Nail Hoot Indie Lacquers The Beginning Collection Swatches & Nail Art

Hey lacqueristas,

Press Sample

This weekend its gonna be jam packed with nail art and swatches for some brands that are new to the blog!  Today its really my pleasure to share with you a brand spanking new indie nail polish company called Nail Hoot created by a stellar pal of mine Brandie Collins!  She's like a one woman wonder woman between her kids, school, work, and crafts business and if that doesn't beat all now she's diving into the nail polish scene and from what I've seen of her new collection its gonna be a smash hit! So sit back and enjoy the swatches :)

My Boy Toy Did It...On Sundays I Stamp!

Hiya polished prisoners,

Another sweet sweet Sunday is upon us and lord I'm tired!  This has been a week that never ends just one thing after another.  I'm very much looking forward to the holidays when I can get a bit of breathing room.  In any event it's Sunday and around these parts though inconsistent it means it's time for an Adventure in Stamping.  This weeks theme is what my nails would look like if my boyfriend/hubby did it.  Let me tell you now I am a single lady, but luckily I have a crap ton of guy friends who can come to the rescue (yeah I'm one of those girls).  So this one was sort of picked out/idea given to me by my little friend Ian.  He's six years old, enjoys painting, digging up dirt to build bug houses, playing with dinosaurs, and teasing me mercilessly.  He also likes playing with my nails.  He's my little old man and a great kid and this mani incorporating many of the things he loves is for him!

Mani-louge

Base & Topcoat: CND Stickey and Poshe Fast Drying Top Coat

Base Color: Girly Bit's Banana Hammock and Confetti Wedding White

Splatters: Essie Leading Lady, Pahlish End of Days, OPI Big Apple Red, Orly Lemon Sorbet, Sally Hansen Pat on Black, and Confetti Blue

Stamping Plates: Vivid Lacquer 002 and Apipila 02

Stamping Polish: No Name Green Striper and Konad Special Polish in Black & Purple

So this is my first time using polishes by Girly Bits.  I had been lusting after them for quite some time got a few a while ago but never got around to using them.  Well let's face it my untrieds pile is massive so it's hardly surprising.  I will say Banana Hammock more than lived up to the reputation of Pam's polishes.  I love the freaking blue sheen on top of this yellow! So gorgeous and added an extra depth to the nail art,  I can't wait to try my others.

So what do you think?  Cute eh?  I couldn't create something super messy because it would have driven me crazy but I think I captured the essence of Ian pretty well and what he'd like to see on my nails.  I'm not a huge fan of bugs and the like but I love dino's and froggies and such especially when it's just a pretty stamp hehe.  I'll have to show him tomorrow and see what he thinks.  Anyway thanks so much for reading and I'll see you next post! Toodles...

Butterflies, Bling, & Duochromes Oh My!

Hey polished prisoners,

This one is definitely all about me! Hahaha - wait I know isn't this my blog anyway and thus by definition all about me? Well lately, not really.  I don't know why but I've felt weird pressure in my head to "create" & had a spew of fails.  It's bad to get yourself into loops like that where your forcing something or not quite loving it but you just can't stop.  Well not today ladies.  I just wanted to sit down and do something that was all about satisfying my desire for pretty, pretty, pretty.  No flashy techniques (at least not to me) and what I love - bling!  You might be thinking what am I talking about there's been plenty of bling on here but not like this.  I satisfied all of my lusts again at once - butterflies, bling, and duochromes.  If I smoked I'd be enjoying a long drag in satisfaction because I'm all smiles.  Now onto the art....

It's a jungle in here! Watch out for moving insect life! Also ignore the eyelash that somehow snuck it's way into so many of my pics - grrr!

Blinging baby!

I used China Glaze Custom Kicks for the base.  I love this color - turquoise with gold microshimmer and opaque in one coat.  It's been a favorite of mine for years, but it does stain the hell of our your nails so a peroxide soak is necessary after use even with two layers of base coat.  One careful coat pictured here.

You can see the tiny particles of gold shimmer even with my indoors lighting. Don't ask me why I'm holding an Ozotic bottle I must have grabbed whatever snapping a quick pic.

I used the "wet sponge" technique to create a gradient that is to all intents and purposes a non-rigid colorblock using Custom Kicks, Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri Grape Going, and OPI's Number One Nemesis.

All this shimmer from those duochromes.  I am so so impressed with OPI's Number One Nemesis in particular.  I had this but hadn't even used it yet until this manicure.

I love that the stamp allows for gaps to let the shimmer of the polishes underneath peak through.

I stamped using my new Vivid Lacquer Plate #002's monarch pattern and Konad's Special Polish in Black Pearl.  One thing I forgot to note about the VL plates is that the larger images such as the butterfly will not fit fully on the "traditional konad stamper" and you will need to use and XL stamper if you have longer nails.  Not too much of an issue but worth noting since the XL stampers always require a bit more finessing to work with than the Konad ones. 

It would have been a lot to stamp every nail but then I am a big believer in non-symmetry in my nail art.  I like seeing the "base" which is as pretty as the stamping as well.

Finally, I added gold microbeads and 2mm clear rhinestones.  Talk about instant pretty! This was one of those ideas where everything just came together perfectly.  I want to be this happy every time I sit down to paint my nails though I know that's not gonna happen but for now I'll just sit back and enjoy.

Lol had to throw in the little VL black kitty.  She's just so darn cute! This shot is dripping bling too :)

What do you ladies think? I put up a tutorial for this one too that you can check out below, but it's as straightforward as they come.

 Thanks for reading and toodles!