Nail Challenge Week 21: Fruit Mani

Strawberries! Bananas! Pineapple! Kiwi! Cantaloupe! What do all these words have in common?? They are some of my favorite fruits! (ooh peaches and plums too!!:) I was both excited and nervous about this week's challenge! A fruit mani. *sigh* As with all of these challenges, it could go sooo many different ways! As usual, for inspiration, I checked out Google. So many girls did so many fabulous designs on their nails! I considered doing a variety of fruit--almost like little fruit baskets on my hands! But that was just sooo much work...

So, I cheated. Again. And I know stamping isn't really *cheating* but it still kinda feels like the easy way out. Hahah.

Thank you Shany for making a plate with a strawberry on it!:) lol

My plan was actually to make it look like the strawberries had been drawn on and colored in on my nails. In my head, my inspiration was the Dooney and Bourke bags that looked like they'd been doodled on

via

So two coats of ORLY Opal Hope... p.s. how beautiful is this color??? I love that it's soft and shiny and changes colors in different lights. When applied by itself, it doesn't totally go with my skin tones, but for this, I think it was perfect! After that, I kinda did some red blotches with Sinful Colors GoGo Girl (still my fave shade of red right now!!;). Then stamping with Konad Special Black.

Someone at work pointed out they look like lady bugs... and I think they kinda do, but they're STRAWBERRIES!!:) Yay!:)

What's your fruit? What fruits would you have put on your nails??:)

Nail Challenge Week 20: Bow Mani

Hi Lovelies! I promise I actually did this mani  last week when it was time; I just haven't gotten around to posting it 'til now!

So this (well last, lol) week's challenge was for a bow mani. Bows! That could be almost anything! Hairbows, bowtie, rainbows... etc. I knew I'd be able to draw bows on my left hand nails with my right hand, but I was really doubting my left hand skills to do my right hand nails lol. Soooo I went to my ever faithful stamp book to see if I had any bow stamps!

I was in luck! Yay! So after a base coat and two coats of Sinful Colors Pink Cream, I did a quick stamping on each finger with my Shany Plate and Konad polish. For a little extra spin on it, I finished with Hard Candy's Matte top coat!

Now, the matte gave it a fun and unique feel (I'm really starting to like more polishes matte now! It's unexpected:) but I noticed it really faded/made the stamping polish run/disappear a bit. It was kinda weird... But anyway, here is the finished product!

And there it is! After I did the first hand stamp across the tips, I decided to do it more angled on my other hand. If I used this stamp again, I think I'd do it diagonal. It's just a fun look--almost lacy-like!

So have you done a bow mani? What kind of bows would you have done?

Nail Challenge Week 14: Striped Nails

Hey Lovelies! Okay! I am now officially caught up with the nail challenge! This week was a striped mani and I felt like the opportunities were endless! I could use Migi Nail Art Pens, Sally Hansen pens; it could be basic stripes, zebra stripes, tiger stripes.... What would I do!??

That's when I turned to my stamping plates... it's been a while since I've done any stamping and thought I might have just the right stamp!

And I did! Shany plate SH23!

So I set out using these polishes:

OPI Base Coat, ORLY Fabfuschia, Konad Special Black, Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

I didn't take as many pictures of the step by step process of this one, but I am really happy with how it turned out! I think using the stamps was probably my best bet, because there is no way I would've gotten such straight (and nearly perfect) stripes by drawing/painting on my own!

no flash

with flash

no flash

I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out! Very simply, classy, with a little pizzazz!

How 'bout you? Are you doing the nail challenge yet? What other colors would've worked together well for this mani??

Nail Challenge Week 8: Corset Nails

Hi Lovelies! I posted a couple weeks ago about a nail challenge I was going to start that a bunch of other bloggers are doing this year! This week's nail challenge was "corset nails." *sigh* I Googled a bunch and found many pictures of what other girls had done. (There are actually a lot more images of "corset nails" than I would have expected! This is not something I would normally think to do for my nails!)

Now before I get too far into showing my nails for this challenge, I want to post a disclaimer. If this is your first time reading my blog, PLEASE do not judge my nail skills on this post!! I am perfectly aware they turned out quite horribly, and I promise I am not THIS BAD at painting  my nails. lol.

Here is a pic to show you how they turned out:

You should be able to see at least kind of what I was TRYING to do. Hahaha. Kinda a lacy look up the sides and the crisscross straps/ribbon up the back:) Here is how I got to this point.

After OPI base coat, two coats Revlon Top Speed Cotton

A coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lilac on either side and bottom

Konad Black with Shany Plate SH21 on sides

Migi Nail Art pen to create crisscross

So, there you have it! The good news is, I attempted it and count that as doing this week's challenge! The better news? I was able to take it off with polish remover right away and make my nails look better! haha

Did you try this week's challenge? Have you done "corset nails" before? How would you have done them? :)

NOTD: Pre-Valentines Week Nails

Hey Lovelies! So Valentine's Day is just around the corner! I've had so many fab ideas to do, I decided to let my nails celebrate the week before as well:)

Before I show you mine though, how gorgeous are these nails that I found on Pinterest? I figure with a few Sally Hansen nail pens, this is probably do-able. And simply FAB! Love, love, love these!

Okay, I'm starting to think I shouldn't have put that picture in with mine since mine hardly compare lol.

The polishes I used are: OPI base coat, Revlon Cotton Candy (it's SCENTED!! And yes, even with top coat, it still smells like cotton candy!), Konad pink stamping polish, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink, Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat. And I used the hearts design on Shany plate SH12 with the Konad scraper and double ended stamper.

Here's how they turned out!

And a close-up to see the heart design and the glitter!

I used the mutli-colored glitter just to add a little extra something at the tips:)

Have you tried any V-day manis yet? Or thinking about what you'll be doing?? I think for my actually Valentine's Day Mani I'll do red and white, but we'll see how many times I change my mind between now and then ;)

NOTD More Stamping

I have been wanting to do this post almost all day, but for whatever reason I could not get the polishes and my stamping to work together!! I know I keep saying how easy stamping is and I highly recommend it, etc. And really, I still do, but there was some major drama today. The stamps kept smearing on my nail. Not sure if was the polish of my base color or the new Konad polish (which worked just fine the other night) or if there's something wrong with my stamper... the polish was staying on the stamper and not going on my nail as right. Might need to look into that.

Anyway! Here we go!

The polishes I used were OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, two coats of Ulta's Tutu Cute, Konad Special Nail Polish white, Sinful Colors Nail Art Fashionista, and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

For the design, I used Shany Plate SH23.

And ta-da! Here's how it came out!

As usual, the left hand looks better than the right:) But I keep telling myself it will get better with practice:)

And just for giggles, here's a picture of the mess left after all was said and done:)

New Konad Polish Stamping

As I mentioned yesterday, I was suuuuper duper excited to find Konad Special Nail Polish at a kiosk at the Prime Outlets in Orlando!! [insert "Hallelujah Chorus" here lol] Prior to finding this little gem, I had been getting all my stamping stuff online. This is fabulous though 'cause I'm able to see the colors to pick out which ones I want, there's no shipping, and I get them right away (yay for instant gratification!)

I picked up three bottles each for $8 plus tax:

I was soooo excited to try them, I didn't even repaint my nails (same paint since Friday. Revlon Top Speed 210 Jelly. Pretty color, chips easily.), just grabbed Shany plate SH13 and stamped them all.

They look amazing!!! I still have some trouble getting the design lined up just right on my nail, but overall I am extremely happy with the results.

If you haven't tried stamping yet, I totally recommend it! You can read some of my old stamping posts which talk about the different brands (Konad, Bundle Monster, Shany etc.) of stamping plates and the polish to use (so far, I really do thinkit's best to buy the Konad brand name stuff). It's easier than free handing (I think) and looks like it was professional done! Plus it's pretty fast and doesn't make a huge mess!

Fall Nails Stamping

Hello lovelies! So much to catch you up on! If you've seen my recent tweets, I've been working on redesigning my nail polish storage rack (remember? I found it in the neighbor's trash a couple weeks ago?) Once it's complete (hopefully later this week) I will show it all to you in a step by step show. Oh, and if you're not following me on Twitter? Why not?? I'm GlossandGlaze and you should follow me!!:)


Anyway, just a quick unrelated post for you tonight. I did more stamping! Yay! And I didn't use Konad polish this time. 


I started with O.P.I. Natural Nail Base Coat then NYC Park Ave (which is like coating my nails in hot cocoa!)

(no flash)

Then, used Bonita Nail Enamel in Opal (BNP76) [thanks, Krissy, for giving it to me for my bday!] and Shany Plate 22:

so hard to get good pic of plates

And it turned out like this:

Yay! It's not as colorful and bright as I usually do, but my goal was to do something that felt a little more fall-ish. It's soft and the stamping isn't as noticeable unless the light hits it just right.


I still have to go put on the topcoat, just wanted you all to see it first! :)


What do you think? What are your favorite fall nail colors?

A Little Stamping Q&A

Today I got a very good question on my Facebook that I thought I'd share with you all here so you could see my response. So the question was:


Q. Dear K, I am debating about getting the Konad black polish. I have been using regular black polish and it doesnt seem to come out as dark as yours. Have you used regular black polish to compare? Sincerely, Laura H.


A. Well, Laura H., that's a very good question and one I was wondering about myself. Konad polishes do range in price from $4-$8 and when shipping is factored in, you could be paying a pretty penny for a polish you might not actually need.  Let's see how the test went.

I tested six polishes: O.P.I. "I only date werewolves" (from the Spookettes minis collection), O.P.I. "Black Shatter", Nicole by O.P.I."Razzle Dazzle", Sally Hansen Hard as Nails "Black Out", Sally Hansen Diamond Strength "Black Diamond", and of course Konad Princess Special "Gold Black" 


I tried each of them in the same design plate and cleaned off the stamper and plate after each test with acetone polish remover. You can see the results here:

While most of them worked, some were better than others. Not surprising the shatter polish really didn't work at all. I did that one twice; because it's its own special formula, I definitely do not recommend it for stamping. Both Sally Hansen Diamond Strength and Nicole by O.P.I. turned out all right; whereas, O.P.I. kinda smeared a little.


We all know that I'm a fan of a bargain, but I think it may just be worth spending a little extra cash to have a polish that works almost flawlessly. I'm saying buy the Konad polish. So far, I think everything else can be knock off, but go with the real deal for this one.


If you don't want to pay full price, Amazon has some cheaper prices on Konad polishes and you might even be able to get a bundle bargain.


Good luck, and happy stamping!

Stamping Nail Art Step Three: Playing with It!

As promised, I played around some more with my new stamping plates. I still love them! The hardest part is picking which design to do lol. And the second hardest part is be patient enough for the base color to dry so I can do the stamping!! :)


Anyway, tonight I started with O.P.I. Natural Nail Base Coat, then two coats of Sinful Colors 313 Pink Forever, Konad Special Nail Polish Princess--Gold Black, and Shany design plate SH20. And voila! This is the finished product:

I LOVE how they turned out! Pink, fun, fresh! Cute yet sophisticated! I still can't believe I hadn't tried stamping sooner; this is the most fun I've had with my nails in a long time:)


Now a lot of people have made complaints about the full nail design stamps because they didn't fill the entire nail bed and they were having to do it multiple times. My problem was kind of the opposite; apparently I have little girl nails and the design was actually bigger than my nails so I got polish all over my finger. Thankfully, you'll recall almost two weeks ago I picked up the O.P.I.  correct&cleanup tool, so I wasn't concerned about the mess knowing I could just take it off. Quick review of it: it works, but I had to be a little rough with it at times.. almost digging it into the skin. This wasn't cool, cause the skin around my nails is already kinda sensitive so it felt a little irritated to me. I wonder if I could've gotten the same results using a Q-tip dipped in nail polish remover. I'm also wondering if the tip will work again. Since I was using it to remove the Konad polish, it's all black now... we will see...


xoxo,

Happy Halloween Nails (and a surprise!:)

Well, it's the first of many fall holidays--Halloween. The first Halloween I really remember was when I was six. I went as Gumby! It was the one and only store bought costume I've ever worn (I'm not sure if that makes my family cheap or just makes me some loser child lol) Anyway, I loved that costume! It was a little plastic outfit and a plastic Gumby face mask. The next year I was a clown, then Laura Ingalls Wilder (hahaha, honestly, what kid goes as a pioneer girl from a book??), then Minnie Mouse (this was fabulous! My neighborhood friend and I both went as Minnie. She had a red polka dot dress and I had a blue polka dot dress. Come to think of it, this was probably when my obsession for polka dots started! Her mom sewed us these mouse ears and gigantic bows onto headbands. We were so cute!), then a cheerleader, then... well I don't remember some of them after that...

I wasn't anything this year, but in the holiday spirit, I did do Halloween nails. I've already done a review of OPI's spookettes, but I've gotta tell you--the decals that came with the set are absolutely fabulous! I was really nervous at first. The directions sound simple enough--moisten decal, moisten nail, slide decal onto nail, put in place, pat dry. But I was so afraid to screw it up! This was my first time doing decals, and I think they actually turned out really good. It's hard to even tell they were put on after the fact! My nails look like they just came this way! Also, I changed my toes from the Zom-body to Love with Black Shatter to He's My Boo with Black Shatter over it (thanks to a suggestion from Kiss My Acetone) I don't really feel like posting a picture of my toes here, but let me assure you, it looks pretty darn amazing;)

In other SUPER exciting news! Guess what showed up ALREADY today??? My Konad Stamper and Scraper and the Polish! Yes! I just ordered it on Saturday and it came all the way from California today! Like magic! My design plates should be here by Wednesday, then the fun begins:) I'll write more about the product when it's all here, just wanted to share the excitement!!

Stamping Nail Art Step One: Purchasing the Product

Let me tell you about the time I tried to get into stamping. I went to a "Stampin' Up" party, and we made a couple Christmas cards. I was pretty darn horrible at it. My stamps were crooked... or there was more ink on one side of the stamp than the other.. or it smeared... I was a scrapbooker, though! Couldn't all scrappers stamp, too?? Was there something wrong with me? I pretty much gave up stamping then (I'm not one of those "if at first you don't succeed, try try again" people. I'm more of a "if I can't get it the first time, clearly I'm not supposed to be able to do this" kind of person.) Over the years, I have acquired some stamps. And I have done some stamping, but I'm not gonna lie... I'm still not very good at it. 


So, when my friend Laura posted on my Facebook and asked if I'd tried "stamping nail art" before... Um, wait, whaaat?? Stamping my nails?! I can't even stamp a card nevermind a small, vulnerable space such as my nail beds! It must be impossible! I could never!


But, never one to pass up a new nail trend, I decided to research it some. I read reviews, blogs, watched YouTube videos, and searched eBay and Amazon. Girls who could never do nail art said it was easy. Pictures of perfect nails done on the first try.


 I. Must. Do. This.


Now, anyone who has looked into stamping nail art before can tell you that the big company on the market is "Konad" (which I believe is a Korean company?) They are the ones that invented the metal plates that have the little designs cut out... you put the special polish over the design, scrape it off, roll it on to the stamper, roll the stamper on your nail--BLAM! Perfect nail art. (or so they say:) Since Konad is the top dog in the industry, their prices are a little... well, pricey. Thankfully, there have been several knock off companies ("fauxnad" fake Konad) to come out and make their own steel-plated designs. The most popular one seems to be Bundle Monster and you can get about 21 plates (6 or so designs per plate) for about $17.99. There are a lot of good reviews for them and they seem to be as good if not better than the Konad for the price. There's also a company called "Shany" that has a 25 plate set (6-10 designs per plate) and currently on sale at Amazon for $14.99!  I did not read as many reviews for theirs compared to Bundle Monster, but I figured it's more designs AND less money AND I could do my own review:) 


So, ladies and gentlemen, I am now embarking on a stamping nail art adventure. I ordered the Shany 2012 stamp set, the Konad double ended stamper and scraper (most reviews said the Konad one really was best. And having the double end gives the smaller side for smaller designs and the larger side for whole nail designs) $3.00, and the Konad Princess Special Polish in gold black $4.42 (apparently some polishes work for stamping and some don't. The consistency needs to be a little thicker and gloopier than regular polishes--kind of like polishes that are old and getting yucky So I'm starting with one Konad one; but I'll try a bunch of other cheaper polishes to see if I can get them to work). The grand total with shipping came up to $30.34. However, I had remaining money on an Amazon gift card, so the only money I had out of pocket was $.69! What a bargain! 


I got the standard shipping so it'll still be at least 3-5 business days before I see anything, so I'll write more about all this when it arrives!