Here is my original design for today's Geek Week challenge with the Digital Dozen!  These are a little abstract but I thought they came out pretty nice.  They're meant to represent Avatar!  I resisted seeing this film for SO long because of all the hype surrounding it.  When I finally did see it I was blown away.  I loved it!  I'm very into environmental things and even though this is touted as a Fern Gully for adults (which by the way, I also love!) I felt it was very well done.  It's definitely got a message but it doesn't feel like they're throwing it at you. The movie has a great plot behind the message.  Or in front of it maybe!  Anyway these nails are meant to represent the Na'vi.  They have golden eyes, hence the golden base and then their skin is this really pretty blue but sort of shifty in the light. It also has blue stripes and then there are little luminescent spots on their faces.  The nails were so much prettier in person, they really looked like a foil they were so shiny and sparkly!  I hope I did them some justice! Don't forget to check out the other ladies designs for today!

Colors Used:

Orly Hayley's Comet

OPI Goldeneye

Models Own Champagne

Funky Fingers Teal Scales

...or can you?  So it's no secret that the hot new trend in the polish world is texture.  With flocked, sandy, caviar and leather effect nails popping up everywhere, it's difficult not to notice.  While I love trends like crackle and spotted and now texture, I also hate that they're just that; trends.  We all end up buying tons and tons of these and let's face it: those 15 bottles of crackle polish you bought last year are just sitting in a drawer now getting zero use. Who wants last years trend on this years nails? I've tried to find new and exciting ways to use these effects polishes but this go round I thought it might be more prudent to find ways to get in on the trend without shelling out a lot of cash.  So here's a little experiment I did for you. :)  Above you see a combination of both Models Own Coral Reef and Zoya Godiva.  I chose Godiva for this experiment because she is a neutral color and therefore seemed the least likely to interfere with the color of the Coral Reef.  On the index, middle, and pinky finger I used two coats of the Coral Reef followed by one coat of Godiva on all nails but the middle, and two coats of Godiva on the middle finger.  As you can see, there is no texture.  On top of a flat polish Godiva simply looks like a gold glitter.  A pretty one, but a flat one.  So then I decided to turn the tables. On my ring finger we have two coats of Godiva (allowed to fully dry) and then a single coat of Coral Reef.  Bingo. Now we have a flat color with a textured look. This is similar to the look of the Milani's, Barry M's, and Nails Inc textures which have no glitter, but rather, a flat tone effect.  Here's a close-up comparison:

Again on the left here we have two coats of Coral Reef topped with two coats of Godiva. I'm guessing this is why they tell you not to use a base coat because it just looks like glitter on my polish. It was not raised in any way.  On the right we have two coats of Godiva followed by one coat of Coral Reef.  See how it's textured but the color is there?  Now you can turn any polish into a textured polish without ruining your bottle by mixing it or shelling out for a million different colors of polish! Magic!  If any of you try this with different colors, I'd love to see the results!!

This week the Digit-al Dozen is doing Love and Heartbreak.  This is my day one mani which sort of encompasses both!  The hearts are for love and the cracks are for the break! :P  This actually came out really well even though I was kind of worried about it because it's been awhile since I used my crackle polishes and some of them are tricky to work with!  I also had to do some maneuvering to get the heart shapes and I was concerned that it would crack funny or have weird cracks since the way you move the brush contributes to the way the cracks occur.  All in all I think it came out nicely though! Here's a close-up of my favorite nail. :)

Do you have any crackle polishes? What kinds of things do you use them for?

Don't forget to check out what the other ladies came up with for today's challenge.

This is kind of a lazy day nail for me.  I wanted to use my new China Glaze metallic crackle again, since the last time I tried it out it wasn't the best experience.  I'm glad I reserved judgement because this color is AMAZING.  This is the copper crackle and it's really the only one I was even excited about when I first saw the collection online.  I used it over a minty green color because it reminded me of a copper and jade ring I have that I LOVE :)  (pics eventually :P)  I took a close up for you guys (I'm experimenting with new camera tricks!) so you can see the glittery goodness of the crackle.  It has gold, yellow, orange, and copper flakes throughout it and it looks amazing on your nails!  I left these on for nearly a week and that's a record for me!!

Enjoy and thanks for following!! :)

Base is: Barry M Mint Green

Crackle: China Glaze Cracked Medallion