Nail Art / Swatch

   Today's post is a look I did with Pure Ice Blue Midnight as a base and Ruffled Sheets for the nail art.  The only tools used were dotting tools!  This is my first try at a jewelry draped manicure, and these were perfect polishes for it.

   My base coat for this manicure was Orly Bonder.  Polishes that dry matte tend to be chip-prone, but I only experienced tip wear and tiny chips on my pinky nail, so I was impressed.  I used two coats of Blue Midnight for my base, which is a lovely sapphire blue.

   Generally matte polishes aren't my thing but the shimmer in this makes it look great!  It definitely reminded me of rich blue velvet or even denim.  It dried fast and smooth.  TIP:  Matte polishes will get goopy faster than others as you use them.  Recap and shake your bottle every 5 nails to keep it flowing smoothly.

   Then I dotted on Ruffled Sheets using three different sizes of dotting tools.  I tried to "connect" the art on my index and middle fingernails but I'm not sure that it ended up being as obvious as I wanted it to be.

   For the pendant on my ring finger I used Blue Midnight again and created a vaguely heart-shaped gem.  I went over the gem with shiny topcoat which made it stand out more.  Very "Heart of the Ocean", eh?

   After wearing this for a day I was impressed with how it held up with no topcoat, but decided that for going to work I wanted the extra protection from a coat of Poshe.  Plus I wanted to see how it would change the look!  So here is the manicure again, but in shiny form.  (Which you only have a 1 in 8,192 chance of finding!)

   What do you think?  Remember that Ruffled Sheets is one of the polishes in my giveaway!  Because it's a set of gold, silver, and copper I hope that I've inspired whoever will win to try something like this.  Wouldn't it be awesome with those three colors as the chains, overlapping each other on a glossy black or white background?

   Hello, everyone!  I found some of the limited edition Pure Ice polishes locally and thought I should share the wealth!  I'm keeping this giveaway post short and sweet, so let me tell you about the prize and then you can get on with entering!

   These are from Pure Ice's "velvet" or "suede" finish line.   They made it sound like these had an actual fuzzy texture to them once they dried, but let me assure you that these dry smooth and are easy to work with.  What is special about them is that they dry to a shine-free matte finish, and because they are shimmery metallics it looks textured.  They dry fast and have good coverage at two coats, and you'll be about to give your nails a different look by adding topcoat!  I had to grab my own bottle of the silver and Blue Midnight, so count on seeing some nail inspiration posts before the giveaway is over!

The Prize:

The Rules:

   ♥ This giveaway is open to all my followers with a US mailing address, new and old!

   International followers, I'm sorry to exclude you.  However, if you have someone within the states who can receive your prize I'll be happy to mail to them for you!

   You should either be 18 years of age or older, or have the consent of your parents/guardians to enter.

   All entries are recorded using Rafflecopter, and falsified entries will be removed.

   The selected winner will be notified by E-mail and have 24 hours to respond before another winner will be chosen.
   Any questions or clarification needed, let me know!

   In the interest of organizing my blog better I'm creating more specific tags, or labels.  These are so you can find a certain type of polish quickly.  Brand name tags have already been put in use.  All nail polish tags will begin with "np-", and the types will be defined as follows:

   ~ Finishes ~

Creme - also known as cream, but hey, that's a color!  Creme polishes are pigmented, opaque, shiny colors.  True cremes contain no shimmer or glitter.  Think of shiny enamel paint.
Effect - what I'm dubbing the crackle, shatter, and graffiti colors.  Also includes color-changing, glowing, and magnetic polishes.
Flake - contain larger, odd-shaped and usually iridescent reflective pieces.  Think of fish scales.
Frost - or pearl, these polishes can usually be identified by their brush-stroked look.
Glitter - polish containing glitter!  Often meant for use as a topcoat.  Sparkly!
Iridescent - polishes that change color in different lighting, or have "flashes" of a color in them.  Other terms can be lustre or duochrome.  Think of soap bubbles, insect wings and oil slicks.
Jelly - these polishes are sheer, yet have depth and look almost squishy or wet.  Very shiny, good for layering.
Matte - flat color with no shine after it dries, which is quickly.
Metals - polishes with a metallic, mirror, foil or chrome quality.
Prism - or holographic nail polishes contain special glitters that reflect a whole rainbow of color.
Satin - polishes that dry to a sheen somewhere between a creme and a matte.
Shimmer - these have smaller, fine microglitters or "glass fleck" particles that sparkle faintly.  May only show in strong light.

   ~ Colors ~

Bright -  vibrant colors, and neons.
Dark - deep, dark colors of any hue.
Light - all pale or pastel shades.
Mid - any mid-range color that doesn't fall in with bright, dark or light.

   ~ Other ~

B3F - stands for "Big 3 Free".  Polishes that do not contain Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde, or Toluene.  Besides those chemicals posing potential health risks, polishes that do and don't contain them often don't work together well.
B3+ - my term "Big 3 Plus".  Not only are they b3f, they also exclude other risky ingredients.

   This is my list, made up according to how I describe things myself and usually see things described as.  It may be updated or added to from time to time.  I do try to be accurate, so if anyone would like to offer corrections, suggestions or refinement please comment below.  I really hope that these tags can be of benefit in the future for anyone searching for specific types of polish I have posted about.  If anyone else wants to use a similar tagging post on their blog go right ahead, but if I inspired you a link back here would be great!