Review & How-To: MoYou-London Fairytale Collection 10

Hello Hello Hello!!

In yesterday's post I told you I'd be reviewing the plate I used, MoYou London's Fairytale collection plate 10, in a post later this week. Well, I have had an amazingly productive day and I managed to get everything in line to write up the post for you today. Woo hoo!! Caffeine rules!

As usual, I have a little video I made showing you the plate up-close and personal, while I talk about some ways to use it:

And the next order of business is some still shots:

MoYou London Fairytale Collection 10

MoYou London Fairytale Collection 10

MoYou London Fairytale Collection 10

MoYou London Fairytale Collection 10

Hey! How do the images on those plates compare in size to standard Konad images?

MoYou London Fairytale Collection 10 Vs. Konad

Okay, so, let's do a little break-down on this plate, because I think it has possibly the most versatility to it that I've ever seen on a plate. Because, really, how many plates can take you through both Halloween and Christmas?


1) Full-nail images.  While full-nail images are not this plate's strong point, there are still a few, especially if you have shorter nails. Be warned--with the exception of the brocade-like pattern I used in my manicure, there is not a ton of wiggle room; I don't want you to get this plate if you have medium nails expecting that you can get a bunch of this type of use from this plate. But if can be done, carefully, with shorter nails. Here is my manicure from yesterday, with the full-nail brocade, to refresh your memory:

And here are the areas I think can be used for full or partial background images, with care:

2) Halloween manicure. Yes, that's right, I said it and I meant it. If scary clowns freak you out, this is completely awesome. And you can also use this for brains, and reptilian scale stuff: 

3) Child-themed manicures, like baby-showers. There are toys everywhere!! The pinwheel is my favorite, and don't forget the little paper boats. I don't know if kids these days still do that, but I know I did when I was a little girl. And the base of the jack-in-the-box has a whimsical pattern that could look like a child's toybox. 

4) Ballerina-themed manicures. This one is pretty much a no-brainer, I admit. There's a beautiful ballerina in the center, little ballerinas in different positions on the edge, and of course, the ballet shoes. :)

5) Christmas manicures. A Nutcracker manicure is also a no-brainer here, and is a slight variation on the ballerina theme above. Make it with Christmas colors, and you've got a festive holiday manicure. :) Also, the toys are cute under-the-tree items. Take a look at my manicure below, for a fast look at how to do this. 

6) Miscellaneous cool decorative elements. This plate has beautiful arches that can be used as borders or as elements in skittle manicures, etc. If you pull the images from the longer portions toward the bottom, you can get portions that will look straight on your nails (see my manicure below). There are also little florette images next to the soldier, in different sizes for different nails or to use together in a larger design. 

I've had some comments about the really large images on these plates, like the soldier and the main ballerina on this one, mentioning that they are really intimidating because there's no way you can get the whole image on one nail. That is true, and I understand how frustrating that can be! One option is to stamp the image over several nails. Another option is to pick part of the image, and I wanted to showcase that for you. I also wanted to show you that you can really get straight parts off of the arches, lol, or at least straight enough. So here is a Christmas Nutcracker manicure I put together quickly for demonstration purposes:

The base polish I used here is InDecisive Nail Lacquer Bloodstone, and I stamped with Barry M Silver Foil. The soldier and Clara both come out clearly, and I think Clara is stunning--she'd look great just on her own, in my opinion. :)

I hope this has helped spark your creativity for this plate, and for other collage plates you may have. :)

Hugs and loves!!
M.

NCC Before & After: Brocade Monsoon

Hello!

Hey, how's it goin'? You havin' a good weekend? Today I had a pretty good day.  I got to sleep for more than 5 hours for the first time in a week, and it was glorious. Glorious, I tell you, glorious!!!

Today I have the last of my March Nail Challenge Collaborative manis, and I'm a little bummed that this month is over. I have so many untrieds that I could probably do this theme all year. :)


Today's untried is Mentality Monsoon, a deep purple-gray matte with red particles in it:

Mentality Monsoon

Mentality Monsoon

Mentality Monsoon

Mentality Monsoon

For reasons I can't fully explain, every time I get a deliciously smooth Mentality matte on my fingers, I want to brocade it. Maybe it's because the matte reminds me of lush velvet, I dunno. But it does, and I do. So, I stamped over it using MoYou London Fairytale Collection 10 (which I will be reviewing for you later this week--check back for that!) and Sally Hansen Red-io Active; I chose red because those little red flecklets in the polish were calling out to me. I did put topcoat over the manicure, but I've included pictures of my thumb while it was still matte (I admit, I forgot to take pictures of it matte before I topcoated the other ones, lol!):

And a matte shot...this is why my thumbs normally don't appear on the blog, lol!: 

If you think this would make a great winter or Christmas look, I completely agree with you, and I plan to wear it that way in the future. Wait 'til you see the plate it came from, so much coolness...:)

Have a wonderful Sunday! Hugs and loves. :)
M.

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Review: Barielle Velvets Spring 2014 Collection

(Press Sample)

Hello!!

Today I have the first of two Barielle Spring Collections to show you. This is the Spring 2014 Velvets collection, and it has a soft, muted Spring feel to it; the other collection is the Vibrants, which has (as the name implies) colors designed for your brighter side. These are for when you want a little more subtle, soft sophistication. :)

Let's take a look at Cream 'N Sugar, which is the softest and the subtlest of all. This is a barely-there peach tinted polish that gives your nails a healthy glow. It's the type of polish that is used in a French Manicure; so I thought the best way to show it to you would be in a French manicure. Also, I've kept my ring finger polish-free so you can compare, except for a coat of Seche Vite, the same as on top of the other nails.

Barielle Cream 'N Sugar

Barielle Cream 'N Sugar

Barielle Cream 'N Sugar

I have to apologize for the staining on my ring finger--ggrrrr!! I guess I should just be glad it's not worse, considering how much blue polish I wear. Anyway, you can see that the polish gives a soft peach tint, and perfects the nail to make you look like you have amazing, perfect nails that just stepped out from a manicure. Application is easy, the formula is great, and the drying time is good. I have two coats here, over my hand-applied French tips, which I did with a Mash nail art pen.


Next we have Uptown Girl, a pastel peach creme that looks like it walked off an Easter parade:

Barielle Uptown Girl

Barielle Uptown Girl

Barielle Uptown Girl

I love the color on this; it's a good nude for me, and I think it would look good on a lot of different skin tones. However, this is the only polish in the collection that I did struggle with in terms of application. I have three coats here because I wasn't able to even the streaking with two; although you can still see some of the streaking in the pictures, it was mostly invisible with the naked eye at three coats.


Next up is A Little Exotic, a mauvy-pink creme:

Barielle A Little Exotic

Barielle A Little Exotic

This is a really pretty color that just did not want to agree with my skin! But that doesn't change that it's a cheery Spring color that still has a muted look, and is very work friendly. Application was wonderful, formula was great, and this is two coats. :)

One of my favorites in my collection is My Week Away, a light dusty rose with a golden shimmer:

Barielle My Week Away

 

Barielle My Week Away

I've said a million times that I don't like pinks; well this is the sort of pink I do like. Not like, absolutely love. It has an elegant Victorian feel that feels classy and chic at the same time. The shimmer gives it just a bit of added flash, like a very slight burnished feel. Formula and application on this were perfect; two coats went on and covered effortlessly.


Next we have My Tan Blazer, a buttery camel creme:

Barielle My Tan Blazer

 

Barielle My Tan Blazer

You don't normally see colors like this in a Spring collection, and I'm glad it's here. It's a good alternative to the yellow creme you'd expect, and I think this fits the more muted tone of the overall collection. This also applied like a dream, no issues whatsoever. This is two beautiful coats.



And to go out with a bang, we have Sexy Mood, muted fushica creme:

Barielle Sexy Mood

Barielle Sexy Mood

Barielle Sexy Mood

This is another of my favorites from the collection; I love shades like this, that have a dusty feel, rather than a regular pastel or or a bright. This makes me think of a beautiful garden of antique cabbage roses, with a girl in a floaty dress sitting on a swing that's wrapped in ribbons. Hmm, I guess an easier way to say that it's very romantic. This polish was also very easy to apply, and went on flawlessly; this is two coats.

You can find Barielle's polishes on their site, and they're widely available at beauty stores and online shops. I'll be back soon with their Vibrants collection, which is a perfect collection to help you transition into summer!

Hugs and loves,
M.

Review & How-To, plus NCC Before & After: MoYou London Artist Collection 07

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Hello!

I'm back with my review of MoYou London Artist Collection 07. First, as always, here is the video portion of today's show:

(Are you hearing it yet?)

And next up, I have the stills of the plate for you:

MoYou London Artist Collection 07

(All the old paintings on the tombs)

MoYou London Artist Collection 07

(They do the sand dance, don't ya know)

MoYou London Artist Collection 07 

And then, of course, the comparison with a standard Konad plate:

In my mind, this is an amazing plate because it has both Ancient Egyptian images (one of which is a kitty!), and a distinctly art-deco, 1920s feel. So in terms of my collection and my tastes, this is a much more versatile plate than it might appear, if you just look at it and think 'Egypt!' I will demonstrate with my Before & After below, which is this week's untried manicure for my Nail Challenge Collaborative group. :)

First, let's talk a little about what you can do with this plate. As with the other MoYou London collage plates, there are a few different approaches you can take, and most of them only require basic stamping skill, plus the ability to isolate an image. And I have a tutorial on that, which you can find by clicking here. :)

So what are my suggestions for this plate?

1) My top suggestion for all of the collage style plates is to look for full-nail images in the patterns. There are at least 4-5 full nail images here that you can use, maybe a couple more if your nails aren't that long"

2) Cartouche nails! This is an easy plate to grab either of the two already constructed cartouches, or to contruct your own with a heiroglpyh on each nail. There is a ton of them to choose from, and you can just pick the ones you like, or figure out what they mean and give your nails a hidden meaning. :)

3) Egyptian art. On either an accent nail, or over several nails, you can pull the iconic images here. There's Bast, Anubis, a Queen (how cool would it be just to use her face, just the eyes, nose and mouth, with nothing else?) the winged scarab, the cobra, etc. There's enough here to get you through tons of different manicures, alone or in different combinations.  This is part of what I did on my manicure this Monday (which I'll show below); I used Bast for my accent nail. :)

4) A few of these collage plates have an awesome pattern-morphing-into-another-pattern thing, and this is one of them. You can use this to have a pattern morph across the nails of your manicure, and that was the main technique I used in Monday's manicure. Here it is again to refresh your memory:

I got a little tricksey with this, let me show you what I did. First, take a look at the portions of the plates I used:

Instead of isolating Bast's head like I probably would in another manicure, by wiping off the patterns surrounding his head, I decided to use it to make a triple-pattern-morph manicure. I put the head on my accent nail, and on my pinkie, I carried over the fan-esque pattern. Then, on my middle finger, I stamped an area that had part of the brick pattern transitioning into the diamond pattern; because of the type of pattern it was, I was able to take the image not from right next to the head, but from down below so I could get the place where there is a transition--with a different type of pattern I wouldn't have been able to do that. Finally, I took the image for the index finger completely from the diamond area.


5) Art-deco-ness! Okay, so. The last thing I'm going to talk about is what I see as some really interesting art-deco patterns on this plate. One of the first things that caught my eye about this plate was the finial-type rods coming down under the Queen; the look like really cool beaded or fringed edging on a flapper-era dress to me, and I've wanted to do something with it since I first spied with my little eye. So for the last suggestion, I'm going to remind you to break away from the theme of the collage plate when thinking about how to use it. I think you could get your money's worth out of this plate without EVER producing one image that looked Ancient Egyptian--although why you'd want to is beyond me! (hee hee hee).

For this manicure, I started with China Glaze Glittering Garland, which has sat in my untried pile forever; it's a deep forest green with green-gold glass flecks in the finish:

China Glaze Glittering Garland

China Glaze Glittering Garland

Next, I stamped the image from Artist 07 on all of the nails except the accent nail with China Glaze Passion. For the accent nail, I used an image from MoYou London's Time Traveler Collection, Back To The 20s plate 01. Finally, I finished the whole thing with two square brads, and a sweep of topcoat:

And there you have it, a retro manicure any modern flapper girl would be proud to rock. Now tell the truth--would you think anything from this came from an Egyptian plate? No way. And there are plenty of other patterns on it that are the same way. So stretch those creative muscles, don't forget to think outside of these box with these amazing plates!

Hugs and loves,
M.

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