MSMD: A England Holographic Gradient

Hi dear readers !

For today's manicure, I totally copied something the Swatchaholic did a few months ago ! So this is going to be a Monkey See, Monkey Do monday ;)

Here's the original manicure: http://the-swatchaholic.com/?p=5804
I used the same polishes as she did, except I sponged them from top to bottom instead of from left to right as hers.
Here's my version of this manicure:

The gradient is made with A England Tristam and Saint George, the stamping is made with A England Princess Sabra and plate BM215.
Only A England holo wonders for this beautiful mani ! I loved it a lot, but I couldn't say if Tristam was blue or purple, with the gradient and stamping combo it looked like color changing all the time :) (well I know it's blue, but it was disappointing in this manicure :) )

What about you, do you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

Version Française - Cliquez ici
Hello les filles !


Pour la manucure d'aujourd'hui, j'ai totalement copié ce que the Swatchaholic a fait il y a quelques mois ! C'est donc un lundi Monkey See, Monkey Do aujourd'hui :)

Voici le nail art original: http://the-swatchaholic.com/?p=5804
J'ai utilisé les mêmes vernis, la seule différence étant que j'ai fait le gradient de haut en bas plutôt que de gauche à droite.
Voilà ma version de cette manucure !

Le gradient est fait avec Saint George et Tristam de A England, et le stamping avec Princess Sabra et la plaque BM215.
Que de merveilleux A England holos pour cette jolie manucure ! J'ai beaucoup aimé la porter, mais je n'ai pas pu dire si Tristam était bleu ou mauve, avec les reflets du gradient et du stamping, il semblait changer de couleur tout le temps ! (bon je sais qu'il est bleu, mais là c'était déroutant à voir lol)

Vous en pensez quoi ?

Bonne journée :)

Monkey See Monkey Do: Taped Zigzag Gradient

Hi dear readers !

It's monday again, so it's time for another Monkey See Monkey Do challenge :)
For today's manicure, I chose te re-create a design originally posted by Makeup Withdrawal. If you don't know her blog yet, please check it, this girl has beautiful  nails and she does really pretty things on them !

Sooner this month, she did a blue gradient including some stripes made with striping tape. I decided to copy her style but in pink :)
Please check the original manicure here :)
Here's my version:

Do you like it ?

To get this result, I painted my whole nails with two coats of H&M Pure White and used Seche Vite to make it dry faster. Then I added striping tape (the one I have is from Born Pretty Store and works great) in a zigzag pattern and sponged with H&M Pure White, China Glaze Something Sweet and P2 Heartbeat.
Now I tried this technique, I always use a makeup sponge and paint stripes of polish directly on the sponge before dabbing it on the nails.
Then I removed the striping tape and sealed all with a coat of Seche Vite.
That's all, it's easy to recreate but the striping tape part is a bit long, you'll need to be patient if you want to give it a try :)

What's your advice ?

Have a nice day :)

Monkey See Monkey Do: Peacock Nails

Hi dear readers !

It's time for my second MSMD challenge :)
I tried to copy something a bit hard today ... The Polished Perfectionist's Peacock Inspired Nails ! (Please click here to see her version)

You already know I love gradients, but the hard part was to find the three polishes that would look the most like what she used ... And I didn't have any green or blue like hers, can you believe it ? I should really get a royal blue creme ...
Let's see the pics and talk about them below !

The stamping is a mess, isn't it ?

For the gradient, as I didn't have the right colors, I used these:
- H&M Moody Model, which is a dark teal, nothing like the green Amy used but I think that color is ok for something  "peacockish".
- Catrice It Blue My Mind, the worst idea I had ... It has shimmers and it doesn't suit the rest of the look at all :( I should have used a ligher creme blue, the result would have been better.
- Catrice Purposely Purple, which was the best choice, it's a nearly dupe for China Glaze Grape Pop. But I didn't add anough purple, and my cam focalized on the blue so you almost can't notice it.

For the stamping, I really had some hard times ! I had to re-do it 3 times and the result was still the same, parts are missing. At least I had a great tip in my comments recently (sorry girl I don't remember who you are, my memory is too bad), before stamping I did a thick coat of Seche Vite. So when I failed, I just had to add a very few remover on a q-tip and remove the stamping without messing the gradient !
I stamped with China Glaze Hi-Tek and BM plate 212, then added drops of Flormar U18 and U33 which looked great imo.

So, this is a partial fail for me, I'm sure I could have done it better, but it's still okay. I might buy the polishes she used and try again because it was such a gorgeous job !

What do you think ?
Do you like peacock related stuff ? I do a lot, these birds have such magical stuff in the colors of their feathers ... I need to buy some peacockish jewelry :)

Have a nice day !

Monkey See Monkey Do: Spring Pattern

Hi dear readers !

As I told you yesterday, I joined the Monkey See, Monkey Do group. This means I'll do manicures inspired (or copied) by another nail artist I admire each monday (well, I'll try to do it each monday but I might not have always time to do it :p )
For my first MSMD, I wanted to recreate a manicure from Emily's blog. I've been following her for a long time, we even became pen friends and I love to discuss with her. I wanted to recreate a mix & match mani as she often does, but finally my eyes stopped on a spring manicure she did last year.
Here's the original:

And here's my version:

Where Emily painted her flowers by herself, I cheated an added some water decals (from Ebay). Honestly, I tried to paint flowers on a tip and I need more skill, so I chose the easy way, but I still like the result :)
As Emily and I both live in Belgium, I should take lessons with her haha !

Here's how I did:
I painted the base color, two coats of Ulta Bam-Blue-Zled. I added the white stripes with an Essence Tip Painter, then added silver glitter with China Glaze Tinsel and a thin liner brush. Finally, I added the water decals as an accent.
You obviously won't notice it, but I sealed the nail art with Essence's scented top coat, I wanted to try it :) It's slightly scented, not like real fruits but something more chemical, like fruity bubblegum. It's really pleasant :)

I love the MSMD idea, as my long days at work block my inspiration most of the time ! It's a challenge to recreate someone elses' mani, and also a  kind of hommage I'll give to every nail blogger that will inspire me :)

What do you think ? Do you like it ?

Have a nice day ^^