Isn't that a beauty? I absolutely adore the rhinestones across the nails. That got me to thinking...and my end result requires a little explanation, because it's fairly far afield from this one. Besides the rhinestone wave, I also love the way the nails were divided into two sections, and I wanted to play with that. I'm currently obsessed with the naked-nail-negative-space trend, so I decided to combine the two.
First, I used latex mani defender (normally used to protect your cuticles) to divide my nails--I swept it in a curve across my nail, and waited for it to dry. Then I stamped an image from Dixie Plates Lace 01, with gradient stamping--I went from white through different pinks, and finally to red (Messy Mansion Chalk, Dogwood Pink, Petal, Red-y Or Not, and Kaleidoscope St-04 Pink. I peeled of the latex, which left me with half my nails stamped, then lined with my rhinestone gradient. Here's how it came out:
Dixie Plates Lace 01, stamped with Messy Mansion and Kaleidoscope polishes
Dixie Plates Lace 01, stamped with Messy Mansion and Kaleidoscope polishes
So, as you can see, my mani is pretty different from the original--but you can definitely see where the inspiration comes from. And that's the cool thing about inspiration--one element can really speak to you, and take you off into your own new direction.
If you'd like to see how I made this mani, check out my tutorial:
I'll be back tomorrow with my final inspired mani...in the meantime, please check out what the other ladies did, below. :)
How was your weekend? I made my very first strawberry-rhubarb pie, and OMG I think strawberry-rhubarb might be my favorite kind of pie. Tied with pecan and cherry...
Anyway. Focus. Today I have a new plate from Dixie Plates to show you, Lace 01! Of course I have a video review to show you, that tests out five potential looks:
Here's a closer look:
Dixie Plates Lace 01
What to note about this plate: This has classic lace images, but also a variety of styles, like the henna-look in the upper left. I also love the mix and match potential with the different meshes and similar patterns in the lace. And, I love the free edges she gives you to play around with!
Here are five quick ideas I put together for using this plate:
Five looks with Dixie Plates Lace 01
Here are the polishes I used in these looks:
(1) MM Chalk, hydrangea blue, Amalfi coast, Delft Blue
(2) Zoya Nahla, Kaleidoscope St 02 White
(3) Zoya Sandy, MM Dogwood Pink
(4) Zoya Jack, Moyra SP-09 Gold
(5) Zoya Snow White, Kaleioscope Black
Dixie Plates Lace 01 over Zoya Snow White and Marigold
Dixie Plates Lace 01 over Zoya Snow White and Marigold
What do you think, which one do you like best?
You can get this plate on sale now in Dixie Plates' store, or, if you're in the US or Canada, from Lantern & Wren. And don't forget to check out Dixie Plates around the interwebs:
Holy crap, how is it already the last week of January?! I always say I'm gonna slow down and smell the roses more this year so the time doesn't just fly by, and next thing I know I'm all "hey, was that pink blur that just whizzed by the roses I was supposed to smell?"
But, whether we're ready for it or not, it's nearly February, and that means Valentine's Day! You all know I have a strange relationship with Valentine's Day--of course it's a good thing to celebrate love and romance and all of that, but I personally believe the holiday as is ends up making more people feel bad than it makes feel good, because it puts so much pressure on having romantic relationships. So I personally use Valentine's Day to celebrate all the love in my life--friends, relatives, fur babies, self. And I usually remember in among that to do something nice for my husband. ;-)
But whatever type of love you're celebrating, of course you want your nails to rock! So today we're gonna take a look at this year's Valentine's Day offering from UberChic Beauty--Love & Marriage 04.
Of course I did a video review, if you want some extra ideas for how to use the plate:
And let's take a closer look:
UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 04
My favorite things about this plate--those cupids!! Especially the vintage one, I think that absolutely rocks. And the hearts in the image right next to him--they look like those lace-cut out shapes you make in strings for banners. And OMG, the love bunnies are just too darned cute.
As always, UberChic Beauty's full-nail images are 1.7cm x 2.1cm, and here's a shot with a ruler so you can judge the smaller images:
For my first manicure, I wanted to do some a little out of the typical Valentine Colors, so I stamped the image that looks like heart firework bursts with Messy Mansion Sterling and Kaleidoscope stf-301, over Sally Hansen White On. I finished with two heart rhinestones for a little bling:
UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 04 over Sally Hansen Insta-Dri White On
UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 04 over Sally Hansen Insta-Dri White On
This feels like I'm caught in the middle of a fireworks display celebrating love--but the colors don't knock me over the head with the theme.
UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 04 over Spellbound Nails Antici...Pation
UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 04 over Spellbound Nails Antici...Pation
UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 04 over Spellbound Nails Antici...Pation
I'm so in love with this look--the stamping makes a statement while allowing the polish to shine in all its duochrome-holographic goodness.
You know I'm gonna be back with more manis using this plate--but in the meantime, go grab it yourself in UberChic Beauty's shop, and don't forget to stalk them around the interwebs for news and inspiration:
I'm catching up on my plate reviews, so I'll be showing you both UberChic Beauty collection 22 and 23 this week--starting today with 22! Here's the video review I did of the collection:
And here's a closer look at the plates:
UberChic Beauty 22-01
UberChic Beauty 22-02
UberChic Beauty 22-03
What I love best about these plates: Layering gems!!! And the layering flowers with the more intricate flowers! And all the arrows! And I love the sea-anemone-looking flower bundle on the first first plate. So awesome.
UberChic Beauty's full-nail images are 1.7 x 2.1 centimeters, and here are shots with a ruler so you can get a feel for how big the rest of the images are:
The quality is excellent as always; these swatches are done with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Plummet, and a clear stamper:
From the second I saw these plates, there's one in particular I've wanted to bling out with some rhinestones, so I decided to use it for day two of The Digit-al Dozen's All That Glitters week...
I started with a base of Girly Bits Hot Stuff and Sequins & Satin Pants, from one of my favorite glitter collections of 2017, then stamped my image from 22-02 with Messy Mansion Sterling. Then I finished up with some rhinestones:
UberChic Beauty 22-02 over Girly Bits Hot Stuff and Sequins & Satin Pants
UberChic Beauty 22-02 over Girly Bits Hot Stuff and Sequins & Satin Pants
What do you think? I adore the spray of neon pink glitters in Sequins & Satin Pants and the hint of coral in Hot Stuff, and I normally don't like pink--but I've already worn these polishes a ton. I also love how the round rhinestones play with the glitters in Sequins.
You can find these plates over in UberChic Beauty's store--and don't forget to check out the other Digit-al Dozen's glittery creations, linked below!
I received three polishes for review, St-04 Pink, a bubble-gum pink, St-06 Mint, a pastel green, and Stf-301, a dusty lilac with lashings of brown:
I was extremely impressed by how well these stamped over both white and black polish:
In terms of both opacity and image quality, I think these are up there with the very best stamping polishes I've tried--and notice that there's no smudging, even when I topcoat right after stamping! These are amazing--I will definitely be getting my little paws on more.
(I also received St-02 White for review, but it arrived after I made my video--I posted a manicure using the polish here if you want to see how it stamps. )
Since today is the first day of this month's Digit-al Dozen challenge them (All That Glitters), I decided to stamp my first manicure for the theme with Kaleidoscope Mint (I'll be back with more manicures showing the other two polishes soon!).
One of the first things I think of when I think of glitter gone wild is Mardi Gras, so I figured this was a great time to make my first Mardi Gras mani of the year--it's a little early, but hey, it's party-o-thirty somewhere, so what the heck! I started with a base of Spellbound Nails Dammit Janet (from her upcoming Rocky Horror Valentine Collection), an orchid glitter crelly, then stamped an image from UberChic Beauty 8-02 that always makes me think of Mardi Gras beads. Then I piled on the rhinestones and studs, and finished off by adding gold dots for more beads with my dotting tool and Messy Mansion Gold. Here's how it came out:
UberChic Beauty 8-02 over Spellbound Nails Dammit Janet
UberChic Beauty 8-02 over Spellbound Nails Dammit Janet
What do you think, does it put you in a party mood? I used pastels instead of the darker purples and greens you normally see for Mardi Gras, to give it a spring-like bent, and I love how the colors play together!
You can find Kaleidoscope stamping polishes at Lantern & Wren, but hurry--she has a ton right now, but they have a habit of going fast.
And, don't forget to check out the other Digit-al Dozen glitter manicures, linked below!
Each of the plates come in its own envelope, if you like to store your plates that way:
And here's a look at each individual plate:
BeautyBigBang11
BeautyBigBang12
BeautyBigBang13
BeautyBigBang14
BeautyBigBang15
What I love about these plates: There is a sense of humor to these images that I just adore--like the tumbling sheep and the Merry Xmas caution tape, not to mention the hipster Santa 'staches! I also love the mix-and-match potential between the plates--the way the ribbon/bow image on 11 goes with the present on 13, the way the snowflakes on 13 go with the snowflake full-nail image on 14, and so on.
The full-nail images are 1.7 x 2.4 cm, and here's a shot of the smaller images with a ruler:
I was extremely impressed by the quality of the images--they stamped easily and beautifully every time:
Today I'm going to show you three holiday-themed manicures with these plates, and then I'll be back after Christmas to show you two more winter-themed ones...for my first manicure, today, I was inspired by the way the Santa image on plate 14 looks like he's weaving something out of a string of yarn, so I decided to do a play on a Christmas sweater manicure with that image and the image from plate 11. I started with a base of Spellbound Nails Matcha Latte over a base of Milky Way. I then shadow-stamped the images first with Messy Mansion Soft Gold, and then Carbon. Here's how it came out:
BeautyBigBang 11 and 14 over Spellbound Nails Matcha Latte and Milky Way
BeautyBigBang 11 and 14 over Spellbound Nails Matcha Latte and Milky Way
I love how the gold glints out like a little bit of metallic fiber in the yarn of the sweater, and I love flecked green-over-white of the base.
For my second mani, I wanted to embrace the humor of the plates, so I stamped an image from plate 12 over a coat of Zoya Leia over a base of Zoya Princess, from their upcoming Kisses collection (stay tuned for my review). I stamped with Messy Mansion Carbon, and on one nail used a reversed-stamping technique to pop out a single Santa from the image, using Messy Mansion Chalk, Red-y Or Not, and Girly Bits Irreplaceable:
BeautyBigBang 12 over Zoya Princess and Leia
BeautyBigBang 12 over Zoya Princess and Leia
I went with an unconventional base color for the manicure to highlight the whimsy of the design, and I adore how the little Santa guy came out. :)
For my final manicure, I went for a full-on traditional set of colors, but still had to play around with the humor...I started with a skittle of Sally Hansen Get Mod, The Lady Varnishes Scandalous Scarlet (which remains my favorite Christmas polish of all times, even though I don't think it wasn't intended to be one, hehe), and Zoya Sheri. I used reversed stamping to color in and stamp the sheep design from plate 15 with Messy Mansion Chalk, Carbon, and Misty Jade, and stamped the other image with Messy Mansion Chalk. I finished with rhinestones and half-pearls to accent the other two nails:
BeautyBigBang 15 over Sally Hansen Get Mod, The Lady Varnishes Scandalous Scarlet, and Zoya Sheri
BeautyBigBang 15 over Sally Hansen Get Mod, The Lady Varnishes Scandalous Scarlet, and Zoya Sheri
I love all three of these manis, but I adore this last one--it's festive, seasonal, and makes me smile. Sheep in shades--how can you not love that?!
You can find these plates in BeautyBigBang's store (use my code MISHKA824M for 10% off), and you can follow them around the interwebs here:
