ohmygoshpolish ..: brown

Showing posts with label brown. Show all posts

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Pattern-Blocked & Woven Stripes

Blocked and Woven Stripes by @chalkboardnails

Well, today we've arrived at my first challenge flop. Truth be told, I just finished these, after working a full day at the spa and then taking a nap. So I'm not surprised that they aren't exactly my magnum opus. Maybe you guys will like these more than I do? (Fingers crossed!)

It was unintentional, but once I had finished this manicure I was surprised by how much it reminded me of a woven rug. So we are calling it "blocked and woven stripes." Go figure!

Despite the fact that I don't care for the design of these much, I do love the color palette. I used LVX Sienna, Color Club Je Ne Sais Quois, Polish My Life Birthday Suit, and Salon Perfect Oil Slick. Very retro, maybe 60's?

Most of the elements are freehanded, though I did use tape to create the three main blocked shapes.

More striped manicures:

Monday, January 5, 2015

Cirque Colors Metropolis Collection Swatches: November & December

brown cirque cirque colors creme indie polish red teal

Cirque's Metropolis collection, a series of creme nail polishes inspired by New York City, continues to grow! There are new polishes added to the line every month, and today's swatches cover the November and December releases. You can check out the September and October releases in my previous post.

Kickerbocker is a deep chocolate brown creme. It's very dark, almost black. Two coats.

Cirque Colors Knickerbocker via @chalkboardnails

Tavern On the Teal is a dark teal shade. It's slightly more green than my swatch shows here. Two coats.

Cirque Colors Tavern On the Teal via @chalkboardnails

The Devil Wears Cirque is a rich red creme. I love the name on this one so much. Two coats.

Cirque Colors The Devil Wears Cirque via @chalkboardnails

I don't have any complaints about the formula on these; they were all easy to apply, smooth, and glossy. The shades do feel very New York chic, though maybe I'm projecting a little too because of the collection name. "NYFW" does still reign supreme as my favorite Metropolis shade, though I do love the richness of Tavern on the Teal now, too.

The Metropolis collection is available now on CirqueColors.com, where each shade retails for $13.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Dermelect Bejeweled Collection for Fall 2014

brown dermelect duochrome green purple red shimmer texture

Though I'm not much for fall color palettes, there are a few shades in the Dermelect Bejeweled collection that really appeal to me! Keep reading for swatches and my thoughts, and be sure to let me know which ones you are digging in the comments.

Belle Epoque is a dark chocolate creme polish. The formula was smooth, but it was still a tiny bit streaky after two coats. I've used three here. It looks very near black indoors, but when you get it in the sunlight, the brown shows better.

Dermelect Belle Epoque via @chalkboardnails

Gilded is similar to Chanel Peridot or OPI Just Spotted the Lizard, but with a very very intriguing twist... it's textured! I used two coats for the swatch here. Isn't it just gorgeous? I'd love to try layering it over black, as well. I know textures have started to fade away but I'm happy to see this one.

Heirloom is a deep, blue-purple shimmer. Like Belle Epoque, it's quite dark, but this one has a bit of that "glow from within" to it. I only needed two coats for coverage, but beware: the blue base on this one stains.

Lustrous is a brick red with heavy shimmer. This was one of my favorites in the collection. It's very autumnal, almost like spiced cider. Lustrous was close to full coverage at two coats, but I went with three for good measure.

My top picks are Lustrous and Gilded. Lustrous is the perfect fall shimmer, and Gilded is just so strange and cool. The other two shades are too dark for my personal taste.

Dermelect polishes are available on Dermelect.com, in Ulta stores, and on Ulta.com.

Louis Vuitton Pattern Freehand Nail Art

31DC2014 brown china glaze deborah lippmann flakie freehand gold nail art

Today is "inspired by a color" day in the 31 Day Challenge. I always take this prompt to mean "take inspiration from a polish color," particularly drawing inspiration from the name. This year, I reached for China Glaze's Lug Your Designer Baggage from the All Aboard collection for Fall 2014.

Nail polishes used:
China Glaze Lug Your Designer Baggage
Deborah Lippmann Autumn In New York

My inspiration for this look came from Michelle's review of the collection on All Lacquered Up. She mentioned that the name of the polish, plus the color in it, reminded her of a Louis Vuitton trunk. The color alone is really interesting -- it's a dark brown with golden flecks. I needed two coats for coverage.

I initially had trouble creating this pattern, and even came close to giving up on the look entirely. I posted my pinky on Instagram, intending to show off the one nail that had turned out well, but felt so encouraged by everyone's comments that I decided to try it one more time. My final attempt was passable, so here we are!

Check out my "inspired by a color" looks from past years: