It is rare that everything turns out the way I envision it in my head. This week the stars aligned (no pun intended) and it actually happened.
This picture does this manicure no justice.
Manicure
1 coat Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats Dazzle Dry Midnight Express
Kleancolor Metallic Pink stamped stars (I used KD3 from eBay, but any star pattern will do)
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Hard as Nails clear
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
First, Midnight Express is fast becoming a favorite black. This is two coats, but it was opaque in one.
Then there was Kleancolor Metallic Pink. This nail polish is beautifully pigmented. The vibrancy of color does not come out in the picture above. It is so Rock Star chic I can't stand it.
One warning...this polish stinks to high heaven so use in a ventilated area and enjoy!
After Christmas I decided to change it up a little bit. How? Without nail stamping! Yeah, that didn't work out.
Wednesday
Sometime last year I went for my first Shellac manicure. It was great but I got bored after a week and soaked off the color (Shellac Masquerade). I did love the color though, and went on a mission to get the regular nail polish for my collection. While not all Shellac colors are available in regular nail polish, I did find Masquerade at www.head2toebeauty.com. If it's not the same color it's enough to make me happy.
Manicure
1 coat Dazzle Dry Base Coat
2 coats CND Masquerade
1 coat Sally Hansen Insta-dri Top Coat
I got so many bubbles it was ridiculous because my top coat was drying out. I have been using others so much I had to throw it out...and I had to take off this manicure.
Wednesday...a little later
I recently got Zoya Aurora and remembered seeing someone post this on the Zoya Facebook page. I knew I wanted to try it and it took me this long to commit.
Manicure
1 coat Elmer's Glue as a base coat
2 coats Zoya Aurora
Stamped with Kleancolor Black with BM 201
1coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
This mani didn't last for me. I was trying out the Elmer's Glue again as a base coat for glitter and I got my first chip Thursday at 3 pm. I'm sorry, I can't live like that. So...
Thursday
Manicure
1 coat Dazzle Dry Base Coat
2 coats Nails Inc The Strand (magnetized on second coat)
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
I can never go wrong with the Nails Inc magnetic nail polishes. I got this one from the Black Friday Sephora sale online. I think it was $7. Love! Love! Love! And it lasted until I changed my manicure today.
This was a very colorful week filled with success and disappointment. But it was fun to change things up a lot more than I usually do.
Happy Holidays to all. For this week I had silver and red snowflakes in my head...then I put them on my nails and wasn't feeling them at all.
Here's how they looked:
Cute, but it just didn't fit my mood.
I used Zoya Valentina for this one, then stamped with Sally Hansen Silver Sweep.
I still wanted to say within holiday colors, but there has been a manicure I've wanted to try for a while that doesn't fit the holidays but is lovely nonetheless.
Here it is (don't know what this says about my mood)
Manicure:
1 coat Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats Zoya Envy
Stamped with A England Dragon and Bundle Monster BM-215
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Hard as Nails clear
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
This is a very dark green, I promise. I had a hard time getting my cell phone camera to translate green but it's green...really it is.
So, for the past three weeks I have used Dazzle Dry nail polish as the base color for my stamping manicures. I've used Dazzle Dry primarily because it dries so fast there's much less wait time between painting and stamping.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Dazzle Dry, it purports to last as long as a gel polish, dry rock hard in 5 minutes when you use all of their products, and doesn't contain nitrocellulose (which is supposed to be the ingredient that causes nails to yellow). Sounds too good to be true, right?
Well, I can't attest to how long it lasts; I am color-fickle and need to change my color at least once a week. I can, however, say that it does dry incredibly fast. I'm not talking touch dry fast...I'm talking all layers of nail polish are dry so if I hit my nail against something there is no dent in the polish.
But the thing that I really wasn't all that concerned about turned into the biggest surprise. Nail polish addicts like myself have resigned ourselves to slight discoloration on our nails. It's the manicure way of life. We slather on base coat to keep staining to a minimum, but sacrifice pink-looking nails for beauty in multiple colors.
It was only by chance that I noticed the difference in the portion of my nail that has grown out over the past 3 weeks. You can really see a line of demarcation on my ring finger between pink and slightly dingy yellow.
I am using a different nail polish brand this week and wanted to share this picture with you before I painted my nails.
Dazzle Dry collections (www.dazzledry.com) are still growing and don't have all the colors I would want yet and it is bit expensive to ship (around $11). These nail polishes are $9 a bottle and I totally think they're worth it.
The website is not great for checking colors so here are a couple of swatches. Not to mention my last three posts are with Dazzle Dry colors as well. Forgive the blurriness but I think you get a good idea as to color.
Bleu Rose (duochrome) with Nails Inc Camden Crackle
Casablanca stampled with Julep Michelle
As an aside, even if you don't buy any of their colors their Top Coat is the best I've found to use with any nail polish.
This week's post is down and dirty because life got in the way of my manicure time.
I was not sure what I wanted to do with my nails this week. I had a plan but wasn't feeling it, so I went trolling on the Internet for ideas. I saw a simple but classy holiday manicure I couldn't wait to get on my nails. The original was posted by steffels.blogspot.com. I couldn't find the actual post, but there's lots of great ideas there too.
Here's what it looks like:
Not my neatest work, but I still love it!
Manicure:
1 coat Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats Dazzle Dry Midnight Express
Stamped Konad m79 with Konad Special White
Twinkling Lights in Julep Emilie and Zoya Sooki (with dotting tool)
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Hard as Nails
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
Hope your day went better than mine and give these a try...they've already cheered me up a bit.
This week is the beginning of holiday manicures for me. Exciting! This is my favorite time of year. So here's to the beginning:
Manicure:
1 coat Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats Dazzle Dry Bedazzled
1 coat Julep Vivien
Stamped with Kleancolor Black using BM323
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Hard as Nails clear
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
First up: Dazzle Dry Bedazzled
Verdict?
Bright and pretty. It was hard getting an accuate picture of this color. It's a very bright gold and the formula on this was pretty good. It can run a little thin (youcan see some VNL on my middle finger), but overall had great coverage. You can buy this on www.dazzledry.com and I think that there is a coupon code for Robin Moses fans if you check her Facebook page here.
Then came Julep Vivien...
Verdict?
This nail polish makes me feel like I have gold coins on my nails. It was a little difficult getting them to spread evenly over my whole nail, but I worked with it and am happy with the results. You can buy this on www.julep.com, and if you Google julep promotion codes there should be some available.
...and then stamping!
I hope you enjoy this video tutorial and please share any holiday manicure ideas? I'm always looking for new things to try.
Since I'd grown out my nails a bit to try a Robin Moses French manicure, I figured I would take the chance to try out the French tips nail images that come in Bundle Monster and Mash sets. You know, the ones I put in my organizer and promptly ignored?
Turns out I was right to ignore most of them. Here's a video of my french tip frustration.
Verdict?
Bundle Monster - These tips are so wide that I won't use them unless I have artificial nails. Something I don't see happening since I enjoy my nails being shorter. I have seen some nail geniuses use these in new ways (horizontal or diagonal on the nail).
Mash - These tips are much more "normal" so I think they are more manageable. I don't know how often I'll use them though, but it is nice to have the option.
This week I was going for having a painting on every nail. Here's what I came up with:
Manicure:
1 coat Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats Dazzle Dry Lavender Parade
Stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-dri Co-Bolt Blue using BM 225
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard and Wraps Hard as Nails clear
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
I initially got this idea from going through pictures on the Bundle Monster Facebook page. I suggest going through these, because there are so many great ideas out there. Arte con las unas was the one who submitted it.
Dazzle Dry had a sale for Cyber Monday so I went a little crazy, but what's a gal to do when it's 15% off and free shipping and handling? I've said it before and I'll say it again, "She's supposed to shop!"
For this design I chose Lavender Parade.
Verdict?
There's good and bad. The good? This color is lovely and feminine, dries in 6 minutes and was on sale. The bad? This may not really be a bad once I get used to the formula, but some of these dry so quickly that the side, side, middle and smooth method of applying nail polish isn't the best with this one. If you click on the picture you can see that there is a spot on my middle finger that doesn't have any color. That's because the brush picked it up when I was evening my coat and I didn't realize it until too late.
Normally these colors dry matte and some people like that look, but I love the shine I get with Dazzle Dry top coat. I got quite a few of these polishes and will be uploading a video about french tip designs that includes some swatches of my new colors.
I hope you enjoyed this one and there are some Holiday Nail Stamping Tutorials to come. What are you planning for your holiday manicures?
I went a little color-fickle and decided to change my manicure at the last minute. I've grown out my nails a bit to try a french manicure design and this is how it turned out.
Manicure:
Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats Julep Stefani
Dazzle Dry Midnight Express Tips
Julep Mila Glitter stripe
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Hard as Nails
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
I have wanted to try this ever since I saw the tutorial on Robin Moses' YouTube channel: click here
I grew out my nails a little so this design wouldn't look too crowded on my nails.
Julep Stefani -
Verdict?
The color is a very interesting gunmetal color with different colored micro-glitters within. The glitter isn't too noticeable on the nail, but it does shimmer well.
This formula did bubble for me, but I'm not sure if it's because of all the glitter within or just the nature of the formula. It's worth it, though. As my mother would say, "It's nothing a man riding a horse could see." Do with that what you will. I will wear this proudly, bubbles and all!
Here's my take on the manicure.
Have you tried any nail art you've seen on YouTube? There are so many ideas out there!
My manicure for this week is neutral and subtle (in my opinion). Be forewarned, there's no stamping this week.
Here it is.
Manicure:
Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats Nails Inc Porchester Square
2 coats Lush Lacquer Color Me Gray
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Hard as Nails
I got this beauty on llarowe.com. It's amazing how I will have an idea in my head of what I want, and some indie genius will have done it already. Gray with colorful polka dots? Genius! Her shipping prices are reasonable, and they come packaged so heavily in bubble wrap that they don't dare shatter.
I have found several gems on llarowe.com: holographics, glitters, and hard to find foreign brands.
For those who aren't familiar, this is Porchester Square alone. Color Me Gray really changed it into something new.
I don't know about anyone else, but I am so ready for winter weather. Well, the holidays are here with family coming in, going into food comas, and marathon kamikaze shoppers. I can't wait! So much so that I embraced the idea of flannel on my nails.
Here's the finished look:
Manicure:
1 coat Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats China Glaze Electric Beat
Stamped with Kleancolor Black using Mash-50 (purchased on Amazon.com)
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Hard as Nails
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
(note: I know this seems like a lot, but this formula lets my manicure last at least 7 days 99% of the time)
Now, let's talk about this beautiful color...
This is China Glaze Electric Beat. I was able to pick up this gem in the clearance section at ULTA for $2.99. It's usually anywhere from $4.99-$9 there.
Buying Tips:
1) take a swing by the clearance section at ULTA
2) check out the clearance section at Sally's Beauty Supply (the selection may not be great but you can pick up some cool colors for a good price)
3) head2toebeauty.com (click here) - The prices for China Glaze, CND, Misa, and Color Club year round ranging from $2.99 to $3.50, but the shipping is a bit much unless you are buying enough to make it worth while. Also, every time I've bought from this site there was a 5% discount code on the home page.
After all the glitter last week, I felt like taking a breather with a very simple and classic stamping manicure. Video included...
Here it is:
I think this is so cute and girly.
Manicure:
1 coat Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats Perfect Formula nail polish in Leah (I got this on qvc.com, but couldn't find it there anymore)
Essie A Cut Above used for the center of the bow (I used a dotting tool to fish out the glitter)
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hard as Wraps
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
Of course, there is a story behind this base nail color.
There is a QVC host who is known for having beautiful nails: Leah Williams. She has had a signature color for years and everyone asked repeatedly what the color was. I think there was mention of a discontinued OPI color, but it wasn't sold on QVC so I'm still not sure what the color is. If anyone knows, please share.
Leah coordinated with the maker of Perfect Formula to create a similar color. I don't think it's the same, but it's close and very pretty against my skin tone IMO.
Verdict?
The formula is a little sheer when compared to Julep, Nails Inc and Zoya which are usually opaque in one coat. This is a definite 2 coater, but it's a neutral pink that's worth it.
I did something different this week in using my XL stamper to pick up these images. I use it when I want exact placement of images (eg. french tips, small images, and images with lines that I want straight). I used the XL stamper for my argyle manicure a few weeks back because I wanted the pattern centered on my nail.
TIPS
1) I find that rolling the stamper on the image works better with the XL stamper. It doesn't pick up well for me when I simple press down and pick it up.
2) Because the stamper is so "squishy" I simply press my whole nail into the stamper and the image is perfect when I lift it out.
3) Nail polish remover seems to move around the nail polish on the stamper instead of cleaning it. An almost dry cotton swab can clean off the nail polish with friction. The dry nail polish just beads up and off.
I just made a video about my glitter/Elmer's glue experiment. Suffice it to say that there were pros and cons and I will get that video posted soon.
In the meantime, since I didn't really want to take the time to do a whole nail stamping manicure I painted more glitter on my nails. This time, Pahlish Fade of Love indie nail polish. What a hardship!
You can purchase this on llarowe.com as well as some other hard to find pretties.
Here's the finished look. Again, with the Elmer's Glue base coat.
This nail polish has so many hidden treasures that it's hard to describe them all. It is set in a dark purple jelly base and has purples, blues and holographic glitters inside that are just gorgeous. It totally changed the tone of the underwear: Revlon Bold Sangria.
Verdict?
Not my favorite polish. The formula was runny and the brush is wide and extremely soft. This took a little getting used to, but, once I got the hang of it, it really made creating the perfect oval at the cuticle line easier than smaller brushes do. I just had to flatten it out and the brush nearly covered my whole nail.
I used Nail Pattern Boldness' Glitter Food again and had better results this time. One coat really smoothed out the glitter and only one coat of my Dazzle Dry Top Coat was needed to add the shine that makes this pop.
Warning! This post is pic heavy, will have a video tutorial, reviews, experiments, and ended up beautifully.
Sooo, one of my favorite YouTubers to watch is soguesswhat11. She has many interesting ideas and encourages people to try them. I've tried a couple and I know I'll be trying more in the future.
One of the most intriguing ones to me was Cosmic Waves. The black glittery awesomeness needed to be tried. Here's how mine turned out:
Manicure:
Elmer's Glue as a base coat
2 coats Nails Inc Disco Lane
1 Coat Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food
Stamped using Bundle Monster BM 223 (Kleancolor Metallic Green, Metallic Aqua, Metallic Sapphire)
1 Coat Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Hard as Nails Top Coat
1 Coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
This manicure was so hard to take a picture of. If the design showed, then the glitter didn't. If I wanted to catch the holographic effect in the nail polish it had to be blurry. So, I took multiple pictures hoping you guys would get the idea, but the video shows this in all its glory.
I used Nails Inc Disco Lane (Black Holographic Effect) as a base trying to cut down on the layers of nail polish (i.e. black base color then a holographic top coat). I have to say I love the idea of black holographic nail polish. So much so, I also have Zoya's version, Storm.
Verdict?
This nail polish is applied like butter, and so dark that I think some of the glitter is lost in medium lit areas. Candlelight? It glimmers very well. Sunshine? The glitter comes to life. Flourescent lighting? It's almost like the glitter's hibernating.
I also took this as a chance to use Elmer's Glue as a basecoat. The theory is that, like when we were children and would peel glue off our nails, the glue should allow us to just peel off the entire manicure in one piece. I am hoping that my manicure lasts the week and doesn't peel off before it should. I will post another video to show if I am able to peel off the nail polish like so many have said.
Verdict?
Jury's still out on that one...stay tuned.
If all that weren't enough, I tried out Nail Pattern Boldness (don't you just love that name?) Glitter Food to see if it really smooths out glitter's rough surface so I don't end up using 10 layers of top coat for it to be smooth.
Verdict?
It does smooth out the texturing glitter nail polish gives, but
1) it dries matte (which is pretty much posted everywhere I've seen it sold, I got mine at llarowe.com for $9) and
2) still requires at least one more layer of top coat to be completely smooth
The video really is worth 1,000 words, so enjoy!
UPDATE!!!
As if that all wasn't enough, I posted a video of the actual glitter removal.
Verdict?
I will use this for special glittery occasions.
There were definitely pluses and minuses with the glue base coat.
1) It's non-toxic so I didn't really worry about using it on my bare nail.
2) The first day wore really well, the second day started to show tip wear and first thing the third morning I had a chip...which turned into a disappearing manicure on my index finger. I have no idea where the nail polish went. All I know is that one minute I had 10 manicured fingers...and then there were 9.
3) Getting lotion under the surface of the nail polish results in it just slipping off your nail.
I think it is great for a 2 day manicure at most if chips bother you. I had fun experimenting. Have any of you tried the glue base coat method? What were your results?
Ok, so it's Halloween and there are so many nail art options, but I wanted to keep this one simple and cute. I posted a more involved Halloween look earlier this month, but this is more my speed. This is also my first time stamping my ring finger with a different image than the rest of my nails creating an accent nail...I like it. It makes me feel like my entire hand helps create a panoramic image.
Here's my end result:
Manicure:
Perfect Formula Gel Coat
2 coats Julep Lisa
Using Bundle Monster BM 213 and BM 305 (Stamped with Kleancolor Black)
Dotting tool with Sinful Colors Firefly (for the windows)
1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Hard as Nails
1 coat Dazzle Dry Top Coat
Here are the polishes I used for this scene:
This is Lisa by herself, a beauty in her own right:
Lisa came in my October Julep Maven box. Julep Maven, for those of you who haven't heard about it, is a monthly nail polish subscription program. Usually new members can sign up for as little as a penny depending on the promotion going on that month.
Here is a link where you can join the Julep Maven program along with a coupon code. I would suggest that if the code doesn't let you join for 1 cent try searching online for a 1 cent coupon code and go through the julep.com website...
I love this program because it allows you to skip a month, send a month to a girlfriend, donates a portion of the proceeds to different charities geared toward helping women, and the packaging is always amazing and thoughtful.
I am trying out a new video setup, so we'll see how it goes. Hope you enjoy the video.
The company that manufactures the images I use for stamping, Bundle Monster, recently held a Halloween Nail Art competition. This was my entry.
Manicure:
Actually let's take this one step at a time since this is one of the most involved manicures I've done.
First, I wanted the nail to have a dingy look so I added about 8 drops of Wet N Wild Black Creme to an Essence clear top coat for a gray tinge.
Second, I applied 3 coats to get the desired "dinginess".
Third, I used Bundle Monster BM 201(Kleancolor Black) as my cobweb base, and used Mash 38 for the icky spider (Sally Hansen Insta Dri Silver Sweep).
Fourth, I used Nails Inc Black Taxi (my favorite black) to add an asymmetrical french tip, added dots of metallic nail polish for blood, and added one coat of Dazzle Dry Top Coat.
This was my first foray into multiple stamps and Halloween manicures. I have a much simpler one planned for next week, but I thought this was a neat design that needed to be shared with others. So this is me, sharing with you...
Unfortunately, I didn't make the finals of the Fright Night contest, but there are so many beautiful manicures I urge you to check them out here. It was a lot of fun trying to come up with something new and different.
