Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection Nail Art

My entire flat is filled with bags and boxes of stuff. Most of the nail room has already been packed down and is ready to go to the new place this weekend, to my new Nail Cave.
I am super excited about getting a bit larger room for my nail stuff, and not having to share it when we have visitors. At the moment, my nail cave is in the spare bedroom, but in the new house, we are swapping the large double bed we have for guests now, for a super comfy sofa bed.

Since moving is hard on the nails I have filed them a bit shorter, and made sure there is a nail file and plenty of cuticle oil ready for me at the new place. Cardboard boxes always dries up my cuticles.

I know I have already written a couple of times about how I move and travel with my nail polishes, if you want an update and a bit through post about different packing ideas and methods let me know. For the past 4 years I have moved  about 10 times across 5 different countries, bringing nail polishes with me on planes, boats, trains, cars and carried them on my back in a rucksack.
I have found some great ways to bring with me my entire collection which is now counting around 700 polishes, when I first moved to Wales from Norway I had "only" 150 polishes...

I wanted to show you two different nail art looks that I have done lately, between all the packing and arranging stuff for the move.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection (neon polish)

First one is a drybrush look, which I did using the Taste The Rainbow Collection from Opulent Essences that I purchased a while back.

Neon Drybrush Nail Art using Opulent Essences Orange, Strawberry and Lemon over Sinful Color - Snow Me White

I used Sinful Color - Snow Me White as a base for this look and a drybrush technique using Opulent Essences - Strawberry, Opulent Essences - Lemon, and Opulent Essences - Orange.

I have been too hard on my nails when packing, so sadly this is the only picture I got of this look. It's still a pretty mani, so I wanted to share with you all.

Sinful Color - Snow Me White polish base and my food.

The next look I wanted to show today is a look that ended up as a total fail.
It's a fail because I decided to add some animal prints to the look, and had this fantastic idea of making "Cougar Nails". Sadly, the animal prints I decided to use, destroyed everything.

@opulent_essences Taste The Rainbow Collection using Strawberry and Orange for a gradient and some animal print stickers from Bundlemonster. The stickers turned the mani all gloopy, so this is the only picture of my gorgeous gradient.. #secretarysnailart #Bundlemonster #nailsticker #gradient #nailart #nailartaddict #nailartoohlala #opulentessences #neonpolish #neonpinkpolish #animalprint #neonorangepolish #neonpolish #indiepolishuk #indiepolish

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on May 18, 2016 at 10:15am PDT

Before Christmas I purchased some stuff from Bundlemonster, and I threw in a Surprise Bundle with Nail Art stuff. I had chosen to use the stickers (MP019) that was in this bundle of fun.

I applied them like you would with any other nail art stickers and seal with a topcoat. Didn't really think much about it, and let them dry for 30 min before adding another layer of top as the stickers where still sticking through the topcoat. Not long after the stickers started wrinkling, and turned gummy, and turned not just the topcoat and the stickers gummy, but the entire gradient underneath and the white undie as well(!)
It would not dry.
After 5 hours I noticed that it looked like it was sliding off my nails...
So I removed it all.
I was gutted, because I was so happy with my gorgeous gradient, and had not taken pictures of the steps. Needless to say, I was not in the mood to sit down and do another gradient.


What are some of your nail art related horror stories?

Circles on Circles

A while back I showed you all the Bookouture Girls Collection from Ard As Nails. Today I am pulling out a polish from that collection again. 

Ard As Nails is a 5-free, cruelty free, EU Approved Indie nail polish brand here in the UK.

Swatch of Ard As Nails - White Cliff Bay

Pet'la - Ceres is filled with stamping images from Crop Circles, and while you may not be a huge fan of the phenomena itself, this is a very pretty stamping plate with a lot of circular images. I think they translate very well to nail art. So today I thought I would bring it back out for another look.

In my swatch post of Ard As Nails - White Cliff Bay, I used the same stamping plate for the nail art look. You can check that post out by following this link. 

I also used Petla - Ceres for my nail art when I did my swatch post of Ard As Nails - Summer Flings And Dancing Dreams. You can check that post out here. 

Ard As Nails - White Cliff Bay stamped with L'orèal - Sublime Platine and Petla - Ceres stamping plate.

For the nail art shown above I used L'orèal - Sublime Platine as my stamping polish. 

If you would like a full review of Pet'la - Ceres stamping plate, check out my Youtube Channel. I recently uploaded a video all about it. 

@ardasnailsuk - White Cliff Bay from the Bookouture Girls Collection. One polish two ways. Which one is your favorite? #ardasnailsuk #secretarysnailart #nailartaddict #nailart #nails2inspire #nailstagram #nailsoninstagram #nailsofinstagram #nailsoftheday #petlaplate #bluenails #indiepolishuk #ukpolish #uknails #supportindiepolish

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on May 14, 2016 at 11:25am PDT

Petla - Ceres - Stamping plate

I totally love all things crop circles, and back when I was still in school, I wrote about crop circles and the history behind it as a school assignment.

One can not mention the stamping plates - Ceres - by Petla without mentioning crop circles. This is because the stamping plate is of crop circles (!) how cool is that?!

Ceres is the Roman Goddess of Agriculture

Cereologists (from cereology) or "croppies" is what crop circle enthusiasts calls themselves. 

X - Files own Fox Mulder believed they were made by extraterrestrials 

At first when I heard the name of this plate, I was thinking about Ceres the Dwarf planet, but as soon as I looked at the stamping plate, I knew that it wasn't, though that being said the Dwarf planet Ceres is named after the same Roman Goddess, Ceres. Guiseppe Piazzi named it Cerere Ferdinandea, and the planet was given the astronomical sign of a sickle.

A tool it was first thought that people used when making crop circles, but it was discovered that the wheat was not broken when the circles where made.

Petla - Ceres

Closeup on Petla - Ceres

Closeup on Petla - Ceres

In the video above I am going a bit deeper in on the different images, and what some of them symbolizes. From Mayan Circles to Lunar Circles this plate got you covered.

I will be back later with another nail art using this plate.

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

Devil's Goldan excellent definition for oil considering the problems it is causing
We are living in a fools paradise if we think we can rely on the Devil's Gold forever.

 

Opulent Essences - Devil's Gold while the name might make you think about oil, this not an oil-spill / oil-slick sort of polish, it is a semi sheer black jelly base with golden flakes and smooth glitter. that shifts in green, gold and blurple, a blueish purple.


Opulent Essences is a Vegan Friendly Nail Polish Maker from the UK. Behind the brand is the duo Sharon and Zoe, if you ever have any questions, the girls are lovely to chat with.

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Devils Gold 10 ml - 6 £

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

Today has been super busy with house-hunting, and I found this gorgeous little terrace house close by a park, that I have filled out the paperwork for and applied for.

If I get this place I will get a larger nail polish room, and it does not have to function as a Nail Cave / Spare Bedroom, it will ONLY be for my nail polishes. 

Fingers crossed.

For the picture swatches on the blog here, you can see one coat of Opulent Essences - Devils Gold over Wet n Wild - Black Creme. On the Live Swatch in the video over here, you can see what Opulent Essences - Devils Gold looks like layered over Barry M - Blue Grape, a cobalt blue polish (dupe for YSL - Bleu Majorelle)

More color combos for Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

For the nail art today I opted for a simple accent stamping using Moyra - Ornaments plate 03.
I used Sinful Color - Snow Me White for this.

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold layered over Wet n Wild - Black Creme with accent Barry M - Blue Grape, Opulent Essences - Devils Gold over and stamped using Sinful Color - Snow Me White and Moyra - Ornaments - 03

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Gravity

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

If you are a regular to my blog you know that my current obsession is with Opulent Essences polishes. They have so many gorgeous polishes, and keeps coming out with new ones. Recently they launched a Game Of Thrones inspired one, and since I live "just around the corner" from where the series is being filmed, I am a fan.

Since I have to move very soon I have put myself on a No-Buy until the living-situation is sorted, and I know that I have an address where I will be able to receive my parcels.

Opulent Essences is a Vegan Friendly Nail Polish Maker from the UK. Behind the brand is the duo Sharon and Zoe, if you ever have any questions, the girls are lovely to chat with.

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Gravity 10 ml - 6 £
Gravity  5 ml - 3 £

Opulent Essences - Gravity is s semi-sheer smooth glassfleck polish that shifts between blue and a rich jeweltoned purple. 

Opulent Essences - Gravity

In the swatch above you can see it applied in two coats over Wet n Wild - Black Creme on the index , ring and little finger and on the long finger it is applied over Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape. 

It also looks good over grey and purple. 

Opulent Essences - Gravity with Bundlemonster Waterdecals.

I decided to use some waterdecals that I have received in a Surprise Bundle from Bundlemonster, and added some dotticures using my dotting tool to complete the look. I am not sure if it is possible to buy these waterdecals separately, but they are called GID-033.  

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Chameleon Red

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

I just received super sad news. The landlord to the flat that I have been living in for the past year is moving back home, and asked me to leave the flat within the month. I have really loved this flat, and my nailroom was almost perfect. I had recently purchased some curtain fabric to add a splash of colour between all the steel and white wooden furniture that I have here.

So, I have started packing my belongings away in some of the boxes that I had stored. 

I took this mess of boxes as inspiration for today's nail art look. I will get back to that in a minute.

Opulent Essences is a Vegan Friendly Nail Polish Maker from the UK. Behind the brand is the duo Sharon and Zoe, if you ever have any questions, the girls are lovely to chat with.

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Chameleon Red 10 ml - 6 £
Chameleon Red 5 ml - 3 £

Opulent Essences Chameleon Red

Today I am showing you Opulent Essences - Chameleon Red. 

This is a gorgeous metallic multichrome polish. You can clearly see it shift blue, burgundy, and purple. The best trick that I know with these kind of polishes is to use a sponge to apply the second coat, this way you do not end up seeing the brushstrokes and can truly appreciate the gorgeous shift in these polishes.

Tweezers, a makeup sponge and polish

I recently did a hehe plate haul, and for today's look I used hehe - 001 and Claudia - 154 - Lilac Pink. Claudia - 154 - Lilac Pink is a purple polish with pink shimmer that I got for Christmas by my brother in Sweden. He is so supportive of my hobby, and the bestest brother a girl could ask for. 

Opulent Essences - Chameleon Red stamped using Claudia - 154 . Lilac Pink and stamping plate hehe - 001

Opulent Essences - Chameleon Red stamped using Claudia - 154 . Lilac Pink and stamping plate hehe - 001

I love how the pink shimmer in Claudia - 154 . Lilac Pink really brings out the metallic in Opulent Essences - Chameleon Red. Such a lovely combination don't you think?

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Fools Gold

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine,  nothing else to disclaim.

You might have noticed my slight obsession with Opulent Essences lately, and today I am showing you another Opulent Essence polish that landed on my doorstep last week.

As a member of Fantasmic Flakies on Facebook, I thought I would start with a flakie polish.
Opulent Essences - Fools Gold
This is a baby blue polish with a pearl shimmer and golden flakies, in some lights this polish leans a bit teal. This is specially evidently when pairing with black.

Opulent Essences - Fools Gold

Opulent Essences is a Vegan Friendly Nail Polish Maker from the UK. Behind the brand is the duo Sharon and Zoe, if you ever have any questions the girls are lovely to chat with, and as far as I know, don't bite. Hehe.

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Fools Gold 10 ml - 6 £
Fools Gold 5 ml - 3 £

Opulent Essences - Fools Gold

In the swatches above you see the polish when applied in 3 coats. I did not encounter any problems with this polish, it applied nicely, and the pearl shimmer looks fantastic with the gold flakies.

I also think this polish looks great on me. The shade is just the right kind of blue for my skin at the moment. 

On my Youtube channel I also show how this looks applied over black and cobalt blue polish, if you are feeling adventurous and want to layer it over something else. 

The black polish as an undie makes this lean more teal, which I thought was very interesting. 

I could not leave this polish alone and felt the need to try some nail art using this as a base. 

I pulled out Bundlemonster BMXL204 and Moyra - 05 - Vintage. For the stamping I used Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape and KIKO - Magnetic - 707.

The Lonely Fisherman Nail Art. Using Opulent Essences - Fools Gold, Bundlemonster BMXL204, Moyra - 05 - Vintage, Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape and KIKO - 707

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine,  nothing else to disclaim.