Before & After: Decorations

(Nothing to disclose)

Hello!

I'm back again just under the wire actually on time (sort of) with today's challenge theme! Today it's the 12 Days challenge, and the theme is 'Decorations'. :)

I started with Julep Mia, a metallic flecked polish that's a tricky shade of silver-green-gold:

Julep Mia

Julep Mia

Julep Mia

Then I stamped over it using Bundle Monster H03. I put both red (Pure Ice Siren) and green (Zoya Hunter) on the image before scraping. Finally, I added some teeny microbeads for accents:

I just realized I put up two three-nail-design manicures in a row! Shows you I'm really into the look right now. Anyway, I like this look because it's soft and elegant; very ladylike and understated. :)

Hope you're having an excellent week,
M.

Before & After: Inspired by my phone backdrop

Hello!

So I've decided to just admit that this month has already managed to get away from me, and jump forward to the next '12 Days' challenge so I can at least give the illusion of being on top of something.

On my phone, I have an app on my phone that shows trees in a wintery scene as my background, and a couple of the trees are decorated with little Christmas lights on them. Santa and his reindeer fly by occasionally, and that becomes more frequent as Christmas gets closer. Since I don't get snow where I live, this is my way of having that snowscape in my life, and I decided to do a manicure to honor that.

I promised you that today I would be doing a review of the half-bead microbeads I showed you yesterday, that Born Pretty Store sent me for review. These are a 100% improvement over the full-sphere ones, because they are only half of a sphere each:

Born Pretty Store half microbeads

This makes them a lot easier to work with, because they don't roll around everywhere if you dump a few of them out of the container; they also are easier to apply and don't stick up as much as regular microbeads. And while I've never had too much trouble keeping microbeads on because I tend to cover well with topcoat, the increased contact area with you nail keeps these on longer than normal microbeads.

For my manicure, I started with the same polish as yesterday, China Glaze There's Snow One Like You; I was very pleasantly surprised after yesterday's post to find out there are a number of you out there that like this besides me! :)

China Glaze There's Snow One Like You

China Glaze There's Snow One Like You

 Then I free-handed some simple trees on three of the nails with Glittering Garland, a dark pine green jelly with gold shimmery bits; I drew an outline of the trees with a small art brush and then filled in with the polish brush itself. I finished by decorating my tree with the half-beads:

 

You can see how the flat side of the beads changes the look and the dimension over full-sphere beads; sometimes you might want the other look, and it's always good to have choices! :)

I've been really into having nail art on three of the nails lately...I like the negative space that the plain nail gives, and I think it looks cool when the fingers aren't placed right together: 

What do you think? I'm definitely a symmetry girl, but the symmetry issue is solved because the two hands together make it all look symmetrical, even if each hand isn't, lol. Yes, I have more...let's call them quirks...running around in my head than you can even imagine, and a need for symmetry is one of them!

As always, you can use my code for 10% off your entire purchase at Born Pretty Store; I am not an affiliate, but when I checked yesterday, I had enough purchases with a code that Born Pretty Store will be sponsoring a giveaway, so stay tuned for that as soon as I hear back from them!!!

Hope this manicure helps to keep your spirits bright. :)
M.

Before & After: Winter Wonderland

Hello!

If orange is the new black, can 'one day late' be the new 'on-time' for nail art challenges?? Pretty please?

No, I really do just need to get my act together.

Well, today's yesterday's challenge theme for my Crumpet's Nail Tarts Christmas Winter Challenge is 'Winter Nature (Landscapes, trees, frost..)', so today I created for you my version of a Winter Wonderland.



I started with this most controversial of 2013 Holiday Polishes, China Glaze There's Snow One Like You. This is a white, glittered, textured conglomeration of a polish that takes the idea of texture to a new apex or nadir, depending on your personal preference. I admit, I am one of the few who truly love it--it looks to me like drifts of snow and makes me feel like my fingertips have that tree flocking stuff on them. I personally think it looks best with a generous coat of topcoat over the top, to smooth it out a bit:

China Glaze There's Snow One Like You

China Glaze There's Snow One Like You

China Glaze There's Snow One Like You

Next, I stamped over it using Barry M Silver Foil and Bundle Monster 407:

Finally, I put little half-beads as accents for the circles on the design; these were sent to me for review from Born Pretty Store, and I will be doing a more complete review of them tomorrow. If you're interested in buying them in the meantime, I have a 10% coupon code (MCL91):

Later on, we'll conspire

As we dream by the fire

To face unafraid, the plans that we've made

Walking in a winter wonderland. :)

I wasn't sure how this would come out stamped over texture, but I do sort of like the way it makes the light shine off of different parts of the trees, almost like it's being lit by moonlight or something. And what do you think, better with the beads, or without? I think the beads add a little special something.

Hope you're enjoying your winter wonderland, whatever it might be looking like. :)

Hugs and loves,

M.

Before & After: Brrr...Cold!!

(The 3D nail gems in this post were provided for my honest review. All other products were purchased with my own money.)

Hello!!

This week's theme in the Kimber's Mish Mash Challenge is: Cold! I thought a bit about this, and came to two conclusions.

First, as I was swatching Mentality's Seduce, I decided that needed to be my base polish (Mentality review coming soon!). For now, here is a quick look at this gorgeous cerulean blue holo:

Mentality Seduce, 2 coats, direct sunlight

Second, I decided this would be the perfect time to pull out some 3D nail art gems that Born Pretty Store sent me for review. Here is the set; there are three each of 12 different gems, all in assorted colors:

And here they are next to one of my nubbins, so you can see the size of the gems:

I wanted to do something that looked like a snowy winter's morning, with snowflakes and icicles. I put a coat of Lynbdesigns Stella, a white flakie, over Seduce, to give the look of a soft snowfall. Then I set out to create my icicles...

For three of the nails, I used silver white hexes that look a bit like crystals to me; I positioned them down the nail and threw on a couple of teeny white beads. For the accent nail, I put one of the white nail gems at the top of the nail, and put two white half-pearls under it. Under that, I put two small white beads. Around the design I put more clear hexes:

I love how this came out; I think the silvery hexes have a soft translucent look that is reminiscent of how my California girl brain thinks icicles might look. The accent nail is bold and over-the-top which is what I think of when I think of 3D nail art. No matter what, it definitely captures the feel of 'Cold'!

So what did I think of the nail gems? As you can see, the white gems were one of the smaller sizes of nail gem. These worked really well for me, no problems adhering them to the nail, and it seems to be staying put fairly well. One potential worry for me with the bigger gems is that I have very, very curved nail beds, so the gems will not sit flat on my nails--if you have flatter nail beds, you will have no problem. However, since getting these, I've been paying special attention to how people use gems like this, and they generally surround them with other gems; if I did that, the gap along the side of the gems would be masked and wouldn't really be a problem. So, if you have flatter nails, or are interested in using the gems in a look that could mask a gap, this will be a good set for you. If you have very small nails, or very curvy nails like me and hope to wear the gems alone, you might want to look for a set that has only smaller gems.

Since my intention is mainly for 3D nail art looks, I'm happy with the set and would certainly pay the listed price for them. I love looking down and seeing something that looks like a real gem sitting on my nail--so pretty and different!

As always, I have an awesome coupon code that you can use at Born Pretty Store for all your nail art supplies (and anything else on their site):

I don't make any money from your purchase and am not affiliated, but if my code is used enough, Born Pretty will sponsor a giveaway for my followers. :)

Thanks for taking a look, and please don't forget to check out all the cold manis linked below. :)

Hugs and love,
M.

(The 3D nail gems in this post were provided for my honest review. All other products were purchased with my own money.)

Before & After: Bridge over troubled waters

Hello!!

Today is the day when I show you one of my most lusted after lemmings...something I waited ages to get hoping it would go on sale...and finally just bought because I couldn't stand waiting any more! What is the wondrous magical potion of polish, you ask?

None other than Pahlish's Toxic and Timeless. This is a green-leaning teal jelly filled with blue, green, and gold glitters of the hex and bar variety. Here is two coats, with an impressively accommodating formula:

Pahlish Toxic and Timeless, artificial light

Pahlish Toxic And Timeless, indirect sunlight

When I look at this, it's like staring into a pond filled with beautiful, toxic sludge that's crisp and bright despite being deadly. It's like what a toxic lagoon would look like in Candyland, or in Willy Wonka's world. And what does a pond like that need? Something equally beautiful that allows you to walk over it safely.

So I decided to make just such a bridge for it, with silver glequins, microbeads, and rhinestones as my stepping stones:

Sail on silver girl

Sail on by 

Your time has come to shine

All your dreams are on their way

This is not a manicure for people afraid of bling! This is not a manicure for people afraid of glitter! But somehow, adding more blingy glittery goodness doesn't make this more ostentatious, it seems to pull together, at least in my mind. I love it. :)

Thanks for looking! And Happy Friday!

M.

Inspired by: my shirt!

Hello!!

I recently joined a Facebook group that is designed for people who blog about nails as a hobby. It's a fun, supportive group, and I'm really enjoying it. Part of what they have is a very relaxed monthly challenge, that you do at your own pace, and has 4 manicures per month. I'm late to the party because I just joined, but I figured I better get a move on! :)

The first prompt is 'Inspired By Fashion'. Well, it just so happens I'd been inspired to create a manicure to go with a shirt I wanted to wear, so I figured it would work just fine. First, here is my shirt, or rather, part of it:

I didn't want to copy it exactly, so I reversed the colors. I started with a light brown suede matte polish, and then stamped on it with Konad black using an image from Pueen plate 15. Then I added a few copper-colored microbeads to mimic the beads in the shirt:

What do you think? I like that the matte polish matches the matte feel of the print on the shirt, and although the flowered print is different, it's close enough to look very complementary, I think. :)

Thanks for taking a look! Please check out all the other awesome manicures my fellow group-mates created, linked below. :)

Love and peace. :)
M.

Before & After: Flowers In The Shire

Hello!!

I'm writing this quickly because I want to get it posted in time for Stamping Sunday!!!

Today's theme is 'Spring Colors'. That suited me just fine because I have this amazing polish I just got that I've been dying to wear, so the timing was perfect. Remember a few days ago when I showed you Consulting Criminal by A Study In Polish? This is the other polish I bought at the same time, and even though this one is as different as can be, it's another beauty that I've fallen in love with.

I give you Springtime In The Shire, a soft meadow green with teeny magenta glitter, small light green and yellow-gold glitters, and medium magenta glitters. The whole thing has just a titch of magenta shimmer:

A Study In Polish Springtime In The Shire

A Study In Polish Springtime In The Shire

A Study In Polish Springtime In The Shire

I think the polish does just what it's supposed to--it looks like a lush spring meadow perfect for frolicking hobbits. I didn't want to mess it up, but I wanted to add something that would accentuate it gently; I chose to stamp with Julep Avery (a pink neon that came in my Julep box this month) and Konad plate m75. I also added little gold microbeads in the center of the large flowers:

Flowers in the Shire

Tip-toe...through the tulips, er, flowers...

I'm very pleased with how Avery stamped and have to try some more Julep polishes for stamping. And I like this balance of a few flowers that add to, but don't overwhelm, the pretty effect of the glitters. :)

Thanks for taking a look! Big hugs,
M.

Before & After: St. Paddy skittles + note about Google Reader :)

Hello!!

Okay, first the obligatory note about Google Reader shutting down on July 1st. Probably you already know about this, but in case you don't--yeah, it's gonna. I personally prefer Bloglovin' for keeping up with my blog reading, so this isn't a huge deal for me ::dodges the rotten tomatoes being thrown at her::, but I know that most people prefer Google Reader, so I'm sorry to hear this on your behalf if you do. The good news is that you can easily switch to several other readers, including Bloglovin', which allows you to import all of your blogs from GR with literally one click of the mouse.

Up 'til now I've run my giveaways using GFC to verify you're a follower. It's not a secret that people have a feeling that GFC will be following GR before too long...so I'm hoping Bloglovin' will change their system so you can see more than just your most recent 20 followers. Speaking of which, my next giveaway will be at 500 followers on either GFC, Bloglovin' or 600 with them combined. :) I have a Bloglovin' button on my sidebar if you want to follow me that way. :)

But on to the important thing--the polish and the manicure!

Today I have another St. Patrick's Day manicure for you--remember I wore China Glaze's L8R G8R a while back, and then made my Pot O' Gold manicure on one hand of it? This is what I did with the other hand. So here again is the lovely L8R G8R, looking slightly lighter in color than it does IRL:

China Glaze L8R G8R in direct light

I did this manicure first, so didn't realize how much the brilliance would show through even under glitter; so I kept this simple to keep a lot of the polish showing:

On the index finger, I stamped some shamrocks with Bunny Nails plate HD-B, using Butter London British Racing Green. On the middle finger, I did a saran-wrap mash-up with Butter London BRG and Barry M Gold Foil. On the ring finger, I put green and gold microbeads, and on the pinkie, I sponged some China Glaze Graffiti Glitter. St. Paddy Skittles FTW!

Thanks for taking a look. :)

Xoxox,
M.