Born Pretty Store Galactic Multichrome Mani Nail Art + Tutorial!

Hey y'all

Purchased by Me

I know wtf have I been?  I been around dealing with a broken a computer and the freaking horrible expense of replacing it.  I pretty much live and die by my Apple products but boy when they break out of warranty its like the sky falling!  It took forever to raise funds to pay for repairs, but now I'm back and backlogged.  I decided to start with some major bang since I've been away for a bit and wanted to show you what I've been up with in the meantime.  Today I have those multichrome powders that have taken the nail world by storm combined with some Born Pretty Store magic that made me go, "Yes - I want it all!" Like a lot of nail gals I'm totally blown away with how stunning these products are and how easy they are to use. So let's go!

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 ;)

Vivid Lacquer Blowing Bubbles Nail Art

Hey lacqueristas,

Why have I waited so long to use this plate?!?! I'm kicking myself because when I saw these images I knew I wanted to use them ASAP.  Unfortunately when I ordered these plates from Vivid Lacquer the pre-order manufacturing was plagued by problems which meant I didn't get my plates for a significant period of time.  By then the lust had died down a bit in my soul at least until I saw a really cool manicure done by Mariane Faliguski.  When I saw that I went, pardon my french, ape-shit.  Lol. I wanted to recreate this look so badly I could barely contain myself.  I went hunting around my polish stash until I found just the right colors and the rest as they say is history...

MoYou London 31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 9 Superhero

Hey lacqueristas,

Something about man in a cape with a skintight suit really gets me going! What can I say I love comic books particularly of the Marvel genre.  I've been dying to do some nails for the latest Captain America which I have already seen and Spiderman which I haven't.  Alas this challenge is eating up all my free mani time.  In any case I was pumped for the day 9 challenge.  The theme was Superhero which allowed me to finally break out  my Comic Collection plates and play.

Mani-louge

Basecoat/Topcoat: CND Stickey and Poshe Fast Drying Top Coat

Base colors: Wet N' Wild French Creme and Orly Satin Majestic Satin topped with IMN Northern Lights

Stamping polishes: Mundo de Unas #30, Konad Special Polish in Red, China Glaze Millennium

Stamping plates: MoYou London Comic Collection  03 & 05

I knew in advance I wanted to capture a panel per nail. Maybe a crime scene or a call for help or a spectacular fight.  You may recall several months ago when I attempted something similar with my World of Wars mani that I used to enter a prior MoYou contest.  I felt very frustrated then because the mani took me an incredibly long time to put together and I kept changing things until I felt I got it just right.  This time I knew I was going to have the scenes play out in red, yellow, blues and whites with a strong reliance on the decal method.



I really love how these turned out, but what do you think? One thing the scenic plates make me wish for is larger nails.  Lol it's so hard to cut the scenes down.  I had to do the same thing with the Birth of Venus mani to fit it on my nails and I consider myself to have pretty long and wide nail beds.  In any event I felt like the superhero challenge was relatively smooth sailing.  Thanks for reading and see you next post!

Galaxy & Space MoYou London Nail Art

Hey lacqueristas,

I know you all can tell I am feeling my MoYou London plates right? Lol the last few mani's have almost all been from the brand.  I'm just getting a huge kick out of these plates especially as they lend themselves so well to all levels of advanced stamping. It makes my heart happy!  Today's nails are actually pretty simple and I also incorporated a new technique I've never tried before - galaxy nails.  Although it would probably be more accurate to say galaxy nail since I only did it with one accent.  However, I liked it so much I think I'll have to try it again.

Mani-louge:

Basecoat/Topcoat: CND Stickey / NYC Matte Me Crazy

Base color: Wet N' Wild Black Creme

Galaxy Nail: Wet N' Wild Teal Slowly and See, Orly Saturated, Orly Hot Tropics, Essie Lots of Luxe, L'Oreal A La Meringue

Stamping polish: Mundo de Unas #38

Stamping plate: MoYou London Sci Fi 05

You may recall when I initially posted about the Sci Fi Collection here that I wasn't as blown away as I wanted to be.  However during the second release things got a bit more interesting and that interest included the graphic chips and Matrix style images on plate 05.  Today's mani was so simple and yet clean that I'll have to try playing with this plate again soon!

The galaxy nail actually took the longest time.  I wasn't too sure how it would turn out but I'm pleased with the result.  I will say it was quite easy to overwhelm the base color if I sponged on too much accent color and so I had to backtrack on my sponging several times to get the right effect.  If any of my readers have advice on how to successfully create these nails please go ahead and leave comments below.

So what do you think? Too simple? I think overall I'm pleased with how this turned out. I'm also blown away by the opacity of these Mundo de Unas polishes.  They are literally all that I have been using to stamp with lately and they are totally awesome!  You can find Mundo de Unas polishes here and MoYou London plates here.  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post!

Loja BBF Neon Abstract Nail Art

Hey lacqueristas

Spring is finally in the air here in DC.  Just enough that I am clamoring for warmer nights and the abilty to wear shorts and hoodies and of course break out ALL the NEONS.   Of course I'm breaking out my Loja BBF plates too! I know lots of ladies have a vested interest in seeing these little pretties stamp, especially after my review which can be seen here.  Now let's get onto the art!

I started out with a white base because I wanted my neons to look more neon, and once again I turned to my Orly Baked Collection (I love these polishes immensely).  I also decided to break out a nail art method that I saw on IG and wanted to replicated.  It's called distressed nail art or something like that.  And I used it to create this base (I apologize in advance I really could not find a great picture I took of these before I started stamping).

Mani-louge

Base color: Wet N' Wild A Blank Canvas

Distressed nails: Orly Baked Neon Heat, Ablaze, Tropical Pop, Hot Tropics, and Saturated

Stamping Polish: Konad Special Polish in Black

Stamping Plate; Loja BBF 08

Studs - Daily Charme

Once that was done then I simply choose the plate I wanted knowing it was going to be abstract clean and simple to let the back ground pop and abracadabra I got this final product!  What do you think? I'm inordinately pleased with how this little project came out.  The plate stamped cleanly and easily and everything ended up meshing extremely  well together.  I left one nail unstamped and added studs and oval shaped gold studs from Daily Charme to show off the distressing.

 Recently I was talking with a friend and new stamper about techniques etc etc and how several times on IG I have been accused of cheating to create my nail art.  But the thing is stamping is a skill despite what others may think.  I would consider myself to be an advanced user approaching master level, but I am still learning more and more everyday.  A lot of my nail art is loaded with what I started thinking of as "nested technique" - double stamping, advanced stamping, decal method, gradient stamping etc, and that's before I even discuss what I have done with the base for the nail art.  It's easy for outsiders to pick apart a work thinking stamping is easy or not understanding how something that looks relatively simple is actually, in fact, quite detailed.  Well what can I do but keep on stamping and enjoying my craft? Apologies for the rant it just boggles sometimes how one dimensional people can be.  Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you next post!

Valentines Day Nail Art #1: Cici & Sisi Fading Hearts

"The heart has reasons for which reason knows nothing." ~ Pascal

Lacqueristas,

It's the season of love!  Lol not really but it's the season of love related manicures at a minimum.  Can I tell you I went to Target around the 3rd of January and they already had all the Valentines day paraphernalia out.  It was deeply disturbing to me who in general only has awareness of holidays as they relate to nail art and vacation time ;)  In any event I'm showing you my first romantic mani of the season.  Gradient hearts and chevrons using my new Cici & Sisi Jumbo plates and once again Nail Vinyls.  You can check out my review on Cici & Sisi plates here and the Nail Vinyls here.

My goal was to create a very "clean" manicure with a gradient that stood out.  When I flipped through my Cici & Sisi plates I realized there are a lot of heart/romantic motifs in both sets.  Ultimately I chose the hearts because I wanted to emphasize the bright red to light pink fading of the gradient.  I reversed the color fade for the chevrons which the NVs made beyond easy to achieve.

Base:  Wet N Wild Blank Canvas

Stamping Polishes: Konad Special Polish in Red, MyOnline Shop Pink, Sally Hansen Insta Dri Fast Fuschia

Stamping Plate: Cici & Sisi 01

So what do you think? This is unquestionably girly and sweet which I think suits the sentiment of the quote above.  I have plans to create a few more manis that are a bit more sophisticated and less sweet and of course I have to create something for the broken-hearted lol! I mean really not everyone loves Valentines day.  I do but only because I don't have to conceal my lust for all things dark chocolate and wine related.  Lol plus lots of great cosmetic items pop up around this time!  Is it wrong that I keep having a fantasy regarding dark covered chocolate strawberries and crisp citrusy champagne oh and a steaming bubble bath? Ugh the luxury!  I think my reasons might be a little sketchy but hey to each their own.  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post! 

New Year's Nail Art!

Happy New Year Lacquer Ladies,

Welcome to the 2014 on Lacquer Lockdown.  I actually did 3 different nail art manis for the New Year and then as is usual  didn't get a chance to post up even one until this late time slot, but they say better late than never!  I hope all my followers will be happy to keep tuning into my nail art looks for this year as well and that everyone had a great day to kick off the start of 2014! I tried to challenge myself this year by using a variety of my plates to create individual looks so each new year mani is created around a different brand of stamping plates.  First up MoYou London...

Mani-louge

Basecoat/Topcoat: CND Stickey and Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Orly Black Vinyl,  Wet N' Wild A Blank Canvas, and INM Northern Lights in Silver

Stamping polish: Essie No Place Like Chrome and Konad Special Polish in Black

Stamping Plates: MoYou London Festive Collection 05

I wanted to do a tuxedo suit style nail art for dog years now!  I have no idea why I waited this long.  I will tell you though this was the trickiest image to stamp.  I tried over 4 times before I could get the placement and the complete image dead center the way I wanted with the coverage I wanted.  What a mess!  I'm still not entirely pleased with how that nail in particular turned out but practice makes perfect.  I added some black studs to the tuxedo to create a little 3D effect that I found fairly cute.

I love this plate and have to say this is another winner MoYou!  Right now I can say without a shred of embarrassment I have 36 plates on my wishlist just hanging out for the opportune moment to strike.  Ok maybe I'm a little embarrassed, but you guys haven't even seen my MoYou stash have you?  It's massive lolol.   In any case I have lots more nail art around the bend and of course another Plates I Love feature soon, as well as an awesome review of 2 new plates from the genius plate maker herself little miss Bunny Nails.  Thanks for reading and see you next post!

MoYou London Candy Cane Nail Art

Happy holidays lacquer ladies,

It's getting to be a bit of tradition that I break out candy cane nail art.  Last year I did it with watermarbles, but this year I have lots of cool plates featuring candy cane-eque imagery that I wanted to try.  If you follow me on instagram you know I just got the other half of my MoYou London stamping plate order from way back in October and it has the Festive Collection plates that I adore.  There are literally candy canes everywhere so I could resist taking some of my holiday plates for a late spin.

Mani-louge

Base coat/Top coat: CND Stickey & Poshe Fast Drying Top coat

Basecolor: Wet N' While A Blank Canvas

Stamping polishes: Konad Special Polish in Red and Personal Accents Hunter

Stamping plate: MoYou London Festive 03

One this I have always loved are the candy canes with the multiple stripes of color that's what I modeled my watermarble last year, but this time I just wanted to stick with traditional swirls and stripes mimicking the classic candy canes that abound around this season!

So thoughts? This mani is pretty easy and straight forward taking me roughly 15 minutes to polish and complete, and because it is so simple I got a lot of compliments on this one.  Winning when you are rushing around during the holiday season!  You can check out the festive plates here.  In all honesty they are worth getting even if you are preparing for next year so you won't be like me rushing to fit in all of the mani's I want to see on my nails before Christmas is gone or until July when I have some fun plans.  In any case thanks so much for reading and I'll see you next post!

It's a Groove Thang feat Mundo de Unas 70's Nail Art

Lacquer ladies,

Happy Thursday!  Today I'm gonna share some summer nail art with you.  I actually did a bunch of mani's around this time for a Mundo de Unas competition. The theme was to create a 70's inspired design using at least 3 Mundo de Unas plates.  It was tougher than I thought to stay within these guidelines especially the three plate rule.  Lol clearly I didn't win (aww hangs head), but I had some fun creating each individual look including today's!

Mani-louge

Basecoat/Topcoat: CND Stickey/Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Base color:  Wet n' Wild White Creme

Swirled Nails/Stamping Polishes:  Sally Hansen InstaDri Man-go Team!, Fast Fuchsia, Lickety Split Lime, Mint Sprint, and Butter-fly Stroke, Konad Special Polish in White

Stamping Plates: Mundo de Unas Handy Plates 1, 19, and 43.

So you may be asking what's up with this Mundo de Unas brand?  I've actually been buying Slyvia's plates for roughly almost a year now.  I discovered them from my Adventures in Stamping group.    They are exceptionally good quality and have the distinction of having some of the more unique and cool images I've seen on stamping plates including Pacman, Highschool of the Living Dead, Corpse Bride images and more. I have posted some mani's using their plates before on my IG feed, but this is my first time posting art using these plates on my blog.

So what do you think?  Of the 4 mani's I created this one was one of my favorites.  Kinda bright and cheery for the fall, but I've never seen the point in only wearing certain colors for certain seasons.  If you are interested in the Mundo de Unas plates you can check them out on Facebook.  They retail for $6.50USD and there is currently a sale going on for 10% off.  Slyvia also makes some amazing stamping polish according to the girls on AIS so check em out if you feel so inclined.  Thanks so much for reading 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...

Halloween 2012: Devils Ahead...

Hello polished prisoners,

Mwhahaha another Halloween installment here!  It's been a bit dead these days I apologize for it its a combination of wi-fi loss, my own icky cold, and now a hurricane (Sandy) hitting DC.  Seriously it's crazy! Everything has been ripped off of the shelves and the schools are closed even the metro shut down!  Well its great for polishing up my nails so here we are.  This is another Bundle Monster one.  I've been wanting to use this plate since I got them but held off until now.

Mani-louge

Base/Topcoat: CND Stickey & Poshe

Thumb, middle, & ring: Sephora Pantone Universe Tangerine Tango Creme & CrowsToes Hell Hath No Fury (find it here or here)

Index & Pinkie: Sinful Colors Cloud 9 & Sephora Pantone Universe Tangerine Tango Glitter

Detailing: Wet N' Wild Black Creme

Stamping polish: Konad Special Polish in Black Pearl

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster BM305

So let's talk about a few things here - CrowsToes Halloween collection is seriously giving me chills!  HHNF - first of all did any of you see Rosanne in She-Devil that late 80's movie?  Oh lawd I think about it every time I see devils.  So funny!  HHNF is so perfect and just the right combo of purple and orange-red yumminess for this mani.  I also have to say thank you to Lauri who sent them to me as a ROAK.  Seriously YOU rock lady!  Kindness has always been my weak point and this lady has continued to maintain her kindness and grace even when her family has been going through such difficult times.  She is a treasure and her polishes make me drool!  My friends in the blog-o-sphere can attest to that! But hey when you're working it you're working it and Lauri is always fierce!

Sephora's Pantone Universe 2012 - I've had these for a while and I have no idea why I never used them they've just been hanging out.  Opaque in three coats for the creme and drying to a near squishy like jelly finish. What's not to love?  I'm not sure of the availability of these anymore but the determined lacquerista should be able to make it happen if she wants them.

So thoughts, comments, mindless adoration? Lol kidding!  I'm having fun with these Halloween mani's.  I wish I had been able to do more curse the luck!  Oh well there is always next year ;)  Let me also take this time to say thank you thank you thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Bundle Monster Contest!!!  I didn't make it into the top 15 but it was really fun creating the look.  Also for those that didn't know it I won that inaugural entry for Leah Anne's new website and blog LLarrowe! Woot! Thank you for those too who always encourage me and give me the faith to continue on!  Perhaps they really do like me??? **Gazes into the distance with a faint look of surprise** Okay enough sillies.  See you next post and thanks for reading!

Hope Springs Eternal

Hey polished prisoners,

It's official! I'm living in hell or something equivalent as I am once again without Internet. Why? Because my landlord left the window open and the modem upstairs fried. Lovely so once again I'm back to using my cellphone blogger app to save the day. Please forgive my less than polished posts until this gets fixed (no pun intended). Anyway onward to today's art...

Mani-louge
Base: Essie Blanc and Wet n' Wild Tickled Pink
Gradient: Essie Blanc and Wet n' Wild Tickled Pink and OPI Pink Flamenco
Glitter Topper: Elevation Polish Froze To Death
Stamping polish: Color Club Hot Like Lava
Stamping plate: BM321

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I couldn't let it slip by without doing a mani in dedication. When I think about cancer I don't have too many close ties to this one though I could tell you in a heartbeat how we use mammograms to diagnose and identify suspicious breast architecture. Personally I feel every day of every month should be dedicated to some form of health awareness, but I also have a great deal of faith in the medical system and the science behind it. Well I sort of have to nevertheless faith is a powerful thing. So here's a bit for all the ladies, families, and friends struggling under the burden of this disease. May their hearts be lighter and their fears less fearsome in the days to come. Thanks for reading and see you next post!

Halloween 2012: Ghoulish Glam

Happy Saturday polished prisoners,


This week has been a mother...ah let's just leave it there.  Suffice to say I'm so thankful it's the weekend as I'm exhausted and I get a one day reprieve from the shade of it all ;) Man oh man I have been so psyched up for the manicure I'm about to show you since I saw the announcement for the Bundle Monster Fright Night Competition!  I literally thought I have to do something that leaves me gagging (um in delight not because it's gross I don't do gross...) - lol.  You can vote for my entry HERE.  Oh my a shameless plug but I do need your votes to win! In any case this was such a labor of love and evolved so slowly every nail took me forever, but it was worth it.  Now onto the art...

Mani-louge

Thumb: Base: Orly Liquid Vinyl stamped with Konad Special Polish in Light Green, Light Purple and Purple

Index: Base: OPI What's With The Catittude? sponged with Orly Velvet Rope and Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl and Orly Liquid Vinyl, freehand accents: Cm Nail Art Brush in Black stamped with China Glaze Millennium

Middle: Base: INM Northern Lights in Gold with OPI I Have A Herring Problem sponged with Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl and Orly Liquid Vinyl; Floral vines: Cm Nail Art Brush in Black and stamped with Konad Special Polish in Black.  Rhinestones: 1-3mm rhinestones in various colors

Ring: Base: Essie To Buy Or Not To Buy; Gradient: Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl and Orly Liquid Vinyl; Stamped: Konad Special Polish in Yellow and White; Accents (dots): Essie Blanc

Pinkie: Base: Essie Navigate Her sponged with China Glaze Near Dark and Orly It's Not Rocket Science and Liquid Vinyl; Freehand accents: Cm Nail Art Brush in Black stamped with freehand accents: Cm Nail Art Brush in Black stamped with Konad Special Polish in White

Stamping Plates: BM14, BM211, BM223, and BM305 

That mani-louge is something else right?  So many polishes and plates and tiny detail work.  I can't remember the last time or if I have ever done such a complicated mani before.  Every single nail was thought out and thought out again.  I wanted to create something pretty and a little spooky and of course extremely unique.  I couldn't even figure out the colorway for this mani which I usually always do before I start.  I just made it up as I went along which I have to say at least to me is so much harder to do.

Notice how I "snuck" some bling into this jazz hehe!

So what do you think? Once again if you like it please vote for me over on the Bundle Monster Facebook page under the Fright Night Contest here.  I'm pretty happy with the results though in all honesty I doubt I'll do a tutorial for this manicure as it'd be over 30mins long even condensed down :/  Totally worth it though since I cannot stop staring at my nails! How am I ever going to be able to take this off?  In any case thanks for reading and I'll see you next post! Toodles...

LDTTWC Day 3: I Remember When

Hey polished prisoners,

Happy Sunday - woot!  Let me come down from my cloud of mania to say the week went by incredibly fast.   Suddenly, it's the weekend and I'm in the midst of scooting to catch up with my challenge posts.  Maybe this happened because I was also doing mani's for other things this week plus my phone when kaput yesterday so I was dealing with that all day :(  So here I am at day 3 trying to remember when.  I choose not to do a "major event" because I'm young enough to not have hit things like the moon landing etc but old enough to recall major catastrophes like Columbine and 9/11. And while honestly my life is certainly no bundle of rainbows and puppy dog tails, especially these last few years, I want my challenge mani's to reflect the positive aspects of my life and history.  Like my trip to the Land of Oz otherwise known as Australia.  One of the things I loved the most about the land of Oz had to be the artwork of the indigenous aboriginals especially their dot art.  I used it to inspire my own dotty mani...

My nails are starting to become like claws lol! Yes sweet length :)

Mani-logue

Trigger Fimger: Base: OPI Who The Shrek Are You?; Dots: OPI Gargantuan Green Grape, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green, Orly Goth

Baddie Finger: Base: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away!; Dots: Essie Sweet Talker 

Shackled Finger: Base: OPI Pink Flamingo; Dots: Essie French Affair

Length Challenged Finger: Base: China Glaze Happy-Go-Lucky Dots: Spoiled Designated Driver

Ape versus Man Finger: Base: OPI Funky Dunky; Dots: Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Violet Voltage &  Essie Liliacism

Source: Aboriginalart.com

Well because one of my majors in college was anthropology when I was living in Australia I made it my mission to learn more about the aboriginal tribes, the over 200 dialects they spoke, most of which are lost now, and their history.  Really the way they passed down stories and history through their art and music is amazing!

Even though this is only a slight nod to the dot artwork you can expect to see more of it at some point.   I really enjoyed putting this one together it's vibrant and totally me! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my Sunday stamping post! Toodles...

Trigger Happy: Nostalgic Lacquer + Essie's Yogaga

Hey polished prisoners,

I decided to do another trigger mani.  They are super easy and super cute IMO so what's not to love?  I picked up Essie's Yogaga last week which is a very neutral taupe/beige creme ONE COATER.  I wanted to pair it with something bright and simple that would still give Yogaga the limelight.  Enter Nostalgic Lacquer's As If!  As If is a one of those endless streams of white/black glitter + something elese combo's that almost every indie brand has made. When I write that I don't mean it as a bad thing since I own a lot of these combos and I love them all.  In the case of As If it's white and black bar glitter with medium white and black hexes and small hot pink hexes with tiny white glitter in a clear base. I used this color combo to create not only the trigger accents but the water marble color palette as well and here's how it translated...

Mani-louge

Triggers: Essie Yogaga + Nostalgic Lacquer As If!

Middle-Pinkie Fingers: base of Yogaga + water marble using OPI Alpine Snow and Elephantastic Pink, Essie Yogaga, and Wet N' Wild Black Creme

The water marbles for the last three digits that mirrored the combination of As If over Yogaga were tricky.  Here are a few things I learned from my second attempt at marbling:

1. If you go too deep into the water you ruin the pattern

2. Not taping off your nails is a BAD idea.

3. Creating an attractive pattern is easier said than done

4. Patience is a virtue which needs to be exercised heavily in order to create a good water marble.

 

As you can see from that little list the process of creating my marbles here was not easy. I made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of do-overs.  I'm still not satisfied with the crispness of my patterns, but I'm slowly improving.  More tips are always appreciated!

So what do you ladies think? Pretty and looking oddly simple too right? That's why I love nail art there is always something new to learn or technique to improve on.  If you want to check out As If! or any other Nostalgic Lacquers you can find them here on Bigcartel or Overallbeauty.  Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you next post!  Toodles...

BM323: Barbed Wire & Roses + Tutorial

Hey lacquer ladies,

It's another scorcher here in the district and that means another hot summertime mani! Now that I've got my Bundle Monster 2012 plates QC'ed I'm ready to take them out for a spin.  For today's mani I decided to go for a lot of brights on a clean background and ended up with something fun and sorta tropical. You'll notice my nails are long again that's because I did this a while ago and it's been sitting in my drafts ;)

Mani-logue

Base color: OPI Alpine Snow and Essie Action

Stamping polishes: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Brisk Blue, Fast Fuchsia, & Snappy Sorbet + Konad Special Polish in Yellow (roses); Wet N' Wild Black Creme (barbed wire)

Glitter accent: Confetti Ice Ice Baby

Plate: BM 323 (roses and barbed wire)

I ended up needing 3 coats to get Alpine Snow opaque and about 2 coats of Essie's Action layered over AS.  I also did need to stamp the barbed wire pattern across my nails several times to get the entire length covered, but I'm still really pleased with the clarity of the pattern on the plates themselves as well the novelty of the images. The barbed wire itself is just so fun!

 

So what do you ladies think? While I was out and about with this look I got approached a lot which is a nice compliment.  I thought my Youtube followers might actually really like this mani too so I went ahead put together a tutorial.  If you are interested you can check it out below.

Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you next post!  Toodles...

3R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Hey polished prisoners,

I am a testament to the fact that indeed old dogs most assuredly can learn new tricks - lol.  Um of course by that I mean my penchant for not wanting to decorate over glitter nail polish has at last been broken! Remember those glittering nails polished by DDP's Red After The Wolf that seduced me so quickly away from stamping? Well they got a little upgrade...nothing is friendlier to the environment i.e. my cuticles than recycled nails (smiles).

The red looks bottomless under all that stamping!

I stamped using BM312 and BM313 using China Glaze Passion and Revlon's Copper Penny respectively.

For some reason this look strikes me as very "Russian" can't put my finger on why though..

What do you ladies think - to stamp over glitter or not to stamp? I mean is it better to just enjoy the sparkle without the distraction of more or to create something fresh after a little bit of one dimensional bling?

Still so in love with this mani!

 For me I think looking at all the glitter peeking through the gold swirls made me love this manicure even more, but I'd love to hear more opinions.  In any case thanks for reading and I'll see you next post!  Toodles :) 

Testing: Bundle Monster 2012 Plates Have Arrived!

Hello lovelies,

Happy Saturday! I have been on  stamping rampage lately lol! As I'm sure everyone in the nail-o-sphere knows Bundle Monster has released their latest series of stamping plates this summer.

 Image Source: bundlemonster.com

I got mine a few weeks ago now, but still hadn't taken them out for a spin. I've mentioned before with the old series I had a few problems with some of my plates not stamping out the images correctly because the grooves were too shallow.  I subsequently had those plates replaced and had no issues with the second series.  However, I've been reading here and there that some other ladies were having a few issues with some of the images on the newest set so I just decided to quickly stamp out all of the images onto paper to make sure I was good to go and decided to post the results below.

Plates 301-311

I used Wet N' Wild Black Creme to stamp these out unless otherwise noted on the page as KSP in which case I used Konad Special Polish because of difficulty picking up the images with the Black Creme.

Plates 312-321

Plates 322-325

As you can see most of the plates stamp very well which is what I expected. However I did have a problem plate, BM307, which was too shallowly imprinted and so none of the images transferred despite using Konad Special polish instead of the Wet N' Wild Black Creme for stamping.

Close up of stamping QC for 307.  I was so shocked I kept stamping and stamping but nothing would transfer for the entire plate.

Plate in question which was too shallowly engraved when made.  Bummer cause look at how cute the images are on this plate!

I'm a little disappointed to see this for sure and of course I'll be contacting Bundle Monster/Amazon for a replacement.  However, overall I'm happy with the plates.  Sometimes these things happen and that's why I started QCing my plates.  I still think Bundle Monster plates are a great value for the number of images and options you get and recommend them highly as an addition to all the avid stampers out there.

If you're interested in purchasing the new series you can get them here on Amazon or go directly through Bundle Monster to get them as well.  Either site has excellent customer service so no matter where you order any issues you may have will be addressed with professionalism and expediency.  I wonder if this was helpful at all to anyone? Please let me know if you like this kind of thing for the future as I do frequently order stamping plates and I always do a QC check on them just to make sure it's money well spent.  Thanks for reading and see you next post!