The Digit-al Dozen's Throwback Week - Gradient +

Hello lovelies!

"Gradient +" was another theme from before my time. I love gradients, they're always a great idea if you don't know what to do ;-) I also had not done a glitter gradient for a while and then I remembered the box of glitter I was sent for review by born pretty store. So here is a glitter placement gradient:

Last Minute VDay Mani - Marbled Love

Hey hey, Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm sure it's still Valentine's Day on some continents now, so it's completely legit for me to post this last minute VDay mani! I was in such a lovely mood after winning Herôme's VDay Nail Art Contest! So my friend had to undergo a fiery love mani. I wanted to keep it relatively simple, since there wasn't a lot of time and we were also watching "How To Train Your Dragon", which might have had something to do with the fire ;) (Excellent movie btw!)

This is the result - Marbled Love:

I did a saran wrap mani with Bourjois "Rouge In Style" and Rimmel "Black Out", freehanded a heart on the basecoat (Rimmel "5in1 Nail Treat") with a black striper from Etos, and then added glitters from my Essence Nail Art Kit "Designer for a Day". Topcoated everything and voilà: A Sexy Valentine's Mani :)

Hope you like it!

xoxoxo
Captain

The Carnival Blues

Hi hi!

One of our trusty hand models, has recently gotten a festive pair of hands! After all, Carnival is on our doorstep, and it's time to celebrate! Personally, we just watch the parades and dress up a bit, but half of the country will be very hung over on Monday! To enjoy the festivities even more, an appropriate mani is of course in order, so here goes The Carnival Blues!

The base colour is W7 "Mosaic", and then I did a cloud mani with Rimmel "Blue Vogue" and W7 Silver. I added some glequins from Essence's LE Vintage District nail decoration kit 02: "Designer for a Day".

And look! The colours match her gloves :) 

Tomorrow we will show you Lieutenant Akira's Carnival nails, this time not Carnival themed, but in style with her outfit for the day! 

Also, we are now on instagram! Follow us @manisandmakeovers :)

See you tomorrow!

xoxoxo
Captain

Skittle the Love

Hey  beauties!

I think this will be my last VDay mani for this year, since I'm kinda out of inspiration at the moment. I did a Valentine Skittle mani with lots of glitters on my own hands, since Kiss 'n Glitz had started chipping very soon.. Never an issue, as long as there is polish nearby! ;)

So there it is, Skittle the Love!

 The photos above were shot in artificial light, the picture below is taken in diffuse daylight.

From Thumb to pinky:

On the thumb, we have W7 "Cosmic Mauve", with kisses done with Rimmel "Black Out". 

Then we have W7 "Shirley Temple" with W7 magic beads, that I recently purchased. 

The middle finger is done with Essence "What do u think" that I got from a friend :) The glitters that form the heart are from the Essence's LE Vintage District nail decoration kit 02: "Designer for a Day".

(Have been waiting so long for it to finally come out! There are only tiny amounts of glitter and beads in there, but enough for a whole lot of manis, and since this stuff is somewhat hard to come by in here, I'm super grateful for this! It's not expensive either, as goes for all Essence's stuff <3 )

The ring finger is Rimmel "Diamond Dust" topped off with a fimo heart that I got from a nail art kit from Max & More called "Nail Paradise". I don't like half the things that are in there, but for this mani, the heart is ok. In that kit were also the rhinestones I used on my pinky, pressed down in a base of Bourjois "Rose Cupcake", and I doodled a heart with W7 Silver. 

That was fun! My nails sure are a happy bunch now :D 

Feedback is highly welcome, and if you do have inspiration for another VDay mani, and want me to try it, let us know!

xoxoxo

Captain

Glam up that Jungle! [retouch your mani]

Unfortunately, "In the Jungle, the Swirly Jungle" from yesterday started chipping after some household chores.. Since the mani had taken a lot of time and effort, I was reluctant to take it off... So I decided to glam it up! I did a diagonal tape mani with Rimmel "Black Out" and then added some big glitters from Essence "Mr. and Mrs. Glitter".
I only used top coat on the black part, to maintain the nice matte finish of the marble, creating an extra special effect. I was very pleased with how it turned out, especially since I was just making it up as I went ;)

So without further ado, I give you "Glam up that Jungle!"

What do you think?

xoxoxo
Captain

First Mani - Snow Glam

We thought to start of with the current mani, since it is very weather appropriate for the moment. It's a winter wonderland in Holland at the moment.

Love the design Captain! An excellent design that can actually last pretty long for those that can keep the stones on, since your nails growing out at the bottom will not be so noticeable because of the light color you use for the baselines ;)

You wanna briefly walk us through the steps?

Sure ;) 

First; the things needed for this design are a base coat, a light white-ish colour, a blue one, glitter polish, a white striper, glequins/chunky glitter polish and rhinestones.

I used Rimmel "Stronger" base coat, Essence "Ice crystals on my window" for the base colour, and "I love bad boys" from Essence for the blue, which I sponged on in two coats, creating a gradient effect. Then I added Etos Glitter Nails 003 (which has a purple, but very sheer base) to mimic snow falling. I used a white striper from the Etos Nail Art collection to draw on the snow flakes. For some snow flakes I added rhine stones to the hearts, for others I picked out a big glitter piece from Essence "Mr. and Mrs. Glitter" and placed it in the middle with a small dotting tool. Then I added two layers of topcoat to secure the design, and that's it!

You know what would be chic? Wear a nice fluffy sweater (white-ish, or blue-ish, or any color will suffice) with sleeves that come quite long, and just have these nails peek out. And then you have an irresistible snuggly-cutie look ;)

Haha, yes ;) Soooo, it's easy, but only with steady hands, which I rarely have (odd hobby I picked out then, eh?), but I managed okish. Excuse the dry skin and cuticles, with this weather it's very hard for me to keep them moisturized.

xoxoxo Love,

Lieutenant Akira and Captain Lothwen