Showing posts with label franken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label franken. Show all posts

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Day 17: Glitter (Franken: Zafirah)

Okay, so I'm guessing this was supposed to be glitter nail art, because this is the ten days of nail art, but since it didn't say that specifically, and I really wanted to use a franken I made a few weeks ago, I just used the franken. I used Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, clear, Jordana Silver Jewel, Wet 'n' Wild Fantasy Makers glitter in Glitz, NYC Starry Silver Glitter, and China Glaze Fairy Dust. You really can't see most of the hexagonal glitter, but I'm quite happy with it as it is. Unfortunately, I didn't think of the fact that I should really take sunlit pictures since there's holographic glitter in it, but you get what you get. I'm going to be layering over this for the half-moon manicure tomorrow, so hopefully the sun will be out then (though it's supposed to be cloudy, so I doubt it).

 indoors, with flash
 indoors, with flash

Sooo pretty...I wish I had taken pictures in the sunlight so you could see it in its full glory. I used two coats here, and I named it Zafirah, which is an Arabic name meaning "successful." I'd say Zafirah was a success, wouldn't you?

Here are the other lovely ladies doing the challenge with me:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Franken: Firework

This is one polish that I've meant to use for a long time, and haven't . . . and now that I have, I don't think I did a very good job capturing it on camera. :/ I made Firework (which I did not name after the Katy Perry song, just to be clear) out of Zoya Roxy, Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink, OPI Sparkle-icious, OPI Absolutely Alice, Finger Paints Holly Good Time, and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I used two coats, and left it there partly because it was all but opaque in my eyes (though not that camera's, as you'll see), and partly because I honestly did not feel like taking three coats of glitter off. The picture to the left is a bottle shot taken outside in cloudy light.

outdoors, sunlight
outdoors, shade

The shaded photo shows the opacity much more accurately than the one taken in sunlight; however, neither of the pictures show how spectacular Firework is in real life. I'll definitely have to re-do this one, perhaps when I eventually wear it for a full manicure . . . which, if I have any sense at all, will be soon! I may also add some more flakies to this one, though I'm reluctant to use up any of my small supply. Perhaps I'll add some OPI I Lily Love You . . . ? Anyway, while I'd happily do some tweaking, I'm also happy with Firework as it is.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Franken: Kiwi

Sorry for not posting for a couple of days...this is another really hectic week, and since I'll be gone all weekend, I'm not sure how many posts I'll be able to schedule. This manicure is from a while back, when my nails were even nubbier than they are now. This was the first time I used loose glitter in a franken, and I really like the way it came out. I used Nina Ultra Pro Salsa, Nina Ultra Pro Like Butta, Sally Hansen Lightening, BB Couture Grasshopper, China Glaze Starboard, BB Couture Pina Colada, BB Couture Uranus, Seche Vite, and SuperNail glitter in New Moon. This is three coats.

indoors, artificial light

I'm really happy with the way this turned out, and it's definitely one of my favorite frankens. It's a bit gritty without top coat, but I kind of expected that, so it didn't bother me. The funny thing is, I set out intending to make a green the color of guacamole, but after I had the base done, I thought, "If you added black glitter, it would look like kiwi..." So, of course, I did, hence the name.

I also had to add crackle. In hindsight, I'd also like to see this under black crackle, but I added Fault Line in the pictures. This is actually the only time I've used Fault Line...clearly, I need to get on that. Anyway, here's a coat of Fault Line and a coat of Seche Vite over Kiwi:

indoors, artificial light

Ta-da! I've always liked green and purple together, and this is no exception. I'm thinking I'll have to try Fault Line over black next. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen that combination, and I think it'd look cool.

In other news, what do you think about my new background? I really like my old one, but I decided that it was time for a change, and I really liked the textured look of this one. I hope you like it too!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Franken: Before the Rainbow

"Children’s brain tumors require specific research and different treatments." - Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation

Very quick post today - I thought I'd get this up before now, but I was busy all day either cooking or getting ready to cook. Before the Rainbow is a franken I made a while back using Zoya Kelly, Love My Nails Angel Baby (the glitter), and some other polishes that I didn't write down and don't remember. I haven't worn it till now for some reason, and I really like the way it looks on the nail. This was three coats.

indoors, artificial light

What do you think? Like I said, short post. :) Good night!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Spring Frankens

Happy Easter! Go grab a Cadbury egg and come back.

Are you back? Okay, so last month sometime (I am clearly bad about posting things in a timely fashion), I made a set of four frankens as a spring collection of sorts. I decided I wanted four pastel-ish colors with subtle shimmer, and I made a pink, a peachy orange, a green, and a blue. The shimmer was indeed quite subtle and my camera pretty much failed at capturing these colors, but here we go anyway. All of these pictures were taken indoors under artificial light.


First, we have the green. As far as cooperating with the camera, this one definitely gets first place - the picture is actually color-accurate, and though it's hard to see the shimmer, it is there in the picture if you click to enlarge it, and it's definitely there in real life. I used three coats of this one without top coat, and as you can see, it's nice and shiny on its own.


Now we have the orange, which in my opinion is the fail of the collection. The shimmer both gets lost in the polish and is present enough to give it a chunky, gloopy texture that doesn't completely level even with the two coats of polish and one coat of Seche Vite that I used in the picture. This one isn't completely color-accurate, either; it's more orange and intensely colored than the picture shows.


This pink, on the other hand, is quite the success in my opinion. It's a bit more salmony than in the picture and the gold shimmer is more evident in real life. I used two coats without top coat in the picture.


*sigh* This blue...it's very pretty in real life, but it just refused to cooperate with my camera. Think more dusty periwinkle, and the shimmer in considerably more evident in real life. I used three coats without top coat.

I haven't named any of them yet (I am also clearly bad about naming my frankens in a timely fashion), so I'm asking all of you for some help. I don't like any of the names I've come up with so far, so if you have any ideas please leave them in the comments. Thanks, and again, have a very happy Easter!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Franken: Orchid

You know how lots of purples hate being photographed and always try to disguise themselves? Well, this is one of those. It's pinker than it looks in the picture, and it has a subtle shimmer that doesn't show in the photos - it's sort of there in the bottle shot, but it's more apparent in real life. Orchid has a jelly finish, but it's not one of those jellies that will never be opaque, either. I used three coats on all but my index finger, which I used four on because I smudged that nail after the third coat. I didn't use top coat in the pictures, and it's amazingly shiny even so.

outdoors, sunlight
 outdoors, shade
indoors, artificial light

The odd thing about this franken is that I used two polishes, Ulta Devious and NYC 215, and neither one of them appear to be shimmers when worn on their own. However, my franken has shimmer! It must have been lurking in 215, because I'm quite positive that Devious is a creme, but I sure never saw it when I wore the polish on its own. Maybe it showed up because I frankened the polish into a jelly? Who knows - however it happened, I like the result.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Franken: I Am Not Yours

Today I have another Autism Awareness Month blue for you, and this time it's a franken - a choir franken, in fact. I started out wanting to make a jelly blue with silver glitter, and when I got done it reminded me of a line in a song we sing in choir called "I Am Not Yours" (the lyrics are a poem by Sara Teasdale), so that's what I named the polish. In case you're curious, the line is "Oh plunge me deep in love, put out my senses, leave me deaf and blind." Anyway, here it is at three coats with Seche Vite (which gave me a bit of shrinkage, as you can see):

outdoors, sunlight
indoors, artificial light 
outdoors, shade

I didn't take a bottle shot because the bottle I used (an old Seche Rebuild bottle) was made of foggy glass, and unfortunately you can't see the holographic bits, but I hope you get a good idea of what this polish is like nonetheless. For some reason I didn't write down the polishes I used when I made this like I usually do, but my best guess and remembrance is that I used Icing Electric Feeling, Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope, China Glaze Fairy Dust, Wet n Wild White Creme, and Wet n Wild Clear. I'm reasonably happy with this franken, though I feel like it lacks something at times...we'll see.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Franken: Coral Island

I made this franken quite a while back when I realized that I liked coral, and I liked glitter, and I did not have a coral glitter. A week or so later, Cult Nails announced Captivated, which is a coral glitter...so I guess Maria and I were seeing the same deficit. :) However, Coral Island is not a whole lot like Captivated - the glitter in it is a bit different, and there's more glitter in Captivated. I used three coats here to give Coral Island more depth and to completely eliminate VNL, but one could probably use two and be fine. To make Coral Island, I used Sephora by OPI Cover Me in Petals, OPI Hot and Spicy, clear, Love My Nails Angel Baby, Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter, Sephora by OPI Only Gold for Me, and China Glaze White Cap.

indoors, artificial light

This did not show up well in pictures at all...it was rainy when I wore it, so I'm thinking I may have to take this one out on a spin when it's sunny and re-blog it. However, this is what I have for now, and at least the bottle shot is somewhat accurate.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Franken: Tatiana

Today the polish I have for you is an "accident" franken - I made it by trying to come up with another color, then failing and doing something else instead. I was trying to make a pale gold by combining a Charlotte Russe gold, Nailene white, China Glaze Golden Enchantment, and Orly Luxe, but it was turning out like a dupe of China Glaze Classic Camel, which wasn't what I wanted. So, I added a little bit of Orly Enchanted Forest (which is a dark evergreen color) and got this. I realized that the finish looked very similar to Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine H, so I put that on my thumb.


 indoors, artificial light
 outdoors, shade
outdoors, sunlight

Isn't she pretty? :) I hope you can see what I mean about Tatiana being similar to Catherine H. In fact, I named Tatiana Tatiana because of the connection. Rather than English royalty, I named my franken after Russian royalty - Tatiana was the third (I think?) daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. Aside from color, Tatiana is also similar to Catherine H in that they're both quite opaque. I can usually get away with one coat of Catherine H, and I used two coats of Tatiana. They even both dry to a semi-matte finish, which is why I topped all of my nails with Seche Vite in the photos.

I hope your Mondays are all going well!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Franken: Grecian Glimmer

This April, Jasmine of Colour Coated is spearheading an effort by nail bloggers to bring attention to Autism Awareness Month. Since the "official" color of autism awareness is blue, nail bloggers involved will be wearing blue nail polish at least once this month - I'm going to attempt to do so at least once a week, so you'll be seeing a fair few blues around here. Here's a snippet from the email she sent me:

"In case you were unaware, April is Autism Awareness month, and April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. Everyone is encouraged to wear blue in order to raise awareness, encourage early diagnosis and early intervention and to celebrate the lives of those that we care about who have autism." I've decided to do what I did with Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Depression Awareness Month in October, and post a fact about autism with each blue polish I post. So here's the fact for today:

"Autism is not a specific disease, but rather a collection of disorders of brain development called “autism spectrum disorders,” or ASDs." -American Academy of Pediatrics

A friend of Jasmine's who has two autistic children is raising money for an autism awareness walk that she will be participating in later on this year. If you would like to donate to the cause, you can do so here: http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/kansascity/morgansmile

And here is my first blue of the month (unless you count Zoya Robyn from yesterday's Zoya spam post, which I don't) - it's a franken I made...oh...sometime this past week. I was going for a green with orange shimmer, but the yellow polish I used somehow managed to not turn Revlon Royal into a green, so instead I have a dark blue with orange shimmer and a sparse few flakies, though you can't see any in these pictures. I used two coats without top coat here (the picture above is a bottle shot).

 indoors, artificial light
indoors, artificial light

The polish is a bit sparklier in real life, and the sparkle is more obviously orange, but other than that the pictures are accurate. So why did I name this franken Grecian Glimmer? Well, after I was done making it, I realized that it reminded me of Steph's idea for an RBL polish that, stupidly, got rejected. It's definitely not a dupe to the franken Ange made, though...in my mind, it's more of a cousin. Anyway, Steph's inspiration was the Roman Pool at the Hearst Castle, which is where the name came from - Roman/Grecian, and the polish glimmers. Plus, it's alliterative, which is always nice. Oh! And to think I almost forgot to mention my ingredients - I used Revlon Royal, Sally Hansen Lightening, Nicole by OPI Yellow It's Me, BB Couture Pina Colada, and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I actually used the end of my bottle of Hidden Treasure, so I'll have to get my hands on a bottle of  Nubar 2010 soon. When I do, I'll probably add some to Grecian Glimmer, because I'd really like it to have more flakies.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Name That Franken!

I've made several frankens in the last week, and there's one of them that I just can't seem to come up with a name for - at least, not one that I like. So, I thought I'd enlist your help and see if you could come up with anything! Here's a bottle shot:



Have any ideas? Post them in the comments, tell me on Twitter, email me, whatever! This baby needs a name!

Some new nail blogs I've found in the past week:
Lacquer Addicts Anonymous
Life and Polish

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

EDIT: The sun was out by the time I got done at school, so I took some pictures in the sunlight, and they show Green Ocean much better. I also deleted two of the Green Ocean pics I took indoors because they weren't necessary with the sunlight pictures.

Like it says in the title - happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you're all wearing green...I wouldn't want anyone to get pinched! Today, as promised, I have a green franken that I made. I liked the color of Sinful Colors Irish Green, but I knew that it was so sheer that I would never be able to build it to opacity. So, I added some Wet n Wild White Creme, and here we are! Unfortunately, the sun had gone down when I got home last night, and it refuses to come out this morning, so I only have indoor picures that aren't as color-accurate as I would like. The color of the polish is very close, but my fingers are NOT that color in real life. Also, Seche Vite gave me shrinkage. :/

indoors, artificial light

To give you an idea of how sheer this was before I frankened it, I still needed four coats after adding a very opaque white to Irish Green. I decided to name my franken Irish Spring, because it's St. Patrick's Day and it's almost spring and I wasn't feeling very original. And yes, I know there's a soap called Irish Spring. Anyway, I wore Irish Spring on its own yesterday, but today I added four coats Sinful Colors Green Ocean - I didn't really *need* that much, but I wanted lots of flakies.

indoors, artificial light (bottle shot)
indoors, artificial light
 outdoors, sunlight
 outdoors, sunlight
outdoors, sunlight

As you can see, I had a really hard time getting even semi-accurate pictures of Green Ocean (EDIT: The sunlight pictures are accurate). It's a gorgeous flakie that flashes from blue to green to pink, but it's not easy to work with - the flakies are much thicker and sparser than those in Hidden Treasure, and after two coats of Seche Vite, I still have some bumpy spots where flakies would not lay down. It is very pretty, though, and I think it's worth a bit of hassle. I definitely want to re-swatch it, though, and see if it photographs any better with sunlight (DONE). So, expect to see this one again (this is probably still true...)! 

Another new nail blog for you today...I'm coming across new nail blogs all over the place the last few days!

Again...Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Franken Week Day 7: Lucinda

I started out with Lucinda just wanting to make a blackened emerald shimmer, but then I thought (as I have many times before), "Hey, I could add some glitter!" So I did. I used Rimmel Black Satin, Twinkle Toes green shimmer, and Sinful Colors Frenzy. This is two coats with Rush top coat.

indoors, artificial light

I'm quite happy with this, and I think it's a good shade to round out the end of Franken Week. The shade of green is fairly accurate, but the polish glows and sparkles more in real life. I'm thinking about adding a bit of OPI Sparkle-icious to this as well, but I haven't decided yet. What do you think?

And with that...turn out the lights, the franken party's over. I'll be going back to polishes that I didn't make this coming week. I hope you all enjoyed franken week; I know I sure did!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Franken Week Day 6: Dragonette

I made this sometime last fall...I'm thinking it was around September, but I can't really remember. I can't believe I went without wearing it for this long, though! I think it didn't look like I wanted to in the bottle and I was afraid I wouldn't like it...fortunately, I do. However, it did take me forever to come up with a name for this polish. I wanted something that would "fit" the polish but not be too terribly cheesy (hi Nicole by OPI...I'm a Pool for Love? really? and it's not even blue? at least there's no punctuation...). After toying with the idea of naming it The Girl Who Played With Fire (which I decided against because I'd already done this manicure), among other things, I settled on Dragonette. Then I remembered that that's the name of a band. Whoops.

Unfortunately, I have officially decided that my camera sucks when it comes to photographing suspended flakies, at least in artificial light. It either makes them look like I don't know how to apply nail polish or they don't show up at all. Dragonette is a bright medium red shimmer flakie, and it's way better in real life than in my pictures.

indoors, artificial light

Look at the picture above. Now in your mind, insert flakies A) where it looks like there are bumps in the polish, and B) throughout the rest of the polish. Aside from the hiding flakies, the picture is accurate and shows the color and shimmer well. To make Dragonette, I used OPI Comet Loves Cupid, Zoya Salma, and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. Again, this is going on my re-blogging list...and with that, it's almost the end of franken week! I hope you've enjoyed it so far.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Franken Week Day 5: My Favorite Trench

I frankened this at the same time I made WASP...so, yeah, it's been a while. Unlike WASP, it's not intended to be a dupe of anything else - I just wanted a nice mousey taupe brown. I think I got it. Sorry for my messy application and gross cuticles. Eurgh. I never realize how terribly bad they are until I look at the pictures on my computer. This was two coats without top coat.

indoors, artificial light

My Favorite Trench is a bit warmer than the photo - and for the record, I'd love to have a trench coat this color. It compliments my skin tone really well, and while I'm not sure why I thought I needed another taupe in my collection, I don't think I have another exactly like it.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Franken Week Day 4: Fresh Squeezed

I believe I was inspired to make an orange jelly flakie after a brief exchange with L on twitter...I could be totally wrong though, my memory is horrible. At any rate, I did it using Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, and clear polish - one of my simplest frankens. Unfortunately, it was a bit thick - I'll be adding some thinner - and it didn't photograph particularly well. The flakies are more prominent in real life...I think there's something about my camera that makes flakies not show up well when they're in a base as opposed to layered on top of a polish. Also, sorry for my janky cuticles.

indoors, artificial light

Again, this is another one I need to re-take pictures of when (if) the sun ever comes out again...it poured and then hailed yesterday. At least I guess that means it's almost spring? Wait, no, it's 28 degrees outside as I'm typing this. Never mind. :/ Hope your Wednesday is sunnier than mine!

I keep forgetting to add my "new polish blogs" thing to the end of my post...I've been reading all of these for at least a week now and I haven't posted them. Anyway, go read! :)

Polish Infatuated
Death By Polish
Glitta Gloves
Polishing and Make-Up
Solensdanserinde

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Franken Week Day 3: Cinderella

Happy March! I'm so glad February is over; it's my least favorite month. Cinderella is a grey shimmer franken I made with Sally Hansen Wet Cement, Pure Ice Kiss Me Here, and Sally Hansen Diamonds. I wanted a pretty grey shimmer and wasn't finding what I wanted, so I made it! I made this before My Kind of Cool Aid came out, by the way...I'm realizing that they seem kind of similar. The funny thing is, I also frankened a red flakie shimmer quite a few months ago before Iconic came out. Apparently, great minds think alike! :) Anyway, Cinderella was opaque in three coats. When I put the first coat on, I was afraid it was going to be terribly sheer, but it's not. It is a bit dull without top coat, though, probably due to the bit of Orly Bonder that I didn't bother to clean out of the bottle. I used Rush top coat in the picture, which is for once totally color-accurate.

indoors, artificial light

I love it! It's not going to stop me from getting My Kind of Cool Aid, though...I think Cinderella is a bit more putty-colored because of Wet Cement, and I know MKoCA has a way better formula. Plus, I'm really excited to be able to support a fellow blogger - I just have to wait until I have enough money to get them all at once!

Monday, February 28, 2011

Franken Week Day 2: Siren Song

Monday's franken is something I made after RBL chose their top eleven fan submissions and I wasn't one of them. While this wasn't my submission, the whole thing got me thinking and I came up with Siren Song, a teal/purple duochrome with orange, blue, purple, green microglitter/shimmer and flakies. To make it, I used Rimmel Night Before, Sally Hansen Laser, Sally Hansen DVD, Sally Hansen Blue It, Hard Candy Beetle, Sally Hansen Marine Scene, Pure Ice No Means No, Twinkle Toes green shimmer(it's hoof polish for horses...I got it as a joke), Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, and probably something else that I forgot. It's definitely my franken with the most ingredients so far.

Unfortunately, Siren Song photographed horribly. It was rainy when I took the pictures, and all the lighting in my house made it look really blah, which it doesn't in real life. It's much sparklier and duochrome-ier and generally much prettier than in the pictures, but I figured I'd show it anyway. WARNING: the pictures ahead are realllllly bad.

 indoors, artificial light
indoors, artificial light

The color of the first picture is closer to accurate, but the second picture kind of shows the flakies and sparkles, which the first doesn't do at all. Sorry for the terrible pictures - this is definitely on my reblogging list.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Franken Week Day 1: Eloise

*announcer voice*

Welcome tooooo.....franken week! Since I've made a ton of frankens that I haven't shown on here yet, I thought I'd have a week where I show one franken each day. The first one is Eloise, the first franken I made using pigment - in this case, an old Maybelline eyeshadow. I went through a phase where I bought eyeshadows because they were pretty colors, ignoring the fact that I would never actually wear them near my eyeballs because I am a very conservative (read: untalented and unsure) person when it comes to makeup. However, I realized recently that I would absolutely wear those colors on my nails! The only bad thing is that since it's just eyeshadow suspended in clear nail polish, I have to shake it like a mofo every single time I want to use it because it settles really badly. This is two coats without top coat.

indoors, artificial light

As you can see, Eloise is a cool-toned, mossy golden green that I am in love with (well, I don't suppose you can see from the picture that I'm in love with it, but now you know). It has kind of a satiny finish without top coat, but I kind of like the satin finish and I always use top coat anyway for actual manicures, so I'm not bothered about that. Plus, it dried fast. You can also see in the picture that it's a bit brushstrokey, but it's not enough to make me fall off my chair or anything. All in all, I'm very pleased with this...I'll have to go digging around in more of my old eyeshadow stash to see if there are any good colors for polish. 

Are you looking forward to the rest of franken week? I sure hope so!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Gold-Tipped

I didn't particularly want to touch Night on the Town, but after I stubbed my finger and chipped a little off the tip of one finger, I decided to add some gold. I did something similar to a French manicure, but I painted the tips in straight lines (using Nailene Perfect Tips & Toes toenail guides, which I received for review) rather than following the curve of the nail. I used an unnamed Charlotte Russe for the gold, which funnily enough is also part of Night on the Town. For some reason, the gold doesn't appear opaque in the second picture, but it is in real life.

indoors, artificial light
indoors, artificial light

I've decided to swatch a bunch of colors this afternoon so I don't have to worry about painting my nails for a week or so - I'll still be painting my nails, but I'll just be posting my swatch pictures for a bit. I've just gotten sick again (that stomach flu crap, whoopee) and I'm still catching up with schoolwork from last semester that I missed because of my kidney stones. Anyway, I figured it'd be better to have some pictures stocked up so I can concentrate more on schoolwork and still post often (hopefully daily). I hope you're all having a great week!

EDIT: Why do I always forget to do this?! Here are a couple new nail blogs I discovered recently and am enjoying:

Jessica v. Polish
The College Student's Nail Guide