NOTW: Splattered irises

Hello my lovelies! Long time, no see!

I'm so sorry that I've been AWOL lately. So much has been going on that I've barely had time to eat, sleep and breathe, let alone update my lovely followers on my latest mani experiments!

A quick(ish) summary before we start, just so you know I'm not joking (polish stuff starts after the bullets end):

• Wrist is still (still?!) causing me trouble from my Scotland trip three/four months back, making me a sad, sad panda - hospital appt. for scary nerve tests now pending to see what on EARTH I did to it!
• Busiest week at work EVERRRRR - an entire month's worth of work in a week from a new client!
• Did I say new client? I've had about four of those over the past month!
• Banking issues - banks gave me free money, which I was honest about, and they took forever to sort things out (kind deeds... unpunished)
• Business accounting and tax returns - 'nuff said
• Started a legal secretaries course for work which is eating into my free time some
• Parents away on holiday so I'm house-sitting (and apparently babysitting my grown-up toddler brother; he's 20 years old, but disgusting - I found toenail clippings on kitchen worktops the other day - yuck)
• Impromptu weekend trip with Chemistry Guy to Edinburgh for the city's famous Fringe Festival - the biggest arts festival in the world :)
• Mahoosive 13k-word proofreading job that took about double the time I thought it would WHILST I WAS ON HOLIDAY :(
• I GOT A JOB IN AUSTRIA!!!! I was on the waiting list for a part-time teaching job in the best country in the world, and got notified last week that I'm being slingshotted out there in February for a few months - lots of preparations now underway to get that sorted (incl. immigration, police checks, banking and accommodation issues). Interesting side note: YAY European polish :D
• General exhaustion because all of the above was squeezed into just a couple of weeks

So you see: I'm not kidding! Crazy times, crazy times! But let me show you something else crazy... my FIRST EVER SPLATTER MANI YO!

Left hand ^^

Right hand *basks in awesomeness*

OK, I'm not gonna lie, this mani was messy as... but sooooooooo awesome. I didn't wanna take it off; it may just be one of my favourite ever manis EVER! It's so spring/summer/flowers/purple and the shimmery purple polish gave it so much depth! I was just thrilled to bits that my random colour choices (incl. an untried) and splattering turned out so lovely :) :) I can't believe it took me this long to finally try the technique out *beams with pride*

My NOTW totally looks like... IRISES! :)

I'm also kind of loving that my NOTW totally looks like irises! This was a total fluke, but after a couple of days I realised what my fingers looked like. If I'm honest, this only made me love the mani more; irises are pretty and smell lovely :) 

The polishes I used for my splattering of awesomeness were:

• Collection 2000 (Hot Looks) Lemon Soda (base)
• Barry M Prickly Pear (lilac)
• Catrice Heavy Metal-lilac (purple shimmer)

Now for a quick word on the mess: Splatter manis ARE messy, however, with the right preparation, you can avoid a lot of the headaches that come about as a result: 

Messy fun!

1. Lay down some newspaper/old sheets before you start to avoid accidentally splattering (or dripping!) polish all over your best dinner chairs/nice wooden dresser/carpet, depending on how messy you are. Prevention is WAY better than cure on this one!
2. Prep. your fingers using Vaseline; if you apply some vaseline right the way around your nail and on the pad of your finger (incl. under the nail), extending down to your first knuckle, you'll be covered for any stray splats. This will allow you to grab a Q-tip/cotton bud after you're done splatting and just swipe away the messy polish like it wasn't ever there. Let me assure you that this is easier than taping and far easier than forgetting altogether; I accidentally did the wrong finger on my right hand (lol yes, go back and check the photos) and clean-up was a real PITA!
3. Practice on the paper first to get a feel for how that specific polish is going to move inside that specific straw. You might need to experiment a little; I ended up chopping my straws much shorter to get a good splatter.

Finally, as always, I'd like to share with you the base coat for this mani: Collection 2000 (Hot Looks) Lemon Soda!

Poor wrist, still in a splinty thingy :/

This is what I'd describe as a butter yellow that looks really quite vibrant in the sunshine (as you saw in the photo of the splatter mani above). The formula was pretty good, as I recall, but not perfect - Hot Looks tend to get gloopier over time. I think this might be a bottle design flaw; perhaps they don't create enough of a seal between the bottle and the lid? Can't fault the colour though, and for the price it's worth it!

Sooooooooo :) What do you think?! I've been waiting to share this mani with you all for weeks and weeks, and I'm so glad the time finally arrived! I can't wait to try more splatter manis. What crazy colour combos would you like to see? Hit me up in the comments and let me know!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x