NOTD Before & After: MSMD Monday featuring Panvel Make-up Stars Cleopatra (Or, how my obsession began)

Hello!

This MSMD Monday manicure is very special to me. Back in the day, I was a normal polish user. I only had about 15 polishes, and while I loved them, I was very basic with them...no special art, or layering or anything like that. Just plain, vanilla polishing. Then, one day, my niece sent me a link to a manicure tutorial, and at the end of it...at the end of it...I saw something that changed the world of nail polish for me.

It was a tutorial featuring a Konad lace pattern.

I was stunned by the detail and precision, and had to know how they had managed to get it perfectly the same on each nail. I hurried to buy the plate and supplies needed to replicate the manicure...and I have never been the same since. You can see the tutorial that inspired me, by Miss80million, by clicking here.

The irony is, I never did replicate that manicure, I got too side-tracked by other designs and possibilities. In fact, I'd mostly forgotten all about it until I was recently asked to do a manicure featuring lace. The plate used in the tutorial instantly came to mind, and I had to use it, even though I used different colors and a different pattern placement.

I started out with a base of Panvel Make-up Stars' Cleopatra, which was one of the amazing Brazilian polishes I got in my swap. Here is what it looks like on:

Panvel Cleopatra in the shade

Panvel Cleopatra in the sun--look at that awesome shimmer

Then I stamped over it using Konad plate m57, and China Glaze Kalahari Kiss:

Lacey manicure in the shade

In the sun--again, have to love that shimmer

Angled to show the tips

My first real prop pose, lol

I wanted something subtle, and I love the way it turned out. However, I can't take full credit for it, as it turned out a bit more subtle than I intended. If you look at the picture with my thumb in it, you may notice that the lace on my thumb seems to be a different color. It isn't--I stamped all of them with Kalahari Kiss. However, once I put the topcoat on over the stamping...it started to pick up the color of the polish. The first polish I used was Seche Vite, but after taking the picture, I put China Glaze Fast Forward on my thumb, and it did the same thing. I'm not sure why...very strange!

Anyway. as I say, this is a special MSMD for me because it honors the tutorial that brought me into the world of nail obsession. And finally, finally, finally, I've used that first image that got me hooked into it! :)

Thanks for reading. :) Please check out the other ladies that participated in today's MSMD, linked below.

M. :)