Illamasqua Gradient Stamped Houndstooth Mani

In this mani I used Illamasqua Muse as the base, stamped with a gradient houndstooth.  I love how this looks on the nail, and will definitely be experimenting with it more in the future!  The black and white used are Wet N Wild Black Creme and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. Plate used was Cheeky CH13 with the variation of a houndstooth.

To get a gradient to use as the stamped image instead of the base image, you add 2 colors to the stamping plate on opposite ends letting the two colors touch in the middle.  From there you take you old gift card and scrape directly across where the two colors meet, in order to mix the two colors in the middle without moving one color to the opposite side and to spread the color evenly across the image plate. where the two colors meet is where the color has mixed, and in this case, Black and white create grey in the middle. I hope that makes sense!

What do you think? I love it!

XOX Caitlin  
* All products in this post purchased by me*

Barielle Summer Brights collection!

Today I have for you the Barielle Summer Brights collection!

 First up is Barielle Lemondrops.   This bright yellow was pretty easy to work with, shown here is two coats with a layer of G&Gs HK Girl Topcoat on top.

 Barielle Pink Flip Flops is the softest shade of this collection.  I would say this is a baby pink or cotton candy pink, and in the box with the others goes perfectly.

 Barielle Cosmic Kiss is a polish that I already owned prior to receiving this collection to review, so it is most likely a re-promote.  It is a gorgeous pink, and in this photo is showing a little more neon than in real life.   Two coats and one coat of topcoat are shown here.

Barielle Sweet Addiction is a green with a slight hint of teal in it.  The formula on this one is tied for my favorite, I could have done only one coat and been happy, but I applied two just out of habit.  Here is two coats with Topcoat. 

Finally the last polish in this collection is Barielle Blue Capri.  This and Sweet Addiction are tied for my favorite from this collection.  This is a gorgeous dusty blue that only really needed one coat, but I applied two out of habit.  Shown here is two coats with no topcoat because as you will see in the photo below topcoat somehow changes this polish! 

So here in this photo I started to add G&Gs HK Girl topcoat to the top of the nail, and I noticed that the polish began to lose its dusty tint to it, and became more of a vibrant blue! How strange! I still love it though, and with topcoat it is still a gorgeous color.  It just makes it more versatile!

Overall these polishes are all great colors for summer. My favorite polishes from this collection are Sweet Addiction and Blue Capri. The formula on most of these are pretty thick, but not to the point of being unusuable, I will suggest to not sit near a fan when polishing your nails, because that will dry out the polishes faster and they will become goopy, but if you polish your nails normally with 2 coats you should be fine. You can also add thinner if they are too thick for your liking.

These Barielle polishes can be purchased individually from their website for $8 (here) or in the 5 pack soon for $25 (here)

 XOX Caitlin

*These polishes were sent to me for my honest review*

Nubbin Nail Art: In the Clouds on a Safari

Nail Art on my nubbins! I recently completed my On Safari Collection, and I am super happy with them all! In this quick mani I used all On Safari Colors. The base is Adventure Red-y, followed by Man Hunt, and then Exotic Encounters and Kalahari Kiss with the dotting tool! I followed up with Hong Kong Girl Topcoat.

XOX Caitlin

Teal Tuesdays: Funky French

 Today's theme is Funky French, and I chose to use some teal China Glazes I have!

I used 2 coats of China Glaze Exotic Encounters as the base color, followed by China Glaze Optical Illusion applied diagonally on the tips for a funky french. :)  Optical Illusion has a cool duochrome which is hard to catch on camera, but it is there, and it is cool.

 XOX Caitlin

 These are the lovely ladies who participate in Teal Tuesdays; if you want to participate, click on the Teal Tuesdays link on my sidebar and join our facebook group! All of the lovely ladies would love to have you!

Missy/Gnarly Gnails - http://gnarlygnails.blogspot.com
Rhonda Nail Polish Marbury - http://nailsbeautiqued.blogspot.com
Kirsten - http://geekyowl.blogspot.com

Amanda Murphy - http://mandyspolish.blogspot.com
Alyssa Botello - http://fancyphalanges.blogspot.com
ColorSplash Nails - http://colorsplashnails.blogspot.com
Simple-and-Beautiful - http://simple-and-beautiful.blogspot.com
Aimee - http://persistentglitter.blogspot.com
Nat - http://noholos.blogspot.com
Ana_Cherries Sweets http://cherriessweets.blogspot.com.es/
Ariane/The Frenzied Polisher http://thefrenziedpolisher.blogspot.sg
Caitlin - www.caitlinscreativecorner.com
Kia~LacqueredLibra - http://lacqueredlibra.blogspot.com/
Belén - http://nailpolishlane.blogspot.com/
Sam - http://polishedart.blogspot.co.uk/
Jess/Once Upon a Polish... - http://gafforama.blogspot.com
Jasmin/Subtletyisoverrated - http://subtletyisoverrated.wordpress.com/
Elysse/Elyssian Bauty - http://elyssianbeauty.blogspot.com/
Laurie http://patchouliandlace.blogspot.com/
Gisselle/Ms.Meow - http://msmeowsnails.blogspot.com/
Allison/ Love In A Bottle- https://www.facebook.com/lovethypolish?ref=hl
Arielle/Klutzy Hands Nail - http://nailsbyaklutz.blogspot.com/

Magnetic Week: Filthy Gorgeous In A Trance

Now that you have seen the Nails Inc Magnetic Polishes I have, I will be showing you the 3 Filthy Gorgeous magnetic polishes that i have. My awesome boyfriend brought these to me when he came to visit in March.  As far as I know, these polishes are only available in the UK, or order them online.

This polish is more of a green/teal magnetic, at some times(especially in the bottle) it looks hunter green.  and it is just as the name states, Gorgeous! This is 2 coats and topcoat, using the Filthy Gorgeous magnet that came in the cap.

And a macro!

I really love the look of these magnetics! And on the nail, there is so much dimension! I wish I could portray that on the nail through the photographs!

I am not sure where you can purchase these polishes, but they retail for £12. 

XOX Caitlin

Magnetic Week: Nails Inc - Whitehall

 Nails Inc Whitehall is an awesome Magnetic Teal! It is a darker green leaning blue, and looks awesome and 3 dimensional.

 I ended up doing 2 coats of this polish, it was thin like Trafalgar Square, and wasn't as thick as Houses of Parliament.

 And a Macro shot for the comparison post I am going to do!

XOX Caitlin

Don't forget to check out my giveaway in the sidebar!

Teal Tuesdays: Half Moon Mani

I recently joined a group called Teal Tuesdays! Every tuesday they publish a mani with teal and have a different theme each week. Todays theme was Half Moon! I have never done these before, so I wanted it to be awesome! I think that it did turn out awesome!

I used the Teal from Forever 21, which has a subtle micro shimmer in it, and Wet N Wild Black Creme for the half moons. I think these turned out quite well!

XOX Caitlin

Check out the other lovely ladies that are a part of the group!

Missy/Gnarly Gnails - http://gnarlygnails.blogspot.com

Rhonda Nail Polish Marbury - http://nailsbeautiqued.blogspot.com

Kirsten - http://geekyowl.blogspot.com

Amanda Murphy - http://mandyspolish.blogspot.com
Alyssa Botello - http://fancyphalanges.blogspot.com
ColorSplash Nails - http://colorsplashnails.blogspot.com
Simple-and-Beautiful - http://simple-and-beautiful.blogspot.com
Aimee - http://persistentglitter.blogspot.com
Nat - http://noholos.blogspot.com
Ana_Cherries Sweets http://cherriessweets.blogspot.com.es/
Ariane/The Frenzied Polisher http://thefrenziedpolisher.blogspot.sg
Caitlin - www.caitlinscreativecorner.com
Kia~LacqueredLibra - http://lacqueredlibra.blogspot.com/

Day 4 Creative Lacquer Challenge: An Untried

For my Untried in todays challenge I am going to show you Nails Inc Whitehall.  A MAGNETIC!

This magnetic is fantastic, it is a teal-y color and the magnet gives it black strokes across.  It is so gorgeous!  You may remember where I got this polish... my boyfriend brought it over when he came from the UK to visit me! <3

How pretty! This is in my untrieds because he brought me so many pretties I haven't known what to do with them all!

I will say I have swatched it on my nail swatch sticks, and on my finger I think, but it hasn't been shown on my blog, so I have it for you today. :)

Be sure to check out Bec's blog post for her nails today!

XOX Caitlin

Day 3: Creative Lacquer Challenge Cityscape

For my cityscape I wanted to do New York.  New York is one of my favorite cities, and I just love it!

So here are my New York Skyline Nails!

background is love and beauty blue polish
Black is wet n wild black creme
the statue of liberty is Zoya Bevin and black creme accents.

What do you think?  Head over and check out Bec's nails over at Lacquer Dreams!

XOX Caitlin

Pure Ice - Oh Baby

 Pure Ice Oh Baby! is another Walmart polish, and it is a beauty! The base is milky with blue-purple shimmer in it, and just look at the amazing duo-chromy-goodness in this polish.

It flashes blue-green to purply-pink, and for $1.97 I had to pick it up! It is sooo gorgeous on the nails, and it is fun to watch change color in front of the light!

*edit  Here is a bottle shot in case you wanted to go looking for it. ;)

What do you think? Do you have any Pure Ice polishes? I bet you are going to go out and get some after all of my swatches this past week. :P