Since today is Halloween, I thought I'd show you the nails I'm doing with my Halloween costume. I actually already did this once, for a party I went to, so I have all the pics ready to go!
I went (and am handing out candy) as a voodoo priestess:
I wanted a manicure that played up the feathers and the animal skulls in the costume, and of course included a voodoo doll...
I love how it came out--the feathers add a gorgeous texture and the skulls are just creepy! I also love the little pop of red. This is when I love nail art the most--when you can create something truly original to make a cool day even cooler.
Today's day two of my Seven Deadly Sins Halloween series (if you missed my Gluttony post, you can see it here), and today's sin is Greed...
...Which I decided to pair with zombies. Sure, it's fairly easy to say that zombies always want more brains, no matter how many they get, and that's greed. But, I'm gonna try to convince you this works on a deeper level, hehe. Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with liking nice things, or wanting to own nice things. But I think it can be all too easy to be lured into equating happiness with things, and then mindlessly try to pursue them in order to obtain happiness--mindless pursuit very much metaphorically like zombies. I'm not the first person to make this comparison--in fact, in Dawn of the Dead, one of the most famous zombies movies of all times, Zack Snyder has a deeply ironic scene of zombies taking over a shopping mall, an indictment of his fellow baby-boomers who turned their back on flower-power ideals for the pursuit of material goods that would epitomize the 1980's greedy 'Me' decade.
So, in that spirit, I started with a base of Spellbound Nails Greed, a mustard-wheat yellow scattered hollow with gold holographic glitter:
Spellbound Nails Greed
Then I dug out some really old plates and stamped with Cheeky 55 and Bunny Nails HD-C, using Messy Mansion Carbon for the dollar signs and Messy Mansion Ivy and Spring Green to gradient stamp the zombie hands:
Spellbound Nails Greed stamped with Cheeky 55 and Bunny Nails HD-C
So what do you think? Do zombies work for this? What Halloween baddie would you have paired with Greed?
So, you may have noticed I've been posting a little less frequently this month. That's for two reasons. One is, I'm the Polish Pickup Blogger of the Month this month, so I've been busy swatching like crazy to bring you that post here in a few days! The second reason is:
I GOT A PUBLISHING CONTRACT!!
Yep, that's right, you've heard me talk about being a writer and a lot of people have asked when they can read my stuff--well, it looks like that'll be happening sometime next year!! I'm super excited and will let you know more details when I have them--but for now I've been hard at work editing book 1 and writing book 2. :)
Okay, so, back to nail art! This is my 7th Halloween as a nail blogger (where. does. the. time. go.), so I thought I'd do a little something different for Halloween this year...It also just so happens that recently reviewed Spellbound Nails Seven Deadly Sins collection (that number 7 again!), and something about that theme just feels Halloweeny to me. So I decided to do a Seven Deadly Sins Nail Art Series, combining that theme with Halloween. What that means is, for each deadly sin, I'll pick a classic Halloween baddie that I think symbolizes the sin.
I'm gonna kick things off with Gluttony. So first, here's a look at Spellbound Nails Gluttony, a pumpkin-orange holo with a scratter of gold holo glitters:
Spellbound Nails Gluttony
For my Halloween Gluttony baddie, I chose vampires, because they drink all of the blood they can get their fangs on!
Well, I can't believe it, but...the day of Halloween is here! And so, today I have my last Halloween mani of the year...sniff, sniff...I'm so sad to see it go...
Since I'm in a Halloween place right now, I see tons of Halloween potential here--the squiggly lines can be brains, the second from the left on top can be blood spatter (so can the one on the top end, and the first left on the top can be spooky gauze behind your images. But these can be use for any time of the year, too, of course--I love the second from the right on the bottom for rain (stay tuned and I'll do a mani like that for you), the leftmost on the bottom looks like the globe to me, and third from the right top looks like rays of the sun.
How about quality? These swatches were done with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Plummet and my clear stamper:
Today I have a second Sugar Bubbles plate I've been wanting to get my grabby paws on for quite some time, Sugar Bubbles 030! Here's the video I did reviewing the plate (along with 037):
And here's a closer look at the plate:
Sugar Bubbles SB 030
The full-nail images are 1.5 x 2.3 cm, and here's a look at the rest:
The image quality was excellent, although I did find the images were deeply etched, which meant my cotton pad caught on the edges when I cleaned them up. Not a biggie--if I press a piece of scotch tape on the image and lift a couple of times, that pulls off the fibers. But, be sure you do, otherwise your images will get hairy and muddy.
I bought this plate mainly because I adore all the funny little witches on it, so I wanted to do a manicure that featured them. I started with a base of Zoya Cam, and then stamped the pumpkin image for background with Messy Mansion Chalk. Then I stamped the witches with Messy Mansion Carbon. Here's how it came out:
Sugar Bubbles 030 over Zoya Cam
Sugar Bubbles 030 over Zoya Cam
Those kooky little witches just make me smile! I loved them so much I wore them for several days, and was still sad to take them off. :)
Today I have Sugar Bubbles 037 to show you--no, this is not a new plate, but I've been wanting it and finally got my hands on it, so I thought I'd do a review and some manis for you. Here's the video review I did:
As you can see, the images stamp well. There was one thing to beware of, though--the images are etched deeply, and will pull fibers from your cotton when you clean, which will muddy your next image if you don't get rid of them. To pick them up, I use a piece of tape over the image.
Why do I love this plate so much? The main reason, plain and simple, is that I'm a huge Hocus Pocus fan. So, my first manicure was an absolute no-brainer.
Today we're going to take a look at another Halloween plate from Dixie Plates, DP 05. This plate isn't just a Halloween plate--there is some other holiday stuff on it, too, but of course this time of year I'm fixating on the Halloween, hehe.
Here's the video review I did of DP 05 and Halloween 2017:
And let's take a closer look:
Dixie Plates DP 05
What I love best about this plate: The row of trick-or-treaters are charming, and while you won't fit them head to toe on your nail unless you have really long nails, you can put one on each nail and make a super cute scene. I also love the negative space jack-o-lanterns and faces, and this is the only grim reaper I have that is spooky and not cute. But most of all--jumping skeletons. Seriously now, that's about as awesome as it gets.
Dixie Plates' full nail images are 2.1 x 2.5 cm, and here's a shot with a ruler so you can judge the other images:
How about quality? The other plates I have from Dixie Plates are excellent quality, so I was expecting the same from this one:
These images were swatched with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Grease Lightening, and with a clear stamper. The lines are crisp, transfer is excellent, and look at the little fine-line details on that skeleton. LOVE.
Dixie Plates DP 05 over Spellbound Nails Dementor and The Lady Varnishes Fairy Queen
Lately I've been doing two versions of every mani I create, I don't know why--maybe I'm just being indecisive. Whatever the reason, for my second version, I used Girly Bits Cosmetics Sploosh on my pinky and thumb, and added some cross charms from Charlie's Nail Art (use code LOLAM10 for 10% off your order) for some added gothic splash--I love how I can bend their little metal charms to fit the curve of my nail, as you can see on the pinky:
Dixie Plates DP 05 over Spellbound Nails Dementor, The Lady Varnishes Fairy Queen, and Girly Bits Cosmetics Sploosh
Dixie Plates DP 05 over Spellbound Nails Dementor, The Lady Varnishes Fairy Queen, and Girly Bits Cosmetics Sploosh
For my second mani, I wanted to do a night sky mani, featuring colors that work for Halloween, but also could just be a regular spooky fall evening. I started with Zoya Aster on my middle and ring fingers, and Zoya Olivera on the rest, then sponged around the edges of the middle and ring fingers to create a moon sort of look. Then I stamped my images first with Messy Mansion Sterling, then with Moonflower Polish Mar Caribe--I did this both to create a shadowed effect, but also so the blue would look the same over both the light and the dark polishes:
Dixie Plates DP 05 over Zoya Aster and Olivera
Dixie Plates DP 05 over Zoya Aster and Olivera
After I finished this one, I liked it, but it just annoyed me that I could see the purple through the owl. So, I decided to do a second version with a decal of the owl, and thanks to the miracle of clear stampers, I just stuck it on right over what I already had:
Dixie Plates DP 05 over Zoya Aster and Olivera
Dixie Plates DP 05 over Zoya Aster and Olivera
The first way is fine, but the second version just feels a little more three-dimensional to me, it just has a little more pop. I made a video tutorial to show you how to get the look:
If you're in the US or Canada, you can find this and other Dixie Plates plates at Lantern & Wren; in the UK you can find them at Nail Stamping Queen UK. For shipping to other locations, check the Dixie Plates site, and in the meantime, follow them here:
