The next Sally Hansen Color of the Moment aside is out, and this one's all about purple, one of my favorite polish colors, and all about the Miracle Gel, which I really like when I need something that lasts a little longer:
Application: I found this patchy on the first coat, but that mostly cleared up on the second. Coverage: 2 coats.
This makes me think of Easter and wildflowers, soft and feminine.
Then there's Wild for Violet, a vampy red-leaning purple creme:
Sally Hansen Wild for Violet
Application: Good; a little patchy at first, but excellent coverage on the second coat. Coverage: 2 coats.
If Orchid-ing Aside is soft and feminine, this one is bold and brash and sexy. Love.
Separately, both of these polishes are pretty, but together they're a fierce set for those of us who love nail art and want some purples that play well together. I've already shown you one manicure I did with Orchid-ing (you can see it here), and I have a couple more headed your way...stay tuned.
You can find these wherever Sally Hansen polishes are sold; for me, that means my local CVS or Walgreens. You can also find Sally Hansen polishes on Amazon if that's easier for you. And you can follow them around the interwebs here:
Today we're going to take a look at another recent plate from Lina Nail Art Supplies, their Let's Doodle! 01 plate. Here's the video review I did of the plate:
And here's a shot up close and personal like:
Lina Nail Art Supplies Let's Doodle! 01
What I love about this plate: Lina has given you an image for any type of technique you want, so you'll always have a floral option at your fingertips. There are negative images to show off your specialty polishes, intricate designs that call out for lead-lighting or reversed stamping, and beautiful one-pass designs. Like with all Lina plates, she matches scale in most of her designs, so you can mix-and-match as easy as you please for skittle manis. And, even with all that, she still manages to cover a range of design styles from cute to elegant.
Lina's full nail images are 1.7 x 2.2mm, and here's a shot with a ruler so you can judge how big the smaller isolated images are:
How about that quality? These swatches are done with Sally Hansen Plummet, and a clear stamper:
The detail and fine lines are amazing! This plate is top-notch quality.
I've been thinking about doing a series of videos showcasing techniques for various skill levels (let me know if there's interest in this!), so for my first mani, I did a variation of a one-pass technique. I started off with a base of Girly Bits Cosmetics Depêche à la Mode, and then stamped my two designs using Hit The Bottle Polish Champagne Shifter and Girly Bits Cosmetics Flame:
Lina Nail Art Supplies Let's Doodle! 01 over Girly Bits Cosmetics Depêche à la Mode
Lina Nail Art Supplies Let's Doodle! 01 over Girly Bits Cosmetics Depêche à la Mode
I chose the stamping polishes to pull out the flakies in the base, and I love how this came out--a soft summer floral look.
What I love about this brand: Lina does a great job of creating a selection of images that mix and match in countless combinations. For whichever icon you choose (anchors, seashells, ropes), there are a ton of images you can put together without guessing if anything is going to be out of proportion. She also adds a textural image or two and plenty of isolated images to add to your design. All of this makes Lina the queen of effortless mani building. What I love about this plate: I love the stripe/word combination image, and the octopus is awesome. I love the water image with the crest at the top, but which can also double as texture or an animal print depending on the colors you use. I love that she gives you a little underwater scene to work with, and OMG, pirates!! And I love how well this plate plays with Born To Sail 01.
The full-nail images on Lina plates are 1.7mm x 2.2mm, and here's a shot with a ruler so you can judge the size of the little 'uns:
How about quality? I've always found Lina's plates to be excellent quality, and this one is no exception:
These were stamped with Sally Hansen Plummet, and a clear stamper--and look at that detail!!
This plate came right as I was out the door for a romantic weekend at the beach with my husband, so you know I had to hurry on up and make a manicure for the trip. I started with a gradient of Girly Bits Cosmetics Robin Me Blind and Denim & Diamonds, then stamped the wave image and the seagulls image with Messy Mansion Sterling and Chalk. Here's how it came out:
Lina Nail Art Supplies Born To Sail 02 over Girly Bits Cosmetics Robin Me Blind and Denim And Diamonds
Lina Nail Art Supplies Born To Sail 02 over Girly Bits Cosmetics Robin Me Blind and Denim And Diamonds
I love how this captures the look of the beach in the late afternoon when the sun's going down and the remaining light captures the crests of the water with a silver glint.
For my second mani, I wanted to do a mix-and-match mani with some of the sweet seashells on the plate. I started with a skittle of Zoya Sawyer and Zoya Sonya. I did one smoosh nail with these two colors and Zoya Journey for a little shimmer, then stamped my image with Messy Mansion Carbon; then I did a double-stamp with leadlight technique using Messy Mansion Sterling and Carbon, and a blend of Zoya Journey and China Glaze Fairy Dust in between. I stamped starfish on my pinkie and thumb with Hit The Bottle Polish Let's Go To The Peach, and topped it all off with a stud on my index finger:
Lina Nail Art Supplies Born To Sail 02 over Zoya Sawyer and Sonja
Lina Nail Art Supplies Born To Sail 02 over Zoya Sawyer and Sonja
Lina Nail Art Supplies Born To Sail 02 over Zoya Sawyer and Sonja
I made a video tutorial of this mani so that if you love it as much as I do, you can follow step-by-step:
I love how the colors in this mani play together with she shimmers to create a little softness for the seashells, but still with bold summer colors. :)
Girly Bits Cosmetics August CoTM duo: Depêche à la Mode and Let Me Azure You
The first polish is Girly Bits Cosmetics Depêche à la Mode, a blush crelly that flirts with the edge of peach, with gold shimmer and grey & orange-red flecks, along with a gentle spray of holo to give it a touch of magic:
Girly Bits Cosmetics Depêche à la Mode
Girly Bits Cosmetics Depêche à la Mode
Application and formula: Very good. I had a little patching on the first coat, but it evened out beautifully on the second. Coverage: Two coats.
I love the blush trend this year--it's such a pretty alternative to beige when you're looking for a neutral, and this polish is how I love my neutrals--with a dash of something that makes them special and flirty while still keeping them understated and suitable for work. Grab a back-up bottle, 'cause you're gonna get a lot of use out of this.
The second member of the duo is Girly Bits Cosmetics Let Me Azure You, a navy-denim linear holo:
Girly Bits Cosmetics Let Me Azure You
Girly Bits Cosmetics Let Me Azure You
Girly Bits Cosmetics Let Me Azure You
Application and formula: Excellent, no issues. Pam advises that the holo shows best when the polish is fully dry, and the same goes with topcoat--it may dull the holo a bit when wet, but this will go away once the topcoat is dry. Coverage: Two coats.
This polish borders on navy, but reminds me more of a dark-wash denim. It's like a clear summer night's sky, right before it gets completely dark. If you wear jeans as much as I do, this is a versatile polish you'll get a lot of use from, and even if you don't, it's just plain gorgeous.
Both polishes will be available in the Girly Bits store through the end of August; they sell for $16.50 CAD each, and now through August 10th you get $2 off when you buy both polishes.
And, here's where you can stalk Girly Bits around the interwebs:
I talk a lot in my video reviews about how you should always take advantage of any edges on your images that aren't the typical cut-off full-nail images--for example, the gorgeous crescent-moon shaped floral image on UberChic Beauty 17-03:
UberChic Beauty plate 17-03 over Zoya Tara & Zoya Finley
UberChic Beauty plate 17-03 over Zoya Tara & Zoya Finley
I love this technique--soft, feminine, and an easy way to get a complex look. Take advantage of your half-moon area for more than just half-moon manis. :)
Then I used a matte topcoat...and discovered that even if you're careful, a matte topcoat can smudge your manicure:
UberChic Beauty 10-02 over Spellbound Nails The Knight Bus
Yes, it only smudged a little, but still. So what I learned from this is, always use regular topcoat over your stamping before you use matte topcoat! Even so, I do love this design, it has a peaceful stained-glass feel that I love.
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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