#SUMMERNORULES: The Beach

I love going to the beach, but not so much on a nice, sunny day. The beaches here tend to get a little crowded and I don't really enjoy laying about a feet away from the next person trying to get some sun. So on the really nice days, I avoid the beach, but I love walking on the sand on other days.

For my #SUMMERNORULES Beach mani, I went with a sand, sea and blue skies gradient with a sandy accent.

I love how this turned out! It's very fresh and summery. I used OPI Samoan Sand, Beyond the Nail Spring blue crème (review to come, but a little spoiler: I love it!) and Picture Polish Swagger for my gradient and Zoya Tomoko as my sand accent.

What's your favorite mani to wear to the beach?

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#SUMMERNORULES: Sunshine

Today's #SUMMERNORULES theme is Sunshine and it's a very fitting theme for today, as it's a glorious sunny day with temperatures expected to rise above a steaming 30 Degrees Celsius. I had a very nice mani in mind for this theme, clear blue sky with neon yellow rays of sunshine. The picture in my head was stunning, bright, fun and extremely sunny. The result on my nail... well.. have a look for yourself:

What can I say? I let the blue completely dry before sponging the white on it, but the colors still mixed together. I let this dry completely too, but somehow the yellow got mixed as well. What I ended up with was a big ol' mess on my nails. I felt disappointed and didn't like it at all until I send a picture to a friend and she comented it kinda looked like a peacock...

And she's totally right! I left it on, giving it another chance and I grew to really like it! It's funky, weird and fun and I keep giggling every time I look at it. Isn't that what Sunshine really is supposed to do?

Are you enjoying the sunshine? What's your favorite thing to do on a scorching hot day?

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China Glaze Neon Gradient

Happy Friday everybody! Oh... wait... it's only Wednesday... but since it's the last day this week I'll spend at work, it feels like Friday! The only thing left in order to have a perfect weekend is for the weather to clear up and the sun to come out.

In order to at least have some sunshine on my nails, I decided to try my hand at a neon gradient. I'm not know for being the best at gradients, I'm kinda hit or miss, but this turned out really well I think.

I used all China Glaze neon polishes, Surfin' for boys, Flip flop Fantasy and Sun Worshipper. The colors work really well together and it actually looks like a neon sunset on my nails.

I always make a mess when doing a sponge gradient like this, so to make clean up a little easier, I've tried all kinds of methods: scotch tape, lip balm, etc. but nothing works as well as applying a good amount of Vaseline to my cuticles and skin around the nail. After you let the polish dry, you can just take a brush and wipe away the excess. Easy peasy!

I love how sunny and bright this gradient is, I can't stop staring at my nails and I've had quite a few comments on it already. You can of course do this with every single color you'd like, the possibilities are endless!

Have you tried a sponged gradient and what is your favorite color combination?

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Mani Monday's: Gradient

Happy Monday everybody! This weeks theme is Gradient. I love a nice gradient nail, I think it always looks so colorful and fun. But, I have to admit, I've never done a gradient myself. Why not you ask? Well... to be honest... I have no clue! It looks fairly easy and you don't need a lot of tools or time to get a fun effect, but I just haven't tried it before. That is why I like Mani Monday's so much, the fact that it makes me do things I haven't tried before. Sometimes with a very nice result and sometimes with a not so nice result...

Today's mani is... not bad, but not good either. I think it's ok, it could have been a lot better and a lot more fun and colorfull. I think I used the wrong polish for this and the colors turned out a little bland and boring... not at all what I was going for... but better luck next time!

I started off with an opaque base, I used China Glaze Pelican Grey for this.

I then opted for a blue gradient, because I love a blue nail and wanted someting vibrant on my nails. I used Essie Lapiz of Luxury, China Glaze Splish Splash and Dorothy Who?

When I was done with the gradient, it looked extremely boring, so I added some sparkle. I mean, sparkle is always a good thing, right? I choose my antrax pigment polish for this.

This is the finished result... Unfortunately the color from Dorothy got sucked into the sponge completely and I was left with just a silver glitter... not bad, but not what I was going for at all... oh well... lesson learned!

 

I don't think it looks bad, but it does make me look a little pasty. If Dorothy would have stayed the nice dark blue it is in it bottle, it would have been a completely different, much better look for me.

What are your favorite polishes to use for a gradient?

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