Before & After: Who doesn't love a 3D spider? Oh, wait...

...pretty much nobody likes a 3D spider, if it's alive, anyway! I'm an exception to that rule; except for poisonous spiders, I love spiders, because they get rid of all the other creepy crawlies that try to hang out in my house. For the most part, I live and let live when it comes to my eight-legged friends. :)

Today I'm merging two challenges that are occurring a week apart, and have decided to post the manicure in between the two. So that means that I'm extremely fashionably late for the one challenge, and fairly early for the other, lol. :)

The one I'm late for is the Crumpet's Nail Tarts 33 Day challenge theme of '3D'. I've been trying to make every challenge this month as Halloweeny as possible, so I decided to combine this with the Crumpet's Nail Tart's Halloween challenge theme of 'Spider/Webs'. And here is what I've come up with...

I started with China Glaze's Bump In The Night, one of the polishes in their 2013 Monster's Ball Halloween collection. This is a textured flat-black polish, and while I normally prefer the textured polishes that have a little bling in them, I think this is absolutely the perfect polish to have in a Halloween collection. It makes me think of the dirt in a cemetery at night, where you'd find a freshly dug (or dug up!) grave:

China Glaze Bump In The Night, one coat, artificial light

I wanted the polish to have more of a gloss than a flat-ish finish, so I added some Seche to it:

China Glaze Bump In The Night with Seche Vite, artificial light

Next, I stamped my webs. First I tried doing that with Konad Red and Bundle Monster BMH07, but the red didn't show up as vibrantly as I wanted it to. So I stamped again with Konad White, leaving the red in place for dimension and creepiness. :)

Next, I built my spider. I used a nail gem for the body, and a stud for his head; I used two black rhinestones for eyes and purple teardrop-shaped rhinestones for the legs. I had the legs splay over several fingers for maximum creepiness:

How do spiders communicate?

They use the World Wide Web!

Ha hahahahhahahaaa ha ha haaa

Well, at least I crack myself up...

So what do you think?? Is it ickily spookalicious?? It definitely creeps me out a bit looking at it...But if I were to do it again, I think I'd pick a different colored gem for the body portion. :)

Don't forget to check out the other 3D manis below, and tomorrow there will be some cool spider manis to check out, too! :)

Hugs and fly-free homes,
M.

Before & After: Brrr...Cold!!

(The 3D nail gems in this post were provided for my honest review. All other products were purchased with my own money.)

Hello!!

This week's theme in the Kimber's Mish Mash Challenge is: Cold! I thought a bit about this, and came to two conclusions.

First, as I was swatching Mentality's Seduce, I decided that needed to be my base polish (Mentality review coming soon!). For now, here is a quick look at this gorgeous cerulean blue holo:

Mentality Seduce, 2 coats, direct sunlight

Second, I decided this would be the perfect time to pull out some 3D nail art gems that Born Pretty Store sent me for review. Here is the set; there are three each of 12 different gems, all in assorted colors:

And here they are next to one of my nubbins, so you can see the size of the gems:

I wanted to do something that looked like a snowy winter's morning, with snowflakes and icicles. I put a coat of Lynbdesigns Stella, a white flakie, over Seduce, to give the look of a soft snowfall. Then I set out to create my icicles...

For three of the nails, I used silver white hexes that look a bit like crystals to me; I positioned them down the nail and threw on a couple of teeny white beads. For the accent nail, I put one of the white nail gems at the top of the nail, and put two white half-pearls under it. Under that, I put two small white beads. Around the design I put more clear hexes:

I love how this came out; I think the silvery hexes have a soft translucent look that is reminiscent of how my California girl brain thinks icicles might look. The accent nail is bold and over-the-top which is what I think of when I think of 3D nail art. No matter what, it definitely captures the feel of 'Cold'!

So what did I think of the nail gems? As you can see, the white gems were one of the smaller sizes of nail gem. These worked really well for me, no problems adhering them to the nail, and it seems to be staying put fairly well. One potential worry for me with the bigger gems is that I have very, very curved nail beds, so the gems will not sit flat on my nails--if you have flatter nail beds, you will have no problem. However, since getting these, I've been paying special attention to how people use gems like this, and they generally surround them with other gems; if I did that, the gap along the side of the gems would be masked and wouldn't really be a problem. So, if you have flatter nails, or are interested in using the gems in a look that could mask a gap, this will be a good set for you. If you have very small nails, or very curvy nails like me and hope to wear the gems alone, you might want to look for a set that has only smaller gems.

Since my intention is mainly for 3D nail art looks, I'm happy with the set and would certainly pay the listed price for them. I love looking down and seeing something that looks like a real gem sitting on my nail--so pretty and different!

As always, I have an awesome coupon code that you can use at Born Pretty Store for all your nail art supplies (and anything else on their site):

I don't make any money from your purchase and am not affiliated, but if my code is used enough, Born Pretty will sponsor a giveaway for my followers. :)

Thanks for taking a look, and please don't forget to check out all the cold manis linked below. :)

Hugs and love,
M.

(The 3D nail gems in this post were provided for my honest review. All other products were purchased with my own money.)

Before & After: Where did Tracie go?

Hello!

It's time for my final flowers design for my Nail Challenge Collaborative group. This has been a fun theme, and I wanted to go out with a bang, with something that would jump out at you!

I started with a base of Zoya Tracie, an avocado green with a soft shimmer (please excuse my wounded finger!):

Zoya Tracie, direct sunlight

I love this polish and enjoyed wearing it...but then I decided to make a flower manicure with it and my plot required me to cover it up...mostly. I painted over it with Zoya Breezi, a strong sky blue creme. But before I did, I used nail tape to cover up part of the base polish in order to make flower stems. Then I used my Mash 3D nail art confetti (previously sent to me for review) for my flowers, and added a gold butterfly charm as a final accent:

Believe it or not, by using a dot of top coat to put these in place, and then putting a coat of top coat over them, none of these elements moved one bit--not even the butterfly, which as you can see sticks out a bit. In fact, when I removed the mani I was able to save the butterfly charm to use again. :)

I know this mani is a little on the 'cute' side for things I normally do, but I was really into it for some reason. Hope you like it, too!

Hugs, and don't forget to check out the other flower manis, linked below. :)
M.

Before & After: Franken Flashback

Hello there!

Okay, so I tweaked my franken a bit more, and wanted to show it to you full-manicure, as requested. In my hurry to get it up tonight I fought the light a little, so you'll have to sort of piece it together. First, the pic that represents the color well, which is a light milky sage, with green, gold, and white glitters:

Lacquer Or Leave Her! Irish Rain

Then two pictures that show the contrast with the glitters best, but wash out the green a bit and looks more of a mint shade than it really is:

Lacquer Or Leave Her! Irish Rain

I'm not sure that I'm fully happy with it, but I think I may leave it for now. It's still a bit thin--this is three coats, and I still wish it were a bit less milky. But it's a pretty sage sort of milky rather than a pastel, which I like. And at least you can see the glitters, and that's a definite improvement from the first from-scratch I made. And I do like the blend of glitters--not too much, not too little, and some differences in color and shape to keep it a bit interesting. Just too...milky.

Anyway, I needed to do a 1970s manicure for my Llama Nails time period Challenge, and I figured this makes a nice 1970s sort of base, so I thought I'd just use this. I picked an image from Pueen25, which has been screaming '1970s' to me since I saw it. I stamped with Sally Hansen Lightning on three of the nails, and with a rainbow of Rapid Red, Lightning, Orange Impulse, Lickety-Split Lime, and Brisk Blue on the accent nail. I finished off with some 3D Nail Art Confetti from the set Mash sent me for review:

I like how the glitter in the background looks sort of like a comet trail or some such behind the flowers, and I think the combination of flowers and stars is very 1970s, and so is the random rainbow, lol.

Anyway, I would definitely still love any opinions and/or advice on the franken, and I hope you liked the mani! Please check out the other 1970s era manis linked below. :)

Hugs, loves, and frankens...:)
M.

Before & After: OMG, my undies are showing!

Hello!!

Today I have for you my third neon manicure, made for my Nail Challenge Collaborative monthly challenge. :)

I started with a base of Julep Nikki, which just came in my mystery box; it's a greenish-yellow that looks like someone put split-pea soup and a banana into a blender and turned it on high (do I get extra blogger points for coming up with the least appealing description of a polish, ever? I do actually like the color, not that you could tell from that). It dries to a wax finish, which I just love:

This one is color accurate but doesn't show the finish as well

This shows the finish best, but the color isn't as accurate

I had a plan for this and I executed it and...everything went wrong and it looked like a complete fail. I stared at it for awhile trying to find some way of rescuing it, and finally decided that it was better to abandon it and start with a clean slate. So this is not technically a before and after, because the swatch you see above didn't actually make it into the mani, lol.

Part of what I felt I'd done wrong was not put undies under the polish, which meant I had a bit less of the brightness than I wanted, so this time around I decided to put that white polish on under where it belonged. And then, as I was polishing I thought...well, since I have to put this stuff on anyway, why not let it show? Why not turn it into an 'omg-my-undies-are-showing' ruffian!

So I did. :)

This time I started with a base of Wet n Wild French White Creme, and then put Nikki over it. To finish off the look, I put on some of the awesome 3D nail art confetti that Mash sent me out for review a couple of weeks back (you can see my original review of it by clicking here). I chose some orange and some purple flowers to complement the neon and keep the colors bright and fun:

I love this challenge because it's moving me a bit out of my comfort zone--which is the whole point of doing challenges in the first place, isn't it? I'm actually starting to like these bright neon polishes--I wore this manicure for almost three full days. Crazy talk!!! :)

Thanks for taking a look, and please don't forget to check out the other neon manicures, linked below. :)

Hugs, love, and bright shiny flowers,
M.

Before & After: Studded Liberty

Hello!!

This is 3D week in my Hobby Polish Bloggers group, so I# put together a 3D manicure for you for today. I love a touch of 3D here and there, although I don't go quite as far as some people--there is some amazing 3D stuff out there that's just encrusted with jewels and the like. One of these days I'll try that out, but for today I wanted to do a little bit more along the everyday wear sort of 3D.

First, I am going to whine for a second, as today was a bad nail day. My dog broke one of my nails on my good hand (the one that had the longer nails still). Every manicure I did turned out crap. A perfectly harmless-looking polish stained my nails and cuticles a shade of yellow-green that made me look like I was septic. I tried to make my first from-scratch franken (from pigments, glitters, and base, rather than combining existing polishes), and it was...not good. I got a little pouty for a bit about it all, then decided to put on my big-girl panties and try again. And this is what I came up with. :)

I started with one of my current favorite things--a textured polish, which seems to me like the perfect foundation for a 3D manicure. The Zoya Pixies win my vote for best textured polishes out there, and this is one of the best of the bunch, Liberty, a deep teal blue:

Zoya Liberty, artificial light

Zoya Liberty, artificial light

Zoya Liberty, artificial light

Next, I used some nail tape to box off some stripes, which I painted in black with Ebony Hates Chris. Then I finished it off with silver square studs on the accent fingers:

I know these polishes are meant to be worn without topcoat, but I just love the way they sparkle and shine with topcoat on, so here's what it looks like after I topcoated it:

Which do you like better? I love them both, truth be told. And even though I know I shouldn't...I'll probably buy one or two of the Fall Pixies when they come out. Don't judge me...

Thanks for taking a look! Hugs and loves,
M.

Review: Mash 3D Nail Art Confetti

Hello!!

I was very excited to be approached by Mash recently to review some nail art products for them. The first item I sat down to play with was the 3D Nail Art Confetti that they sent to me...because it's sparkly and pretty, and 3D nail art is all the rage right now!

This set contains 12 different types of 3D confetti, in different shapes (hearts, stars and flowers) and colors:

Mash 3D Nail Art Confetti

The pots are huge, as you can see by the relative size of my thumb (which is a normal-thumb sized, lol); unless you're doing nails for everyone in your neighborhood every day, these will last you a long, long time--years and years, unless your cats spill them everywhere (::gives warning skunk-eye to her cats::). Here is a close-up to see the confetti better:

Even though there are 12 pots, there are actually more types of confetti than that; the ones that have a hollow center also include the shapes that were punched out of the center, so you get a two-fer, as you can see below:

This also gives you a sense of just how many are in each pot--what I dumped out there barely made a dent in what was left, as you can see. These are excellent quality, and the shapes are uniform, so you won't find yourself with uneven shapes when you're trying to make a pattern (see the manicures below). They're also very sturdy, so you're getting good stuff here.

When I look at glittery wonders like this, the little girl in me screams out, and I have to play play play! For the first manicure I did, I thought I'd do a simple skittle mani using the different gold hearts above. I started out with a base of Hare Polish Rusty Hearts, a beautiful gold-flaked red. Then I staggered the hearts in an alternating pattern down the nails:

Look at how they sparkle in the light!

Note how the shapes are all the same size and color (except when the light hits them); you can't tell from these pictures, but they are all uniform height, as well, so they all sit at the same level on your nail.

I love how it came out--this would be such a fun mani for Valentine's day, or for any romantic occasion. :)

For my second manicure I went patriotic, in honor of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, and did a flag manicure with the white stars. I started with a base of Risque Azulcrination (holla, Janaina!), and  L.A. Colors Hot Blooded. I stamped the stripes of the flag with Konad white, and Winstonia plate W107:

How perfect is that? Rock out that flag, baby. :)

A couple of questions you might be asking yourself. First, how easy are these to apply? If you use the dotting tool technique or the pick-up pencil technique I've showed before, these are fast and easy to apply--both of these manicure took me only minutes from start to finish. You're probably also wondering if the confetti stay put...I covered them with one coat of top-coat, and they stayed put just fine--in fact, I had to pry them off with a lot of effort to get them off (using nail polish remover makes this easier, but I did a pull test to see how they'd hold up). You shouldn't have any problem getting several days of wear out of them (probably longer with the hearts and flowers, since they don't have the sharp edges that catch more easily).

This set goes for $5.99 on the Mash website, at the time of this posting. I've seen similar nail confetti at my local beauty supply store go for twice as much for half as much product, so I was impressed with the price as well as the quality. If you're into the 3D trend and want some options in fun colors and shapes, I highly recommend you check this out. :)

Thanks for taking a look! Peace and love,
M.

(The 3D Nail Art Confetti in this post was sent for my 100% honest review. I am not affiliated with Mash, and the links are not affiliate links.)