Snakeskin Manicure - My take on it

Hello Dear Readers,


I finally got time to do a stamped manicure, and I wanted to try my hand at the snakeskin look I'd seen on a few blogs.  I got inspired by Once Bitten's blog (scroll down the page) and The Nailsaurus' version is awesome too.

(all pictures are "clickable" for larger version)

Here is my try... I used Finger Paints "Purple Pinstripe" as the base and then added some random splotches of Sally Hansen "Lacey Lilac" and China Glaze "Purple Panic".  On top I stamped the snakeskin pattern from Bundle Monster 215 in Konad Special Black.

I did this one late at night and couldn't really tell how the colours worked together until I saw it in daylight this morning. I am pretty stoked with how it turned out after all.  

Have a great week, everyone.  And please leave me your comments, because I really love reading them!

Skullz - BM 225

Dear Readers,

I am really excited because I finally got the new Bundle Monster plates, and they are the first BM plates I've ever had.  I only have tried one plate so far, but I am impressed with the quality.  I am also glad they fit in my Konad IP holder.  I am sure you'll be seeing many future posts featuring the designs from these plates!

Here is China Glaze "Purple Panic (neon)" which is a gorgeous colour!  I used two coats, and it looks more like a hot hot pink than a purple to me.  I am sure I will use this colour a lot - it's right up my alley! It does dry matte, but after a coat of Seche Vite QD topcoat, it has an amazing shimmer!

I added the skull and crossbones design from BM 225 in Konad Special Polish (black).

Then, to add some depth, I stamped the same design again, a bit off, using China Glaze "Millenium".  I scraped a bit of the silver off to give it an aged, rough look.

I think this is a really cool design.  It was one I was really looking forward to using!

With an orange background, it would be great for Halloween! :-)

Hope you enjoyed this post, and have a great weekend! 

Please leave me some comments and follow my blog if you don't follow me already....   :-)

MAC Quite Cute Lipsticks

Hey everybody,
I know this post comes quite late, but I figured I would show you the two lipsticks I purchased from MAC's Quite Cute Collection.

Although the pastel colours captured my interest, I found the colours of the paler lipsticks too unflattering and sheer to wear. I also found the eyeshadows not pigmented enough to be worth it.  I stuck with Candy Yum-Yum (neon pink) and Playtime (a buildable and moisturizing lavender colour).

Candy Yum-Yum  (below, right) is a matte colour that can really reveal any imperfections in your lip, so exfoliate and condition before you apply it.  The colour is awesome though, and I want to wear it all the time!

Play Time  (above, left) is a sheer lavender colour.  The colour falls between Violetta and Up the Amp. It has a creamy formula that builds to a decent opacity.  This is a soft, wearable purple for someone who wants to try something in this colour range.  Very pretty and summery on the lips.

 Play Time (no liner)

 Candy Yum-Yum (no liner)

I'm really pleased with both of these lipsticks.  I was so excited about getting Candy Yum-Yum that I waited outside the store on the day it was released, so I'm really glad they worked out as well as I had hoped!

Have any of you bought these colours? What did you like/dislike from the Quite Cute Collections?

Flowery Spring Manicure with Konad S9

Hey all,

Here's the konadicure I did this weekend. I don't usually like layering different colours of polish, but China Glaze's "Tantalize Me" is a cool duo-chrome pale lavender that is too transparent for my taste. I decided to try layering it over "Designer Satin", also by China Glaze, which is a deeper raspberry colour.

I like how the combo colour turned out, but I always feel when I layer a light colour over a darker one, I get a bit of streaking, or a dark rim at the top or edges. I tried to avoid that as much as possible.

Then I added Konad stamping in a flower pattern from IP S9 on the tips.

I used China Glaze "Millenium" which is a silver from their Khrome Collection that came out awhile back. I can't stop feeling amazed every time I use Khromes to stamp because they result in really bright, sharp designs.  The silver Special Konad polish really pales in comparison.

Do you like layering polishes?  What do you like to use as stamping polish?

Hope you liked this post, and have a super week!

It's about time...

It's been soooo long since I posted. I finally got around to doing a "fancy" manicure.  This is a base of China Glaze "Agent Lavender" with the mesh stamped in "Sci Fi" and the flower in Konad Special polish in dark purple.  I find the Khromes ("Sci Fi" is one of them) from China Glaze so awesome for stamping!

Do you like how it looks to layer two different patterns on top of each other?

Glitter for glitterM

It's been too long since I posted. I have had many manicures but have been too busy to photograph them!

Anyhow...here's the mani I've been wearing for the past few days, and it has held up really well!  I layered 2 coats of Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in "Rockstar Pink" over 1 coat of China Glaze "Grape Pop".  A coat of Seche Vite QDTC helped smooth out the texture and bring out the bling!

I don't usually like layering polishes, but I really like how this turned out. The glitter on its own is too transparent for my taste, even though it is densely packed with pink, blue and gold glitter.  I love how it looks over the purple base.  In sunlight it is truly dazzling, but these photos were taken with indoor lighting.

Plum Attraction Konadicure

Here's the konadicure I wore last week. For the base colour I used an old Revlon polish called "Plum Attraction" that is a shimmery reddish violet. For the stamping polish, I used China Glaze "2030".  I used part of a design from plate m78, then reversed the direction and stamped it again to create an original looking pattern.

I hope you like how this turned out.  Please leave me a comment, and have a great weekend!

Savvy "Gotcha Grape"

Here's what I ended up wearing for the first day of school cuz my last mani got a big chip right before I went to bed, and then I couldn't bear starting the year with a busted up manicure!

Orly Bonder b.c.

Savvy "Gotcha Grape" 2 coats

m78 in Konad Special White

Seche Vite t.c.

The base colour is a bit sheer/streaky, but it turned out okay. I decided not to stamp all the nails because: a) I wanted to see more of the purple than the pattern left showing and b) it was getting really late and I needed sleep.

Hope all you students and teachers had a great first day back at school!

Purple Fancy Flight

For this Konadicure I used an older colour - Orly's "Cashmere Cardigan" which is a light lavender - but more on the dusty bluish side.

Swirls - Konad m69

Butterflies - Konad m78

Stamping done in Konad Special Purple & Silver

And now in different lighting....

The butterflies barely showed up. Boo hoo...I need to get some China Glaze Khromes soooo badly for metallic silver/gold stamping! I can never find them in Canada....

Hope you enjoyed this konadicure. Let me know what you think of it.

Have a great weekend, everybody. (Yes, I know it's only Thursday, but we're almost there!)

"Grape Pop" Konadiclone - Konad m62

To see what inspired me to try this konadicure, check out one of my favorite blogs:

Fab Ur Nails.

China Glaze "Grape Pop"

Konad IP m62

Avon Mirror Shine "Polish" (stamping colour)

in daylight

with flash

I was really excited to use this new polish, and I loved it! The colour is really pigmented and is a perfect purple! I also wanted to use the Avon Mirror Finish in "Polish" with it.  I find these metallic polishes awesome for stamping, as long as you can work quickly!  The result is a pretty subtle konadicure because the base colour and stamping colour are so similar, but I like it.

As usual, I used Orly Bonder as base coat and Seche Vite on top.

I got inspired to do this design by seeing a recent one by Thriszha, but her nails are way longer than I keep mine.  Still, I managed to fit in both images from m62.

Hope you enjoy this post.  Please leave me some feedback!

Purple Bling

         China Glaze "Spontaneous" (2 coats)

I was in the mood for something different from my usual konadicure, so I used some rhinestones instead.  I actually picked these up at the dollar store while my son was at his breakdancing class.

This is 2 coats of "Spontaneous" which is actually a bit more reddish violet than it looks here.  For some reason my camera made it look more bluish no matter what lighting I used.  There is a bit of drag near the cuticle on some nails that you can see in these close-up macro shots.

I added some rhinestones in circle, flower and triangle shapes, in white, yellow-orange, lilac and bright violet on the thumb and ring finger.  All but the flower have self-adhesive backs, which makes placing them easier.  I used tweezers to grasp and position them.  For the flower, I dabbed a bit of Seche Vite topcoat on the nail and placed the rhinestone.  Then I coated the gems and the whole nail generously with topcoat to seal them in place.

My older son was not impressed with this manicure.  He said it wasn't very fancy and missed my stamped patterns.  That cracked me up!

Oh well, it's been a couple of days and this mani is starting to chip - I did a lot of cooking and washing dishes yesterday.  There's just the excuse I need to plan another manicure!

Hope you enjoyed this post.  Please leave me your comments.