorite layering combination?