Before & After: Stormy Shields (featuring Spellbound Nails Stormy Snitch + Messy Mansion Symetrika 03)

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Hello!

The holidays are here!!! Okay, yes, the holidays start with Halloween for me, and then I dive into National Novel Writing Month literally on the stroke of midnight on Halloween...and work like heck to be finished my 50,000 words by Thanksgiving. Which I did! So I got to enjoy a nice, relaxed Thanksgiving. And now it's time to settle in and enjoy the season of lights and happy!

For today's mani, I picked a polish that makes me think of the glowing lights during the holidays, Spellbound Nails Stormy Snitch:

Spellbound Nails Stormy Snitch

Then I wanted to add a elegant design that had a pretty Celtic holiday feel to it, but also had a titch of Hogwarts magic; I selected an image from Messy Mansion's Symetrika 03:

Messy Mansion's Symetrika 03

I stamped with Messy Mansion Soft Gold; here's how it turned out:

Spellbound Nails Stormy Snitch + Messy Mansion Symetrika 03

Spellbound Nails Stormy Snitch + Messy Mansion Symetrika 03

I love the subtle holiday elegance to this, and hope you do, too!


Happy stamping,
M.

NOTD: Deep Sea Diving (Zoya Remy + UberChic Beauty Mermaid Life & Texture-licious plate)

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Hello!


Today I have a quick nail of the day for you, featuring UberChic Beauty's Mermaid Life and Texture-licious mini plate: 

UberChic Beauty Mermaid Life

UberChic Beauty Texture-licious plates

I started with a base of Zoya Remy, a gorgeous midnight blue polish with a green shimmery shift to it, then stamped using Hit The Bottle Polishes in Absinthe-Minded, Pool Party, Copper-Haired Girl, To Have And To Gold, and Tangerine Scream:

Zoya Remy + UberChic Beauty Mermaid Life & Texture-licious plates

Zoya Remy + UberChic Beauty Mermaid Life & Texture-licious plates

What do you think?! I love the pop of these colors against the dark background. I've never been scuba diving, but in my mind, this is what I'd see if I did. :)


Happy stamping!
M.

Before & After: Fall Sunset (featuring Julep Riley, Zoya Tanzy + UberChic Beauty 9-03)

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Hello!

Hey, are you missing summer? If so, I have a fall manicure with a teensy splash of summer in it for you today...

Continuing on with my fall 2016 obsession with orange (I didn't plan this, I swear, it just sorta happened), I started with a base of Julep Riley, a gorgeous blood-orange with a blue shimmer:

Julep Riley

Then I sponged some Zoya Tanzy on the tips:

Julep Riley + Zoya Tanzy

Then I stamped using UberChic Beauty 9-03 and Julep Mickey:

UberChic Beauty 9-03

Here's how it came out:

   

Zoya Tanzy over Julep Riley, stamped with UberChic Beauty 9-03

Zoya Tanzy over Julep Riley, stamped with UberChic Beauty 9-03

What do you think? I love the fall colors, but I love the little splash of magenta to give it extra pizzazz. :)


Happy stamping!
M.

Before & After: Desert Diamonds (featuring Spellbound Nails Crookshanks + UberChic Beauty 10-01)

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Hello!


I am loving pumpkin orange this fall season...so I pulled out my favorite fall pumpkin for a ride around the nail block (okay, yeah, that sounded better in my head...)-- Spellbound Nails Crookshanks:

Spellbound Nails Crookshanks

Next I sponged on some Zoya Tanzy, then I stamped the tear-drop diamond image from UberChic Beauty 10-01:

UberChic Beauty 10-01

I stamped with Hit The Bottle Polish Everyday I'm Truffling (also available on Beautometry). Here's how it turned out: 

UberChic Beauty 10-01 over Spellbound Nails Crookshanks

UberChic Beauty 10-01 over Spellbound Nails Crookshanks

UberChic Beauty 10-01 over Spellbound Nails Crookshanks

What do you think? A little shimmer, a little shine, a little squishy, a little flakie. Lots of fall glam!

Happy Stamping,

M.

Before & After: Coffee bubbles (Messy Mansion Stable Boy + UberChic Beauty 12-03)

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Hello!


I recently discovered that Messy Mansion doesn't just make stamping plates and polishes, they also make regular polishes, too. I couldn't resist trying out Messy Mansion Stable Boy, a pretty fall brown with a pink shimmer:

Messy Mansion Stable Boy

I stamped over it with the bubbles image from UberChic Beauty 12-03:

UberChic Beauty 12-03

I stamped using Messy Mansion Carbon and Dogwood Pink. Here's how it turned out:

UberChic Beauty 12-03 over Messy Mansion Stable Boy

UberChic Beauty 12-03 over Messy Mansion Stable Boy

What do you think? A simple, fun fall look. Not a color combination I would normally pick, but I love how soft the pink looks with the brown.


Happy stamping!
M.

NOTD: Black and white and read all over (featuring Girly Bits GBC 1-01 over Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Thrill Me To The Marrow)

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Hello!

So this mani made me realize that  one of my favorite dad jokes is now almost obsolete...

Q: What's black and white and red all over?
A: The newspaper!

Hahahahahahahaha. *ahem* Except now newspapers are nearly a thing of the past...sigh. Of course, there are alternate punchlines, like "A sunburned penguin!", which, with global warming, is actually more relevant than it used to be. Turn, turn, turn.

Anyway.

For today's NOTD, I started with a base of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Thrill Me To The Marrow, and then stamped images from Girly Bits GBC 1-01:

I stamped using Girly Bits Little Black Dress and Fire Engine Red:

Girly Bits GBC 1-01 over Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Thrill Me To The Marrow

Girly Bits GBC 1-01 over Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Thrill Me To The Marrow

Girly Bits GBC 1-01 over Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Thrill Me To The Marrow

Look at those incredibly crisp lines!! I don't think I've ever done a manicure with such perfect stamping as I got from this plate and these polishes. And I love the partial-overlap look of the red under the black, it reminds me of the little bird from the Partridge Family theme, like there's a bunch of them hanging out on a fence. :)


Happy Stamping!
M.

Before & After: Copper Poppies (featuring Shinespark Polish Heart Of A Hero + Messy Mansion MM78XL)

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Hello!


I love myself an awesome holo, and Shinespark Polish Heart Of A Hero is one for sure:

Shinespark Polish Heart Of A Hero

Shinespark Polish Heart Of A Hero

Shinespark Polish Heart Of A Hero

Shinespark Polish Heart Of A Hero

When faced with a gorgeous holo like this, I always want to find a way to accent it with art without covering it completely. This time, I decided to use the gorgeous art nouveau poppy from Messy Mansion MM78XL:

Messy Mansion MM78XL

I stamped the poppy with Messy Mansion Soft Gold; I stamped the layering portion of the poppies to the left like petals blowing across the bottom using Hit The Bottle Polish (also available on Beautometry) Everyday I'm Truffling. Here's how it turned out:

Messy Mansion MM78XL over Shinespark Polish Heart Of A Hero

Messy Mansion MM78XL over Shinespark Polish Heart Of A Hero

Messy Mansion MM78XL over Shinespark Polish Heart Of A Hero

I love the classic femininity, with plenty of holo flash shining through. What do you think?


Happy Stamping,
M.

Tutorial: Psychedelic Sound Waves (featuring Zoya Sunsets and UberChic Beauty Op Art Magic plate)

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Hello!


Today I have a little tutorial for you to go with our before and after...


For this mani, I started with a base of Zoya Liv:

Zoya Liv

Then I sponged on gradients of Zoya Ness and Zoya Dory, then stamped over it with UberChic Beauty's Op Art Magic plate and Messy Mansion Chalk:

Here's how it came out!

UberChic Beauty Op Art Magic over Zoya Sunset polishes

UberChic Beauty Op Art Magic over Zoya Sunset polishes

UberChic Beauty Op Art Magic over Zoya Sunset polishes

What I did a little differently this time was stamp a vertical gradient on my ring finger, and a horizontal gradient on my other nails, and then stamped the image in corresponding directions. Here's a closer look at how I did it:

Tutorial: UberChic Beauty Op Art Magic over Zoya Sunset gradients

What do you think? I think it's trippy and happy at the same time. I love images like this when you want a fun, happy mani.


Happy stamping!
M.

Review: UberChic Beauty Mermaid Life (with sample mani featuring Zoya Levi and Julep Adele)

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Hello!


Do you wish you were a mermaid? My personal wish list goes like this: Queen, Magical Superhero, Mermaid. But honestly, any one of the above is juuuust fine.


If you're a wannabe mermaid, UberChic Beauty has made the perfect plate for you, their Mermaid Life plate. Of course I did a review discussing the images for you:

(And if you prefer your reviews a little more on the fast side, check out my super-quick version, here.)


Let's take a look at the plate:

There's a mermaid here for every mood: sexy, cute, whimsical, straight hair, curly hair, up close, full-body. But, there's also plenty of fun images to build pirate manicures and ocean manicures--and can I just say how in love I am with the full-nail scallop shell images at the bottom? Stayed tuned for a mani I'e done with that.


How about size? This'll give you an idea of the size of the images:

And how do they stamp?

Top-notch quality, as always. :)


For my sample mani, I used Zoya Levi on three nails, and Julep Adele on the other two. Then I stamped a variety of scallop shell images from the plate with Messy Mansion Chalk:

UberChic Beauty Mermaid Life over Zoya Levi and Julep Adele

UberChic Beauty Mermaid Life over Zoya Levi and Julep Adele

What do you think? I think this came out sparkly, but not over the top, and with an elegant edge. We won't talk about the fact that I messed up the side of the thumb a little...ahem.


You can find this plate in UberChic Beauty's store, and don't forget to follow them on Instagram and Facebook for inspiration and news updates. :)


Happy stamping!
M.