My lovely followers, I wanted to give you a sign that I am still alive! Speaking of alive...this mani I put on a full week ago is more than alive and well. I took photos to prove it.
Yeah, ignore the gnarly gap. Can you believe it still looks like this?! I cannot. I feel like it's practically a part of me now...I'll be sad to see it go!
I did put on a fresh coat of Poshe Thursday night because it was looking a bit dull and also like the edges might want to lift a teeny bit in a few places. After that, it was back to perfect. Also, about 90% of the places where the tips are wrapped under are still perfectly intact.
Obviously it's not *perfect* as it's grown out and all that, but I am more than impressed with the wear time here! I've never in my life had a polish last this long. I'm shocked and SUPER pleased. For once I can say that the hefty Chanel price tag is worth it!
For anyone wondering, I had used my usual Palladio Fuse as a base coat, two coats of Chanel Graphite, a coat of Poshe, stamping with Special Black Konad polish, another coat of Poshe, and then yet another coat of Poshe five days into it.
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I'm still wearing this and it's been two full days! That is great for me, for Chanel, I must say.
Thanks to audraelena from MUA for the stamping idea here! This is two coats of Graphite, stamped with Konad plate m63, using Konad Special Black polish. I used Poshe for my top coats.
Also, everything is holding up so well that I fully expect to get through another day as well. We'll see, though. Hopefully I don't jinx myself (not that I'm actually superstitious).
That's my right hand, above. I think I might like the stamping on it better than my left hand, which is in all of the other pictures. I definitely still feel rusty about stamping, but I'm glad to be getting back to it.
Don't mind the thumb above. I promise that it actually does not look crazy or mis-matched in person!
I love this last picture because it shows off the more golden side of Graphite. It is such a pretty and complex color! There is a hint of rainbowiness in the shimmer and also I swear I saw little twinkly blue bits that are the same as the ones in Illusion D'Or! Sadly, my pictures don't seem to show this at all.
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Here I started with three coats of OPI Obscure. Obscure is a matte mini polish from Halloween 2010. This first picture is the only one shown without top coat, so you can see the matte effect.
I used Konad plate m73 and Chanel Peridot for stamping.
I really liked how it looked with the black matte, but was sure I would scratch the life out of it in no time at all, so I added top coat!
I've got to say, these dreary, drizzly day pictures aren't doing anything for Peridot!
I'm not sure what possessed me to pick up my stamping supplies and go at it, after such a long stamping hiatus. I'm super glad that I did, though! Probably the tape mani got me wanting more nail art! :)
Since I think it looks better in the indoor, fluorescent light, I'll leave you with one last picture from those.
I'll let you be the judge!
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I hope you are having a terrific weekend! I just enjoyed some tasty food that my Mom prepared for the holiday. She was kind enough to share with my husband and I. Two of my favorites! Greek potato salad and Blueberry Buckle (like coffee cake). I also enjoyed some delicious chicken curry she made. Thanks, Mom!
For my 4th mani, I started with two coats each of Nicole by OPI A New Kind of Blue and Sally Hansen HD Zip.
Then I did stamping designs with Konad Special White polish, using plates m11, m33, and Bundle Monster plate BM20.
I followed with a coat of China Glaze Shooting Stars.
I like how it turned out, but I would do it different if I had it to do over again. I don't like how the BM20 big stars turned out. I had to double stamp because the design is small and I didn't get things lined up very well, so it looks pretty wonky!
I think the big stars look like deranged clouds. :) I also kind of think I should have maybe gone with fine silver glitter. The holo glitter feels too snowy to me. In any case, just me picking apart a perfectly cute mani! Nothing too wrong with it, really. I hope you all have a safe Holiday.
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This mani started with Shades by Barielle Myrza's Meadow. I did two coats and then followed with Konad plate m69, using China Glaze LOL.
Myrza's Meadow was thick, like most Barielles I've used so far. I added thinner several times to make it easier to work with.
Also, I had a little bit of trouble with my stamping. I couldn't get the LOL to transfer as cleanly as I wanted. It turned out really cute, though!
My next Konadicure is with Sephora by OPI Rumba Romance. I did three coats and then used plate m57 with Konad Princess Gold Black for the stamping.
Tiger nails!! RAWRR!! This one was super fun. I got tons of compliments on it. :)
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Friends! It's good to be posting again! I've been sick for over a week now! My husband says he thinks I have H1N1. Oh yuck! I'm sitting here trying to hack up a lung as I type. The worst of it is (hopefully!) over now, though, so I figured it is high time to start showing you pictures of my latest creations. :)
I've been itching to 'Nad for quite some time now, so I finally made it happen about two weeks ago. I have to admit, I was nervous that I had forgotten how.
I started with Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge. It applied so perfectly in just two coats. It went on very light and nude but ended up drying a bit darker.
Then I used China Glaze Joy and Konad plate m63 to stamp on the design. That little blue guy I'm holding is my fab kitty nail scrubber. I got him at this super way cool store in NYC called Pylones. Everything in there is tragically cute!!
I was so pleased with how this turned out! It was relatively easy for me, too! Hip, hip, hooray!
I still got it, baby!
I really love this design pattern. It's so flowy and free.
If you haven't tried stamping yet, I highly recommend it! It's so much fun and really takes your manicure to a whole new level of gorgeous.
I think I've got the 'Nad bug now, for sure, so you'll be seeing more in the future.
I hope you enjoyed this one as I did!
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Behold my first ever matte finish mani! I used one coat of Hard Candy Frenzy (it was opaque and perfect), one coat of Hard Candy Sugar Daddy, and then did a Konad with m61 and Special Polish in Dark Purple, finishing with a coat of China Glaze Matte Magic! Please disregard the blue skin - ha ha!
This design transfers and stamps so easily for me - hooray! My only challenge is in getting the placement and pressure right, hence some waviness. But boy it's nice to have a stamp that is super easy to work with. Oh, and I never thought I could get into the matte finish craze, but I guess I was wrong. I like how it looks over shimmahs! And it's just kind of fun and different.
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This is possibly my most favorite koni ever! I love it so very much and my love for it grew over the four or so days that I wore it. That's right - it didn't chip or wear for four days! Unheard of for me. :D I believe it's two coats of China Glaze Let's Groove. Beautiful, rich, perfect purple. Reminds me a lot of Butter London HRH. Then I konaded with m60 and used several of the lighter China Glaze Romantiques (a different color on each finger).
I got a ton of compliments on this one. It was a real eye-catcher. People wanted to know where I'd had my nails done. They said whoever did my nails was a genius. They asked if they were Minx. Whaa?! I was beyond flattered. Yeah, I don't mind a little positive attention. :)
For a while I thought to myself that I could be happy just wearing this koni over and over again, day after day, for the rest of my life. Craziness, I know!
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Why hello, dear Dizzies! Long time no post! Sorry about that. I'm back with crazy snowy unicorns for you. I started with OPI Glacier Bay Blues. Gorgeous, subtly duochromed deep, cool blue. It flashes a bit green and purple and in real life, in the picture below, it was so breath-takingly stunning I only wish the camera had captured half of the beauty!!
Below it is shown with a flash, still outdoors, at dusk.
And here it is indoors, in my weird bathroom lighting.
Here's where it gets interesting! I added Konad stamps of unicorns from M28, using various light colors from the China Glaze Romantiques collection. I did a different color on each finger but it's pretty subtle.
I also finished with Shu Uemura Nuance top coat. I had tried to add little stars on the side of some of the unicorns with little success and much frustration. I did manage to get a few hearts (M35) by the unicorns on my thumbs, as seen below. The stars on M11 either hate me or hate the Romantiques! Bah.
It's a little busy, a little over the top, but I still like it. Unicorns will always have a place near and dear to my heart as I was rather obsessed with them for many of my childhood years. :)
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I did a Konad last week and it was pretty wild and crazy. I started with Claire's Neon Burst and did three coats. Then I used a design from plate S06 with Konad Princess Gold Black polish. It's a bit smudgy and I didn't get the placement spot on, but I thought I'd share anyway. It's not always about perfection, right? :)
Truthfully, I had a really hard time making this one work! I ended up scrapping my first attempt when I was all done save for one nail. I thought that I would be able to do much, much better on my second attempt. Not so much!
It kind of reminds me of hallucinogenic smudgy tiger stripes.
Or hypnotic neon tribal shields.
I get really annoyed with certain full plate designs that don't really fit my big thumb nails. Sometimes I can double stamp them partially and make it work. With this one I couldn't see how to do that.
It was fun and a learning experience, so I'm totally glad I went for it. I'm trying to build up my Konad skills because I want to become an ex-pert, yo!
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Thursday I stopped by Sally's in search of the new China Glaze Glitters. I had to go to a second Sally's across town to actually find a few! But hooray! I picked up five, quite happily. The gorgeous sparkly, holorific Atlantis is one of them. China Glaze, you da bomb, yo!!
Here is two coats of Nicole by OPI Blues in the Night (I think - it doesn't have a label, but I'm pretty sure) with one coat of China Glaze Atlantis, then topped with Konad Special White and a design from plate m51.
In the next picture you can see that I placed the design in the same way on my right index and middle fingers, much to my chagrin! I was trying to do the design in a different orientation on each nail. Oh well!
Here, below, you can finally see what the Blues in the Night (Nicole by OPI) looks like on its own (in the bottle).
This evening I had a fabulous surprise upon my arrival home from a weekend away in Homer, NY. Sid and I went to a college buddy of his' wedding. I wasn't really expecting any packages, so the gears in my mind starting churning. When I got the package in my hands I read "Deborah Lippmann" on the return address label. Holy smokes!! I won the Allure giveaway from a few months back! I completely freaked (and am in fact still freaking out). I never win anything, seriously. Check them out!
The really funny part is that I agonized over buying this collection when it came out and I did end up purchasing it. Ha!! Figures.
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