I mentioned a while back that I've been wanting to rejoin some nail art challenges--right when I made the decision, I was invited to join The Digit-al Dozen, a group I've followed for ages! Each month The Digit-al Dozen does a week of five manis within the theme, and this month's theme is 'My Home'.
For my first entry, I decided to do a mani based on the way my kitchen is decorated, because it's a pretty good reflection of things I love.
It's here, it's here! It's Christmastime!! Yay!!!!!!! And that means lots of awesome things, including a new Christmas plate from UberChic Beauty: their Holiday Jingle plate!
Here's the video review I did of the plate:
And here's a closer look:
UberChic Beauty Holiday Jingle
UberChic's full nail images are 1.7 x 2.1 cm, and here are shots with a ruler to help you see if the other images will work for you (click if you need to see them bigger):
And, of course, quality's the thing, so here are some test swatches done with a clear stamper, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Plummet and Re-Teal Therapy:
Very nice, whether fine lines or solid areas. :)
For my first mani, I wanted to take advantage of the negative space Christmas tree image to show off Shinespark Polish O Christmas Tree, because it looks just like, well, a Christmas tree:
UberChic Beauty Holiday Jingle over Shinespark Polish O Christmas Tree
UberChic Beauty Holiday Jingle over Shinespark Polish O Christmas Tree
I stamped with Messy Mansion Sterling. Oh, and did I mention, this polish is a thermal? Here's what it looks like when it's warm:
UberChic Beauty Holiday Jingle over Shinespark Polish O Christmas Tree
UberChic Beauty Holiday Jingle over Shinespark Polish O Christmas Tree
For my second mani I was feeling a holiday skittle, so I started with a base of Spellbound Nails Basilisk, and Zoya Levi and Sheri. Then I stamped my images with Messy Mansion Red-y Or Not and Soft Gold:
UberChic Beauty Holiday Jingle over Spellbound Nails Basilisk, and Zoya Levi and Sheri
UberChic Beauty Holiday Jingle over Spellbound Nails Basilisk, and Zoya Levi and Sheri
I'll have a few more manis with this plate coming before the end of the season, but in the meantime, you can fin this plate in UberChic Beauty's store, and you can follow them around the interwebs here:
UberChic Beauty Unicorn Love over Girly Bits Cosmetics Brick House, The Hustle, Le Freak, Stayin' Alive, and Sequins & Satin Pants
Some days you just gotta celebrate your inner unicorn, ya know? ;-)
Happy stamping,
M. xoxo
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I love that these plates are scaled to make super-easy combinations, and there are so many images that go well together in so many combinations. I'm really into pine-tree manis this year, so the deer and the trees and pine cones and fronds all call out to me. And, here are plenty of smaller images to mix-and-match.
The full-nail images are 1.7 cm x 2.2 cm, and here's a look in inches:
And the stamping quality is excellent:
During my recent polish reviews, I did some accent nails with this plate, in case you missed them:
Lina Nail Art Supplies 4 Seasons - Winter 01 over Sassy Pants Polish Not Even A Mouse, stamped with Hit The Bottle Polish Champagne Shifter
Lina Nail Art Supplies 4 Seasons - Winter 01 over Sassy Pants Polish To All A Good Night, stamped with Girly Bits Cosmetics Silver Bells
For today's sample mani, I wanted to go for something a little different than tranditional Christmas colors, instead, I did a more general holiday-elegance sort of mani. I started with a base of polishes from Zoya's Enchanted holiday 2016 collection, because I am loving how well these go together--I chose Waverly, Saint, and Alice:
Zoya Enchanted holiday 2016 skittle with Waverly, Saint, and Alice
Lina Nail Art Supplies 4 Seasons -Winter 01 over Zoya Waverly, Saint, and Alice
Lina Nail Art Supplies 4 Seasons -Winter 01 over Zoya Waverly, Saint, and Alice
I love the dark and the light blues and purples contrasted with the delicate print. This is a mani I'd wear throughout the year, but I love it for the holiday, the way it throws light and shimmer just feels posh and celebratory.
You can find this plate and many others in Lina Nail Art Supplies' shop; here's all their deets:
Well, Halloween is almost here, and I have a ton of new images I want to use! So I decided it was time to do a skittle mani to grab a bunch of those cool images and work them all together.
Messy Mansion MM83XL and UberChic Beauty Halloween 02 over The Lady Varnishes Fairy Queen, Spellbound Nails Dementor, and Sassy Pants Polish Celebrate
Messy Mansion MM83XL and UberChic Beauty Halloween 02 over The Lady Varnishes Fairy Queen, Spellbound Nails Dementor, and Sassy Pants Polish Celebrate
I just love, love love how those negative-space images let the holo goodness shine through. Have you ever seen such sparkly ghosts and spiders? And look at the holo-licious backgrounds behind those trees!!
Memorial Day is a complex holiday for me. It's the unofficial start of summer and all kinds of summer fun, but it's also a time to remember all of the men and women in uniform who made it possible for us to have the lifestyle and freedoms that we have. I do believe that they would find barbeque feasts with families and friends a proper way to celebrate those freedoms by embracing them, but I also like to make sure I remember them in some concrete way. Part of that usually involves a manicure for the occasion.
I've been crazy busy the last few months, and time has flown by (how is it May already??!!). You might know one of has I wear is writer, and I've written a few novels. Well, a while back I got an offer from an indie publisher for my second novel, currently named Deadly Avatar, a suspense thriller about a serial killer that finds his victims in an online role-playing game. After I did some research and some soul-searching, I decided it wasn't the right offer for me, but it has been encouraging and energizing to know that my stuff is good enough that somebody wants to publish it. So I've been working hard to see if I can kick that manuscript up a notch and have also been working hard on another mystery.
So anyway, you didn't come here to hear about that, you came to see nail art! I have a quickie for you today, using the two Barielle polishes I got from their new ProSina line, and UberChic Beauty Plate 8-02:
I put Barielle Belly Dance on my index and middle finger, and Sky's The Limit on the rest of my nails. Then I stamped my image using Sky's The Limit (it stamped so well!):
UberChic Beauty has tried something new with their stamping plates--mini plates! These plates are designed to go in-depth on a single theme, and they're pretty darn awesome.
Of course I made a video to show them to you and give some ideas for using the images (with a live stamping test thrown in:
And in this post I'm going to do things a little differently. Usually I show all the plates, then all the size stills, then all the stamping tests. This time I'm going to go plate by plate, since these are all sold separately.
Let's start with my favorite, Coffee Addict, you know, because COFFEE!:
Uber Mini: Coffee Addict plate
Uber Mini: Coffee Addict plate
Uber Mini: Coffee Addict plate
There is so much awesome in this plate, I do't even know where to begin. All the different sizes and shapes of drinks are so adorable--you can use a single one on an accent nail, or make a collage with them, or represent your favorites strategically. I love the full nail images, especially the huge one--I plan to do a mani where I put the section that says 'I <3 Coffee' on one nail and other sections on the others. But I think my very favorite image is the one that looks like tiles with different mugs and espresso makers--how cool would that be stamped over a gorgeous brown holo?!
Here are the sizes we're looking at:
Uber Mini: Coffee Addict plate
Uber Mini: Coffee Addict plate
Even though these plates are minis, you can see the full-nail images will cover your nails unless they're pretty darn long, and the little images are small enough to fit on the nail no problem. :) And as for stamping quality, it's solid:
Next is the Little Bitty Icons plate. I apologize, this plate was difficult to photograph; since the images are so small, they competed with the reflection of my hands, and the tiny surface scratches you can't normally even see:
Uber Mini: Little Bitty Icons
Uber Mini: Little Bitty Icons
Uber Mini: Little Bitty Icons
UberChic originally designed these plates for nail addicts' kids--the images are meant for their little nails. I know a fair number of women who have pretty darn small nails, too, and this would be a great plate for them, too. But, even for the rest of us, this is a versatile plate. These are awesome for a simple decoration on a French design, great for a single small accent, and you can combine them to make your own collages.
Check out how truly bitty they are:
Uber Mini: Little Bitty Icons
Uber Mini: Little Bitty Icons
And while I had a hard time with taking a picture of them, they stamp beautifully:
The Parisian Love plate is another favorite of mine, almost tied with the Coffee Addict plate:
Uber Mini: Parisian Love
Uber Mini: Parisian Love
Uber Mini: Parisian Love
You can go cut with this--little cafe scenes or street scenes--or boho chic with the script and the flourishes and OMG that woman with her gorgeous face and hair! Going to a wine tasting party or on a romantic picnic? How perfect is that little wine glass and the little cheese wedge and the little croissant? Love.
Here's an idea of the relative sizes:
Uber Mini: Parisian Love
Uber Mini: Parisian Love
And here is how it stamps--pay no attention to the warping, that's because I stamped down on a piece of paper, and that's why I try to do all my demos on my fingers. You can see that despite the warping that was my error, the image came out very well:
And finally, we have the Succulents plate, which celebrates cacti and their relatives:
Uber Mini: Succulents
Uber Mini: Succulents
Uber Mini: Succulents
For a long time, cacti were the only plants I could keep alive...luckily my thumb has gotten greener since then, but I still have a special place in my heart for cacti and other succulents. But if you don't, take a look at how many of those image look like just plain flowers--so if you like them, there's no law that says you have to make them look like succulents. Go crazy!
And here's how big the images are:
And again, great stamping quality:
I'll do a manicure for the other three plates in separate posts, but for now, you know I had to do a mani with the Coffee Addict plate:
I started with a base skittle of Zoya Desiree and Barielle Belly Dance; I stamped with Sally Hansen Sand Storm, and Messy Mansion Carbon and Chalk:
Happy coffee time! With Zoya Desiree, Barielle Belly Dance, and UberChic Beauty Coffee Addict plate
These plates are an excellent way to get a small plate with a bunch of related images to play with. You can find them in UberChic Beauty's store, and don't forget to follow them on Facebook for updates and sales!
