Summer Purples and Holo Success!

Using Gelish One Piece or Two? (from the new Make a Splash collection) and Tahiti Hottie (from the summer 2014 Colors of Paradise collection), this is my take on trendy mis-match nails. The beautiful holo nail is OPI Chrome Effects in Mixed Metals. Here’s a macro shot of the holo nail:

As you can see, the Chrome Effects powder worked really well. I had no trouble using it with Gelish Top It Off (rather than the suggested OPI top coat). In sunlight or interior light, these nails look great!

I was so happy to find the Chrome Effects line because the other products I’d tried have not performed very well for me – either I had application issues or they didn’t wear well. And, unfortunately, Gelish does not make a product like this.  Have you tried Chrome Effects? What did you think of it?

Gelish Make A Splash Swatches

The Summer 2018 Make a Splash collection from Gelish is available now. “The summer collection has an emphasis on fun-in-the-sun with its vibrant and eye-catching shades,” says Danny Haile, CEO and Founder of Gelish. “Even if you can’t live on the beach or at the pool all summer, your nails will make you feel that way!”

Here are the beautiful, summer-centric colors… Get your sunblock and lounge chair ready!

• Cellophane Coat – front and center in the photo above, an iridescent overlay, is one of my favorite “Trends” colors yet. This topper is great by itself, as seen in the bottom of the swatches below, or on top of almost any Gelish color.
• Feeling Swim-sical – teal creme, a very smooth polish. Use three coats for deeper color. (This is the only color I did three coats of for my swatches below.)
• Flamingo Float – coral pink with a shimmer. This is one of two polishes in the collection with a shimmer finish that I am loving. It really differentiates the polish from others of a similar shade.
• Flip-Flops and Tube Tops – fuschia with a shimmer. This polish also has the shimmery finish that draws the eye. These two might be my favorites in the collection! Which is saying a lot because I love the bright greens, like…
• Limonade In The Shade – neon green creme, so eye-catching! The below swatch shows two coats. Use a white base or three coats to add even more punch to this bold color!
• One Piece or Two? – deep purple creme, probably the darkest color in the collection, but seems like it will pair well with the teal, orange, or green for some trendy nail art. The below photo shows just two coats! This color has great coverage.
• You’ve Got Tan-gerine Lines – orange neon creme, and this color looks like summer in a bottle to me.  Again, you could give it some pop by using a coat of white underneath or using three coats. The below photo shows just two coats.

This collection is even better in person, and I’m really excited to get started using it. I think we can get create some really cool nail art with it, too. All the polishes apply smoothly, as we’ve come to expect from Gelish, and have surprisingly good coverage. It’s really hard to get a formula for the neons that provides good coverage in just two coats. Gelish did an excellent job with these… You can tell their R&D department is on its toes!

Note that I personally purchased this collection, and this is not a sponsored post. I just really like the product!

To see these colors in action, please visit again in a few days – We’ll be posting the live swatches for this collection to the Smoke & Mirrors YouTube channel soon!