Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Barry M Cobalt Blue Layered


I had two polishes I reallll-lllyyyyy wanted to use.  Looking at them, I thought they may go together so thought I'd do a little layering....this is what I came up with.



Started with a base of one coat of Barry M Cobalt Blue.  Gorgeous and one coat?!  Unbelievable!!  I usually do two coats on most base polishes but knew I was going to be layering it, so left with one but the coverage was still good. You'll know that by no means am I one to call dupes or do a lot of comparisons, but  I'd say this is veryyyy close colour wise to nails inc. Baker Street; you can see my mani with it here.   However, Baker Street had more shine and while the colour is close, I wouldn't say the finish is the same.  Shine may be achieved by adding a layer of clear topcoat but because I knew I was going to be layering it, I didn't go that route.  Perhaps another day. But at half the price of nails inc. Baker Street, Barry M Cobalt Blue is a less expensive option if you are craving this shade of blue! 


Added two coats of Essence Confetteria that I received from my European swap pal as part of our massive polish swap.  I was sooo anxious to swatch this!  Hex and small round silver glitter in a navy jelly base....*swoon*.   


Of course I had to stamp this, but didn't want to hid the base too much so opted for a simple white flower coaxed into a french tip from fauxnad m12 using Konad white special polish.  The pix below doesn't have SV on it but the very first one does....just made it more squishy! 


After the terrible staining I had after removing MAC Blue India, I'm always a little hesitant in removing blue polishes for fear of having smurf nails but was happy to report no terrible staining occurred.  A little blue was on my skin, but it easily came off with remover and if one was really careful in removal, that too could be avoided. 

For those of us who don't have easy access to Barry M, Harlow & Co sell their products.  And if you don't have easy access to the full range of Essence products like me, and you want a bottle of Confetteria, I'd highly suggest hooking up a bottle with a friendly swap pal or you'll miss out on this beauty! 

Thanks for looking!


Monday, May 28, 2012

Summer Skittles

What awesome weather we've been having!  This weekend, the weather was perfect...beautiful, warm and sunny!  My nails were screaming for something bright and fun in the sunshine...this is what I came up with!


Base polishes used, starting from thumb and working clockwise are:  Essie Lights, Essence Wake Up!, Essence Lime Up!, Essence Walk on Air and Essence Wanna be your Sunshine, all two coats. 


Stamped using CH12 using white Konad special polish.  I can't believe I reached for this plate again when I have so many options...but it's my most favourite full nail flower image right now!  I say right now because of all the different image plates being released soon, that may change!


I had picked up a few of these Xtreme Nail art pens not too long ago at Rite Aid....and they happen to match the colours of the skittles bases I was wearing so thought I try them out.


The yellow, blue and orange worked perfectly for dotting; however, the pink was a little too sheer for good dots.  It looks like I forgot to do some moisturizing and cleanup before taking these pix...oops!  Please overlook that nastiness!  lol!


I know its a long weekend in the United States and if you're one of the lucky ones off today, enjoy the rest of your day!  Hopefully everyone else had a great weekend!

Thanks for looking!


Thursday, May 24, 2012

Blue Holo on Blue Base

My Canadian nail gal pal, nailxchange, does these amazing colour on colour stamping mani's (here and here are just a couple examples....in fact, the second one linked here, she posted on April 23rd and I did this mani on May 1...I'm so far behind in posting mani's!) and I thought I'd try out a blue stamping on blue base mani.....aka copying her!  You know what they say...imitation is the greatest form of flattery!  Well, this mani isn't exactly copying her designs (hers are so much more sophisticated IMHO!), but moreso using the tone on tone concept as she calls it; here's what I came up with!



Started with a base of Sinful Colors Cinderella.  Its pretty sheer so this is three coats and can still see some VLN.  The nail community was all ga-ga about Cinderella a few months ago...and now that I have a bottle, I know why!  I had been on the lookout for a bottle of Cinderella in my recent US visits but it was always sold out; however, I FINALLY snagged a bottle on cross border trip not long ago...even managed to pick up a couple extras for some regular European/UK swap pals and they are already on their way to them! 


And too many more pix just because that's how I roll!



Stamped with SdP 54 using Layla Ocean Rush (hmmm....I think I seen stamping with Layla's too on nailxchange's blog...even though I've stamped using China Glaze OMG collex, etc before, I wanted to see for myself how well these Layla's stamped!  Copying her again! lol!).



Again....too many pix.....



While over on nailxchange's blog getting some links, I seen she has a giveaway going on too...that's ending soon so you may wish to check it out here! 

And speaking of giveaways.....I FINALLY compiled the list of the giveaway entrants and have sent out an email notifying the first winner! The giveaway page will be updated as I notify gals/they respond and I update the page as the plates are spoken for.....until everyone's been notified which shouldn't take too long now...thanks for your patience again! I was thrilled that my first giveaway winner (pending she responds in the time frame anyway) has lots on her wishlist that I have access too...great to know that the concept worked so she will be able to obtain three of her wishlist lemmings!!!


Thanks for looking!






Monday, May 21, 2012

Summer Nautical Nails


Cheeky released yet another preview of their soon to be released Summer Collection, CH36.  Perfect for some summer fun!  Here's what I came up with!


This plate has a nautical/water summer feel to it, so I thought blue, red and white as soon as I seen it.  Started with a base of Sally Hansen White Out, Duri Blueberry Daiquiri and Odyssey Top of Universe, all two coats.


Odyssey isn't a brand I've used before; I had picked up a few bottles some time ago at a random beauty supply place and this was the first time trying any of them out....this polish went on like butter!   They didn't have much colour wise for selection or I'd go back and pick up a few more bottles.


I had a little misstamping here and removed one of the anchors and then stamped in a single one...still not perfect but better than the bare spot. 


Stamped using CH36 using white, red and royal purple Konad special polishes; the yellow is Fab Ur Nails yellow. 

 

Here's the new Cheeky plate previewed....


Cheeky is wanting a feel for how many gals will be ordering these plates..  so if you plan on getting them, please make sure you like their May 17th post!

Thanks for looking!


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Louis Vuitton Nails


I was super excited to finally receive the newly released image plates from Fab Ur Nails!!!!  This is what I came up with.


Started with a base of Orly Pixie Dust, two coats.


Stamped with black Konad special polish using FUN2.  Both of these designs are on the same plate.


Added a few random dots for some colour interest.


Topped with SV. 
 

Please note that I got these plates here if you are interested!  Its always great to see new image plates available and there are some fantastic designs on them!  (The stamping polishes work well too...and are a great price!  I'll have a post showing how I used them soon!!)

Thanks for looking!


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Ahoy, Matey!!

Not only did Cheeky release another image plate recently, they announced that they are offering worldwide shipping of some of their products including the much sought after 26 set series (for details, please visit Cheeky's FB site).  This is the mani I came up with using the last plate image released, CH49!


I had been thinking about this mani and was stumped on what base colours to use.  I knew I wanted it to be pirate related and for some reason, I could only think of black and white.  By the time I did my nails last night, I was no further ahead on what base to use, so black and white it was.  Alternated using FingerPaints Black Expressionism and Sally Hansen White Out for base (no pix as pretty basic).  Stamped using CH49 for all images except pirate skull on middle finger which was D22.  (Can you tell that I painted in most of the hat and the jaw line?  The set I had bought were the ones that didn't stamp too well and of this image, I'd say about 70% of it stamped and I put in the rest.  Good thing it was only a few lines as my free hand work doesn't extend much past dotting!)  Used Konad black and white special polishes.


I isolated the large and small wheels from the full size nail images and placed them randomly on a couple fingers.  I love this option that these plates give you...you can use them not only for a full size nail design, but can use them for single images too!

Black and white seemed pretty boring to me so I decided to add a few colourful dots.  I know this has nothing to do with pirates but I couldn't resist the added splash of colour.  In my head when it was done, I was calling this the Party Pirate mani   :)


Topped with SV.  Unfortunately, I had some drag as I did this reallyyyy late last night and didn't have the patience to wait long enough for the stamping and dots to dry.  Good thing its only noticeable in macro and tomorrow is another mani! 

Here's the plate from Cheeky's FB site.



So what do you think?  Are you excited for these plates to be released?  I can't wait to be able to share more of their designs!

Thanks for looking!



 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Smurf Nails!


I picked up the last bottle of nails inc. Baker Street on a recent visit to Sephora.  While I know I should be thinking that this is the polish that Beyonce made hugely popular after the birth of her daughter, all I could think of is Smurfs!  This is what I came up with!


Started with a base of two coats of nails inc. Baker Street; two coats.


And a second pix just because its so gorgeous!


Stamped using white Konad special polish using KD2 (thumb and middle finger), FAB IV/FUN1 (index), SdP 50 (pinky) and SdP 51 (ring).


Stamped on a a couple flowers but for some reason I never jotted down the plate number but it was one of the XL plates, then added a few colourful dots to them.


Added a few more dots using an assortment of CND polishes and topped with SV to finish.


Smurf nails!  Thanks for looking!

Edited to add where to get plates:



 (I got these some time ago; not sure if currently offered for sale but see them offered quite often). HTH's!








Monday, May 14, 2012

Beach Themed Gradient


I had a couple purposes for this mani...first of all, I'm in absolute love with the gradients I've seen from The Nailasaurus' new method of doing sponge gradients....the oh so faint and subtle gradient line is simply amazing!  So I thought I'd try my hand at it.  Unfortunately, while my end result was a gradient, my attempts did fail in that the gradient didn't flow or blend into one another; my colour lines are still too obvious.  THEN I reread the tutorial and seen where I went wrong, so I'll definitely have to try it again.  The second purpose of the mani was my contribution for this weeks Adventure in Stamping FB challenge, to do a mani with a plate that ends in 5.  This is what I came up with.


Started with a base of Sally Hansen Instadri in yellow.  It probably has a number, but I couldn't find a name.  I really liked how bright this colour is and it had great coverage in two coats; but I had bought it to use as a stamping polish and only used it in a pinch as I was away for the weekend and only had a limited number of polishes with me.  Unfortunately, the brush on these polishes really turn me off from using them for any nail polishing, just stamping. 


Then did my sponge gradient using the SH yellow, FingerPaints Original Orange and OPI Red My Fortune Cookie. As far as sponged gradients, I guess this is OK, but was a fail if it as my intention was for it to look like The Nailasaurus' gradual gradient.


Stamped using SdP 15 using Konad black special polish.


Top coated with SV.


Hope you had a fantastic weekend and thanks for looking!





Saturday, May 12, 2012

Holo Stars - CH51

Another mani using a plate from the Cheeky Summer Collection that I'm reviewing; this is CH51.



Started with a base of OPI Black Onyx alternating with China Glaze OMG; both two coats.  I was rushed doing this mani as I started after 7 pm and the sun was quickly fading; while it was still sunny, this pix wasn't as good as the ones I took this morning as they are more holo-riffic!


Stamped using Konad black special polish over OMG and using OMG over the black. 


Please excuse the smudge on the thumb near the cuticle...grrr... this was a quick hit of my nail with the cotton as I was cleaning my plate. 


This is the latest plate previewed by Cheeky on their FB page....this will be perfect for Casino Night for an event I volunteer at in July!



Hope you're having a great weekend...thanks for looking!



Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Preview of New Cheeky Plates!!!

I'm soooo excited.....I've received the 26 piece Cheeky Summer Collection!!!!  This is the first preview of these plates.....there are also a few other bloggers around the world who will be sharing their mani's soon too and I can't wait to see the awesome mani's they come up with!  While there are lots of awesome designs that I can't wait to try, Cheeky asked that only plates that have already been previewed on their Facebook be shared.  Of course the nail fanatic in me had to pick the polish images on CH40....here's the mani I came up with!


Started with a base of two coats of two coats of Essence Ultimate Pink that I had picked up at Shoppers Drug Mart recently.  Deal at $1.49 (and a super deal at $0.99 if you can pick them up in US at Ulta!). 


Stamped using CH40 using Konad black and white special polishes.


Added a few accent stars using CH51, as well as random dots.


Topped with SV.


Here's CH40 swatched on paper.


For those who may be wondering about the size of the full designs, the width is 1/8" wider than their last series of plates; the length is the same to the top of the curve.  The full size image is smaller than the full size SdP, A, T and H series, but bigger than Konad, Red Angel and either of the Bundle Monster sets.


In case you' haven't heard about this, Cheeky is doing a Carnival that gives you an opportunity to win $250 in nail art supplies including plates, dotting tools, brushes.....basically everything you need to do more cool nails! Please go to Cheeky's Facebook page for further details.  (Edited to add it has already started and will end on June 7, 2012.)
So what do you think about Cheeky's new designs?  I can't wait to be able to share more of their designs!  I think there's a little bit of something for everyone...lots of full size designs and lots that can be worked around various themes!  According to Cheeky's FB site, they should be available for sale the end of May-early June.
Thanks for looking!