Saturday Nail Art - Cherry Blossoms

Today's nail art was done spur of the moment, after I had finished swatching the week's polishes. Word of warning: I was suffering from some noticeable dryness at this point, so a lot of these photos have been retouched. I started out pretty uninspired, and my first attempt was...uh, indefensible.

I have no idea what I was thinking with this

I saw that what I was doing was hideous, stopped myself, and thought it over. I had a beautiful neutral base, a brown creme, and a coral creme with shimmer. Suddenly, it became obvious: cherry blossoms!

In progress

I was so excited by this revelation that I didn't think to get in progress shots like last week. Basically, I just used a detail brush to draw branches using OPI A-Taupe the Space Needle, then a dotting tool to add flowers with KBShimmer A-Blazing, on a base of KBShimmer Acetone it Down. Here's a collage of the finished product, sun shots on the right and shade on the left:

I'm holding the bottle of A-Blazing in all these shots because this nail art really redeemed it in my eyes. When I swatched it, I was horrified at its pinkness. Combined with the other two colors, it read as the orangey-red I had wanted it to be all along. I really like the way this turned out, I didn't expect these colors to go together at all. Join me next week for some blues!

KBShimmer Acetone it Down

Today's polish, like Wednesday's, has a punny name. However, not only does this polish's name actually describe it well, it's also simple, cute, and easy to type: Acetone it Down.

Acetone it Down is a holo, but it's a soft one. The base is creamy, smooth, and just a little sheer; sheer enough that the holo particles are visible through the polish, but opaque at two coats with really excellent coverage. This is another one with a stellar formula. It's also another exclusive, kind of; this is one of KBShimmer's "misfit" line of polishes, which are versions of the regular collections that didn't turn out as they should have. Acetone it Down is a version of a nude holo that got a little too much grey in it.

Like the name says, the polish is toned down. It's not a loud, bright, crazy linear holo; it's very soft and demure. The website calls this one a taupe, which it is, but I was really delighted when I put it on because to me, this is a greige. A greige holo! Isn't that cool? It's such a pretty polish that I didn't want to take it off...so tomorrow's nail art was done over the top of it. Come back Saturday to see the transformation!

KBShimmer A-Blazing

Today's polish is from one of the most well-known and beloved indie brands, KBShimmer, yet it's still obscure. It's called A-Blazing, and it's a creme with sparse, scattered shimmer particles. I've got to say...it's not one of my favorites.

It's pink.

This polish was an exclusive from A Box, Indied. The very last A Box, Indied, as a matter of fact, from June 2016. I had seen swatches of all the polishes before I decided to buy the set, but bloggers didn't say that A-Blazing was pink. It was supposed to be orange; one person described it as coral, but it sounded like a coral-leaning orange with orange sparks of shimmer. It is not.

The box's theme was campfire stories, and all the other polishes were named after spooky urban languages. A-Blazing was supposed to represent the campfire itself, an idea I really like. I feel like KBShimmer, as an enduring brand that has acted as a gateway to indie polish purchasing for many people, earned the right to occupy the central space. Unfortunately, I'm not really into the polish itself. The formula was great (this is 2 coats but with careful application, one would suffice), but the color, yikes. I also always find it kind of ironic that KBShimmer is a brand that is not known for its shimmer polishes, and in fact the shimmer in this is the weakest element. There is a little bit of sparkle in the sun, as you can see in the lower right of the collage, but it's not very much. The shimmer is somehow too subtle and obtrusive at the same time, and this is because it doesn't dry smooth. It's not textured or anything, just a little bumpy, but still. If I was into pink cremes, I would love the formula on this polish but still be a little disappointed with the chunky shimmer. I've got to give this one a meh. Things will look up Wednesday, though, with a polish that I found to be a pleasant surprise.