NOTD: A Last Summer Fling

My summer of fun is about to come to an end... and I'm ok with it.

As I try to conclude my personal summer challenge (to wear 50 untrieds from my collection) I decided to recreate this mani by celebrity nail artist Leah Light (her facebook page is to die for btw) with corresponding colors from my stash.  (With this mani I stand at 41/50. Woo!)

This is the inspiration photo...


Source: Leah Light's Facebook page



...and this is my version of it:



A last Summer fling with the neons...

I wore them all with a base coat and 'underwear' --Orly Dazzle (silver) for the neons and Barry M Gold Foil for the glitter & the peach-- and Cult Nails Wicked Fast topcoat. The colors I used (from pinkie to thumb) are:

- NYC Peach Sparkle - Oh this one is sheer! But pretty, and it is buildable. If you missed out on this one --I believe it was limited edition-- I found this color has a sibling, though not a true dupe: Zoya Cassi.  They seem to have the same base color, though not the same shimmer. Peach's is gold all the way, while Cassi's is silver/multi.

- OPI Spark de Trioumph - I love how this color is somewhere between silver and gold.

- Color Club Mrs Robinson - True purple neon. Pigmented. Smooth. Effortless. Yum-o.

- Sinful Pink - This one disappointed me somewhat.  It did not like the silver underwear and it was a bit thick & goopy. Maybe I need to try it again with a different base, like true white or something milky.  

- Claire's Sunshine - Just as before, this one did not like the silver underwear. It was patchy and SO hard to put on.  I'd worn Sunshine before, with Barry M Gold Foil as a base and that worked great.  With silver Dazzle?  Not so much. I think the difference rests in the texture of the pigments; Barry M's are powdery fine, while Dazzle's are more 'medium fine' grade. 

- Cult Nails Wicked Fast topcoat - It's good, but... I still prefer Seche Vite.  Wicked is indeed as fast as promised and shiny.  But it's a thinner, more delicate glaze than Seche. It also dried a little funny.  It got lines, almost like it started drying before it self-leveled.  Odd.  For all the Seche gripe out there, I've not had trouble with it.  By turns I've also read glorious, glowing reviews of Wicked so... it all depends on what you like in a topcoat.  For me Wicked is like that nice car you take out only on Sundays, to feel special, and Seche is the SUV that gets you to & from work five days a week.

~*Ari

Source: Pinterest & random google search of awesome