ASBMF- Challenge #5- A Rainbow After the Rain

Hello again, all! First of all, I have 22 followers? When did that happen? Thank you so much everyone! That means a lot!

This challenge was difficult for me. I had initially tried something earlier last week that went to crap really quickly. So, I took a few days off, thought a little, and went and tried this design out. It works well enough. It's not my most favorite design but it's a great improvement on the initial design.

When I first read the challenge- A Rainbow After the Rain- I pictured watery, slightly pastel colors. Well, that obviously didn't happen. See, this week has already been a difficult one for me. Some experiences at work and in my personal life have been a little taxing and have made me feel all around sad and worn out. So, enter in nail polish! I wanted to pull out as many of my bright colors as I could to make these rainbows vibrant. I always think of rainbows as a promise of hope, change, and better things to come. That's a good way to look at the rest of the week! Things can only get better!

I added the white clouds as an after thought.  I like the way they make the design look.

Here are the colors used in this design (Left to Right)- Wet n' Wild- Believe Me, It's real, Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl, Sephora by O.P.I. Opening Night, NYC white, Sephora by O.P.I. Caliente Coral, Striper Nail Art, Sephora by O.P.I. Cab Fare, Sephora by O.P.I. High Maintenance, and Orly Charged Up

ASBMF- Day 3- Glitter Sammy

So, interesting discovery of the day? I only have ONE jelly finish nail polish! I was appalled...but told myself it's okay and that I only need one to complete this challenge. I've never once done a glitter sammy (which I think is obvious since I only have one jelly polish) and I was excited to try something new!

For those of you who may not know what a glitter sandwich manicure is, I'll explain quickly. It's when you take a jelly finish nail polish (a polish that is less opaque than a normal polish and has a very distinct squishy appearance to it). On top of your jelly polish, you apply a glitter polish (preferably one that is suspended in a clear base) and then complete with one more coat of the jelly polish. The resulting look is suppose to be as if you can look into your nail forever, observing layers and layers of gorgeous glitter that rests, suspended in your jelly polish. 

For mine, I began with 2 coats of NYX Girls Ink Heart. This is a stunning inky, glowing jelly blue polish. I adore this polish. I decided to layer lots of glitters, so on top of Ink Heart, I put a coat of Nubar 2010- mostly because I wanted an excuse to use a flakie. On top of that, I put a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust- a lovely holographic glitter. My last glitter addition was Wet n Wild's Party of Five Glitter. I finished the whole thing with one coat of Ink Heart and a coat of Seche Vite to seal it.

I'm going to say I prefer the manicure without the last coat of Ink Heart- yes, I know that "unsandwiches" the manicure, but it was really better. Take a look:

I just want to say sorry about my camera. It's dying I think. It decides to only focus in on the pinky and ring finger in most pictures today. But, you can really see the holographic goodness in the middle and pointer fingers
Here's a close up on my thumb, pre-sandwiching. I'm saddened that Nubar 2010 sort of died in the layering, but before I applied Party of Five Glitter, it looked amazing with Fairy Dust. I should have taken a picture of that!

Alright, let's finish up with a bunch of sammy eye candy!

I hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda