Tuesday, March 31, 2015

(Different) Easter Nails!

I finally tried a new (to me!) technique!  Don't get all excited; I haven't foray into the world of water marbling.  Or inks.  Or any other new technique floating around.  Perhaps some day.  I don't actually know the name for this.  The Blob Method?  Dot Method maybe? When I sat down to do my first Easter nails, I thought this really would be a great plate to use for some water marbling.  But decided that sitting down at midnight to do your very first water marbling probably isn't a good thing.  So I thought I would do sponging but thought, been there, done that.  What next can do I do pack a bold punch of colours? So did dots!  I'm not overly impressed with how this came out but maybe it was enough incentive to try a water marble, who knows.  

Here's what I came up with.


Started with a base coat of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  Then added assortment of dots or blobs of polish to cover the white using all Glam polishes; Pink Ladies, Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee, Summer Nights, We Go Together and Grease is the Word.  I didn't cover the white 100% but just hoped that area would be covered with the stamping.  Then top coated to quicken dry time.


After thinking that some of these blobs were fairly thick, left them to dry for about 45 minutes before stamping. (Thank goodness for PVR; watched an intensive hour of Intervention condensed into about 40 minutes when you can fast forward the commercials.)

Stamped using Messy Mansion MM08 using Funky Fingers Dark Knight.


Messy Mansion MM08 (I thought I had taken a pix before scrapping but didn't).

Top coated to finish.


There was no way I was going to dot my other hand; did skittles using the same polishes and stamped with same plate and polish.


I'm on the fence about this.  As much as I'm a lover of busy nails, this just looks like a hot mess.  I think it might have been better with lighter polishes; not sure. I still think this would be an awesome plate for some neon water marbling.  Some day, maybe lol! 

Thanks for looking!



Monday, March 30, 2015

Earth Hour Nails

This is the many faces of the Earth Hour mani I did over the weekend!  Did you turn out the lights? Does anyone do this any more?  I hardly heard anything about Earth Hour this year, so just wondering. I thought I was being pretty funny posting basic black creme nails for Earth Hour on Saturday night on instagram; hopefully anyone who seen it, got it or otherwise, they must have thought I was off my rocker!  Of course, I couldn't leave it alone; here's what I came up with!
Started with a base of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Onyx; two coats, then top coated with KBShimmer Clearly on Top.  I am positive that's my reflection in the thumb.....


Anywhoo, I've always had it in the back of my mind to use the Sephora X glitters on a black base ever since I seen Missy's (of Gnarly Nails) mani here.  So hauled out Sephora X TNT and added fairly liberal coat to accent finger. What made me remember wanting to use this glitter (as I seen it in the blog post over a year ago) is I've seen all these Sephora X glitters at Winners in the last week or so; I would suggest that if you don't have them, that you check out your local Winners to see if any left.  I'm contemplating backup bottles myself as I'm sure if they are in Winners, they won't be available much longer.


I checked my stash of stamping polishes to see what came closest to the colour of TNT and found Mundo de Unas 54 Iris.  Used it with an image from MJ XLV. 






 Then top coated with KBShimmer Clearly on Top. 


While I really liked the look of this, if you know me, busy nails is my middle name, so decided to add a few random dots in white for a pop of colour.  After they were dry, added another coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.


Hope you had a great weekend; thanks for looking!


Friday, March 27, 2015

Elevation Polish Epidote 2

I love the simplicity of this mani; it was quite simple in terms of polish and stamping but packs a punch if I do say so myself!  It's one of the things I love so much about stamping; you can a cool looking mani in no time flat!


Started with a base of two coats of Elevation Polish Epidote 2 with an accent of two coats of OPI My Vampire is Buff, no top coat.


Topped with a coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top. (Note the topcoat didn't enhance the holo; different lighting!)


Stamped using Konad m95 using Mundo 43 on all fingers except accent, which was A England Dragon.




Finished with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.   It's fantastic that the holo pops on the stamping done with Dragon even though the lines are so small!



Hope you have a fantastic weekend; thanks for looking!


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Dance Legend Fresh Collection - 78

I have a sneaky suspicion that blue has become my favourite nail colour versus the more mainstream pink that I favoured years ago.  It's no secret I have a large amount of posts in archives as I've stated it before and my posted nails vary in length, some have hangnails, then the next day they don't!  So when I was sorting through them to figure out what to post, a good 80% of the drafts are blue in some hue or another.  I'll try to mix it up but otherwise, be prepared for a lot of blue over the next while! I probably have enough blues to do only blue posts in April for Autism Awareness like I did a a couple years ago; I might have to consider that again! Not that it matters; they are all pretty enough, it is just I do try to mix things up a bit!


Started with a base of Dance Legend Fresh Collection - 78, two coats then topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top. This looks very similar to what I have in my stash; in retrospect, I wish I had have added it to the comparisons I did with Different Dimension Wave if You Sea Me and Sinful Colors Blue By You here


Stamped using white Konad special polish using Lilic's Rendas.


Lilic's Rendas

Fixed a couple of the dots, then top coated to finish.


To see how similar these three polishes are, here is Different Dimension Wave if You Sea Me is on top; Sinful Colors Blue By You is on the bottom from the comparison I did before.


As pretty as Dance Legend Fresh-78 is, I'm kind of mad at myself for having three polishes so similar.  It was bad enough having two...but three?  Not necessary.

Thanks for looking!

Monday, March 23, 2015

Spring Arrived....Didn't It?

This past weekend, my area was under an extreme cold alert....again.  Plus, there were reports of flurries and a trace of snow when people woke up Sunday morning.  (I can't confirm this myself as I guess everything was melted by 10:30 am lol). Anyway, even though the alert is lifted now, it is still pretty chilly out there (not February cold, but cold enough!); I guess Mother Nature forgot that Spring arrived last week! But with the return of the colder temperatures, it's a good time to share another snowflake mani that I did this past winter!



Started with a base of two coats of Lilypad Lacquer Rebel at heart on all fingers except accent.  Accent is three coats of Contrary Polish Frozen with a coat of Glitter Gal Light as a Feather.  


Different ligthing; can see holo a bit better!


Stamped using white Konad special polish and Mundo de Unas #9 using Sugar Bubbles Special 02.


Topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.


Thanks for looking!


Thursday, March 19, 2015

A Late St. Patrick's Day Mani Using Girly Bits Far And Wide

As I mentioned in my last post, I really wasn't too much into doing St. Patrick's Day nails this year.  This was what I had on my nails on the 17th, even though technically they aren't shamrocks, I thought they were close enough to pass for the day!


Started with two coats of Girly Bits Far and Wide.  This is exclusive to Harlow & Co....and it is in stock right now!  If you happen to find it out of stock,  check back again as I believe it will be restocked as it is not limited edition.





(This pix convinced me to cut down my nails; in fact, I did the next night then removed this polish...and promptly put on another green one! The middle finger curls down and it is too annoying to me lol.  It's not terribly obvious in real life, but pretty evident in pictures.  Oh, the things we do for our blogs, right?)

Stamped with Apipila P.39 using Funky Fingers Gesso.



Apipila P.39


Finished with a coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top.



The funny thing (well, to me anyway), is right after this, I did more green nails AFTER St. Patrick's Day .  I guess I'm so prone to procrastination, that the urge to wear green was procrastinated too lol!

Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I only did a couple St. Patrick's Day nails this year which is really odd for the holiday/theme nail gal that I am. Just wasn't feeling them this year even though I did have good intentions and even bought a few new green polishes specifically to use for them.  Including this one! Next year, I guess.  Or any time; there are so many of us nail gals that wear all colours any time of the year, green's good for any of time of year, right?  



Started with a base of two coats of Darling Diva On the White Cliffs of Dover Sat a Poet.  This is two coats. Darling Diva On the White Cliffs of Dover Sat a Poet or DDOTWCOFSAP for short (um, maybe not!) is part of the Darling Diva St. Patty's Limerick collection which is still in stock via her shop here.  


Top coated before stamping with KBShimmer Clearly on Top. As pretty as DDOTWCOFSAP is, it really comes to life with top coat!  In my mind I thought how appropriate is it that there's a whole bunch of little pots on gold with all these gold flakies on your nails!


Stamped with Bunny Nails HD-B using Funky Fingers Gesso.  I think this is a great image; interesting enough that you get the drift of the theme but lots of voids so you can see the beauty of the base underneath!


Topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top.


With all those pots of gold flakies on my nails, I thought this mani would be a good candidate for a coat of matte as matte usually makes flakies pop!  Topped with OPI matte.



I can't decide which version I like best; matte or glossy.  I think matte by a smidgen. I did my other hand slightly different; used same plate but stamped a leprechaun using Mundo de Unas #7.



Have a great St. Pat's Day if you are going out tonight to celebrate!  May your beer be green, your dinner of corned beef with boiled cabbage be tasty and of course, your nails green and sparkly!

Thanks for looking!

Monday, March 16, 2015

Glam Polish Break the Ice with Snowflakes

With the snow quickly melting in the above freezing temperatures lately (at least in my area...and I can't say warmer temperatures because it's still not THAT warm here), I think I had better get these snowflake nails posted before spring arrives, flowers are blooming and we are seeing our first robin!  I did these about five weeks ago when we were in the middle of a deep freeze with snowy conditions (aka, February).  


Started with two coats of Glam Polish Break the Ice.  This is part of the Glam Polish Fatal Attraction Trio and is exclusive to Hypnotic Polish.


This is one of my favourite Glam Polishes!  There's an assortment of glitters including the holographic that you can see twinkling through, as well as glass fleck that is more obvious in other pictures.  Such a pretty colour! There were no application or removal issues and clean up was a breeze (always important to me lol!)



Added KBShimmer Clearly on Top.




Stamped with Pet'la Plates Ho Ho Ho and Mistletoe using Mundo de Unas #1.



Pet'la Mistletoe




Pet'la Ho Ho Ho




Top coated with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.



With spring right around the corner, I'm going to have to check my archived posts to make sure I don't have any more winter related posts yet to schedule..or they'll be shared next winter.  Or maybe this summer, in the heat of a hot, humid July afternoon when we need a reminder of how unbearably cold this past winter was!

Thanks for looking!