Iron Lady - The Polish Well Fashion Contest Entry

Hey polished prisoners,

I think this goes without saying given the title and all but this is my entry for The Polish Well's Celebrating the Thousands Giveaway and Fashion Nail Art Contest.  My entry is based around one of the big trends for Fall 2012 that was everywhere during NY Fashion Week.   Retro granny if you will lol!  I know that sounds totally hideous, but if you've ever seen Oscar de la Renta do retro you know it's awe-inspiring! Think lace meets tweed with bold accessories. It's easy to fall in love with that kind of loveliness, not that I can afford such a frock, but recreating a mani around his design isn't entirely out of the equation.  So here's what I came up with...

I'm really pleased with how this came out. 

Mani-louge

Base color: Essie's Blanc

Watercolor: Essie Blanc + Power Clutch 

Holo topcoat: INM Northern Lights in Gold

Stamping plate: Dashica Big SdP I

Stamping Polish: Konad Special Polish in Black Pearl

This picture is not color accurate which makes me a bit annoyed as the white here comes off looking a dirty brown when it's not IRL.

 Here's the inspiration I used to create this look - Oscar de la Renta's Iron Lady. Isn't this gorgeous?  I feel like I need this jacket in my life as I will admit I am also a coat whore ;) Wait who am I kidding? I need the whole outfit hahaha! (Note: This will never happen but I can dream right?)

Photo credit: Imaxtree

The watercolor was done using the plastic bag method which to be honest I prefer about a million times over the acetone + polish method.  It's messier but I think it creates a more realistic looking watercolor effect without the little "dots" that I always see left behind when using the acetone method.  I tape of my nails just like with watermarbling to minimize the clean up.

This was my first attempt at watercoloring and though this one is simple I love it!  I will be trying this again soon with more colors.  

The palette created by OdlR is just gorgeous!  I can imagine doing this in a different way as well using this palette and a yummy accent.  Hmm maybe I will ;)

The giveaway ends at midnight tonight so you can still enter to win polishes from the China Glaze Bohemian and On Safari Collection, the Orly Flash Glam Collection, and the upcoming OPI Germany Collection.   The top ten contest entries will be posted on Facebook and then voting will proceed.  Wish me luck and thanks for reading!  Toodles...

Out To Lunch - Hello Kitty Style Nail Art

Hey polished prisoners,

Today I have a little mani inspired by a Hello Kitty lunch tin that was given to me by my mother.  Yup! I'm way too old to have things like this, but I use it for storage so that's my excuse.  The truth is I feel like girls are never too old to be girls and things like Hello Kitty are timeless like Barbie who btw I also love. In any event yesterday I was looking at the tin and then I thought wouldn't this be so cute on my nails.  The rest as they say is history...

Mani-louge

Base color: China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

Paint drips/fenches: Orly Passion Fruit

Birds/Outlines/Clouds: Orly Liquid Vinyl, OPI Alpine Snow

Duckie: China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
Hello Kitty/Heart : Fauxnad plate KD1

The lunch tin that inspired the mani - way too cute right?

cG Flip Flop Fantasy is so neon my camera freaked out trying to capture it. This is dead on to the color IRL.

I love creating drip manicures - they are so easy and somehow come off looking harder to create than they actually are.  I need to do more of these in the future yes?

I'm definitely not 100% satisfied with my execution.  I need to keep working on my freehanding, but I do think the end result is pretty adorable.  I'm having a lot of fun these days doing silly but cute nail art.  I guess this is also due to cutting down my nails because when my nails are longer I do tend toward blingy style/"adult" mani's.  Which do you ladies prefer - my bling or my cute or just whatever goes? I'll see you next post and thanks for reading! Toodles...

Off With Her Red - On Sundays I Stamp!

"The true color of life is the color of the body, the color of the covered red, the implicit and not explicit red of the living heart and the pulses.  It is the modest color of the unpublished blood."

 ~ Alice Meynell

Hello lacquer ladies,

I'm sorry this is late!  Unfortunately there are just some days when my health isn't up to the challenge of more than a snails pace and that was yesterday so I was unable to get pictures until today.   Anyway, here we are another AIS posting and here I am a fool with her red.  I love red polishes in case you hadn't noticed.  It may not be my favorite color, but red is by far one of the most decadent color choices I believe a woman can choose to wear.  It's rich and sensual and bold.  A color to inspire confidence and lust.  Oh yes I do love a good red and above is one of my all time favorite quotes about the color red - the color of life...of the living heart.  So why the hell am I waxing poetic about the color red today? Well the challenge for this week's AIS foray is a red and black theme.  I was thrilled to bits and pieces when this won although this would make it my second red mani of the week but who cares when I get to be as decadent as I like? Now onto the art...

Mani-louge

Base color: Sally Hansen Red-dy To Mingle

Gradient: Sally Hansen Red-dy To Mingle, Orly Cherry Bomb and Emberstone

Fishtail Braid:  Sally Hansen Red-dy To Mingle and Pat On The Black, Orly Cherry Bomb and Emberstone, and China Glaze Ruby Pumps
Stamping polish: Konad Special Polish in Black Pearl

Stamping plate: Dashica Big SdP-A

In the shade everything looks wet.

How do you ladies feel about red? Is this a color that you feel is very essential to your polish stash or more of just a once in a while kind of thing?

Gradient before stamping was super subtle.  I'm not sure it would be very effective without nail art on top.

Reds all around.  I ended up loving the stamp here quite a bit!

After writing this post I do feel I need to add more reds to my polish stash.  I want some deep blackened ones reminiscent of dried blood and bruised roses.  Macabre right? Hmmm but I think also a little sensual and gorgeous.  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...

Panda Love feat. Dandy Nails Colorblind Squared

Hey polished prisoners,

What's black, white, and yellow all over? Girl, today my nails! Hmm we are keeping it pretty simple over here these days plus I'm a little mad that I had to chop off my nails (but this isn't that hand).  Honestly, if it hadn't been the middle and such a bad break I would have left them because in general I don't worry too much about all of my nails being the same length. Alas I needed something to soothe my ravaged soul so I brought out my feel good animal - the panda. They are so darn cute how could anyone be unhappy looking down at those all day?

OMG do you see that the panda's nose is a freaking heart?!! Adorable adorable....

Mani-louge 

Base color: China Glaze Happy Go-Lucky & OPI Alpine Snow

Accents: Dandy Nails Colorblind Squared

Stamping polish: Konad Special Polish in Black Pearl and White

Image plates: RA120 and MJ Med Plate

The panda is totally smug - he knows he's in charge lol!

I wanted to keep my color palette very simple on this one so I chose three complementing colors and just replayed them over and over within the design.  I chose Colorblind Squared, a matte black and white square glitter polish in a clear base since it fit the palette perfectly.  What I love about polishes like Colorblind Squared is that they literally go with everything and have the ability to add a little extra to my manicure without overwhelming the art which sometimes happens with heavier glitterbombs and wilder matte glitters.

It's a jungle full of panda love ;) I am so loving how bright and fun this is!

Isn't this such a happy looking manicure? This is my second time playing with panda's in my nail art.  If you look at my avatar you'll see a freeahand version with bamboo etc that I did a while ago that was also extremely cute.  I really really love the final effect of this one though - just a whole lot of super cuteness with a very monochrome theme.  I hope you enjoyed this one too and please let me know what you thought in the comments below.  Thanks for reading and see you next post! Toodles...

Red Hot Harlot: NailsIT Angelique + Giveaway

Hey polished prisoners (wink),

I've got a hot hussy for you today! Her name is Angelique and she packs a real punch.  Angelique is a red jelly polish filled with black squares small white hexagons, medium gold hexagons and hot pink microglitter.  It's part of six piece collection inspired by the Dark Shadows movie that released earlier this summer, and made by a lady who I feel is a good friend and fellow blogger - NailsIT.  On top of being a real dollface her polishes are stunning, and this one is no exception!  

This is two coats of Angelique over one thin coat of Sally Hansen Red-dy To Mingle.

The minute I saw Angelique I knew she had to be mine.  I am a sucker for jellies, but particularly well done red ones.

Perfect candy apple red - I love this color so much!

The only polish in my stash that's close to this kind of delicious depth and finish currently is Smitten Polish's Fire and Blood.  However, it's still a very different red compared to Angelique and has a venous blood hue while Angelique reminds me of very fresh raspberries or apples. 

Suddenly in the shade you can see those gold hexagons and pink microglitter popping.

 I was so enamored with this swatch I left it alone...for now ;)

I did have to use two layers of Poshe to get a smooth finish because of the square shaped glitters, but it was totally worth it! 

Well, isn't this pretty baby too gorgeous for words? I love it so much I may have to get a backup when her shop reopens.  If you are interested in purchasing Angelique of any of the other yummy mouthwatering shades by NailsIT you can find info on that here on her blog.  While your over there you should enter her giveaway because she's giving out five of her gorgeous polishes along with Nfu-Oh 61!  You should also check out her nail art as well because this lady also has some seriously banging skills.  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post! Toodles...

Abstract Shades of Blue...On Sundays I Stamp!

Hello polished prisoners,

Time for another Adventures in Stamping post! I'm just gonna jump right in - the theme for this week was using your favorite new stamp.  Saaaayyyy what?  Lol - yeah that's a tiny problem for me because I've gotten a lot of new plates recently including my Red Angel plates which arrived this week (stay tuned for the QC post).  So I decided to take these out for a spin this time around. I also had to do a big chop to my nails since I snapped the middle one on the way out the door yesterday - boo! Alas they will regrow and in the meantime I can use my smaller image plates without a need for double stamping which kinda rules.

I think this is so cute and easy!

I started with Sinful Colors Cinderella as the base color.  Cinderella is a beautiful blue sheer polish filled with bits of iridescent pinkish red and gold microglitter.  By itself it's a gorgeous polish, but it also worked well as a backdrop for my abstract manicure.  FYI, in case you didn't know Sinful Colors will be on sale for .99c at Walgreens til 7/28 so take advantage and pick up some lovelies on the cheap!

 I used plate RA120 and stamped using Essie Blue Rhapsody and Color Club Cold Metal. 

 This type of stamping where you are sectioning out colors within a single stamp is my favorite kind of nail art.  It requires a bit of attention, but when executed correctly has cool payoff. 

Omo - a little too much glare here, but I was trying to capture all the shimmer fro the 3 different polishes.

 The look ends up very simple the overall effect is complex because of the "layering" within the stamp along with the use of a metallic and foil nail polish on a cream base. I like to think of it as a "texturized" mani.

You can see all the pretty pink sparkle from Cinderella rising underneath the stamp - cool beans!

So here we are my second foray into AIS.  I hope you liked it and please comment below! I'll see you next post.  Toodles...