My First Lesly Plates!

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Hello!


Hey, how are you doing today? I'm doing pretty darn good...I have some really good news that I hope to be able to share with you soon...


But in the meantime, let's do something else fun--test out another brand of plates! Today I'm going to show you my very first Lesly plates, and tell you what I think. Here's the video review I did of the plates:

And here's a closer look at the four I was sent for review:

First the minis:

Lesly LS-122

Lesly LS-132

And then the medium:

Lesly LS-11

And finally, the biggie:

Lesly Marine 1

I can't believe how many images they got onto that big plate! Every centimeter is packed full of pretty much every sea-related image you can imagine--including several octopi (octopuses?). I am obsessed with octopi. Seriously, it might be a problem. I should see someone about it.


The down side of getting so many images on a single plate is the full-nail images are a bit smaller than you'll find on some other plates, at 1.5 x 2 cm. I have medium-sized nails, and I found them to be plenty generous--but if you have pretty long nails, take that size into account. Here's a shot with a ruler so you can get a feel for the individual images:

Okay, let's get right to the nail art! First, here are the swatches I did for the video. I had some user error during the filming, but you get the ideas:

For my first full mani, I started with a base of Zoya Missy, then stamped two images from LS-11 in Girly Bits Cosmetics White Wedding and Fire-Engine Red:

Lesly LS-11 over Zoya Missy, stamped with Girly Bits Cosmetics stamping polishes

Lesly LS-11 over Zoya Missy, stamped with Girly Bits Cosmetics stamping polishes

For my next mani, I started with a base of Zoya Rekha, then stamped images from LS-11 and LS-122 with Kaleidoscope Black and Moyra Gold:

Lesly LS-11 and LS-122 over Zoya Rekha, stamped with Kaleidoscope Black and Moyra Gold

Lesly LS-11 and LS-122 over Zoya Rekha, stamped with Kaleidoscope Black and Moyra Gold

I've already shown you my next mani once, but in case you missed it, I started this with a base of Zoya Abby, then stamped my image from LS-132 with Messy Mansion Misty Jade and Amalfi Coast: 

Lesly LS-132 over Zoya Abby, stamped with Messy Mansion Polishes

Lesly LS-132 over Zoya Abby, stamped with Messy Mansion Polishes

For my next mani, I decided to go a little wild and crazy, and put together some pop-art jellyfish...I started with a base of Girly Bits Cosmetics Hearts In Bloom, and then stamped my background image from LS-122 and the layering jellyfish images from Marine 1 with Girly Bits Cosmetics Silly Daffodilly, Fire-Engine Red, Ker-minty Frog Here, Coral Reef, and Little Black Dress:

Lesly LS-122 and Marine 1 over Girly Bits Hearts in Bloom, stamped with Girly Bits stamping polishes

Lesly LS-122 and Marine 1 over Girly Bits Hearts in Bloom, stamped with Girly Bits stamping polishes

(You guys, this one is like something from a fever dream--in the very best way, lol!!)


And for my final mani, I started with a base of Stella Chroma Flannel & Boots, and stamped my image from Marine 1 with Girly Bits Cosmetics Ker-minty Frog Here and Silver Bells:

Lesly Marine 1 over Stella Chroma Flannel & Boots, stamped with Girly Bits stamping polishes

Lesly Marine 1 over Stella Chroma Flannel & Boots, stamped with Girly Bits stamping polishes

So, what did I think? Well, you can tell from all the manis that I was inspired, and that the plates stamped extremely well. I didn't have any performance issues at all--the picked up well, with details preserved. I definitely recommend checking out the brand and picking up whichever appeal to you--there are scads of different patterns to choose from.


If you're in the US or Canada, you can find the plates in Lantern & Wren's shop. If you're elsewhere, check out the supply here.  And in the meantime, come hang out in Lantern & Wren's Facebook group for news about products, sales, and tons of inspiration!

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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UberChic Beauty Halloween 04!

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Hello!


It's the most wonderful tiiiiime of the yeeeeeaaaarrrrr...Halloween time!


(Okay, I actually love Christmas just as much, but I couldn't resist...)


So, let us begin the parade of Halloween manis with a great new plate, UberChic Beauty's Halloween 04! Here's the video review I did of the plate:

And here's a closer look:

UberChic Beauty Halloween 04

As always, UberChic Beauty's full-nail images are 1.7 x 2.1 cm, and here's a shot of the other images with a ruler:

Here are the swatches I did in the video:

And let's dive into the manis! For my first mani, I just HAD to do something with that negative space image, so I combined it with the spiderweb image to make this bundle of holo goodness:

UberChic Beauty Halloween 04 over China Glaze OMG and Sally Hansen Blacky O

UberChic Beauty Halloween 04 over China Glaze OMG and Sally Hansen Blacky O

I call this manicure 'Saturday night in my attic', lol! I started with a base of China Glaze OMG on the ghost nails, and Sally Hansen Blacky O on the others. Then I stamped with Kaleidoscope Black and Hit The Bottle Polish Holo There Beautiful.


For my next mani, I layered the pumpkin images...they aren't meant to be layered, but I discovered with another set of images like these that you can get cool tri-color effects that way. I started with a base of Stella Chroma Pumpkin Everything, from their Fall Mattes collection releasing on Sept 22nd (see my review of the collection here) which is the perfect base of this--the orange with the green shimmer is so perfectly pumpkin! Then I stamped with Messy Mansion Pudding, and then stamped my second image with Messy Mansion Carbon. Finally, I stamped the words with Messy Mansion Carbon and Soft Gold:

UberChic Beauty Halloween 04 over Stella Chroma Pumpkin Everything

UberChic Beauty Halloween 04 over Stella Chroma Pumpkin Everything

For my last mani, I wanted to go for something simple...one might even say basic...I started with a base of Zoya Jancyn, then stamped my images with Kaleidoscope Black:

UberChic Beauty Halloween 04 over Zoya Jancyn

UberChic Beauty Halloween 04 over Zoya Jancyn

I love this--don't get me wrong, I love an intricate mani, but I also love a simple, fun mani sometimes and this hits it for me. How adorable is that witch?!


And, okay, one more...I showed you this one already, though, because it's a combination of images from UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 and Halloween 4 (you can find the full details here):

I call that one 'Haunted Forest!"


You can find this plate now over in UberChic Beauty's shop, and you know I'll be back with more manis featuring this plate...

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 03!

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Hello!


Hey guys! Today I have an awesome fall plate to show you, UberChic Beauty's Lovely Leaves 03. To kick things off, here's the video review I did of the plate:

And here's a closer look at the plate:

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3

Of course there are tons of images on here for fall, but this can be a great plate for any season, depending on what colors you use. For example, I'll show you that awesome three-layer tree image in a winter theme below--plus the swatches I do in the video are designed to show alternate season looks, too. :)


Here's a shot with a ruler to give you a sense of the size of the smaller images:

And here's a look at the swatches I did in the vide, designed to show winter looks:

The brown I used on the tree trunks was a little too dark to show the contrast with the black stamping on camera, so I apologize for that!


On to the manis! For my first mani, I did a smoosh mani with Stella Chrome's Fall Mattes collection, and then stamped over with Moyra Gold:

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 over Stella Chroma Fall Mattes

This reminds me of what the persimmon tree in my backyard will look like in about a week or so...


I also wanted to try out a fall chintz-type mani, so with this mani I started with a base of Girly Bits Cosmetics Old, New, Borrowed and Blue (to give a cool winter sky background), then stamped my images with Girly Bits Flame, Firebrick, and Bronze Goddess:

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 over Girly Bits Old, New, Borrowed, Blue, stamped with Girly Bits polishes

And here it is mattified: 

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 over Girly Bits Old, New, Borrowed, Blue, stamped with Girly Bits polishes

Next I wanted something with a slightly darker tone, so I started with Stella Chroma Cinnamon & Spice (can you tell I adore this collection for fall looks?!), then I stamped with Moyra Gold, and reversed stamped two nails with Girly Bits Flame, Firebrick, and Fire-Engine Red:

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 over Stella Chroma Cinnamon & Spice

And here it is mattified:

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 over Stella Chroma Cinnamon & Spice

And last but not least, I had to try out that tree layering image...Here it is over Stella Chroma Perseids, stamped with Messy mansion Sterling and Carbon...and on the thumb there's a little surprise from UberChic Beauty's Halloween 04 plate: 

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 over Stella Chroma Perseids

And here it is mattified:

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 over Stella Chroma Perseids

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 over Stella Chroma Perseids

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 3 over Stella Chroma Perseids

Phew! I guess this plate inspired me. What do you think, which is your favorite?

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Recreations--Day 5!

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Hello!


So today I'm back with my final recreation of The Digit-al Dozen's recreation week, and I saved the biggest transformation for last...let's take a look at the offending mani:

This is one of those manis that I like every individual component, but somehow when I put them all together, they all just turn into a big pile of yuck. I love the base polish, which if my photography wasn't so horrible, would show as a lavender holo. I like the image just fine, and I'm always a big fan of adding dots to a stamped image. So is it the color combination that's throwing me off? No, I don't think so...


Okay, there's one thing I know just doesn't work. That chick-hatchling-tooth-looking gemstone on the accent nail. THAT definitely has to go.


Since I couldn't pinpoint what I thought went wrong with the design, I decided to just put a modern twist on the whole thing. I went full-on henna, but put the full images only on three nails rather than all five, then put partial images on the other two. And instead of the holo, I went with cremes, and kept the whole thing mattified. What a difference a little modernizing makes:

Lesly LS-132 over Zoya Abby

Lesly LS-132 over Zoya Abby

I started with a base of Zoya Abby, then stamped the image from Lesly LS-132 (I'll have a review of this and two other Lesly plates up on my YouTube Channel soon):

And I stamped with Messy Mansion Misty Jade and Amalfi Coast. And with that, I give you my final recreation mani!


This week has been an interesting one...I think it's a good thing every once in a while to stop and take stock. While I'm horrified at some of the things I put up on the web in my early days, the original point of my blog was to document my journey, including what I learned as I learned it. Over time the focus of the blog has changed and grown, but I still want this to be a place where I talk about the things I try that don't work as well as my successes--and this was a good way to remind myself of that. :)


I hope you've had some fun, and maybe even a few laughs, looking at some of my first attempts at nail art. And don't forget to check out the other ladies' final recreations, below!


Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Recreations--Day 4!

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Hello!


So today's day 4 of the Digit-al Dozen's recreation week, and I'm back with another of my very first manis to recreate for you...

(BTW, I see that this series has cause a number of you to go back and check out some of my first posts...I offer my sincerest apologies to you, lol! In fact, I'm considering changing my hosting plan because it's probably super stupid for me to pay money to keep those up in the blogosphere--nobody's got time to waste on manis that bad!!!)


So today's recreation is a lesson in the folly of pig-headedness...before I explain what I mean, let's take a look at the original mani:

Okay, yeah, so. Since the very beginning of my nail art journey, I've been obsessed with making silver stamping over gold holo, or gold stamping over silver holo, work, especially with visual-illusion images. Now, sometimes they do work enough that they're pretty in real life--but I have never, ever been able to get it to work such that I can photograph it and have it show up well in my pictures. Ironically, this is actually the best I've been able to manage.


Every few years at Easter time, my brain says to me "Hey, wow, those marshmallow peeps sure look good," conveniently forgetting how much I detest marshmallow peeps. And every so often, that same portion of my brain tells me that this time, this combination of silver and gold will work, because surely some stamping polish/base coat combo I haven't tried yet is the way to go. Every time the peeps nauseate me, and every time the combo fails to work.


When picking my manis for this week, that part of my brain woke up again. So I tried to recreate this mani using different visual-illusion images that I thought would allow the silver/gold combination to shine.


It didn't.


So, I present to you a version of this mani that says, in bold colors: I officially acknowledge that for whatever reason, whether it's my skin tone, my non-professional-level camera, or some other reason, the silver/gold combo is just not one that works for me.

BeautyBigBang BBB XL-016 over China Glaze OMG

BeautyBigBang BBB XL-016 over China Glaze OMG

 Yes, that's much better--the holo sines through, and adds to the visual illusion look--I really love how this came out. This is Kaleidoscope Black over China Glaze OMG; the image is from BeautyBigBang BBB XL-016 (use my code MISHKA824M for 10% off  your order).


I'll be back with my final recreation tomorrow--in the meantime, check out what the other ladies did below. :)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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The Digit-al Dozen Recreates--Day 3!

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Hello!


I'm back to recreate another of my very first manis! Are you ready to see what I'm working with today?


I'm not...sigh...

Okay, well, yeah. Where do I start?! Let's ignore the horrendous cuticles--I was literally cleaning up my cuticles back then with Q-tips, no lie. But in terms of design, there's plenty to improve here. I love red and beige and black together, but the red tips just don't work here. And, while I realize I had only a few plates and so I had very limited choices, the scale of the paws versus the cat drives me insane. So, I wanted to see if there was a way I could preserve as much of this design as possible while fixing those issues.


Here's the updated version:

BeautyBigBang XL-013 and UberChic Beauty Furry Friends over Girly Bits Irreplaceable and Zoya Noah

For a less garish French-tip look, I started with a base of Girly Bits Irreplaceable and pained my tips with Zoya Noah. Then I stamped my paw prints from UberChic Beauty's Furry Friends, and the rest of my images from BeautyBigBang XL-013 (I'll have a video review of the set this plate comes in up on my YouTube channel soon!).  I stamped with Kaleidoscope by El Corazon in Black. To honor the red from the original mani, I went over the heart on the kitty's chest with Zoya Rekha.


I definitely think this is a much better version of the original--and can I just say thank heavens from clean-up brushes?! Also, if you want to snatch up the BeautyBigBang plate, you can use my code, MISHKA824M for 10% off your purchase.


I'll be back tomorrow with another recreation; in the meantime, check out what the other ladies did, linked below. :)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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