Franken #469 Chrysocolla

Links checked 12/12/13

Hey there! Today is a nice weather day, hope you're having a good one too.

The name on this is a bit of a stretch if you know what the gemstone looks like since it can be both blue and green while my franken of the same name is technically a duochrome but here is Franken #469 Chrysocolla. While I'm not normally, this time I am extremely pleased with how everything turned out, paint job (even with the cleanup I missed) and pictures included.

Chrysocolla cabochon- the picture is from Gem Select and located here.

It wasn't a complicated formula or a big one- it was made in a 6ml Elizabeth bottle from TKB Trading, and without any suspension base, not because I don't have any but because it doesn't bother me to shake, shake, shake. The recipe is comprised of: 1 drop each of TCP Global's Kamen Blue and Intense Green flakes which are holographic, 6 drops of their Blue Green flake which color shifts, and 1 drop of Shanika Sun from TKB Trading's Star Bites Collection. The base is aqua tinted clear polish, very lightly tinted as you'll see later.

Intense Green, Kamen Blue, Blue Green, Shanika Sun & Chrysocolla. All the flakes are .015" hex cut.

For the rest of the manicure, I chose to layer Chrysocolla over Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme but not on my thumb since I was color testing. Quite a difference in appearance when used alone... I don't like pastels.

Photographed in sunlight

Various pics in daylight or sunlight

Sunlight

Daylight (yes, it's blurry).

And the duochrome effect, some anyway.

And because nothing shows sparkle like movement, view the video clip on YouTube. The first displays the green side of the franken, the second clip displays the aquas. 

Video #1, Greens

Video #2, Aquas

-MK

Franken #420 Peacock

Links Checked 12/12/13

By now I’m sure it’s obvious that I really like greens and blues since most of my posted franken polishes are one or the other… Well, here’s another- Franken #420 Peacock. It's not Christmas-y at all but looks even more spectacular under lower lighting like Christmas lights.

The glitter and flakes I used are shown below, Emerald Green & Blue Blue from Alsa, TKB Blue glitter (discontinued), Coastal Scents Emerald, BlingFlake’s Blue Blaze, Holo Blue, Holo Green & Purple Prism. The bottom left corner shows an overhead shot of Blue Blaze since its container is cloudy.

Here are a most of the polishes used. Confetti Ice Ice Baby, L.A. Colors (Color Craze) Treasure Island, Wet ‘n’ Wild Ocean Grotto & Teal of Fortune. L.A. Colors (Art Deco) Green Glitter, is not shown but it’s your basic green glitter.

The formula fills half a full size bottle and heavily glittered but even so, no suspension base was needed. 1/4 LAC Treasure Island, 1/4 clear, 1 scoop of: AC Emerald Green, AC Blue Blue, CS Emerald Green, TKB Blue, BF Holo Blue, BF Holo Green, 1/2 scoop BF Blue Blaze, BF Purple Prism, 30d C Ice Ice Baby, 10d LAC/AD Green Glitter, 10d WW Ocean Grotto & Teal of Fortune.

All the following photos were taken over a few days because Day 1 decided not be sunny. Day 3 provided the sun for better pics but I spent the morning cleaning out bottles with remover so I'm showing some abnormal tip wear and silver smudges. Peacock has been layered over Sally Hansen (Xtreme Wear) Black Out. The glitter has a low profile and applied surprisingly smooth, needing a topcoat only for extra gloss.

Sunlit bottle shot

Under daylight lamp. Inset shows macro shot of glitter.

Day 1, lamplight

Day 3, indirect daylight

Day 3, early morning sun

Day 3, afternoon sunlight

I left this photo blurry because it happens to be the only one that shows how sparkly this really is. It’s an indoor shot but in sunlight. 

Apparently this one was underwhelming for most of you so I'm adding the brief video clip I had initially decided not to include. The video is located here on YouTube.  -MK

Franken #400 SF/BF Gray Holo

Links checked 12/12/13

I was overdue posting this but this is one of my SpectraFlair franken polishes, #400 SF/BF Holo Gray. I gave you a sneak peak a week ago but this post includes a brief video clip and far more pictures.

Supplies Used

TKB Trading’s Glamour Base, #400 Gray Holo, Coarse Grade SpectraFlair, BlingFlake Gray Holo, BlingFlake Black Prism and laying horizontally is my small vial from the Hobby Lobby set, this one a black metallic glitter. Not shown are Alsa's Gunmetal and Jet Black flakes.

The bottle I used is a round 15ml bottle from Nailite Inc., important only because a small part of this franken was a 3ml mini bottle I combined with it. The mini bottle, not shown, was a mixture of TKB’s Black base, clear polish and a very minimal amount of holographic glitter. The rest of the formula/recipe is as follows: mini added to round 15ml bottle & is less than 1/4 full. Added slightly over 1/4 Glamour Base, 1 drop (spoon) Alsa Jet Black, 2 drops Alsa Gunmetal, generous amount Hobby Lobby vial of black metallic glitter, 2 drops Bling Flake Holographic Gray, 2 drops Bling Flake Black Prism, 1 generous drop coarse grade SpectraFlair (1500-35).

None of these used a top coat.

This picture is from the sneak preview so you’ve already seen it but it was taken indoors in sunlight.

This is a set of three, taken outdoors in sunlight. I thought they displayed the holographic effect as the angle changed fairly well.

This one, (more of) a macro was taken outdoors in daylight but no sun. Here there is no visible rainbow and the black glitters/flakes are less obvious. Rather than appearing dark gray the entire thing appears silver-ish.

At this angle and taken in full direct sunlight, the rainbow appears but it still looks silvery. Ignore my pinkie nail for a multitude of reasons.

With the sun not quite direct, the rainbow is fuller and the grayer side comes out.

My final display for this franken polish is the brief video clip I mentioned before. This video is posted on YouTube and located here.

I realize the black speckled effect is not what everyone would've been going for but I wanted something that was in between an OPI My Private Jet effect which I've seen on others blogs to be a black holographic and a bright silver holographic which I've already made several of;  I think I achieved that. Since all the photos I take are macros, some details are exceedingly obvious whereas if it was seen in person, they would not be.

As always, thank you for visiting. -MK

Franken #364 BF Holo Green

Links checked 12/12/13

Since most of my posted franken polishes are green, there is little doubt that that is my favorite color so you can imagine my pleasure when I saw that Bling MetalFlake sold a holographic green flake (glitter). I bought it and have used it but soon realized as pretty as it was, it is far better suited to be a top coat than a franken polish additive.

Before I removed #376 SF San Francisco, (if you haven't seen it, go check it out) I decided to show you what the Holo Green looks like layered so I added one coat. No more than one was necessary as I made this in a small bottle with a heavy concentration of glitter. I could apologize once again for the bad paint job or the condition of my nails but I’m assuming you’re here for the color, not my lack of skill in painting.

Here’s my little bottle by itself. As I said in the entry(ies) about BlingMetalflake, the Holo Green is a bit of a bleeder but not terribly so. The polish (originally just a clear polish) is colored but the flakes retained both their holographic finish and the vivid green coloring. If you pull up the enlarged image it becomes apparent that these are square cut, not hex cut.

The bottle and the manicure.

Indoors sunlight shots

This image I left slightly blurry because it shows the holo better.

Indoors, no sun.

Finally, because I felt I could not capture the holographic effect of this polish, I have included a couple short videos, not that you must view them of course. It was shot indoors but in sunlight so you could see how much this truly sparkles in the light. Due to the poor quality playback of videos on my blog, if you wish to watch them, I put them on YouTube.

Video #1

Video #2

-MK