Lacquer or Leave Her!: August 2015

Monday, August 31, 2015

Review: BPS L016

(Press sample;affiliate links)

Hello!

I have another Born Pretty Store plate to show you today, one of their larger rectangular ones, BP-L016. I included it in this video review:

And here are the still images of the plate: And here's a shot

Born Pretty Store BP-L016

And here's a shot next to a konad plate to give you a sense of the relative size of the images:

Born Pretty Store BP-L016 vs. Konad

So how does the plate stamp? Here is the test I did:

Stamping test of Born Pretty Store BP-L016

Audrey looks as beautiful as ever (be careful to stamp her with a darker polish, over a lighter polish--I've learned images like these don't work so well the other way around!) and the detail in that damask is beautiful.

I love the romance of this plate; it has a soft, flowery, Victorian feel to it, and the Parisian images always evoke romance in me. So I wanted to do something girly and romantic for my test manicure.

I started with a base of Zoya Nana from the Island Fun collection (you can see my full review here) because I've been loving these polishes lately, and I wanted to test something out with them...

Then I painted my pinkie with Zoya Genesis from the Paradise Sun collection (you can see my full review here); this is a sparkly flecked white polish, and I wanted to see if it would stamp, so I stamped two of the images from the plate on my index and middle fingers:

Love is in the Parisian air...

Love is in the Parisian air

Genesis stamped!! The images came out clear and the sparkly shined right on through. This is not a bold look like you'll get with a standard white creme, but for a softer look, this polish does quite a nice job. I can see using this a lot for background stamping in double-stamped looks.

Don't forget, if you want to purchase this plate or other fun stuff at Born Pretty Store, you can get 10% off using my code:

Happy Stamping!!

M.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Review: UberChic Beauty Collection 3

(Purchased by me)

Hello!

I have another excellent set of UberChic Beauty plates to show you today--this time it's Collection 3, the collection that caused me to fall in love with UberChic Beauty to start with.

Of course we're gonna start with one of my video reviews:

And then we're gonna take a look at some still shots of the plates:

UberChic Beauty plate 3-01

So much to love, but my favorites are the sunflower, the doily images, the 'fight' word collage, the lightbulbs, those amazing butterflies, and that marble-like textured image.

UberChic Beauty plate 3-02

So much to love on this plate I don't know where to start! My very favorite is the art deco image second row from top, first on the left; I also love the flower collage, the leaves, the fingerprint swirls, the sphere of flowers, and that big crocus-y flower...sigh...

UberChic Beauty plate 3-03

I love the brocade pattern, and the honeycomb-like image and the scribble paisley and the puffy flowers and the one that looks like a beautiful bracelet (third row from bottom, second from the right), and I love all of the empowering words on the plate. Just awesome. :)

Hey, how big are these plates? Take a look at them next to my ruler:

UberChic Beauty plate 3-01 size

UberChic Beauty plate 3-02 size

So how do they stamp?! Check out these swatches:

I call that some pretty darn good image quality. Easy-peasy-punkin-pie, great detail and differentiation. :)

I also have several more UberChic Beauty plate reviews on YouTube, as well as blog posts for collection 4 and the Sweet April plate.

UberChic Beauty also just released some awesome new plates including a fifth collection, a sports plate, and a to-die-for limited edition zombie plate. They are definitely worth a look-see!!

I'll be back soon with some manis using these plates...:)

Happy Stamping,
M.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Before & After: Incoco Masterpiece and UberChic Beauty 4-03

(Press sample)

Hello!

Today I'm gonna show you the second set of nail appliques Incoco sent me to review from their Modern Marble collection. This set is called Masterpiece; it has a soft white opalescent background, with swirls of purple, pink, blue, and black:

Incoco Masterpiece

I chose which wraps I used strategically to create a skittle look with lots of swirls on the middle two nails, and soft whispers of swirls on the outer nails; when you have shorter nails, you have a ton of options to play with, since you're only using about half of each wrap:

Incoco Masterpiece

I wore them like this for a couple of days, and then decided to stamp over them; the colors had a bit of a tropical feel to me, so I decided to go for some tropical flowers from UberChic Beauty 4-03; I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Grape Escape:

Tropical masterpiece

I used the a full-nail image from the plate on the pinkie, ring, and index fingers, and a single hibiscus flower on the middle and thumbs. What I love about this plate is that even though the flowers themselves are a single solid color, the subtle swirls under them add a hint of texture and color that keeps the manicure from being one-note. And check out the quality of that stamping!

There's one other thing I want to mention about these wraps. This is my Cinderella hand; my index and middle finger on this hand take a beating, and it's very hard for me to grow out my nails because of it. they peel and split and while I can keep them a decent length with proper treatments, they never get very far. But after wearing this set and the other set of Incoco wraps back-to-back, I noticed that the wraps gave my nails some extra protection, and those two nails are healthier than they've been in quite some time. I'm trying my best to keep them that way!

Happy wrapping and stamping,
M.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Before & After: Deco Diamonds with It Girl Nail Art IG101

(Press sample; affiliate links)

Hello!!

You might remember me raving about the art deco images on It Girl Nail Art IG101 when I first reviewed the new It Girl Nail Art plates, and I finally have the chance to do a mani with them for you!

I started with SinfulColors Blue Sensation:

SinfulColors Blue Sensation

Then I used two images from It Girl Nail Art fashion plate IG101

I stamped one of the images on my ring fingers and thumbs, and the other image on the rest of my nails, using Barry M Silver Foil:

Deco Diamonds with It Girl Nail Art IG101

I love this look--I love the clean simple lines and how well the two designs play together. There's a lot there, but it still has a harmony that doesn't make the design too busy. And although it was a nightmare to photograph, I love this shimmery blue with the silver. I think it looks elegant and refined. I'd also love to see this same mani in red stamped with gold or silver stamped with black. Sigh...

You can find this plate and It Girl Nail Art's two other plates on their Store Envy site or their Etsy shop.

Happy stamping!
M.

Press release: UberChic Beauty is releasing new plates today!

Hello!

Check this out! UberChic Beauty is releasing some new plates today, including a limited edition Zombie Love plate--if you're a Walking Dead fan like me, run before it's gone!!

Zombie Love

Sports Fan

Collection 5: 5-01

Collection 5: 5-02

Collection 5: 5-03

Happy stamping!
M.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Review: Zoya fall 2015 Focus collection

(Press sample; affiliate links)

Hello!

I took a couple of days off to celebrate my birthday, and wow was it a cool one--while hiking a path that ran along the ocean, I saw a pod of humpback whales feeding in a cove. Amazing!

Now I'm back, and I have the second half of Zoya's fall offerings for you: the 2015 Focus collection of lush fall cremes (if you missed the first half, Zoya's Flair collection, you can see it here). Let's jump on in!

To start, we have Zoya Charli, an olive gray creme:

Zoya Charli

This is two coats; you can get away with one if you're careful. Application was effortless and the formula was perfect. I love this color, it's my favorite in the collection; olive enough to go with anything involving green, but muted enough to act as a neutral. LOVE.

Next up is Zoya Desiree, a deep espresso creme:

Zoya Desiree

This is two coats, but again could be one if you're careful. In lower light situations, this polish takes on more of a gray cast, which gives it a slightly edgy feel, I think. This is such a cool neutral for almost any fall outfit, and I love it for nail art.

Then we have Zoya Hannah, a chili-cherry red creme:

Zoya Hannah

Hannah will definitely put a little heat into your life during those long cool fall days! This is an almost universally flattering shade of red, with just enough pin-up kick to it. This is two easy coats, no problem with formula or application.

Then there's Zoya Janel, a brick red creme:

Zoya Janel

If Hannah is pin-up, Janel is flat-out vamp. This is a darker, cooler shade that has an elegant, adult feel to it. It's also my ideal Christmas red. :) Two coat, excellent application and formula.

It's unusual for a collection to have two reds; red is my favorite color, so I'm not going to complain, but I was surprised by it, and I thought it would be a good idea to do a comparison shot of the two reds to help you choose which you want (or if you definitely want both!):

You can see that Hannah is lighter and warmer, while Janel is deeper and more of a brick tone.

Next up is Zoya Lidia, a regal aubergine creme:

Zoya Lidia

Yes yes yes yes yes! Oh, most beautiful of eggplant cremes, vampy, rich, and mysterious! This is part of why I love fall so much, these deep, bold jewel tones. This is two coats; I had a bit of streaking on the first coat, but that went away completely with the second coat.

And finally, we have Zoya Sia, a muted cerulean blue creme:

Zoya Sia

This is two coats, but you might be able to get away with one; formula and application were excellent. I didn't have any problem with staining, but I'd definitely recommend using at least one coat of base coat with any sort of saturated blue polish. I love this color; it has a European sort of feel to it, just a little bit muted but still with a rich pop of color. Sophisticated but still fun.

Overall, I think this is an top-notch collection in terms of quality and application, with a solid selection of choices to get you through your fall wardrobe needs, that will transition you into winter; Charli and Desiree give two unusual neutrals while Hannah, Janel, Lidia, and Sia give bold jewel-toned color. This collection matches about 90% of my fall/winter wardrobe.

Oh, and by the way--these are great for stamping. :)

You can find the collection on Zoya's site, or anywhere else Zoya is sold, including Amazon.

Happy Polishing!
M.