Inspired by: my shirt!

Hello!!

I recently joined a Facebook group that is designed for people who blog about nails as a hobby. It's a fun, supportive group, and I'm really enjoying it. Part of what they have is a very relaxed monthly challenge, that you do at your own pace, and has 4 manicures per month. I'm late to the party because I just joined, but I figured I better get a move on! :)

The first prompt is 'Inspired By Fashion'. Well, it just so happens I'd been inspired to create a manicure to go with a shirt I wanted to wear, so I figured it would work just fine. First, here is my shirt, or rather, part of it:

I didn't want to copy it exactly, so I reversed the colors. I started with a light brown suede matte polish, and then stamped on it with Konad black using an image from Pueen plate 15. Then I added a few copper-colored microbeads to mimic the beads in the shirt:

What do you think? I like that the matte polish matches the matte feel of the print on the shit, and although the flowered print is different, it's close enough to look very complementary, I think. :)

Thanks for taking a look! Please check out all the other awesome manicures my fellow group-mates created, linked below. :)

Love and peace. :)
M.

Review: Mash 3D Nail Art Confetti

Hello!!

I was very excited to be approached by Mash recently to review some nail art products for them. The first item I sat down to play with was the 3D Nail Art Confetti that they sent to me...because it's sparkly and pretty, and 3D nail art is all the rage right now!

This set contains 12 different types of 3D confetti, in different shapes (hearts, stars and flowers) and colors:

Mash 3D Nail Art Confetti

The pots are huge, as you can see by the relative size of my thumb (which is a normal-thumb sized, lol); unless you're doing nails for everyone in your neighborhood every day, these will last you a long, long time--years and years, unless your cats spill them everywhere (::gives warning skunk-eye to her cats::). Here is a close-up to see the confetti better:

Even though there are 12 pots, there are actually more types of confetti than that; the ones that have a hollow center also include the shapes that were punched out of the center, so you get a two-fer, as you can see below:

This also gives you a sense of just how many are in each pot--what I dumped out there barely made a dent in what was left, as you can see. These are excellent quality, and the shapes are uniform, so you won't find yourself with uneven shapes when you're trying to make a pattern (see the manicures below). They're also very sturdy, so you're getting good stuff here.

When I look at glittery wonders like this, the little girl in me screams out, and I have to play play play! For the first manicure I did, I thought I'd do a simple skittle mani using the different gold hearts above. I started out with a base of Hare Polish Rusty Hearts, a beautiful gold-flaked red. Then I staggered the hearts in an alternating pattern down the nails:

Look at how they sparkle in the light!

Note how the shapes are all the same size and color (except when the light hits them); you can't tell from these pictures, but they are all uniform height, as well, so they all sit at the same level on your nail.

I love how it came out--this would be such a fun mani for Valentine's day, or for any romantic occasion. :)

For my second manicure I went patriotic, in honor of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, and did a flag manicure with the white stars. I started with a base of Risque Azulcrination (holla, Janaina!), and  L.A. Colors Hot Blooded. I stamped the stripes of the flag with Konad white, and Winstonia plate W107:

How perfect is that? Rock out that flag, baby. :)

A couple of questions you might be asking yourself. First, how easy are these to apply? If you use the dotting tool technique or the pick-up pencil technique I've showed before, these are fast and easy to apply--both of these manicure took me only minutes from start to finish. You're probably also wondering if the confetti stay put...I covered them with one coat of top-coat, and they stayed put just fine--in fact, I had to pry them off with a lot of effort to get them off (using nail polish remover makes this easier, but I did a pull test to see how they'd hold up). You shouldn't have any problem getting several days of wear out of them (probably longer with the hearts and flowers, since they don't have the sharp edges that catch more easily).

This set goes for $5.99 on the Mash website, at the time of this posting. I've seen similar nail confetti at my local beauty supply store go for twice as much for half as much product, so I was impressed with the price as well as the quality. If you're into the 3D trend and want some options in fun colors and shapes, I highly recommend you check this out. :)

Thanks for taking a look! Peace and love,
M.

(The 3D Nail Art Confetti in this post was sent for my 100% honest review. I am not affiliated with Mash, and the links are not affiliate links.)

Polished Pairings: Barielle Make It A Latte + Elle's Spell

Hello!!

Oops, this wasn't supposed to post today! I actually wasn't sure if I was going to post it, becaue the pictures came out a bit too reflective, and it's back when my cuticles were struggling a bit more than I like. Ah well, bonus post!! :) But the real post intended for today was the previous one, on duochrome + texture. :)

This post features a wonderful dark chocolate brown by Barielle: Make It A Latte. I love the richness of this polish, and the golden-red shimmer to it.

Because of the shimmer in it, I instantly wondered what it would look like paired with Barielle's Elle's Spell, a red jelly with yellow-orange-red flakies in it:

I do love how this came out--the polishes look beautiful together. Unfortunately, my photography didn't capture it the way I want! :( But here it is, to give you an idea, anyway. :)

Hugs and love,
M.

Before & After: Can duochromes do texture?

Hello!

You know I've been playing around with textured polishes like crazy, particularly with Bee Polished's technique of painting over a textured polish. You might also remember that when I tested this with a holo, most of the holographic effect disappeared (although a little did remain). The next question I set out to ask about this technique was, what about duochromes? Do they lose their color shift when put over a textured polish, or do they preserve it?

I started out with Julie G Crushed Candy, the light purple splash of happy from the Frosted Gum Drops collection:

Julie G Crushed Candy

Look at that sparkle!

Next I layered one of my favorite duochromes over it, Zoya Adina, which has a stunning purple-to-green color shift to it. Here's how it came out:

Zoya Adina over Julie G Crushed Candy

Oh yeah, baby! the beautiful duochrome was perserved, now new and improved plus texture! This combination does cover up the glitter in the polish, since Adina is opaque, so you might want to do this with a non-glitter version, or not, as you wish.

I hope I'm not boring you with all this stuff about the textured polishes, but I'm having just a ton of fun with them. When I first heard about them, I didn't think they'd be that interesting, sort of a one-trick pony. But that has turned out to really not be the case, and I'm so glad I have some. :)

Thanks for looking! Peace and love,
M.

Before & Afters: Kitty & Puppy nail art

Hello hello hello!

I am so excited to show you my second and third attempts at free-hand nail art using my new acrylic paints that Born Pretty Store sent for review. This weekend my local animal shelter had a street-fair style open house to raise money and awareness about animals that need forever homes. Since all 5 of my babies are rescue animals, you can imagine I support such causes with all of my heart and was looking forward to going. The event ended up being very small, but I was extremely glad I stopped by anyway--they had a very cute T-shirt that says 'They aren't my pets--they are my family!' which I love, so of course I had to buy it to support the cause!

Anyway, the point is, I wanted to do a kitty manicure on one hand, and a puppy manicure on the other. Right away you should spot the potential for tragedy here--one design for each hand means that one of the designs would have to be drawn with my off-hand. We'll see how that goes...

For my kitty manicure, done with my main hand, I started with a base of Zoya Rocky, a sky blue creme, because I wanted a background that looked like the sky:

Zoya Rocky, indirect sunlight

Zoya Rocky, direct sun

Next I used the acrylic paints to draw on my kitty design, which combines elements from a number of kitty free-hand designs I've seen since I started blogging:

My kitties #1 pastime--good think there is a window in the way in their case!

I seriously can't believe how great this came out. I mean, it's not perfect, of course. I need a lot of practice. But for someone who can't do a free-hand design to save their life and this is only their second design with the medium? Not too shabby, even if I am the one saying it.

Okay, now for the design I did with my off-hand. I started with a base of Zoya Mitzi, a matte avocado green (yes, I often walk around with different colors on my different hands, except when I'm going some place important--you know, like work, lol!):

Zoya Mitzi, direct sunlight

Zoya Mitzi, indirect sunlight

Here I wanted to do a mani that represented my puppy, who is white with tan spots. I free-handed the puppy with acrylics, leaving the brush strokes thick to give it more of a fur-like look. I stamped the paws on the middle finger with Konad black polish and Shany plate SH08:

Woof!!

Okay, yes, it's a little goofy-looking, but I love it--especially since it was done with my off-hand. The ears are a bit lopsided and it doesn't actually look like the breed my puppy is, but I don't care! It's a cute cute puppy, and I was proud to wear it. It broke my heart to take it off.

I am so happy with these paints--I can't wait to see what I can do once I practice a bit. And seriously guys--if I can do it, ANYONE can. If you've been afraid of free-hand like I was, give it a shot. It's such a different world when you try it with acrylics rather than nail polishes.

I highly recommend the set that I received from Born Pretty Store, which you can find by clicking here. It has everything you'll need to get started, including a nice range of colors. And I do have a coupon code good for 10% off anything and everything you buy (this is not an affiliate link):

Thanks for taking a look! Big hugs,
M.

(The acrylic paints shown in this post were provided for my 100% honest review.)

NOTD: Bright skittle stamping :)

Hello!

Today's Sunday Stamping prompt in Adventures In Stamping is to stamp over a skittle. These days my favorite type of skittle is a 2 + 2 skittle, with two colors each on two nails, and one of the colors on the thumb (although you never get to see the thumb, lol).

I was feeling very summery, so I decided to go with some deliciously bright summer colors. I chose Zoya Darcy, a bright lemon creme, and Zoya Mitzy, an avocado matte. Holy moly, Mitzy is a huge pain in the butt to apply--I mean on the level of old-school holo pain in the butt. Not only did I have to pull out every trick in my bag to apply it, I had to invent new ones. It made the application of Darcy look easy, impressive as she was a bit problematic, too. Don't get me wrong, I love Zoya, and most of the time have little or no problem with their formula--and ever brand has a few difficult children. So I don't mean to malign the brand, at all. I just had to get that little whine off my chest. :)

Back to the issue at hand. Next I put D&R Apothecary (formerly known as Hit Polish) Sour Candies over Darcy on my pinkie and index finger; Sour Candies is a very fun mix of blue, green, yellow and white glitters of varying sizes, in a nearly clear green-jelly base. Then, I stamped over Mitzi with China Glaze Hanging In The Balance, using Cheeky plate GA3. Finally, I finished off with two yellow glequins on the middle nails:

If that doesn't put some summer spring in your step, I don't know what will! Yes, it's bright, and I love this combination of colors for summertime. Maybe subconsciously it reminds me of a beach ball or something. :)

Thanks for taking a look! Peace and love,
M.

Before & After: Fade into another hue

Hello!!

Today is my next entry in the Nail Challenge Collaborative stamping challenge month. :)

I started off with China Glaze Fade Into Hue as my base color; it's a soft periwinkle creme:

China Glaze Fade Into Hue, direct sun

China Glaze Fade Into Hue, indirect sun

To decorate it, I did a diagonal gradient with China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint on. Then I stamped down the gradient with Cheeky GA35, using Barry M Silver Foil. For a final touch, I added a square blue rhinestone to the accent finger:

When I decided to do a diagonal gradient instead of typical horizontal or vertical one, I was worried that it would be more difficult, but it wasn't, at all. And I love the look of it--a bit softer somehow. I also love this stamped image, it's one of my favorites. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Please check out the other stamped manicures, linked below. :)
M.