Slurred Overlapping Holographic Dotticure Nail Art + Tutorial!

Hey stamperistas,

Purchased by Me

Ugh I've been dead.  Ok not dead but it felt like I was dying because of overnight coverage and disaster shitz.  Cray!  I could not wait to get back to my nails.  In the interim I did about 1 million failed Valentine's Day nail art.  It was like I could not get things right which is why I ended up posting nothing.  Everything looked fugly - geh! I decided my first nail art once free was going to be dark, blingy and layered.   I also decided I was going to use plates from one of my absolute favorite MoYou London collections - Holy Shapes. I wanted the stamping blingy too.  Normally that means cue in the Llarowe Holo stamping polishes or Liquid Sky Lacquer but I got schooled hard when I took out my recently purchased SuperChic Lacquer holo's.

Polish Pusher Faux Aquarelle Holographic Swirls + Tutorial

Hey stamperistas

Press Sample

Purchased by Me

Today I've got some really yummy nail art to share with you all!  Lol I know seriously you are probably like this girl and her holos but I really can't help it everything is just so delicious right now be it indie or mainstream this polish companies have been making me go holo crazy! Even better is how well holo lends itself toward macro photography so I find myself reaching for them more and more these days ;)  And as a bonus I got to play with my Polish Pusher Sheer Perfection colors and her yet to be released holo flakie stunner.  I call that winning!

Holographic Waves and Whirls Nail Art + Tutorial

Hey stamperistas,

Press Sample

Purchased by Me

It's been a weekend of fails :(  I made so many nail arts that did not turn out I thought I was going to go crazy.  Either the photography was really off or my sense of color wasn't really there.  I ended up scraping two whole creations + tutorials before I got to this pretty mani.  Was it worth it? Who knows, but I sure love how this one turned out!

Holographic Triple Wave Faux Watermarble Stamping Nail Art + Tutorial

Hey stamperistas,

Press Sample

Purchased by Me

For all those howling in the rabble for my witchy watermarbling blood, see SimplyNailogical, I bring you a nice alternative using my new stamping polishes from Emily de Molly ;) You can check out my in depth review of them here.   Now if you can't watermarble you can fake it till you make it using this cascade watermarble plate from Vivid Lacquer.  Btw watermarble plates have been around for a while now, VL's was one of the first, but now it seems they are gaining popularity.  So as long as you can stamp you can also get a similar effect ;) Rejoice!

Valentine's Day 2016: Radiating Hearts and Kitty Love Nail Art + Tutorial

Hey lacqueristas,

Ah its that time when we begin contemplating how much love is love.  Our nails and our candies and our slowly expanding waists from excess chocolate intake all reflect this lovely obsession. Personally I feel slightly nauseous.  Usually this begins at the top of January when the Valentine's Day decorations replace the Christmas ones.  I start thinking gah not again.  However this year I'm going to really try and rise to the occasion and give this whole lovey dovey nail thing a go.  Note I said try no promises.  As such I thought I'd start out with something on the milder side of love - kitty love ;)

Love is a heart that desires to serve a precious person who is close to oneself.  To love and watch over that person. ~ Masashi Kishimoto

Christmas 2015: Holographic Snowflakes and Candy Cane Swirls + Tutorial

Hey stamp champs,

As ever every year I don't get to do nearly enough Christmas nail art.  I wanted to do so much more this season and look its already the 22th! Gah!  This might be the most productive I've been over the christmas season.  Lots of tutorials - I've shot more than I've released so hopefully I'll be able to get a few more up before the holiday season ends.  However today I'm doing another MoYou London nail art using their Festive plates this time.  Honestly Festive 03 gets a heavy workout from me every season - namely because the patterns on this plate are so freaking classic!  That swirl for the candy cane gets me every time however todays mani is definitely not the classic mint twist you might be expecting.  Please definitely tell me what you think in this alternative take in the comments below!

Christmas 2015 Simples: OPI Snowflakes Wrapping Paper Inspired Nail Art + Tutorial

Ho ho ho,

Tis the season and all that jazz! For the last several years I haven't been able to do nearly as many nail art looks for Christmas as I have wanted to.  It's been pretty disappointing because I'm such a fan of this holiday, and of all the many many plates I own  Christmas is probably the one theme I own the most type of plates from across my entire collection.  I'm a bit helplessly drawn to these plates.  So this year I decided even if I can't do a bunch of my mega complex manis I'm definitely going to fit in more Christmas nail art magic this year.  One way is by doing what I call simples and for the first time I wanted to create a holiday playlist on my Youtube channel to go along with the art.

Pet'la Plate Abstract Shattered Glass Nail Art + Tutorial

Hey lacqueristas,

Unless you've been living under a nail art tomb, which you definitely shouldn't be if you're reading my blog, you've heard of the shattered glass trend! This comes straight out of South Korea from the creative mind of Park Eun Kung of Unistella.  You can read a bit more about the lady behind the trend here in Vogue.  Have you seen these nails and if you have what do you think of them?  When I first saw this design I immediately thought I have to try this with stamping.  Of course I'm not just gonna repeat what other people are doing.  My venue has always been stamping so when I see something novel I always think about ways to incorporate it into my own style of nail art.  I wanted something open and abstract and pretty.  Let me show you what I ended up with ;)

Nudes and Neutrals Fall Geometric Uberchic Beauty Nail Art + Tutorial

Hey stamp champs,

Rolling out a little geometric magic for you today.  Gotta say I've really been on a roll these days with my nail art wanting to try out a bunch of new things.  Today I kept things classic and put a slight twist on it.  The classic would be the abstract pattern from UberChic Beauty.  The twist would be using my nail template from Messy Mansion to make some magic happen with that pattern.  The colorway I chose also stays true to fall so I hope you like it!

Valentine's Day 2015: Cascading Hearts Watermarble Nail Art

Happy Saturday stamp champs,

Love is in the air?  Not particularly but last year I really didn't get to do all the Valentine's Day nail art I wanted to.  Actually I didn't even get close to it so this year I thought I would start a little early that way I can play all I want to.  Today I started with a particularly challenging nail art which is the heart watermarble. I was inspired once again by MySimpleLittlePleasures.   For those that follow me on Instagram you might have seen my post of a practice marble.  This was one of the most difficult watermarbles I have undertaken yet!   Mainly because of the use of so many colors and having to move fairly quickly to create my design in the water precisely and before the polish dried.  Lordy!  However it was totally worth the effort when I finished it!

Christmas 2014: Candy Canes and Christmas Trees Watermarble Nail Art

Hey lacqueritas,

I'm on a roll with my watermarbles. Lol for whatever reason I'm just really loving them and loving playing around with them.  You guys know I've created watermarbles for Christmas before in fact I'm pretty sure I created a super cute one a year or two ago.  In this case I chose a different red polish and it ended up bleeding into the white polish.  This nearly drove me mad until I realized I kind of liked the effect.  That's when I decided to more a little away from tradition and add a bit of pink to the mix ;)

Glitter Leadlight Rainbow Abstract feat Pet'la Nail Art Stamping Plates

Hey lacquer ladies,

Happy Thanksgiving! It's been waaaaayyyy too long since I actually posted any nail art.  Crazily because my computer went down it took several of my folders of nail art, reviews, etc down with it. Sigh I am slowly getting things going again and today's post is half testing the waters with my borrowed back up computer and half me going crazy from not posting nail art.  So today's post was actually in response to a question I saw posed on one of my nail art groups asking if you could stamp over glitter leadlight based nails which in themselves are are form of nail art. It happens the original poster was a good friend Lizzy K Thank you for the inspiration darling!  Of course I thought absolutely yes! Simply put if there is a base down regardless of what it is you can stamp over it.  So here's what I came up with.

Teal The Last Berry

Hey stamp tramps,

Happy Monday! Yup it's Monday and the dark horrible tunnel that comprised a shocking amount of my weekend has come to an end.  Lol yes that means what you think a working weekend.  I say this as though it's an uncommon thing for me when really a weekend off in my life is an exception and not the standard.  Anyhoo  I decided to break out my Pueen plates for today's mani and I have to say I was pleased with the results.  It's delicously fall colored and simple so let's get onto the art!

Basecoat/Topcoat: CND Stickey/Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Base Colors: American Apparel Berry & Essie Naughty Nautical

Stamping Polish: OPI House of Blues

Stamping Plate: Pueen Sumptuous Gallery 11

 This is the perfect color combo for the fall - a touch of vampy raspberry with a swirl of blues.  It's my belief that there isn't a shade of blue invented that won't work during any season of the year.  I love how OPI's House of Blue created a sort of pop of color effect Naughty Nautical.  I don't think I was able to capture that elusive blue shimmer that lives in Naughty Nautical however.  About American Apparel Berry - it was like butter.  This is two self leveling coats that could have potentially been one thick careful coat. 

Do you ladies have any perfect color combos for the fall?  I'd like to try a few more out.  I threw in the little round black studs as well for a bit of visual interest to the look.  The studs are from Pueen as well I got them during some Amazon promo and they came in a wheel with a whole bunch of other various colored round studs.  They are pretty cute and I'll have to try incorporating them more often.  Thoughts? I hope you liked it, thanks so much for reading and I'll see you next post!

Sweet Movember feat MoYou London Rebel and Pro Collection Nail Art

Hey lacqueristas,

It's been a busy last few weeks and I've got lots to show you.  It's November and that means it's the month when men descend into madness and attempt what no one, save a select few, should attempt - the growing of a mustache.  When my classmates try this I think it's a horror to behold, but on the nails it's rather cute and bold (wink wink).  That said onto the nail art!

I'm kept things fairly simple with a nude and lavender/lilac gradient.  As usual Essie's Sand Tropez is my go-to nude cream base.  I honestly get anxious when I can't find this polish in my stash because it is so versatile and works as a base for so many great designs.  The purple is OPI Do You Lilac It?  The answer is yes I do!  I think I have sadly neglected mainstream polishes lately in my undying love of indie polishes.  It's a real shame because I'd forgotten the allure of mainstreams in this case being flawless formula and consistency with nearly one coat opacity.

I choose some of my MoYou London plates using Rebel Collection 05 and the Pro Collection 06 for the selection of different mustaches.  If you look closely at my nails you'll see each mustache is different.  I'm so impressed with the quality of these stamping plates which are some of the best I've tried to date.  I'll have to do a separate post on them later, but suffice to say I'm loving what I've tried thus far.

I really adore how these turned out!  I had some misgivings at first because I wasn't sure I could make this look feminine, but the final effect is sort of sweet and whimsical.  So what do you think?  Any plans for a Movember mani of your own? I think I'll do one more of these before the month is out.  I have a shocking amount of plates with mustaches on them I guess they are getting fairly popular.  Thanks for reading and see you next post!

Halloween 2013: Liquid Sky Lacquer Candy Corn Inspired Nail Art

Polished Prisoners,

It's that time of year again.  Yay for Halloween because it means I can go all out in my nail art!  I'm also looking forward to showing you all the awesome halloween inspired polish collections I got!  I don't know if a month is long enough!  I have so many amazing plates too.  It's really gonna be a push but let's try to do a lot shall we?  Today I have one of my favorite new brands to show you to kick things off Liquid Sky Lacquer which I spoke about in my floral appeal post.  I have a LOT of Carolyn's polishes.  I ended up going for the whole Halloween collection as well as it was seriously gorgeous.  To start things off I thought I show you some simple candy corn inspired nail art.

Mani-log

Base/Topcoat:  Glitter Removal Base (testing) & Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Base Color: Essie Bouncier It's Me

Glitter Topper:  Liquid Sky Lacquer Candy Corn

Accent:  Wet in Wild A Blank Canvas, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, OPI A Good Mandarin Is Hard To Find

Candy Corn (the polish) is pretty much exactly what it sounds like matte white, yellow and orange hexes of varying sizes with yellow microglitter in a clear base.  It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to wear this and ultimately I found myself reaching for my tried and true brand - Essie.  Lol hardly surprising, but I chose one of the jellies from the summer collection, Bouncier It's Me because it provided a nice contrast for the glitter.

Bouncier It's Me! Perfect blue jelly.

I created a simple candy corn image across one nail as the accent and there you have it!  My first Halloween mani of the season.  I am not sure if Carolyn will be restocking the Halloween set again but the store reopens on October 8th so you can check it out to see if they will be available my guess is likely yes since she's very good about keeping her shop stocked.  I hope you enjoyed this simple mani cause it's only going to rev up from here!  Thanks for reading and see you next post!

Bestie Twin Nails - Blasian Color Nation!

Okay ladies long time no post again!

Today I have a special post!  Did you know that I'm very good friends with the lovely Vicky A of Boombastic Nails?  In fact I named her blog back in the days when she was just thinking about blogging.  I may have goaded her into it because she had some of the best swatches and pictures I've ever seen how could she NOT blog!!! Lol I sound insane but she's talented and she also happens to be my nail polish/nail art bestie for today's post. 

As you know I love my Instagram and there are always tons of tags running around over there one of which is the theme - bestie twin nails.  In short you and your nail art buddy pic an idea and colors and without showing the other create some nail art.  Vicky chose the theme - using tape in nail art and then I semi chose the colors - rainbow (but then we decided on full color spectrum).  So where does the "blasian" part come from? Lol - I'm African American/Black and Vicki is Chinese.  So there we are anyway without futher ado some bestie nail art...

Mani-louge (by finger):

Reds and Oranges: Orly Cherry Bomb, OPI A Good Mandarin Is Hard To Find, Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Cardinal, Essie She's Pampered, Claire's Little Dipper, Essie Tart Deco, and Sinful Colors Orange Creme

Greens: Color Club Artsy Craft, Essie Mojito Madness, Milani Neon Fresh Teal, China Glaze Starboard, Spoiled by Wet N Wild I'm so Jaded, and Orly Green With Envy

Blues: Orly Snow Cone, Orly Sweet Peacock, L'Oreal Royally Yours, Essie Mint Candy Apple, Essie Avenue Maintain, OPI Orge The Top Blue, and Essie Bikini So Teeny

Purples: Color Club Puccilicious, Essie Play Date, Essie Boxer Shorts, L'Oreal Lacey Lilac, Orly Velvet Rope, L'Oreal Royalty Re-Invented, and Essie Go Ginza

Black and White Marble: L'Oreal I Will! and Orly Liquid Vinyl

Pretty cool right?  Even though neither of us knew which exact colors we were using it turned out so similarly!  Lol I guess we are besties after all.  Vicky's came out so perfectly I feel a little embarrassed to even put my art up next to hers *waaahhh* She is so talented!  You can see more details of her art on Boombastic Nails.

Now I know you are thinking where did YOU use tape in your mani??  Well I did.  I put down one water marble (the black and white) and then taped off sections of it and water marbled on top of the taped off sections creating a double water marble!  Crazy cool right.  I used over 30 polishes to create this manicure, and at least 4-5 different colors and 3-4 brands for each "color" of the the spectrum.! My my how overly ambitious!  Anyway I hope you enjoyed this happy un-Easter edition of Lacquer Lockdown.  May candy bunnies rain from your skies and happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it! 

Tamira :)

Making CrowsMas I Mean Christmas...

Hello polished prisoners,

I have been gone far too long I know it!  Life has been kicking my ass! Yup literally and figuratively I suddenly very poignantly understand the phrase "everything that matters just breaks in two".  Well I can only push forward the same as ever polishing my nails and hoping for the best.  Well striving for my best...so it's basically almost Christmas around these parts.  I wanted to do a 7 days of  CrowsToes Christmas but I'm thinking of doing something a more gurilla style to pay homage instead.  So let's start the show...

Mani-louge 

Base coat/topcoat: CND Stickey & Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Base color: OPI Big Apple Red and IMN Northern Lights in Silver

Glitter accents: CrowsToes Making Christmas

Stamping polishes: China Glaze Passion and Millennium and Konad Special White

Stamping plates: Sugar Bubbles Special 01 & Special 02

CrowsToes Making Christmas is a sinful mix of green, red, and silver microglitters.  It spreads like a mother..ahem it spreads awesomely ;) Let me tell you something.  I am in a lusty like relationship with my CrowsToes polishes.  People who complain about the formula or the density of these polishes have surely not let their beauty touch their souls, aside from which I have never had any such problems, but oh well maybe I'm biased by all the the brilliance.  Lauri is a freaking genius! There hasn't been a single polish that I've seen by her that hasn't sparked a covetous grinch like desire within me.  Also for the sake of full disclosure I purchased all of these polishes myself so I have zip to gain from singing their praises.

Sugar Bubbles.  Tamira why have you not mentioned this brand before? Eh cause its a new and happening Brazilian indie plate maker who recently stole all of my freaking heart.  Love at first stamp? You betcha.  I will throw a quick review together tomorrow of what I got from her so far but for now you can check my nail art supplies tab for the downlow.

So here we are Making Christmas with Crowstoes.  I love everything about this mani but all good things must end as I have so much more to show you.  CrowsToes polishes can be purchased at either Llarowe or Overall Beauty, and Sugar Bubble can be found here.  Thanks for reading and toodles!

Thanksgiving KBShimmer Style

Happy Thanksgiving polished prisoners!

Is the stuffing flowing, gravy sensational, and turkey flavorful or are you partaking in the local football game and fun with friends? Lol hopefully you aren't like my good friends on call with only half a shift and bed to look forward to rather than the comforts of good eats! My favorite thing about T day besides the food? Fall weather perfect for frolicking outside oh and of course the nail art ;)

Mani-louge

Base and topcoat: CND Stickey and Poshe Fast Drying Top Coat

Base color: OPI Somoan Sand and Orly Satin Inspiration

Accents: KBShimmer Quantum Leaf

Stamping polishes: Nars King Kong, China Glaze Passion, Color Club Hot Like Lava and Ho Ho Holly, and Konad Special Polish in Red and Yellow

Stamping plates: Bunny Nails HD 06

I had so much fun creating this mani! Mainly for two reasons - my KBShimmer Quantum Leaf polish and Bunny Nails HD plates. Quantum Leaf is like fall in a nail polish in a bottle all golden and red and oranges with yellow deliciousness crammed in for good measure.  If you don't have this polish you should!  No excuses it's just brilliant! Get them here and stalk her upcoming creations on Facebook.  Now onto the other amazing part of this mani -  Bunny Nails, girl you are killing me.  Shall I say it again? Bunny Nails girl you are KILLING ME!!! Her plates are awesome awesome awesome and the recently released HD holiday series are breath taking.  Prepare to see more of her stuff around here plus a review on these plates.  If you want to order from her go to her blog here or her ecrater store. 

Well here we are another fun holiday mani down.  Thoughts, ideas, gushing compliments ;) ? Stay tuned for some upcoming things on this blog including the seven days of Crowstoes Christmas featuring the new holiday collection polishes! I'm excited about this one! Ok I'm off to enjoy some macaroni and cheese and Cajun style turkey (yeah my family is awesome) and after I've glutted myself I will be watching the Redskins tear the Dallas Cowboys apart  - ugh I wish I had tickets to this game!  Thanks so much for reading and happy Thanksgiving to all my readers where ever you may be.  Oh and before I forget today I am most most thankful for the gift of life something that I was so close to losing only a scant 4 months ago!  I have a lot to be appreciative for this year! Thanks again and see you next post :)

Stormy Weather

Hello polished prisoners,

Happy Monday my lovely ladies!  I hope you had a great weekend and are looking forward to the upcoming holidays. I am but I also have quite a bit of work coming up so things are gonna be hectic.  Well it is the holidays so I expect that.  In any event did you know a storm is coming?  Lightening strikes, moonlit sprinkles, and sunshowers ahead so beware and tuck all friable parts out of sight!

Mani-louge

Base: China Glaze Pelican Gray & Sinful Colors Cinderella

Sponging: OPI I Have A Herring Problem, Sinful Colors In the Mist, Darling Diva Polish Space Beetle, China Glaze Haunting, and Wet N' Wild Black Creme; Barielle Slate of Affairs, and Zoya Feifei

Stamping polishes: Konad Special Polish in Yellow, White, and Pastel Blue, China Glaze Millenium

Stamping Plates: Konad UK Charming Nails Plate Q1, Konad M79, Bunny Nails BuNa 01, BM01, and SH08

One of my favorite instagramers Storms and Stars was having a little contest with the theme storms and stars ;)  Initially, I had so many ideas but I loved the concept of starry showers and lightening the most and decided to go with that theme.  This one was actually another mani that was quite a bit of work but for several reasons including base complexity, stamp placement, and overall effect.  I've been told now for the umteenth time that I'm OCD and today I'd finally have to agree.  I will admit I couldn't settle well on this one and it took me a while to figure out what I wanted, but I love the final picture.

What do you ladies think?  One thing that bugged me is that I realized I don't have any plates with an image of the sun except for my BM01 plate and I have a lot of plates!  I would think the sun would be a common kind of image to put on a plate but for some reason it's not prevalent at least not in my collection.  Maybe I should buy more plates ;) ;)  Lol trust me when I say that's not it at all!  I already have too many and more coming.  I need to finish my stamping catalog one of these days and get that page up so you all can check it out.  In any event thank you so much for reading stay tuned for more fun!  Toodles...

Wallpaperings...On Sundays I Stamp!

Happy Sunday polished prisoners,

I hope your weekends have been going well and the Thanksgiving plans are flowing.  I've been having a pleasant weekend myself - good weather, good company, good food, and good news.  So who am I to complain?  I know several of the ladies over in the AIS group were excited for today's challenge which is simply matte i.e. some aspect of our manicure must include matte polish or topcoat.  Hmm I was on a fench about this because while I do love matte polishes and Essie's deliciously awesome matte topcoat no inspiration was forthcoming.  So I decided to return to one of my old loves - nudes and wallpaper.  I think this one was a winning combo...

Mani-louge

Base & Topcoats: CND Stickey, Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat, and Essie Matte About You

Base color: OPI Berlin There Done That

Glitter accent: Lynnderella Change

Stamping polishes: China Glaze Passion and Konad Special Polish in Black

Stamping plate: Dashica XL SdP 3

I left two nails shiny and the rest matte notice how cG Passion stays bold nube or matte. One more reason to love this polish ;)

Let's do a quick rundown shall we?  First, I am loving everything about OPI's Germany Collection. These colors are rich and Berlin There Done That was opaque in ONE COAT!! You all know how friggin excited I get whenever I run across one coaters because it makes nail art so much easier it also means this elegant lady probably stamps beautifully.  So win all around :)  Second, I haven't touched my Lynns in a while.  Honestly I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but I bought them and truth be told I love them.  So change made and appearance and it's gorgeous both matte and glossy!  Third and final, I love the Dashica plates and recently I unbelievably won the Like and Share giveaway from Shirley.  So I had to pull out my Dashica plates, the first plates I've ever purchased internationally, in anticipation of my set to come!

So here we are - it's Sunday, the weathers relatively fine, I've got gorgeous wallpaper nails though I may be biased, and things are relatively good in my world.  I'm wishing all my readers a happy Sunday and let me say thanks to everyone for sticking with my tiny and slow little blog.  I'm really enjoying my nail art these days.  Toodles...