(a bit too) Light as a Feather

I woke up on the weekend determined to do an alcohol transfer mani.  I'd had a half finished design in my head for months and somehow in my sleep I worked out how I wanted to finish it.  I use laser prints and isopropyl alcohol for my transfers.  I had my husband print off a sheet of designs a few months ago on his work colour laser printer (inkjet doesn't work) and they worked quite well.  So I filed the printout away until I could work out the rest of my glorious design idea. Fast forward to this weekend and after many careful layers of light coloured polish for the background I went to do my transfers and... nothing!  Not a single pixel of ink would transfer.  The prints worked fine last time but now, after months sitting in my drawer, they won't transfer.  I can only conclude that over time the laser ink somehow sets and I need fresh prints to get it to work.  So I've filed that idea away for now.
Which left me with this.

Glitter Gal Light as a Feather is a white holo that's really more of a pale grey colour.  It has a very faint linear holo shimmer. This is 4! coats and was a nightmare to apply.  With each coat I was tempted to give up but I was sure this colour would be the best base for my transfer design so I persisted.  I don't know if I have a bad bottle or something, because I've read raving reviews of this polish being opaque in 2 coats and easy to apply, but for me it was streaky, grabby and bubbled like a spa.  I used my usual Sally Hansen base coat and applied thin layers, waiting for each to dry completely before the next.  I could have used thicker layers to get 2 coats but when I saw how the first layer bubbled I stuck to thin layers.  Finally the top coat (Essie Good to Go) helped disguise the bubbles but that left me with 6 slow coats and I was pretty fed up. I told my husband I would never use this polish again.

...but, I really like this colour on me and the soft holo.  I think it's very flattering on my (too) long nails and makes a nice 'palette cleanse' after a lot of bright colours.  It really is light as a feather. It matches the dreary rainy days we've been having lately.  For the price though (I have the tiny 9ml bottle) I expected  more holo and more white, more impact over all.  So it didn't live up to my expectations and was a pain to use but I keep coming back to liking the way it looks.

Photographing holos is difficult, trying to catch the rainbows, but for this polish the camera actually shows more rainbows than I could see in life.

After 2 days my Light as a Feather blank canvas was driving me crazy and I needed to add to it.  I thought about all sorts of layers and nail art then decided to stamp.

I'm a total stamping novice.  I've done tests before but never a full mani of stamping.  I struggle with designs big enough to cover my full nail and still have to find a technique to roll the design over the curve of my nails side to side and front to back.  So I settled on this feather design that I could use somewhat randomly. 

I missed bits, smudged bits and I'm not sure I chose the best colour but I'm pretty pleased with this look for a first attempt.  If I had more patience I'd paint on some little pink cherry blossoms but this is all coming off tonight.  The edges of the Light as a Feather are starting to lift.  The tips are fine, no chips but the back and sides are annoying me.

I used Kleancolour Metallic Red for stamping with an image plate from You Mix Cosmetics which I can't actually see on their site anymore.  If anyone wants to see the plate let me know and I'll snap a photo of it.
I finished off with a layer of INM Northern Lights Holographic Silver Top Coat for some sparkle.  I love the Northern Lights top coats, I have both the silver and gold.  They add just the right finishing touch.  I buy mine from The Nail Shop and I'm so impressed with their customer service I wish they carried more polishes so I could shop there more often :)