Gradient mani: Take 2!

I think gradients are a new obsession of mine. I don't think I'm going to be able to stop doing them until I figure out how to do it really really well. I got paint all over my cuticles. Bah.

Photos are clickable.







This one isn't clickable. It was my 365 photo for my personal blog yesterday, and I thought I'd include it.



Yellow: L.A. Colors Live
Orange: Confetti Papa-razzi
Red: All Heart

What kind of brush is the best for cleanup? I've never cleaned up my nails and the way I post them is the way I paint them, but I'd like to start making things look a little cleaner.

Confetti - Papa-razzi

Orange? On my nails? It's more likely than you'd think! This is Confetti's Papa-razzi.


All of these photos were taken in natural light.









Papa-razzi is a two-coater. I had no problems with the formula and application was a breeze. This is my first orange polish ever. I was never a big fan of this color on me, but this polish has definitely opened up a new world of polish possibilities to me. I think I see more orange in my future.

CQ - Sunset Blaze

After the last time I tried a CQ polish I wasn't sure if I wanted to bother testing out the other colors I own. This formula was way better than the last one, so I will definitely be trying out all of my CQ colors.

Sunset Blaze is a bright pink shimmer that can flash red or orange depending on the light. I had a hell of a time trying to photograph this one, so apologies in advance if the pictures are kind of repetitive.


Sunset Blaze in natural light with flash.

Turning on the flash seemed to be the only way I could get the pink to show up in photos, even though it looks pink in real life more often than not. I used two coats and no base/top coats for the photos.


Natural light. You can see the red here.

The formula was pretty good, though it was a bit streaky. It dried pretty quickly and didn't drag or goop up the way Mystique did.


Natural light.

The flashes of color are really nice. I wish it weren't so hard to get good shots of it. We have a lot of sunlight today (FINALLY!) but I had to shoot through my kitchen window and hope for the best. It's tough to get outside for photos when you have a 7 month old and live on the second floor!


Flash.


Natural light. Orangey-redy goodness.

CQ still is not my favorite brand. The streaks in this polish are pretty obvious in real life, and I'm 100% sure another coat wouldn't have changed that. I like that it changes colors a bit depending on the light, but I'm not a big fan of pinks and reds so colors like this have to do something magical in order for me to fall for them. I'm not sure if I would buy this one again, even though it's miles better than Mystique!