Review: Messy Mansion Crystal 04

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)

Hello!


I'm soooo into spring manis right now, and I've been waiting to make my first cherry blossom mani of season, with Messy Mansion Crystal 04 layering plate. Here's the video review I did of Messy Mansion's Crystal series:



Let's take a closer look at the plate:

Messy Mansion Crystal 04

Pretty much any type of flower you could ever hope to layer is here for you, along with some branches and some birdies and some leaves just to make things complete. :)


The sizes vary, so here's a look at the plate with a ruler:

And of course what we really want to know is how well this baby stamps:

 The quality is excellent, and the images layer well--when my hand isn't shaking!


For my sample manicure, I started with a base of The Lady Varnishes Poetry Reading. I stamped my branches with Messy Mansion Pudding, and then my flowers with Messy Mansion Chalk, Dogwood Pink, and Petal. Unfortunately, I didn't put on topcoat before I stamped, so the green of the base polished leaked into the stamped images and changed the color--however, I really liked the muted colors I ended up with, so decided to keep it as is:

Messy Mansion Crystal 04 over The Lady Varnishes Poetry Reading

Messy Mansion Crystal 04 over The Lady Varnishes Poetry Reading

What do you think? I like the dusty vintage feel I ended up with, and that base polish is soooo gorgeous.


You can find this plate and the stamping polisehs in Messy Mansion's store, and you can also find many of their products on Amazon if that's easier for you.  And don't forget to stalk them around the interwebs:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/messymansion/

Facebook Fangroup: https://www.facebook.com/groups/messymansion/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messymansion/

Happy stamping!
M.

Review: Marianne Nails plate 124

(Press samples ahead!)

Hello!


I hope you had a great weekend--mine was stuck in migraine land, and I'm so happy to finally be out from under it. :)


Today we're gonna take a look at another cool plate from Marianne Nails, plate 124. In case you missed it, here is my video review:

(And I'm having a giveaway for a Marianne Nails plate, which you can find here.)


Let's take a closer look:

Marianne Nails 124

This plate has gorgeous native images on it, dreamcatchers, all sorts of feathers, and a totem you can use for full-nail images. Don't forget to play around with the edges on that--you can place the images in all sorts of cool ways to get different effects.


The images are all different sizes, so here's a shot with a ruler to give you a feel:

How do they stamp? The stamping quality is amazing, take a look:

For my sample mani, I started with a base of Zoya Lacey (from their spring 2017 Charming collection), and then stamped over it with Messy Mansion Hydrangea Blue, then stamped my little lizards with Messy Mansion Pudding:

Marianne Nails 124 over Zoya Lacey, stamped with Messy Mansion polishes

Marianne Nails 124 over Zoya Lacey, stamped with Messy Mansion polishes

Marianne Nails 124 over Zoya Lacey, stamped with Messy Mansion polishes

This has a cool southwestern look that goes with spring, but with a little kick (a little lizard kick, that is, hehehehehe). I was super happy with how well the Hydrangea Blue showed up over Lacey, for a layered effect that was subtle, but not too subtle.  What do you think?


You can find this plate in Marianne Nails' store. You can also find them around the interwebs:

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Marianne-nails-1434900166772095/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marianne.nails.france/

Fan group: https://www.facebook.com/search/str/fans+of+marianne+nails%2Fles+fans+de+marianne+nails/keywords_top

And don't forget to enter my Marianne Nails giveaway here! :)

Happy stamping!
M.

Review: Messy Mansion plate MM93XL (Or, anchors away!)

(Press samples ahead!)

Hello!


Today we're gonna take a trip to the beach, with Messy Mansion's new nautical-themed plate, MM93XL. Here's the video I made reviewing the plate:

Here's a shot of the plate:

Messy Mansion MM93XL

Full-nail Image size: 2 cm x 2.6 cm

What I think of the plate: I love the touches that set this apart from other nautical plates. The anemone image is stunning--throw some color on that and you've got an amazing mani even with just a single accent nail. I love that there's an infinite image of an underwater scene, so you can do a whole aquarium or underwater scene across your nails with a different element on each nail. I love the different types of seaweed, and I love how even the ropes have a linked pattern rather that just being plain ol' ropes.


So how does it stamp? Beautifully:

Crisp, bold stamping--love it.


For my mani, started with a base of Girly Bits Irreplaceable and Yes, We Can, and then couldn't help but wonder how, since the cremes are so luscious, how they'd stamp...so I tested them out with the plate:
 

Messy Mansion MM93XL over Girly Bits Irreplaceable and Yes, We Can

Messy Mansion MM93XL over Girly Bits Irreplaceable and Yes, We Can

Messy Mansion MM93XL over Girly Bits Irreplaceable and Yes, We Can

I'm really impressed with how these colors stamp over one another, and I love how sharp and crisp the images are. I love the nautical theme with these neutrals, and this is such a fast, fun look. What do you think?


You can find this plate in Messy Mansion's store, and you can follow them in these spots around the internet:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/messymansion/

Facebook Fangroup: https://www.facebook.com/groups/messymansion/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messymansion/

Happy stamping!
M.

Review: Selections from Incoco's Ever After & Sparkle On collections!

(Press samples ahead!)

Hello!


I'm in love with the selections I have to show you from two Incoco collections today--the Ever After collection because it's soooo art deco, and the Sparkle On collection because it's the easiest way to get good glitter looks I know. Let's jump in!


Here are the two selections I received from the Ever After collection. Gatsby is a bold, linear art deco black-on-yellow-gold pattern that makes my heart sing:

Incoco Gatsby, from the Ever After collection

Incoco Gatsby, from the Ever After collection

What I love best about this set is the mix-and-match potential. If you're in the mood for something more sleek, you can stick more with the thick lines and the diamonds in the center, but if you want something more intricate, you can use more of the ones that have more decoration to them (don't forget you can easily cut down the bigger ones to fit whichever nail you want):

Incoco Gatsby, from the Ever After collection

Incoco Gatsby, from the Ever After collection

If you're looking for something a little softer, try Incoco Magic Spell, which features black swirls on a champagne gold background:

Incoco Magic Spell

Incoco Magic Spell

Incoco Magic Spell

As you can see, I had a little difficulty getting this one to lie flat, which is unusual. I think there may have been a small puncture in the package that made them a little less flexible. I do love the design, however!


The Sparkle On collection features glitter wraps--and I love Incoco's glitter wraps because they are sooooooo easy to remove, no need for the foil technique or anything.

Incoco Eye Candy has a clear base with gold glitter, which makes it awesomely versatile:

Incoco Eye Candy

Incoco Eye Candy

Because glitter over nekkid nails is on trend right now, I tried them out that way first:

Incoco Eye Candy

But of course the coolest part is you can put these over any base polish you want; here it is over Zoya Lacey:

Incoco Eye Candy over Zoya Lacey

Incoco Eye Candy over Zoya Lacey

And I also love the bare look paired with an accent nail:

Incoco Eye Candy with Incoco Magic Spell

Incoco Eye Candy with Incoco Magic Spell

And finally, we have Incoco Sparkle On, the namesake from the Sparkle On collection, a gold glitter over a black base:

Incoco Sparkle On

Incoco Sparkle On

Take a look at how gorgeous these look on:

Incoco Sparkle On

Incoco Sparkle On

And of course you know I had to pair this with Gatsby:

Incoco Sparkle On with Incoco Gatsby

Incoco Sparkle On with Incoco Gatsby

I'm always very impressed with Incoco's appliques. I've tried other wraps, but these are the only ones I'd spend my own money on, by far. And, here's a little secret tip...ssshhh...whenever I get too much splitting on my right-hand nails (no idea why it only happens on one hand), I'll wear wraps for a week or two while the nails grow out a bit. Not sure why, but they seem to protect better than regular polish. So if you're a non-gel girl like me, check them out for that!


You can find Incoco wraps in their store here, and you can follow them around the interwebs here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/incoco/?fref=ts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/incocoproducts/

Happy wrapping!
M.

Review and Tutorial: Watercolor mani with MoYou London Circus 01 & 02

(Press samples ahead, plates purchased by me!)

Hello!


Today we're gonna take a look at MoYou London Circus Collection 01 and 02, the regular and XL version of the same image plates. Here's the video I made reviewing and comparing them:

MoYou London often releases both a regular-sized version and an XL version of their themes. Which you buy generally depends on the size of your nails and what type of mani you want to do:

• If you have longer/wider nails, and if you want to be sure your nail to be completely covered, you probably want the XL plate. 
• If you have shorter nails, or want to be sure an entire image fits on your nail--for example, the clown images below--you might want to get the regular sized plate. 
• The regular-sized plate usually has more images than the XL plate, so be sure the image you want appears on the plate you order.

Here's a closer look:

Circus Collection 01 (Regular version)

Circus Collection 02 (XL version)

In this case (it isn't always the case with MoYou London plates) the scale of the images are the same size, it's just there's more of the image on the XL plate. So for example, the ballerinas are the same size on both plates, there are just more of them in the XL image.


What sort of size difference are we talking about? The XL images (plate 02) are 1.5 x 2.0 cm. The regular images (plate 01) are 1.2 x 1.5 cm. If your brain thinks in inches like mine, here's shots with an inch ruler for each :

 

How do they stamp? I've yet to have a MoYou London image plate I struggle with, even with the clear stampers:

These plates are no exception, and you can see in the side-by-sides the difference in length of the images on the two plates.


The vintage feel of these images inspired me to bust out my sharpie pens and try out the Sharpie watercolor technique with these plates, and I made a tutorial to show you how easy and pretty this technique is:

For the mani I started with a base of Girly Bits Love Yourself First and Irreplaceable (both from her Warrior Goddess collection), and then stamped with Girly Bits Silver Bells and Little Black Dress. Then I colored in using my Sharpie ink, and topcoated:

MoYou London Circus 02 over Girly Bits Love Yourself First and Irreplaceable

MoYou London Circus 02 over Girly Bits Love Yourself First and Irreplaceable

I did a second version with different colors and images (same base polish and stamping polishes):

MoYou London Circus 02 over Girly Bits Irreplaceable

The first version has a more tone-on-tone feel, where the second shows you more of a the range of colors you can play with, especially on the ring-finger acrobat. Which do you like better?


You can find these plates in MoYou London's store.


Happy stamping and coloring!
M.