Independence Day Grunge

I was kind of bored with the same ol' stars 'n stripes theme I normally do for holidays like this, so I decided to try something different. I think it turned out more as a tribute to the early 90's grunge period, but interesting, nonetheless. It looks completely different matte vs. shiny - I think the matte is what really gives it the grunge-like look...

Obviously I needed a red, white & blue color scheme, so I went with China Glaze "White Out" and "Red Pearl" for white and red, and Zoya's "Indigo" for the blue. I really like these three together - they blend rather well. I started off with two coats of White Out:

 And then sponged on Red Pearl at the base of my nails. It took two coats before it looked more red than bright reddish pink:

 Then I sponged Indigo on the tips - again, two coats. One just wasn't quite enough...two made a nice "dark denim" look:

 I think I should have sponged another layer of white over the center, just to blend the colors better. Next time, eh? Then I added two coats of China Glaze "Matte Magic" over the top, just to see what it would do. the red ran together, so I lost that spongy look - if I were doing it over, I think I'd put a coat of normal Seche Vite top coat on first, and *then* matte it down, to keep the sponged look better:

 A little clean up, and voila! Grunge nails for the 4th of July. :-)

For those in the US, I hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday. For everyone else, happy Wednesday...

Until next week, happy polishing...