Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Posh Flowers + Video

HALLELUJAH! I finally got my hands on some Zoya matte polishes! Zoya had them, discontinued them, brought them back.... and I still missed it! Luckily a friend sent me a link to a seller on eBay who had them BRAND spankin new and reasonably priced. I didn't hesitate and I have 0 regrets!

Anywho! I decided to use Zoya - Posh first, a gorgeous matte red that has a ruby color which seems to glow from within. I love it.

The flowers are non other than a MoYou stamp, Pro Plate 6. And I stamped with my trusty squishy stamper and Wet 'n Wild - Black Creme.  The glossy on matte combination is a winner in my book.








I've actually filmed a tutorial for this look as well! I know it's all pretty self explanatory but I was dying to use my tripod and test out the video mode. Be gentle, stamping on camera is way harder than I anticipated!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Gradient Stamping pt. 2 + Video

  Happy Sunday! This manicure was fun for me to do because it's using my favorite colors. I am in a stamping group on Facebook that has weekly challenges on Sunday. Today was create a look with three purples. It's the color I have most of in my collection so it was easy as pie! And I was wanting to give gradient stamping another go since I've only done it once before.

On my middle and ring I started with a base of O.P.I - My Boyfriend Scales Walls (the Holy Grail of all whites I believe. So wearable.)  And when that was dry I created a gradient on my stamping plate with China Glaze - Tart-y for the Party, China Glaze - Spontaneous and Barry M - Plum. Those colors are also my thumb, pointer, and pinky finger, respectively.

The image is from MoYou Artist Plate (04) and it's the corner image. It reminds me of an old stylewallpaper. I love it!




And here is a short video I did on the look. I'm loving making videos, even if the ones I've done so far aren't the first of its kind out there! I hope you enjoyed the look. I definitely want to try these in more color schemes.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Neon Cornflowers

 Mmmmm TGIF! And payday for a lot of people (including me!) Hope everyone is kicking the weekend off right. This flower design isn't a cornflower, my titles are usually just mashing whatever manicure colors I have on together.

 I'm excited to share this look with you because I am pretty darn proud of how it came out. 1. I love the colors. 2. Uh, floral stamps. Hello! 3. I used to be terrible at pairing colors together (no I'm not color blind) but my color matches were never real winners in the past. I am definitely getting better with this.

Base: China Glaze - Electric Beat (stunning cornflower blue, perfect in two coats)
Stamping: China Glaze - Highlight of My Summer (gorgeous NEON mint color I picked up just for the name, but ended up loving. And it's marvelously opaque for stamping. Win.)
Flowers: MoYou XL stamping plate (Pro 06).




Also this is what I think of when I think about Friday being pay day. 

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Quick post: Satin Flowers

On Wednesdays, we wear pink.

Base: OPI - Hey Baby
Stamping: OPI - Love. Angel. Music. Baby 
Design: MoYou Pro Plate (14)







 Thought it would be fun to include an awkward bottle shot :) I am soooo in love with this gold satin/matte finish. Good job O.P.I!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Vampire Blossoms

I can't help but make weird titles...

But here's an idea I had in my head and it came out pretty nice! The base is the ever so popular OPI - My Vampire is Buff and I stamped over it with Rimmel London - Posh Pink which is excellent for stamping. The design is, you guessed it, MoYou! Pro Plate 14. I can't help but do anything but stamping now that I bought some more plates. The combinations are endless.




My pinky smeared... currently out of my favorite HK Girl topcoat and I'm feeling lost without it obviously!

After I put down MVIB, I also painted one coat of China Glaze - Fairy Dust. I can't believe this amazing glitter topper is discontinued?!


Hope you liked this simple look. Thanks for reading :)

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Gradient Archways & Berry Rose Triangles

   Hello! Here are two manicures I didn't get enough photos of, so I thought I would combine them into one post.

Both stamping images are from MoYou XL Pro Plate (02)

The base for the first is Square Hue - Westminster, a creme polish in a color I would describe as an off white/french vanilla color. I got it in my Square Hue monthly description box and it took three coats to reach opacity, but I have decided I love it! I don't have enough off whites in my collection. 

The stamping colors are A-England - St. George and Dragon. These two colors were made for each other! And they are perfect for stamping. They are holographic but of course the sun was not out for me to get another picture.


This second manicure I think is kind of a miss, because the metallic seemed to dry too fast and I didn't get to pick up some of the triangles. But oh well! I liked the color combo and thought it was decent enough to post. I'm all about the progress.

The base for this manicure was OPI - Ate Berries In the Canaries a gorgeous purple berry color. I love it! I stamped with Essie - Penny Talk a bold copper/rose gold shade that works amazing for stamping.


Sunday, January 12, 2014

Lilac Roses


Happy Sunday! I've got another stamping manicure today. I'm getting deeper into my stamping addiction... it's just too fun! And I've been uninspired for freehand or tape, coming up with stamping combos is easier.

Zoya - Stevie (lilac texture)
OPI - My Boyfriend Scales walls (base color for stamping, best white EVER)
China Glaze - Tart-y for the Party (stamping color)
Roses: BM 323 right hurrr







Cuticles (eponychium?) lookin' right and tight so of course a macro is necessary. 

 Purple is my favorite color, especially for nail wear. And Stevie does not disappoint! One of my favorite textures ever. And I was glad Tart-y for the Part-y stamped so well! Win win. This got a lot of compliments at work. What do you think?



Thursday, January 9, 2014

Eighty4 Valentine's Day Swatches

Hey all! It may be a little early to start thinking about Valentine's manicures, but.. oh well! I have some polishes from Eighty4 a coming out indie brand.

 There are three cremes, one holo, and two glitters. All swatches are finished with topcoat! Click the jump and let's dive in.


Monday, January 6, 2014

Tristam Roses

Okay I couldn't wait to share this! Pictures were a little hard because everything was so holographic!

I started with a base of A-England - Tristam and stamped over it with Color Club - Over the Moon. I can't get over how much I love the Color Club Halo Hues for nail stamping. So perfect because they are all surprisingly opaque! The plate was the large floral plate (04) from Winstonia. Their large plates are ideal because they cover my whole nail without a problem.






Had to get a matte shot in here as well so you could make out the roses more clearly. Which do you prefer? 


And the gorgeous Tristam by itself! A gorgeous blurple holographic color, which was amazing in two coats. A careful painter could get away with one though. This would also be a great stamping color too!

What do you think? I hope you love it as much as I do!

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Thermal Flowers

 First post of the New Year! Woo!

I love thermals. They give such an effortless umph to your manicure. It's like a free gradient/french tip in a bottle for you!

I managed to snag a few polishes from Polished by KPT in her end of the year sale. This beauty was one I had my eyes on for a while, Kelvin Bleu. It's a gorgeous polish that is a translucent light grey/blue color when warm and a deep blue almost blurple color when cold. It's also got a scattered holo finish which my lightbox wasn't bright enough to capture. Trust me it's gorgeous though!

Tips are cold, nails are warm. Props to those who capture thermals so well!


Warm


Cold

I was really aiming to stamp white over a thermal after seeing Natalie's gorgeous post here, but sadly I don't have an opaque white to stamp with! So I settled for some water decals from the Born Pretty Store. I think they sufficed well enough.

I also love water decals because they can give a complicated look in less than a minute. That's my type of nail art. What do you think?