Elevation Polish - Wai'anapanapa

Are you trying to pronounce that polish name in your head? I still am...

Lulu of Elevation Polish uses places all over the world inspire her to make her polishes and also to name them. Clearly she is well traveled, because her polishes are named after places all over the world.

Don't even ask me to pronounce them. I'm calling today's polish Wai. Its actual name is "Wai'anapanapa" and it is part of the recently released Hawaiian Punch collection. 

Wai'anapanapa is the name of a state park in Maui. I don't know that because I've been there...but after looking up some info on the inspiration, I want to go there!

(Check it out)

Wai'anapanapa is an almost opaque black filled with pink and purple flake shimmer. I used two coats of the color in these pictures, and two coats of Seche Vite because I wanted it to look extra squishy.

Upon first glance, it may look like a simple unassuming black polish. When you see it shimmer, that's when it's personality comes out. I love those pink and purple flakes in there.

I JUST checked and Wai'anapanapa is still available on the Elevation Polish web store. 

As I said yesterday, restocks happen on the 7th of each month at 9pm and the 22nd at 9am.

There's always something great there, and if you get lucky you can get your hands on a rare SBP!

Happy Monday, and have a great week.

ELEVATION POLISH

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Stamping Fun!

Hi there! I need to say one thing before getting into today's mani. 

Life is hard. Life is stressful. Because of that, I've been a tad neglectful of my nails and my blog. I'm still doing my nails, they're just not that exciting! I'm working towards posting more, so bear with me!

Today's nails are really fun! I just got a new squishy Winstonia stamper that I have been playing around with. I also have a good old Konad firm stamper that I am really used to, so playing with something new has been interesting.

I started with a base of China Glaze "Too yacht to handle". I love this color. It's bright and turquoise, and super duper summery. Over that I did a double stamp with my Cheeky Jumbo Princess Charming plate.

 For the black I used sinful colors "Black on Black" and the Gold is Sally Hansen Color Foils "Liquid Gold".

What do you think? It kind of reminds me of a turquoise bandana.

Stamping is always an interesting process, so we'll see what I come up with when I get more practice with my new stamper!

Thanks for checking in!

Model City Polish and the Christmas collection!

First off, I want to start this post with a little apology. One, to you, the reader. Two, to Nina, the creator and mastermind at MCP. I finally found my Nikon camera and was very excited to take some macro shots with it! Turns out, it doesn't take the best pictures. I'm no photographer, so I did the best with what I had. It's been a little while since I've posted, and I sincerely apologize.

So, lets move on to this fabulous collection! I have 3 of 6 colors in the Holiday lineup. I chose Coal, O Christmas Tree 2.0 and Sugar cookie!

First off, let's talk about Coal. Generally, you don't want to get coal for Christmas. Trust me, this is coal that you want. In all honesty, the pic just doesn't do it justice.

It's a black jelly that is just so beautiful, and sparkly and magical. Every which way you look at it, its sparkling. Another beautiful part of this color is that Nina is donating $2 from the sale of each bottle of Coal to her local Humane Society! So awesome!

Next, we have O Christmas Tree 2.0. This is the one where the picture color got a little funky, so sorry.

O Christmas Tree 2.0 is a glitter topper that has every type of glitter packed into it! Green shreds, silver and blue and gold stars! It's like your decorated Christmas tree on your nails! I used a red base in my pics, but you could wear it SO MANY ways!

Lastly, we have my personal favorite, Sugar Cookie. I'm such a sucker for white crelly polish with glitter in it. This one is adorable! 

Sugar cookie is a white crelly base with gold, red and green metallic glitter mixed into it. It's so yummy looking, I just want to eat it! Baking cookies is my favorite part of the holidays, and this polish just totally captures it. I love it. 

Like I said, there are 3 other shades in this Christmas release and they are ALL lovely!

Nina has these and MANY other pretties over in her Etsy shop! 

Follow Model City Polish on Facebook and Instagram to get all the updates!

Had to make my mani a little spookier (Bonus post!)

Good evening! The leopard spots were cool and everything, but I want to try out as many options with my gradient as I can. I was thinking I should be trying to practice my stamping skills, seeing as how I do have a Halloween stamping plate in my stash. Let me tell you, I swore a LOT while trying to stamp this time. A lot.

All that swearing for one stamped finger. Still looks cool though. Right? My cuticles look tore up, I had to use a lot of acetone since I kept screwing up that ONE. DAMN. FINGER. My colors are China Glaze "Sun of a Peach" for the orange, Hard Candy "Black Tie Optional" and Konad black stamping polish.

Time to go practice my stamping skills! 

Snow leopard tutorial!

I was reminded yesterday that I was kinda slackin on the blog posts...so here we are! I'd been wanting to do a sponge gradient for awhile and I thought I would mix it up with some leopard spots too! Both of these techniques are super easy, you just have to have the right tools! 

First, you'll need to choose a color scheme. Second, paint a base that corresponds with the colors you want to use. Use a large dotting tool to make spots of various sizes. At first glance,

 they kinda look like cow spots, don't you think? 

After you have dotted your spots, use a small brush or dotting tool to make "C" shapes on either side of your spot. Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect! To fill space, I added some dots too.

After I finished my spots, I did my sponged gradient. 

Ta daaaaa! Here's the finished product! This gradient is giving me some inspiration for some Halloween type nail art! Look for a gradient tutorial in my next post :-)

Model City Polish and the Halloween collection!

I've been meaning to put up a post, singing the praises of Model City polish...and now it's finally time! I was anxiously awaiting the release of these three colors and needless to say, I wasn't let down. This collection makes my 4th, 5th and 6th MCP colors added to my stash. First of all, I want to applaud the fabulous and SPEEDY customer service over at Model City. When I order polish online, it means I've thought long and hard about what I want to order. Once that order is placed, I'm practically outside, immediately checking my mailbox. Both times I have ordered, my package has come in two days. TWO DAYS, people! 

Here they are, in order of appearance:

-The Great Pumpkin Massacre (pumpkin bread scented)

-Witches Brew (fruit punch scented)

-Bobbing for apples (apple scented, duh)

This is an accent nail with Sinful Colors "Laced up" with two coats of "The Great Pumpkin Massacre" over the top. My husband called it my "random pumpkin nail". Men...they just don't understand...

I used this pic in an earlier post, and really...my pictures just aren't doing the glitter any justice. If you love sparkly...Model City polish is where it's at.

Next up, is "Witches Brew". TONS of sparkle goin on here.

This is an up close, and personal shot of my nail. This color rocks. It's great over black, I've also tried it over blue and that is also lovely!

Last, but not least, "Bobbing for Apples". This is also pictured over black. I find that if you really want to make your glitter stand out, layering it over black gives you the best look. I must say, that this one is my favorite. There's green, there's blue, there's purple, there's big red circle glitter and it smells like apples! What more could you ask for??

What an awesome Halloween collection. Makes me excited for fall. Check out this collection and the rest of Model City's amazing stuff!

Model City Polish on Etsy

     

I went all out this time!

For today's post, I thought I'd include a little step by step so that you can see just how easy it is to make some cool nail art for yourself! I don't know about you, but I'm ALWAYS checking out pinterest for cool nail ideas. I saw something similar to this a long time ago, and had forgotten about it until yesterday. Here in the midwest, fall is fast approaching and so I felt like doing something bright, flashy and summery while I still can! There's a little bit of everything in this mani, so get ready!

Isn't it fun?? I'm showing you my finished product first, then the steps to get this look.

The pink is China Glaze in "Neon and on", the white is Revlon Top Speed in "Spirit" and the black and white craziness is Hard Candy's "Black Tie Optional". I also used a Wet 'n Wild quick dry polish for the black. (I HIGHLY recommend using quick drying polish for nail art like this)

First, get your base colors all ready to go. For neons and pastels, I always put a base of white underneath...they just look better that way! 

If you've been wondering how to get the chevron effect that's everywhere right now, this is the easiest way. I tried cutting the tape by itself, and all I wanted to do was throw the roll of tape out the window! Use wax paper and apply the tape to it, then cut! I've also done this when I use a 

paper punch to do cutouts on my nails.

Stick it on! That's all ya gotta do.

Boom. It's that easy.

Next, get yourself some dotting tools. I picked up my set from Amazon for less than $2. 

(Tip: look for a seller in the U.S. or somewhere close to you, or you will be waiting FOREVER for them to come in the mail)

Different sized tools, for different sized dots!

Striping tape! This is another one that runs real cheap, just 

check where it's coming from before you place your order.

Stripey!

Here's another pic. I used one coat of Seche Vite when I was all finished. Make sure your designs are TOTALLY dry before top-coating. The black and white can run when you paint on your topcoat. Sorry for the blurry thumb. I used the Black Tie Optional for one of the nails, because it's fun and it reminds me of the '90's and Lisa Frank folders! It looks especially cool over gradient painted nails!

Are you ready to try some nail art?