Mish Mash Challenge - Around the World. Rising sun manicure. Bohem.

Well hello :)

Super late post for the *Around the World* prompt like 27 weeks ago in the Mish Mash Challenge... 

I give you the rising sun though, that's gotta count for something! 

This gorgeous jewel-like orange is from Kiko's Sugar Mat Collection, and the rising sun silver nails are from Bohem.

I am missing in action and will probably be for a while... Have a nice Christmas :)

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Card or board game. French cards nailz.

Hello here!

How'z ya doin? I've been waiting for this week to arrive since I discovered 3D molds for acrylic nail art. Am I alone here? Have you ever used them? It's so freakin' easy..! [example]

So yeah, a pretty minimalistic nail art here, just white nails (ChG Snow + Orly Au Champagne) and my 3D acrylic babies that I made in about 5 minutes :)

I went to a party with those and at least they catched everyone's attention :p I am sure not everyone was thrilled with them but I sure was! 

Keep it up!

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Grey. Baroque buttermilk hills.

Hello there!

Well, super late with this week's Mish Mash Challenge... but I have my nail art mojo back! Or at least I am getting there, I am already on Step 3 of my 12 Step program to Get that Nail Art Flowin'! Haha, well that's just a fancy way of saying that I've been more inspired lately, and it makes me want to celebrate :)

Gray. Today for gray I give you... what I've called and archived as "Baroque doodling over Buttermilk Hills". Check it out:

I knew I had gray week coming soon so I just put on two coats of Anny Buttermilk Hills. Meh. This polish always feels meh to me, girls. It has those tiny teeny pink particles in the bottle, and they just come to die when you slap the polish on your nails. Me no like this. So I just started drawing on my nails with black acrylic paint and improved the whole thing so much *hugging myself*

Oh and guess what? I have this Antique Gallery on my street selling the perfect 27 drawer thing to put my polish on... I am in love. So I entered and asked how much it costed, as it may or may not enter my Christmas whishlist. Well, it definitely didn't pass the cut. It's worth costs €500. Fuck*ng c'mon, dude! "I give you €100, so call me when you don't sell it". I just get the feeling I'm never going to receive the call though...

Have a nice Sunday!

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Faux stone. Diamond mix & match.

Hello there!

I have been fearing this prompt since we started the challenge, and my nightmares became a reality when I attempted to replicate lapis lazuli on my nails and failed just miserably. It didn't even look like abstract lapis lazuli, it was a disgusting mix of blue, gray and gold that got me on my nerves. Of course, I ditched that and started again, with something completely different.

For today's post I used my skills as a lawyer and twisted the prompt's words, put them upside down and then appealed to the interpretation of them that served me the better... be prepared. Do not call it cheating though, call it hability if you please *wink* 

Faux stone. No need to define stone. But faux. Faux means "false" in French, and I am pretty sure it means the same in English. So a false stone? Okay, I give you: a faux diamond! 

Okay, you have to admit I have worked on my little cheat-trick this time... Play on words and all, you guys!

Basically this manicure was a random mix & match that served me quite good for a freehanding practice. No wonder why I failed at imitating the lapis lazuli, I was just a big bum that day. I had to re-do all the nails but the studded one; c'mon! Even the dripping paint! Don't you feel sorry for me? A little?

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Holo. Chained love.

Hey there!

I hope y'all are doing fantastic! :) Today's prompt of the Mish Mash Challenge is holographic. You would think I had a lot of ideas featuring a bunch holo polishes... But I didn't. 

I like holos, but I've never gone crazy about them. The holo trend seemed to pass just near me without getting me all in - my pocket feels relieved. So I decided to slap on the one I never used: Nfu-Oh NFU 66. 

For the "nail art" I used Nailz Craze stamping plate no. 06 and then added some dotted chains... I will not further comment on this as I totally disliked it. Well, this is also about the fails, so there you go!

I have to say I am not in the best nail art period of my life, it's as if my creativity had gone dry. I am just able to lust over other people's work and never seem to get the courage to sit at my table and light up the nailporn demon inside of me. Off I go!

Take care,

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Pink. Dior Princess.

Well hello again!

How are you nail lovers doing? Right now, the Mish Mash challenge is what's keeping my nailspiration and my blog alive, have you noticed? Thank God I have a weekly deadline to keep me going; I need deadlines for everything these days, or I just fall asleep. This job is sucking the life out of me and I am going crrrrrrrrrazy-loca!

My life sucks but my nails are cute, and that's all that really matters ;) So today for pink week I bring you this gorgeous girly polish called Princess, by Dior:

I've worn it twice to work already, and that says a lot! Last time I did I added some bling with studs & rhinestones, and even if I was going for something way more intricate than this I felt lazy in the midst of my artwork and ended up with something simple... I quite liked it, though. 

Take care,

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Rainbow. Gay pride manicure.

Hey there!

This will be a quick post, because this week is killing me! And NOT softly. I hope you're better off than me ;) And than one of my clients who, after 6h preparing his deposition as a suspect, appeared before the judge and incriminated himself right in the first sentence. Way to go, dude! Way to go... Someone should write some instructions for lawyers with dumbass clients who happen to have ongoing criminal proceedings. Just saying, it's not easy. 

But you're here for rainbow so let's get to it! I decided to make it simple so I just freehanded the rainbow in two of my nails and did a monochrome combination in black and white for the rest. I just regret that I wasn't able to rock those longer, I was quite happy with my striping skills!

I hope you'll like them!

Take care,

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Flowers. Sort of.

Hello there ladies & ladiezzz!

So this one will be my first cheat of the Mish Mash challenge, and I am making it official and all. Flowers? I had never realised this but I don't really like flowers. I have no flower dress, I have but few flower patterned household items and I can only draw one flower on my nails: roses. And guess what? Not even all roses, but one specific sort... vintage. Fuck me. I drew flames and now all I can draw is flames. Hee hee! At least I can still play on words, I'll check that!

So for today I decided to just doodle something kind of on the verge of flower-y, for it was either that or skipping the week. And that's what I came up with:

Nah, I am not even ashamed of myself. I'll be honest though, not even I can see flowers in there. Maybe it's because I've looked so close into it that I've lost all perspective? 

I've used: Kiko Nude as a base, then one coat of Rainbow Honey 20% Cooler [thank you, Lisa <3] and one coat of a translucent nude by Kiko. When all was dry I freehanded the pattern without putting too much thought into it [see pinky]. Tada!

Yeah... I chopped those talons. It's hard, but I'm doing okay *irony* I just can't wait until I can make them pointy again!

Take care,

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Book. Fight Club Manicure!

Hello there!

This week's prompt of the Mish Mash Challenge (book) had me thinking a lot. I can be the impersonation of contradiction at times, and so when I think of my favourite books I see Jane Austen's work (except for Downtown Abbey) and Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club. I love how both, in different styles, deepen in the study of human nature and behavior.

But we all know Austen's style: neverending rambles and paragraphs. Even if I have Persuasion's pages highlighted everywhere I couldn't narrow it down to 4 meaningful words. So I moved to my trusted Fight Club; I love how random his writing can seem, and how metaphorical yet direct Palahniuk can be. 

I took my inspiration from a feeling that I know from my rendez-vous with Insomnia late at night... It goes like this:

"I tagged him because the insomnia was on again, and I was in a mood to destroy something beautiful".

 - Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club.

I had this exact same urge on my worse encounters with insomnia, I was so angry and mad at the world that I entered suicidal mode (not literally). I was ready to blow up everything that mattered because I was exhausted and could not understand my disability to fall asleep. "For years now, I've wanted to fall asleep. The sort of slipping off, the giving up, the falling part of sleep". It's simply genius.

So that's that :) I used Gosh Silver as a base and painted the words with red acrylic paint over a thick coat of clear nail polish that I cut off and "glued" to my nails: quick home-made decals! The drops were painted directly on my nails with acrylics.

Have a nice week & try not to destroy beautiful things...

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Triangle. Pure Ice Wide Awake + new snake!

Hey y'all ;) 

How are my girls? I am super EXCITED today! It has half to do with today's mani, and half with the news coming after the pictures..!

So yeah, I am pretty pleased with my take at freehanding straight lines. I don't know why I gave up being an architect after all, huh? Not knowing what a bearing wall is is nothing compared to being able to freehand straigh lines. But don't let me fool you though, 'cuz today's star is the a gorgeous polish Lisa sent my way: Pure Ice Wide Awake. Check out that shiny glitter!

And just when you thought you were in love with it... Something even cuter catches your attention:

Okay, snake haters: don't ruin my proud mommy moment :'( For the rest: ain't she the most adorable baby snake you've ever seen!? Sorry I am all over the place, but she just made me broke my commitment to myself and to The Boyfriend that I wouldn't buy anything alive at the annual reptile show. I have never been happier in my life to fail miserably at something. 

She is a Vietnamese Beauty Snake (Elaphe Taeniura) and is one month old, aprox. She has quite an attitude at her young age and lets you know when she's not pleased by rattling her tail as if she was saying:

If any of you have a name suggestion, please feel free to let me know! I am looking for something feminine, yet poweful, and if possible reminding of blue (her future adult color).

Be sure to check the other challenge ladies' awesome manicures!

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Blue.

Hao!

I hope everyone is at his best! For my part, I am starting to conclude I have behaved very badly recently because Karma's currently kicking my butt... Today was a local holiday and so I had the day off. I had planned to do a crazy manicure on Saturday and wanted to keep it until tonight (nnnnnaughty!) therefore defying the Firm's dress code on Monday. Risky mode ON, huh? Well, this hell's invention called Blackberry beeped on Sunday morning and informed me that I would be attending a meeting with one of our international clients... on Monday. So the mani I am showing you today lasted me exactly two hours and had to be removed to make place for some super cool BORING WORK-SAFE nails [I can't stress the irony enough on this one]. Aha, that's my luck.

So for today's theme, Blue, please welcome my most ephemereal manicure:

I will be recreating this sometime soon for sure. It. Is. Stunning. And excuse me for saying so myself, but I think I am entitled to after having worked on Sunday and on the local holiday. There, off my chest! 

If you're wondering what it is, here's for you: the dark navy blue is Sinful Colors Cold Leather [thanks again, Lisa. Those Sinfuls are amazing!] and the gradient was done with a makeup sponge and OPI Swimsuit... Nailed it! The whole thing was mattified with an unbranded top coat from when Mathusalem was still alive, probably.

Off I go. Take care & be bad if you can... There's a saying here that goes like this: Good girls go to heaven and bad girls go everywhere. Hell YES!

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Cold. Ice cream nails + Glitter Bunny Krazy Straws!

Hey there, nice nails! :)

This week's theme of the Mish Mash Challenge is cold. Throw in some summer and bam! you have it: ice cream nails! 

I've had this idea since back then when I was still on holidays, ages ago, when I was still a careless person... okay, maybe not that long ago, let's say a month. Exactly when I ripped off my pinky nail and clipped my claws off - back to the good ol' "you always want what you can't have" story. Since I had this stupid idea that you need long nails for sporting an ice cream manicure I just waited and waited until I couldn't wait anymore. It turns out I waited too much and my scoops are huge... how's that for an impatient person? Well, please be my judge. And don't be merciful.

For once I nail arted directly using nail polish, but the list is endless and there's no point mentionning the whole list in here unless you want me to, in which case your wish is my command. What is worth mentionning is the awesome glitter I covered my pinky, index and thumb with: Glitter Bunny Krazy Straws! I learned the hard way you HAVE TO thin indies before you slap them on: this bugger bubbled just like a jacuzzi; my bad. But damn! Isn't it just gorgeous?! *getting emotional*

And next up I've got a question for you. Do you like unnatural hair colors? I am talking blue, pink and purple dye here:

If so, would you wear them? 'Cuz I am wanting to. Desperately. Right now I can't; I don't think I'd encourage lawyer-client confidence, but I plan to in a near future. I would love to hear your thoughts! 
And hey, if it's "NO" just say so. This question has not been thrown in here so you can all tell me how great an idea it is, if it isn't ;) I just love honesty, for some strange reason...
Bla bla bla -- WOULD YOU?

Thanks in advance for your reaction!

Be bad,

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Least expensive polish. OPI An affair in Red Square.

Hey sexy claws!

What do you first think when you read "hot nails"? I inevitably think long and perfect red nails on even longer fingers. In fact I have this thing... I love to people-watch when I am in a public places, and when I see someone with gorgeous hands, be it a man or a woman, I can't stop staring at them. It's kind of weird when they catch you stalking their hands but, you know, at least it's not a clivage that I am drawn to...

Today's star for least expensive polish day (Mish Mash Challenge) is: OPI An Affair in Red Square. It may be the sexiest red polish I have ever seen; and a great gift from one of my colleagues. He felt compelled to tell me he had chosen the polish because of its name and winked. Well, I think I would have figured that one out on my own sooner or later, but thanks for the hint. Now I know he's not into me for my brainz... and it's a somehow disturbing conclusion. But lemme just be a material girl and say: whatever, dude! I have yet another gorgeous polish in my stash!

What you're looking at is two coats + top coat; I had no issue with it whatsoever and received a ton of compliments. Even from one of the female inmates I had in class when I went to prison to give a lecture on fundamental rights, yay!

Take care,

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Hot. Fire nails!

Hello there!

I hope you're having a nice week 'cuz today this blog is ON FIRE! :) Yup, today's Mish Mash Challenge theme is hot and... what can be hotter than fire? [pffff, The Boyfriend of course!]

As I can't really draw a person (and it honestly never crossed my mind to draw a hot guy on my nails) I decided to go for some burning hell flame nail art:

I thought I'd spend two lives painting those but I managed to get them done in 1h, trial and error included; picture me pleased! 

For this I used two coats of OPI Lucern-tainly Look Marvelous, which is a stunning metallic grey that I'll wear again despite of its ridiculous-slash-neverending name. On top of it I drew the flame shapes with white acrylic paint and filled them in with white to make the colors pop. I then painted the flames with red, dark orange, orange, light orange and yellow acrylic paint that I mixed myself on the go. Add the studs, and the look is complete!

How do you like this?

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - A technique you have never tried before. Newspaper nails & a dandelion...

Hey there!

How are you doing? I hope you're ON for today's installment of the Mish Mash Challenge, which involves a "technique you have never tried before". I love this theme; I want this challenge, along with my artist inner self, to push me to do new things, better things... 

Believe it or not, I had never tried newspaper nails before. This blog has been running for over a year now (d'uh... I missed my own bloggiversary, but my battle with remembering dates is a lost one so let's just move on), and this week's topic has been a great push. Of course, I watched some tutorials on YouTube and took good note of Lisa's newsprint nailz, and this is what happened:

Long story short, at first what happened is a whole lot of nothing. No transfer of characters + ruined polish, that's what I got. So I decided to keep ruining the left hand's polish by trying other ways to transfer the darn text to my claws. Clear polish? Nope. Alcohol? Nope. Clear polish and alcohol? Not yet. Plain water? YES!

Then started again: 2 coats of China Glaze For Audrey + 1 coat of Kiko's Sparkling Touch topper. Let that dry and transfer the text. Any text may work, but I decided to teach my nails some tolerance by transferring an article about the persisting homophobia in France (and Europe in general). Why not?

It lacked something more, so I made good use of my Nailz Craze stamping plate NC01 and its beautiful dandelion design... Voilà!

I was so happy with the result that I sent a picture of them to The Boyfriend right away with a simple text: "Getting artsy. Like it or not?". Except I didn't really send it to The Boyfriend, but to Girona's airport. It wasn't even watermarked... *laugh* NEXT!

Take care,

M.

Do not forget to take a look at the other ladies' posts:

Mish Mash Challenge - Metallic. Foil nails.

Hey there!

For today's theme, Metallic, I decided to give a second chance to Foil. My previous try was so lousy that I didn't even take a picture of it. I was nervous and felt like I needed it to come out nicely, just for the life of me. Well guess what? It didn't. At all. See, for me nail art is like cooking; I have to feel good to achieve something nice. And self-imposed pressure makes me look like a mix between E.T. and a kraken. Like so: 

Whatever. I tried to nail-art with foil again, after taking some kind of psychotropic drug like pure holidays, and here's what came out:

What I like about this is that the pink seems to have chipped in a way that lets the gold underneath peek out, when it's actually the other way around. My brains are known to make weird associations, and when I look at manicures like this all I see is Terminator's face, half ripped off with his true machine self saying hi. Am I a weirdo? Just... don't answer that.

I bought the foil off eBay for almost nothing (five foils for less than Eur. 2, shipping included), and this one was the gold holographic one. The base color is from Kiko's new collection, Quick Dry nº 808 Pearly Watermelon Pink. Now let me say this: I was darn scared to put it on after reading some negative reviews of its siblings, but this is just ONE coat of Pearly Watermelon Pink! Colour me impressed!

If you want to try this method, here's a useful tutorial by ChrissyAi. It's really as simple as that :)

Take care!

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Tape.

Howdy Ladies and (hopefully) Gents!

I am late for this entry; what an irony... I was hardly late on the ABChallenge, but now that I'm on holidays it's another story. I was posting on time in my head though, and the 16 ladies before me were ahead of their game, until I realized it was a little too optimistic, and that Wednesday was actually... yesterday. Bravo!

Tape. I love tape. I love it because it's easy to use and it gives straight and perfect lines. Me loves lines. So, of course, by association the love story was all set and done beforehand in my head.

Quoting a series I've been watching recently, "this is my design":

The metallic blue is OPI Swimsuit... Nailed it!, sent to me by the lovely Jenni, the neon green is from Tokalon and the neon pink is Nfu-Oh FS12. As a base for my two accent nails I used Kiko Nude. What else?

Those nails were lucky enough to get to see World War Z; geee I haven't been that excited to see a movie since... since a movie from the Twilight saga. Please don't hold it against me? Liked (though not loved) the movie. It was lacking zombie-nails shots.  

Take care,

M.