Saturday, November 30, 2013

Picture Polish Mad Magenta--Swatch & Review

Hey lacqueristas! Oh my goodness someone get me off my computer, I've been doing more online shopping than I planned on. Good news is I am saving tons of money on what I would have spent on regular price so I can't complain, but seriously, after this post I should really get off my computer! Yikes!

Today I have my 3rd Picture Polish to show you. Over the past couple weeks I showed you Electric Dream and Freya's Cats, so now let's take a look at Picture Polish Mad Magenta. This is one of those slightly neon purply pinks which I absolutely love, but have a hard time capturing. Swatch below is 3 coats plus topcoat, but you could get away with 2. Mad Magenta had a smooth formula, was easy to apply, and had a fast dry time. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the formula because similar neon colors like this are usually tricky to apply. 



I hadn't really intended on posting this stamp job since I was just messing around, but here's Mad Magenta stamped using PUEEN 25 in Konad White.

You can purchase this polish here for AU$10 which is around $9.11 in USD. Shipping is a bit pricey depending on what country you're from, so if you're in the US like me, you can also check out Llarowe, Overall Beauty, or find a seller in your country on Picture Polish's Network page.

Bundle Monster Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale

Hey friends! Hope you're all having a nice Thanksgiving weekend. I've been doing some online shopping the past couple of days. I'm so glad I'm able to shop at home in my pjs and avoid all of the madness in stores. I just wanted to share Bundle Monster's sale with you all since I use Bundle Monster stamping plates a lot and now is the perfect time to buy them. Sometimes a 10% or 15% off coupon floats around during the year, but this weekend they're on sale AND have an additional coupon code so this is as cheap as you're going to get items you've been eyeing. Enter code "BLACKMONDAY" for an additional 15% at checkout. Also, there's free shipping everyday for US customers. Happy shopping!


Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving Cornucopias

Happy Thanksgiving loves! I just finished this late night Thanksgiving manicure. I missed out on doing birthday nails and I didn't want to miss this occasion too. I have so many stamping plates with images that can pretty much be used once a year so you can imagine how missing an opportunity would frustrate me. I did some simple tan and gold nails with cornucopias on them. I used OPI A-Piers to be Tan and stamped using BM-H13 in Essie Good as Gold. The gold nails have OPI Liquid Sand Honey Ryder. I opted to use topcoat with this liquid sand this time around, but I wear textured polish either way. How do you wear textured polish?



Sunday, November 24, 2013

My 25th Birthday Nails

Happy 25th birthday to me! I watched Catching Fire today in IMAX and I loooved it! Can't wait to watch it again. I didn't have time to do a proper birthday manicure, but these will have to suffice. I used Color Club Beyond and did advanced stamping using MoYou London Pro 14 XL in Konad Black and filled it with OPI Kiss Me on My Tulips. It kind of sucks I have so many new stamping plates with images that are perfect to use for a birthday and I just ran out of time this week. Now I have to wait a whole year =[ Does that ever happen to any of you where you plan a mani for a special occasion and just can't get around to it?





Saturday, November 23, 2013

Picture Polish Freya's Cats--Swatch & Review

Happy Saturday! Oh man tomorrow is my birthday and I still haven't done any birthday nails. I'm not sure if I'm going to get a chance to! Oh well life happens and this week has just been really busy for me. Last week I showed you Picture Polish Electric Dream and today I have another Picture Polish to show you. Today I have Freya's Cats! It's an "electric blue jelly holo (scattered) that has NO glitter." Swatch shown with 3 coats and topcoat. 





This last pic is without flash. This one is more color accurate. 

I really loved this polish. It was just as beautiful on my nails as it looked in the bottle. The formula was a bit thin and dragged during my first coat, but it evened out nicely. You can purchase this polish here for AU$12 which is around $11.24 in USD. Shipping is a bit pricey depending on what country you're from, so if you're in the US like me, you can also check out Llarowe, Overall Beauty, or find a seller in your country on Picture Polish's Network page.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Catching Fire Inspired Nails

Hi friends! I was trying to go to sleep right now, but I can't. Partially because I took a caffeine pill this morning to stay awake to do homework and partially because I'm too excited to share this mani with you. I finished reading Catching Fire about a week ago so I could finish it before the movie comes out. If I could do freehand nail art, I would've drawn a mockingjay pin, but since I can't I got creative. I decided to do a mani inspired by Katniss's wedding dress she wore in her interview before the Hunger Games. I used so many polishes for this mani I don't think you want to know, but I'll go ahead and tell you anyways.

For my index and middle I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and stamped using MoYou London Pro 06 XL in Essie No Place like Chrome. On my ring finger I did a gradient first using creme polishes and then with some shimmery polishes. The colors I used are: OPI All I Want for Christmas is OPI, OPI My Paprika is Hotter than Yours, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, China Glaze Bend over Backwards, China Glaze Riveting, and OPI Oy Another Polish Joke. I stamped using MoYou London Pro 05 XL in Konad Black. My pinky has OPI Liquid Sand Emotions.

Whew that was a lot of polish! That might be a record for me for most polishes used in one manicure lol. I'm going to watch the movie on my birthday this Sunday. Can't wait! Who else is going to watch Catching Fire this weekend?



Wednesday, November 20, 2013

She' Nail Polish--Swatches & Review

Happy Humpday! Sorry haven't posted in a few days. It's my birthday this Sunday so I'm trying to finish up a bunch of assignments before then. I wanted to do birthday nails and Catching Fire nails this week, but I don't think I'll have enough time for both. I guess we'll see what I end up wearing on my nails this weekend soon enough. Today I have some swatches of an indie brand called She' Nail Polish. It's created by Rashetta from NYC, is not tested on animals, and the polish is 4-free of formaldehyde, toluene, camphor and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). 2 of the polishes are from her "Falling into Fall" collection and 1 is from her "Fight Like a Girl" cancer collection. Swatches are shown with topcoat.


Lyght--3 coats. Streaky first coat, but leveled out nicely. 


Leave Me--3 coats. This one had a slightly thin formula, but built up nicely. There are some tiny green particles in this one that I wasn't crazy about. 


Libby--3 coats. Good creamy formula. 

My favorite of the 3 is Libby, but I also really liked Lyght. What I like about this brand is that it's refreshing to see an indie nail polish line offer creme polishes--my favorite finish! You can purchase these polishes here from the She' Nail Polish site for $6 each

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Picture Polish Electric Dream--Swatch & Review

Happy Saturday loves! Wow it was freezing yesterday and it still is this morning. My fingers and face get so cold I feel like I can't get anything done. I just want to stay in bed under my warm blankies all day. Too bad today is homework day! (I'm in California and I bet my freezing weather is nice weather for a lot of you.)

Today I have my very first Picture Polish to show you. I was contacted by Jules a few months back about reviewing some and I was so excited. I got to choose one and then 3 others were sent to me. I chose Electric Dream so that's the one I'm showing you today and OMG is she a BEAUTY! Here's the description from the Picture Polish Website "Electric Dream is a neon coral with gold sparks and  holo (scattered) that has NO glitter!"  


2 coats plus topcoat. Smooth formula that was easy to apply and quick dry time. 


I decided to add some nail art so I could wear it as a full mani. Here's Picture Polish Electric Dream stamped using MoYou London Sailor 05 XL in China Glaze Passion. I've wore this mani for 6 days and I had no chips and minimal tip wear. 


I cannot tell you how much I love this polish. I love the color, formula, sparkle, and the fact that is has no glitter makes me love it even more. It has pushed its way up to my top 10 favorite polishes. You can purchase this polish here for AU$12 which is around $11.24 in USD. Shipping is a bit pricey depending on what country you're from, so if you're in the US like me, you can also check out Llarowe, Overall Beauty, or find a seller in your country on Picture Polish's Network page. Stay tuned because I'll be sharing one Picture Polish beauty a week for the next 3 weeks! 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Bundle Monster Revised 2010 Nail Stamping Plate Collection Review


Happy Humpday! Today I have something "new and improved" to show you. It's actually old and improved, but that just doesn't sound as cool does it? Bundle Monster has revised their 2010 set of 21 nail stamping plates. The full size and french tip images have been enlarged to match the size of their other sets (2011, 2012, and 2013 sets) and now the set consists of 23 plates. I've had the old 2010 set since they came out with it, but to be honest, I have used the set about 6 times over the past 3 years. I have tried using it more, but some of the images just weren't engraved deep enough and the others were just too small. Here's a look at the revised set.


The plates come in this recloseable pouch. 


The plates all come with the protective blue film that needs to be removed before use.


They also have a protective backing. I'm a stamping O.G. and when their first set was released, there was no backing on the plates at all so this is a nice change from the old set.


Here's an image I had trouble using the first time around. With my Konad stamper, I wasn't able to pick up the image at all before, but now I have an XL squishy stamper that picks up images better. Even with my squishy stamper, you can see a noticeable difference in how the images pick up and transfer.


I was finally able to create this fall manicure I had in my head for years with the new set! I used She' Nail Polish Lyght and stamped using BM 004 in Konad Green, Konad Red, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Orange Impulse.



Here I tested out the full nail images and they have full coverage and transfer perfectly. I used Color Club Eternal Beauty and stamped using BM 016 in OPI Miss You-Niverse. I just reversed the colors on the accent nail. 



I saved the best for last. Here's a mani I've been wanting to recreate ever since I saw it on Rebecca Likes Nails page in 2011, but the image was too small. I love how it turned out and that the zebra print is chunkier than every zebra print stamp I have seen. I used OPI Kiss Me on My Tulips, Color Club Pucci-licious, and China Glaze Sunday Funday and stamped using BM 022 in Konad Black.  


Below you can see how much the size improved. Now they're the same size as all other BM sets.






You can click these for enlargement to see the images up close. It's a bit hard to see since I resized the pics, but the flowers on BM 012 and the leaves on 023 aren't engraved deep enough so I won't be able to use those images.


I'm so happy that Bundle Monster decided to revise this set because now I can actually use them! Aside from the 2 images that aren't engraved deep enough, the set is engraved better and the images are larger. It's rare, but if any of your images aren't etched deep enough, contact BM and they will be happy to replace them for you. Bundle Monster is known for their wonderful customer service. The only downside about this set is that it has more French tip designs and single images and less full nail designs than their other sets. You can purchase this revised set here for $17.99. I'm pretty sure coupon code "thanks" is still valid until November 15, 2013 to get 10% off your order. 


Check out Bundle Monster on their:

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Cupcakes & Polka Dots

Hi my polished pretties! As I told you in my last couple posts, I've been experimenting with advanced stamping. Here was my first "successful" one I did about a week and a half ago. For the polka dot nails I used OPI Pink Friday and stamped using MoYou London Pro 01 XL in Konad White. For the cupcake nails I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and stamped using MoYou London Pro 07 XL in Konad Black. I filled the cupcake using OPI Warm Me Up and Pink Friday. I have to say this advanced stamping thing is kind of addicting. It's hard to look at my stamping plates the same way! As I mentioned in my post yesterday, here's the advanced stamping tutorial I used from Nail Stamp Fanatic.



Monday, November 11, 2013

Card Themed Twin Nails

Good morning! I don't know if how many of you follow nail accounts on Instagram, but there's something called "Bestie Twin Nails" where two users collaborate to do the same manicure and post them together. Yesterday I did my very first Bestie Twin Nails with Nail Stamp Fanatic. We went for a mani using advanced stamping technique, card theme using red, black, and white, and 2 images on PUEEN 34. For these types of twin manicures, the users can either do similar nails and just pick things like colors and design, or do an all out matching manicure. That's what we decided to do. I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, China Glaze Liquid Leather, and OPI The Spy Who Loved Me and stamped using PUEEN 34 in Konad Black and Konad White. I just learned advanced stamping last week, and I have to say I'm really pleased with how these turned out. This twin thing was really fun to do and Nail Stamp Fanatic and I are already planning on doing a holiday one! Since advanced stamping is new to my content, here's a link to the tutorial I used by none other than Nail Stamp Fanatic! Have any of you taken part in Bestie Twin Nails?




Sunday, November 10, 2013

Born Pretty Store--Silicone Nail Stamp Printing Template Review


Hey polish addicts! Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Today I have a different type of stamping tool from Born Pretty Store to review. It's a round silicone template with images imprinted on it. You put polish over your desired image, gently roll the excess on paper, and then stamp it onto your nail. This was my first time using this method of nail stamping.


Here's what the template looks like.


Here you can see the size of the image. 1.0 cm. This is tiny! 


Here's a larger image and it's still only 1.2 cm long. 


I tried out 4 images from the template. The images transferred okay, but there is still excess polish that transferred along with it. When I wiped the excess on a piece of paper, I did it until no more excess wiped off. In order to get any more polish off, I would've had to use an orange stick which is very impractical because the polish would probably dry in the process. The images are way toO small, excess polish gets transferred, and storage would also be impractical as the whole piece is about 1.1 cm thick. I'm going to stick to stamping plates for crisp image transfers, larger image sizes, and practical size for storage. You can purchase this item here for $1.99. Get 10% off your purchase with code "NV7X31."