Hi friends! Just a quick post from me tonight - some Scottish-y themed nail art for Burns' Night and a wee review of this striping tape from Born Pretty Store. (Discount code at the bottom of the post, too!)
Showing posts with label Stripes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stripes. Show all posts
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Illamasqua Jo'Mina Debut | Stripy Geometric Mix
Hiya! I'd fancied picking up Illamasqua's Jo'Mina for a good while, having seen/read so many complimentary things about it on various blogs. Finally I caved and nabbed it from eBay (for slightly cheaper than normal) last week, thanks in part to the absolutely lovely Kayla Shevonne who was kind enough to send me a bottle-shot comparison to help me decide whether I 'needed' it (haha).
I was really keen to use it but didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do, so in the end I just picked out a couple of colours I thought would complement it and got to painting! Here is the result:
I'm generally a wee bit apprehensive about beginning a design without knowing what I'm going to do (it doesn't always end amicably!) but I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out. I think the skinniest stripes, which I included on each nail, pulled the different designs together quite neatly, along with the framing. I still find lines a bit tricky at times and I know a few of them are a bit wonky, but not too badly (I don't think?!). I totally dig bold, geometric-esque mix & match designs, although it's not something I do often.
Illamasqua Jo'Mina is a fantastic purple. It's more intense (and possibly a touch pinker, I'm not sure) in person. Here I've matched it up with Barry M Shocking Pink and 17 (by Boots) Smokey Marble. (It's spelt 'Smokey' with an 'e' on the bottle, though I don't know why!) I really wanted to use something other than my go-to black or gold as the offset/outline colour and I think Smokey Marble was a good choice here. It's a bit darker than it looks in the bottle - I think I'd call it 'gunmetal' - and the shimmer is pretty subtle, but I think it makes a nice change!
For my index and pinkie fingers, I found it easiest to paint the pink and purple first, then add the darker, thinner lines at the end. After having to redo my ring finger, I decided it was best to outline the patterns on the remaining nails, fill them in, then tidy up the lines where necessary. I mostly used striping brushes (in a variety of lengths, so I didn't have to clean them constantly!) for this design, including my super cut-down brush for the skinny lines.
What do you think? Are you a fan of mixing-and-matching? Do you have a favourite finger? (I realise that last question sounds kind of creepy.)
I'm generally a wee bit apprehensive about beginning a design without knowing what I'm going to do (it doesn't always end amicably!) but I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out. I think the skinniest stripes, which I included on each nail, pulled the different designs together quite neatly, along with the framing. I still find lines a bit tricky at times and I know a few of them are a bit wonky, but not too badly (I don't think?!). I totally dig bold, geometric-esque mix & match designs, although it's not something I do often.
Illamasqua Jo'Mina is a fantastic purple. It's more intense (and possibly a touch pinker, I'm not sure) in person. Here I've matched it up with Barry M Shocking Pink and 17 (by Boots) Smokey Marble. (It's spelt 'Smokey' with an 'e' on the bottle, though I don't know why!) I really wanted to use something other than my go-to black or gold as the offset/outline colour and I think Smokey Marble was a good choice here. It's a bit darker than it looks in the bottle - I think I'd call it 'gunmetal' - and the shimmer is pretty subtle, but I think it makes a nice change!
For my index and pinkie fingers, I found it easiest to paint the pink and purple first, then add the darker, thinner lines at the end. After having to redo my ring finger, I decided it was best to outline the patterns on the remaining nails, fill them in, then tidy up the lines where necessary. I mostly used striping brushes (in a variety of lengths, so I didn't have to clean them constantly!) for this design, including my super cut-down brush for the skinny lines.
What do you think? Are you a fan of mixing-and-matching? Do you have a favourite finger? (I realise that last question sounds kind of creepy.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)