Tutorial: Dia De Los Muertos manicure

Hello!!

I had some requests for a tutorial on my Dia De Los Muertos manicure, so here it is! It's pretty simple once you know how to do it, so that's a good thing.

Step 1) Over your base color, which can be any medium gray color, you want to stamp a row of
roses across the bottom (tips) of your nails in a lighter gray color that is opaque enough to show up:

Notice I did not do this perfectly and didn't care if they are blurry or smudged a bit--this is just a background row that you're putting in to create depth and contrast, you won't be able to see if it's perfect or not because it will be covered up. My rose is from Winstonia 104, but you can use any rose you like. :)


Step 2). Add another layer of roses in red over your layer of gray roses:

You do not want these to line up perfectly, in fact, you want to give the illusion that there are a ton of roses there. So, try to stamp generally in the same spot as the other roses, but don't worry about it when it doesn't match up, because that's the effect you're going for. :)

Step 3: Finally, add in your skull and your skeletons! (Mine are from BM413.) I wanted my skeletons to look like they were dancing and moving around like they would be in a Dia De Los Muertos parade. But I do admit that the nail I love the best is the index finger, where they sort of look like they're in a mosh pit, lol:

The point is, position them randomly anywhere you like. One important tip, however; for the skeletons on my ring and pinkie finger, I rolled the stamper downward, from cuticle to tip, rather than from side-to-side on the nail. That's how I keep an image straight vertically on the nail without warping. :)

And that's it! Throw a topcoat on--I bet this would be awesome with a matte topcoat--and you're done!

Of course I'm including a single-image tutorial for you in case you want to pin it somewhere for ease of use.

Thanks to the people who requested the tutorial--it really helps me when you tell me what you'd like to see tutorials for, so keep those requests coming!! :)

Hugs and loves,
M.

Winstonia Series 1 Stamping Plate Review

Recently on Nailed It, you may have noticed a revival in stamping. That continues tonight with a review of one of the plates in Winstonia Store's Series 1 stamping plates.

I used the large floral pattern, as well as it's smaller counterpart for my design tonight, as well as a 3D fimo flower for my thumb!

I had no problem with these stamps. They transferred easily and all the lines and details translated perfectly.

Below is a shot of the plate I used, which includes several other floral ideas:

The series also comes with 3 other plates:

Image courtesy of Winstonia Store

Image courtesy of Winstonia Store

Image courtesy of Winstonia Store

This series of plates comes at a really low price. All four are available here for $4.95! SO CHEAP!

Which plate is your favorite? Which design is your favorite?

These products were sent to me by Winstonia. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Before & After: Ninja bats!!

Hello!!

Today I'm going batty!

(Michelle, how is that different from any other day?)
(Hush, you.)

That's right, today is the first day of Crumpet Nail Tart's Halloween challenge, and as you can see, the theme for today is black cats or bats:

I'm choosing bats, and that gives me an opportunity to tell you the back-story of my Bat Undies franken, the one I showed you in my Dia De Los Muertos manicure. A while back, I was looking for the perfect gray to wear under 6 Harts Ninja Bat, one that really allowed the shimmer and all the colors of glitter to sing. I didn't have one I like, so I frankend one...and because the topper is called 'Ninja Bat', I came up with the name 'Bat Undies'. Okay, that wasn't the most exciting story, but there you have it, lol. :)

Here is the base polish plus topper:

In my mind, this combination just cried out for some cool bats, both because of the names and because of the colors. So I added some with both Winstonia 116 and Cheeky jumbo plate 6, using Konad Black:

What do you think? Spoooooky? Fun? If you look at them too long, it looks like they're coming...right...for...you..........

Hugs and love!
M.

NOTD: Mexico

Hola!

Yesterday's theme in the CNT 33 Day Challenge was Mexico, and I'm a day late for it, but better late than never. :)

Because I'm in a mood for things like skulls and skeletons (or, skulleletons, as I like to call them), I figured the perfect way to honor Mexico was to do a Dia De Los Muertos manicure.

Make no mistake, I'm not claiming that Dia De Los Muertos is simply a version of Halloween. They do share some features, and possibly even some underlying ideas (Dia De Los Muertos celebrates departed loved ones and their return for a short time to our world by leaving food, drink and Sugar Skulls for them, while one theory about the origin of trick-or-treating argues that people believed spirits returned to this world on All Hallow's Eve, so people would leave food and drink for them outside of their homes), they are certainly different.

And I love them both. :)

For this mani, I started with a medium-dark gray polish that I frankened and named Bat Undies; I then did a double-stamp technique with grey and red polishes to create a layer of roses along the bottom of the nails (I used Winstonia 104 for this). Then I used BM 413 (what's this? A new Bundle Monster set? Yep, that's right--Bundle Monster just released their 'Create Your Own' set, and I haz it to show you!!) to stamp some awesome dancing skulleletons and a Sugar Skull on top, with Konad white. Finally, I stuck on two red studs for eyes, to give it a maniacally rockin' effect:

We can go where we want to; a place where they willl never find 

And we can act like we come from out of this world, leave the real one far behind.

 There you have it! Hope you like it as much as I do. :)

And since I'm almost certainly the last person to post my mani, please check out all the other participants linked below!

Hugs and love,
M.

Winstonia August Grab Bag

New month, new grab bag!

Winstonia's August Grab Bag, available here, contains the following:

• Nail Art Ceramic Flower Charms 
• Nail Art Faux Stone Charms 
• Nail Foil Wraps, in a random design. Mine was zebra peacock...the strangest animal to ever walk the face of the planet.
• 2 bottles of nail glue 
• Eyeliner Stickers

Before I get into the details of the contents, here's my design using the ceramic flower charms!

Here's the breakdown of the nail art. My thumb, middle finger, and pinky finger are a base of Strumming My Nails (Sation) with Fairy Dust (China Glaze) on top. My ring finger is the ever-gorgeous Storm (Zoya), and the base of my index finger is Black Onyx (OPI). I painted the flower on my middle finger using Alpine Snow (OPI) and outlined it with Black Onyx.

Now let's talk details of a few of the pieces.

The ceramic nail charms aren't hard, as the word ceramic sounds (to me). They're pliable and feel a bit like Play-Doh. Each has a rhinestone in its center. The one I placed is the largest, and they get smaller from there.

The faux stones are a bit of a disappointment to me, but only because they're not flexible, and my nails are too small for them to lay flatly. Too bad. I have pretty tiny nail plates though.

I haven't tried the nail foil stickers yet, but they seem nice. And the glue is always helpful.

But okay...eyeliner stickers?! I've never heard of this before, but this clearly doesn't gain its popularity in the U.S., as indicated by the all-Japanese labeling. There's literally no English on the package, so fending for myself, I tried applying the sticker to my clean, oil-free and makeup-free eyelids. I didn't have much luck. It stuck...sort of. But it looked like a sticker on my eyeliner. Not a good look for me, so I'll spare you the pictures.

Shipment of these bags began August 12, and you can get them for just $10 with free shipping and no subscription required. Follow this link to purchase your August Grab Bag.

These products were sent to me by Winstonia. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Review (sorta): Winstonia Grab Bag

(The products in this post were purchased by me; I am not affiliated with Winstonia.)

Hello!

Did you know that Winstonia does monthly grab bags of nail art products? Well, you do now! It's like a monthly subscription box of nail products, except there is no monthly club, and you don't have to take a risk and buy sight unseen. You get to see the products before you buy, and don't have to sign up or anything--just buy like any other product. The benefit is, you do get a good price for the supplies compared to what you'd pay separately.

I bought the July bag, and I'm very pleased with it. Here's what it contains:

Complete contents

The bag included two wheels of nail studs, one wheel of butterfly fimo slices, one bag of orange sticks, and a good quality double-ended brush. By my informal estimate (which is on the conservative side), this is between $15-20 of nail art products, for $10--and free shipping!

Here's a closer look at the studs:

These come in a variety of shapes and sizes...and most importantly imo, colors! While there are are some of the standard silver, gold, and black, there are cool orange, blue, red and purple-pink. This adds a great extra dimension for nail art.


The third wheel contains fimo canes slices of butterflies. I'm not a huge fan of fimo cane stuff usually, but these butterflies are so whimsical I couldn't resist them. The color combinations are fun and interesting, the detailing is impressive, and I had to have them:

While orange sticks aren't the most exciting thing in the world, they are crazy useful and I'm always glad to have more, especially in various sizes for different uses:

And finally, the thing I think many people will be very excited about--the double-ended nail brush. When I saw this, I instantly thought clean up. The one end can help you get the massive stuff off of the cuticles and round your nail bed, while the slanted brush can help you with precision where you need it more. And from what I can see, it's good quality and isn't going to fall apart on you the moment you use it.

Eeeeek!! Nekkid nails!!!

What do you think? If you like it, you can get it for a few more days by clicking here. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with for August. :)

Hugs and Happy Saturday,
M.

Winstonia July Grab Bag

There's another Winstonia grab bag available, and I love this one! It's available for $10 (free shipping) until July 31. If you like what you're about to see (and I bet you will), then you can pick it up here at the Winstonia Store.

This month's bag includes:

• 2 nail art stud wheels (Design 2) (Design 3)
• 1 nail art polymer slice wheel (details)
• A package of wooden cuticle pushers in 3 different sizes (details)
• A multi-purpose eye brush (details)

Overall, it's a $24 value that you're getting for $10.

I loved the nail art studs the most, so I created a look using several different kinds of studs from the two kits.

So fun right?!

Here's a closer look at what's available in each of the wheels:

I love the variety, and I definitely feel like I'm getting a value.

And though the brush is advertised as a makeup brush, I'll likely be using the angled end as a cleanup tool for my cuticles!

This is an excellent 3D grab bag, which reminds me...time to announce the winner of my 3D nail art contest!

Though it was difficult to choose and I feel bad not letting more than one person win, I decided on a winner:

Ria Marii from Brush me Blush!

Nail art and photo by Ria Marii from Brush Me Blush

She was very creative and neat with her 3D work, and I'm so happy I now know about her blog. Well done Ria!

Edit: It's my own fault that I did not ask people to prove it was their natural nail as the rules stated was a requirement, so though there has been controversy about whether or not these are her natural nails, I unfortunately have to go by the honor code in this instance. Ria assured me they were her natural nails, and I'm sorry if some of you disagree. I myself am not 100% confident either, but I put myself between a rock and hard place by not asking for proof. It is what it is now. I will be removing comments calling out these facts, simply because it's not worth generating additional controversy. Again, I apologize to everyone.

If you've got the 3D itch and want the July Winstonia grab bag, then you can grab yours in the Winstonia store until July 31st for $10 with free shipping and no subscription required.

These products were sent to me by Winstonia. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Patriotic Polished Pairings: Statue Of Liberty

Hello--

Very fast post today because i'm running late and not feeling too well. :( But I really want to share this with you on the holiday. :)

I started with a base of Zoya Hazel, a pretty slate-blue fleck-finish polish with flecks of goldish-copper in it. When I was looking at it, it reminded me of the blue-green patina that bronze statues get, including the statue of liberty...

Zoya Hazel, overcast outside light

That instantly inspired me to do two things. First, I paired the polish with a coat of Hit Polish Patina, to bring up even more of that statue-type finish color palette:

Hit Polish Patina over Zoya Hazel

Then, finally, I finished off with a simple stamp, using Konad black and Winstonia stamping plate 114:

And there you have it...a patriotic manicure of a slightly different type. I hope you are all having a wonderful 4th of July if you're here in the states, and if you're not, I hope you're having an awesome day, too!

Hugs and smooches,
M.

Winstonia Subscription-Free June Grab Bag

Winstonia is a great online resource to purchase high-quality and inexpensive nail art items. I reviewed their awesome brushes and stamping plates previously.

Starting today, June 10 and available through June 30, Winstonia, is now offering what they're calling their June Grab Bag.

For $10 (and free shipping for U.S. orders), you can pick up the June Grab Bag, which includes the following items:

• 2 pots of glitter powder 
• 3 rolls of striping tape 
• 10 pieces of alloy decoration (either bows or crosses)
• 1 roll of metallic transfer foil 
• 1 pack of feathers (5 feathers/pack)
• 1 blender makeup sponge

The colors and options for each item varies. In the promotional pack I was sent for review (which will be coming to Nailed It soon), I got:

• Blue and red glitter powder
• White, gold, and purple striping tape
• Bow decorations
• Silver holographic foil
• Baby pink feathers
• A blue blender sponge

Unlike most other packs like this out there right now, the Grab Bag is not subscription-based. You can check out each month's bag, and decide if you're interested or not. No contract to sign and commit to, just one-time purchases you make yourself.

Winstonia will ship the orders within 24 to 48 hours and most orders arrive within 3 to 7 business days. Also note that coupon codes do not apply to the Grab Bags.

Pick one up for yourself (or a friend), or pass the info along to your loved ones as an easy, affordable, and exciting gift to give to you and your nail art needs. I don't know about you, but my honey is rightfully clueless about most things nail-related, so just pointing him to this site would be a perfect and easy gift for both of us!

If you're not interested in this month's items, be sure to check back in July for a completely new bag of nail art tools!

These products were sent to me at no cost by Winstonia.

Before & After: Jazz Age

Hello!

This week's time period in my Llama Nails group challenge is: The Roaring Twenties! This is beautifully well-timed with recent release of The Great Gatsby and my Jazz Age Julep kit. :)

I started off with a base of Julep Gabrielle, a smoked eggplant creme:

Julep Gabrielle

Julep Gabrielle

Then I did a simple flipped-accent nail stamp over the base, using Julep Zelda, a light frosted lilac, and Winstonia 111:

Doesn't this look like the ultimate flapper wear??

I love how well these colors go together, and they have such a great retro feel. I can completely see this on a gown some beautiful chicky would be wearing at a speakeasy!

(Sorry about the cuticles...I did this back when my cuticles were trying desperately to recover from my move...:( )

Thanks for looking! Please check out what the other Llama-ettes did, linked below. :)

Hugs and love,
M.

Review: Mash 3D Nail Art Confetti

Hello!!

I was very excited to be approached by Mash recently to review some nail art products for them. The first item I sat down to play with was the 3D Nail Art Confetti that they sent to me...because it's sparkly and pretty, and 3D nail art is all the rage right now!

This set contains 12 different types of 3D confetti, in different shapes (hearts, stars and flowers) and colors:

Mash 3D Nail Art Confetti

The pots are huge, as you can see by the relative size of my thumb (which is a normal-thumb sized, lol); unless you're doing nails for everyone in your neighborhood every day, these will last you a long, long time--years and years, unless your cats spill them everywhere (::gives warning skunk-eye to her cats::). Here is a close-up to see the confetti better:

Even though there are 12 pots, there are actually more types of confetti than that; the ones that have a hollow center also include the shapes that were punched out of the center, so you get a two-fer, as you can see below:

This also gives you a sense of just how many are in each pot--what I dumped out there barely made a dent in what was left, as you can see. These are excellent quality, and the shapes are uniform, so you won't find yourself with uneven shapes when you're trying to make a pattern (see the manicures below). They're also very sturdy, so you're getting good stuff here.

When I look at glittery wonders like this, the little girl in me screams out, and I have to play play play! For the first manicure I did, I thought I'd do a simple skittle mani using the different gold hearts above. I started out with a base of Hare Polish Rusty Hearts, a beautiful gold-flaked red. Then I staggered the hearts in an alternating pattern down the nails:

Look at how they sparkle in the light!

Note how the shapes are all the same size and color (except when the light hits them); you can't tell from these pictures, but they are all uniform height, as well, so they all sit at the same level on your nail.

I love how it came out--this would be such a fun mani for Valentine's day, or for any romantic occasion. :)

For my second manicure I went patriotic, in honor of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, and did a flag manicure with the white stars. I started with a base of Risque Azulcrination (holla, Janaina!), and  L.A. Colors Hot Blooded. I stamped the stripes of the flag with Konad white, and Winstonia plate W107:

How perfect is that? Rock out that flag, baby. :)

A couple of questions you might be asking yourself. First, how easy are these to apply? If you use the dotting tool technique or the pick-up pencil technique I've showed before, these are fast and easy to apply--both of these manicure took me only minutes from start to finish. You're probably also wondering if the confetti stay put...I covered them with one coat of top-coat, and they stayed put just fine--in fact, I had to pry them off with a lot of effort to get them off (using nail polish remover makes this easier, but I did a pull test to see how they'd hold up). You shouldn't have any problem getting several days of wear out of them (probably longer with the hearts and flowers, since they don't have the sharp edges that catch more easily).

This set goes for $5.99 on the Mash website, at the time of this posting. I've seen similar nail confetti at my local beauty supply store go for twice as much for half as much product, so I was impressed with the price as well as the quality. If you're into the 3D trend and want some options in fun colors and shapes, I highly recommend you check this out. :)

Thanks for taking a look! Peace and love,
M.

(The 3D Nail Art Confetti in this post was sent for my 100% honest review. I am not affiliated with Mash, and the links are not affiliate links.)