Sleepy Black Holo Manicure

If you look at this manicure and think "Hmmm.. not my favorite" just know I am right with you on that.

I hated taking off the "Lunch at Tiffany's" manicure I did, because it has been my favorite so far. But I needed to do something new and have some fun. I really love the Holo's and how they look in the bottle. I rarely do dark nails. I have dark colors, but I really lean to the bright and sparkly. So I decided to try something different.

For this manicure I used : 

Jordana #089 Black as a Base Color - 1 Coat
Kleancolor #236 Chunky Holo Black as Sparkle Overlay - 2 Coats
Kleancolor #7 Silver Pearl for the Stamp - 1 Swipe
Jordana #408 Quick Dry Top Coat - Top Coat - 2 Coats.

The Holo Polishes are fun! The Chunky Holo Black has larger specks in it than the others I have. The primary color of the Holo pieces are Amber and Gold I would say. It really is a fun and funky effect.  However I found this polish takes awhile to dry and is gel like. Still goes on well though.

So here are a few pictures of this one. Like I said... I am not a fan. I think my main issue is the stamp, I think this manicure would have looked much better without it. Hopefully I was able to give you a good idea of how the Black Holo looks on a Black Base. It is pretty cool.

If you click on the images and look at them bigger you can see more effect I think.

That's it for this Manicure. It will be coming off later this evening.. because I got some cotton balls. :)  Yay!!!

My Sisters Adventure with My Polishes and Stamps

Sisterly Love Means Sharing... Right?
Remember, you can click on the images to see them larger.

I am very fortunate that my Sister and I have a close relationship. Not to mention the fact that my dog Zoey and her dog Dellmar seem to be in love with each other. So we get together often so they can have play dates and tire out. They are young and their energy can be overwhelming. It's Win/Win for everyone!

My Sister has always done her nails. At least as far back as I can remember. This is all much newer to me. I have been trying to talk her into stamping, but she has been hesitant. My Sister has a different style than I do. She loves French Tips and Glitters. She doesn't really care for all the extras, but she wanted to give stamping a go... so I lugged all my stuff over. Any time I get a chance to do nails with someone, you can bet I am jumping on it!

The Polishes she chose to work with were : 

Kleancolor #252 Berry Burst (Base Color) - 2 Coats
Kleancolor #234 Chunky Holo Purple (Sparkle Layer) - 2 Coats
Kleancolor #7 Pearl Silver (Stamping Color) - Stamping
Jordana #406 Quick Dry Top Coat - 1 Coat

It took her a long time to decide on these colors.

She chose a Paw Print stamp that she wanted to work with. I showed her how to do it, and then told her to get on it. She did really well I thought. You can't expect perfect stamping your first try. This was how it looked.

You can see how pretty the Berry and the Holo Purple look together. I think she did a great job for a first time stamping, but she wasn't thrilled.  I really liked it, but they aren't my nails... and so.... 5 minutes later.. this whole manicure came off!

But that wasn't the end of it... she wanted to do something else. I totally get it... there were a ton of polishes to choose from.

The Next Polishes she chose to work with were : 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear #390 Red Carpet (Base Color) - 1 Coat
Kleancolor #229 Chunky Holo Poppy (Sparkle Color) - 2 Coats
Kleancolor #300 Sequin Dress (Additional Sparkle Color) - 1 Coat
Jordana #406 Quick Dry Top Coat - 1 Coat

She had wanted to use my Red Carpet polish for awhile. After she had it on, she decided it wasn't enough, she needed more sparkle. So she applied the 2 coats of Holo Poppy.  That was better, but still not enough, so I handed her the Sequin Dress glitter to try and that did the trick. She was happy.

The Chunky Holo Polishes are really pretty, but they are really subtle. When they catch the light you can see it nicely, but otherwise you have to really be on it to notice. Well.. if used to enhance a base color.

If you click on the images you can see them larger. This picture to the right really shows the detail of the colors she used. The bottle she is holding is the "Sequin Dress" glitter. Lots of sparkle and I think she was happy! It was fun playing around with someone else. I have such a new love for manicures and all of this, so when I get a chance to share that, it makes my day. 

I got a fantastic dinner out of the deal too! She made her famous Pasta Salad, which I look forward to every summer and some cheeseburgers. Not a bad deal for me. :)  In the end, we had a nice day. Zoey and Dellmar played like crazy and now my Beagle is tuckered out. I am happy with that. 

Explore and Play!

Lunch at Tiffany's Manicure

As I posted before I got a ton of nail polishes in the mail today. So many colors to choose from. Lately it seems like I love Aqua and Teal colors. I saw the Pastel Teal and since I'd never worked with that color I started there.

The Nail Polish I used was Kleancolor #142 Pastel Teal. 

I have never worked with Kleancolor nail polish before. This was a new experience. The first thing I noticed is that the polish is kind of thin. I think the thickness of the polish varies from color to color in this line. This particular one is thin. It looked ok after 2 coats, but 3 really did the trick. 

One thing I noticed about this polish is the smell. It is not like any other nail polish I have ever used. My first thought was Airplane Glue. It's not that strong, but it is a strong odor. Once it dries you can barely smell it.

I wanted to do some stamping. After all, thanks to my shopping spree I have over 100 plates. Aaaaah!  :)  So stamping was going to take place. I pulled out my new Konad Plate #m73. I liked the lacy look so I went with that and decided to use the hearts for my accent nail. For a stamping polish I used Jordana #090 White which I buy at the dollar store. It works really well. 




Yes, this manicure took a little longer because of the base color polish and needing the extra coats, but I can honestly say I think this is the prettiest manicure I have done so far. I feel like it is very elegant. I am very proud of this one. :)  It's a nice feeling. If I would change anything... I wouldn't have added the rhinestones. They are pretty, but I think the accent nail would have looked better without them. 

Stamp it!

UPDATE : (5/30/2013)  I have had this manicure on for 2 days now, which is kind of long for me. I don't want to take it off cuz I love it so much. But I have so much more I want to try! Also wanted to add that after 2 days, no chipping or fading. I used 2 coats of a 99 cent top coat I got at the dollar store. 

Just a Quickie

I played with some of my new polishes. 

I ordered almost 70 new colors I think. So I had to play with some. I will review them later as I really use them, but I wanted to share some of what I did.

The Rise and Fall of Shopping Online

In the past week, I made many purchases through Amazon for Nail Art items. Bulk Nail Polish collections, some plate collections etc. Today I received 8 packages in the mail. Yes my friends... it was a good day. Or so I thought.....

Of the 8 packages, only two were in tact, and the correct items! Can you believe that? All from different sellers, and all but two had issues. I'm not too happy. So I took photographs of everything and contacted the sellers of each item with a detailed description of the issues.

Now I can't play around with anything I got just in case I have to send it all back, which would be a giant pain in the butt! So before I review any of the items I bought, I am waiting to hear back from the sellers to see how they handle my situation.  If they handle it well, then there would be no need to complain really, as long as everything gets taken care of.

So I won't be reviewing anything until these situations get resolved.

The following items arrived without incident... and here we go!

Konad Nail Stamping Plates
My Image

I like to window shop and bookmark items I want to buy with my next paycheck. I saw this Konad Plate on Amazon and really wanted it. As you probably know, Konad plates average around 6.99 per plate. This one on Amazon was only 3.99 at the time, so I grabbed it. Plus Free Shipping. (Updated at bottom)

My Price was 3.99
Current Listed Price is 5.59
Here's the Link to this item.

Since I knew the price for Konad plates, I looked around from this seller to see if they had any other plates for 3.99 and Free Shipping. I found two more that I liked and so I bought them as well. This is one of them.

Price is currently 3.99
Here is a link to this item

I also bought this one as well.
All three arrived safe and sound.
All three had free shipping and arrived in about a weeks time. Not bad.

Update : I have since used this plate and am very happy! You can see the results on my "Lunch At Tiffany's" manicure.

Price is currently 3.99

Here is a link to this item.

My New Mash Stamper set. My current stamper that I got with my Salon Express kit was garbage so I wanted a new one. This one seemed good and also had Free Shipping.  I have used it. The stamp part is great. The scraper scratched my plate. So I just use a credit card. I like it! Price was 4.50 Here is a link to this item.

Well... I am still pretty happy with everything even tho there were some errors. We will see what the sellers do for me. I hope it's an easy process and that I don't run into a ton of issues. 

Get Your Nails Did!

UPDATE 5/29/2013 : I have already heard back from two of the sellers about my inquiries. Both had very positive responses that made me happy. I just need to wait and see if they follow through. Hopefully the other outcomes will be the same. 

UPDATE 5/30/2013 : All sellers have responded at this point and have been very cooperative and helpful. I still need to wait and see if they follow through.

UPDATE 5/31/2013 KONAD IMAGE STAMPING PLATE #MJ51 :  I am disappointed! I tried to use this plate last night. The stamp with the multiple flowers doesn't seem to be etched well. Only a small part of the image would get on the stamper. After 5 or 6 tries I gave up. :/ Also.. Edited the "now" price. It was 4.30 when I last checked, the price has since gone up again.

Just a Short Babble

I checked tracking on my orders and some of my stuff will be arriving tomorrow. 

One of those orders contains 18 nail polishes. Three sets of 6. So I have my nails all cleaned up so I will be ready to play around tomorrow. But ya know... It is so hard to not do something with them now. I truly am an addict for the design! I only have 3 cotton balls left... so I have to use them sparingly until I can buy more this coming weekend.

I know what you're thinking... "How can you spend so much on nail supplies and not have money to buy cotton balls?"  Good question! The answer is simple... Amazon Credit! I think it's silly to spend money to ship cotton balls, so they have to wait. 

I just wish it was tomorrow... TODAY!

Stamping Attempts... Eh!

After I played around with the one stamp on my Ruby Slippers Manicure I decided to cut my nails. Then I deiced to remove that manicure and do a new one on my short nails. First I wanted to play with some stamps and see which ones I liked. This was my sample test.

I really liked the how the ring finger came out. The funny thing is... I bought this stamp collection because I really wanted the gingham plate. After 3 tries I could not get it right. You can see my last attempt on my middle finger. I will try it again at some point, but since I have so many plates to play with... not a priority..

Let the Frustration Begin!!

I have no idea what is going on, but after the above picture, I could not get nail polish cleanly on my nails for anything! I was applying my Jordana #090 White like I have many times before. It was taking forever to dry which was unusual. So because it was taking so long, they were smudging or they would get scratches etc. Plus there were tiny pieces of airborne debris landing or something. UGH!!!! Frustrated and annoyed, I decided to give up for awhile.

Thirty Six hours later.. same problem. This time I was patient and tried to clean up issues as I went along. I even tried using a brand new bottle of the same color. Same problem.

Anyway... Eventually I came up with this manicure. I am not a big fan and I left my nails messy because honestly I think I am going to be removing it as soon as I am done writing this post.

The stamps went on well. I used Cheeky Plate #CH11 from the Vibrant Collection with Jordana #089 Black polish. I decided to make boxes around the white center because my stamping wasn't very good. My original idea was to have black on each side with white and stamp in the center. But the stamp didn't cover enough so I went with boxes. My Stamping skills aren't great yet.

So I thought ONE nail came out really good. I am pretty proud of that. I definitely need more stamping practice. I know my stamps work, I know my nail polish works with the stamps, I just need to work on lining it all up. 

I think the problem with my nail polish drying etc is because it has been raining here for 2 weeks now and has been really moist air. So that would make sense why it is taking so long to dry. I hope this doesn't stay an issue because what will I do to fill my time then?? Oh Boy!

Gonna go take this nail polish off and give my nails a break for a few days I think. Knowing me though, I will probably try again tomorrow.

I am an addict. What can I say?  :)

Go Nail It!

Cut It Down!!

I had a great manicure on. Ruby Slippers is what I dubbed it. Today I added some stamps to it. Looked nice. I was pleased. But you know... I knew it was time to cut my nails down. Typing was a pain in the butt and they were just too long for me. So I cut them down pretty good and will start over. I will still manicure... but with shorter nails until they grow back. 

Left Hand

Right Hand

Until Next Time...

New Caviar and New Plates!

Today brought 2 packages! Yahoo!!!

The first package arrived by mail. It was my Steel Bead Caviar that I bought on EBAY from China.

Normally I use the "Buy It Now" option because who likes to wait for a 6 day auction to end? However, I did place a bid on this one. I did not win... which was fine. The seller sent me a "Second Chance Offer" at the price of my highest bid. Hmmm.. not bad... I got it cheaper than the winner did. :) 

My Camera isn't capturing the brightness of the colors. I put my pinky nail in there as a reference to the size. The vials are tiny! 
Price Paid : 3.78
Free Shipping

If you've read my other posts you know I really want to get stamping right and that I figured my problem was my plates were cheap and shallow. Off to Amazon.com I went. Now I bought more than what I am showing you today, but they will all arrive separate because they were from different sellers.
.
I Was Excited These Came First! (Thanks Amazon Prime).
.
I signed up for a 30 day free trial for Amazon Prime. The majority of my items didn't qualify for the 2 day shipping benefit but my bulk plates did! I got a 25 Mash plate set and a 26 plate set by Cheeky. I am excited to try them. I will update this after I have.

The Mash Plates came in a cellophane package all together. Each plate is individually wrapped inside the package. They all have their blue protective sheet on top of each plate. I haven't opened them yet.. I will very soon.

Mash 25 Plate Set was 14.95

The Cheeky Plates (Vibrant Collection) came in a cute box that opens like a book. I liked this because it's a great way to keep them stored. Built in storage is always a good thing right? When you open the "Book" your plates are inside, and there is a little "Once Upon A Time" story on the inside flap and there was a mini hard card that says you are an "Official Cheeky Chick" It's pretty cute. It also says you can use it as a scraper in an emergency. Bonus!  LOL  I really love this display and how they packaged their item. There is a slight downside though... The book doesn't seal itself, so you would have to wrap something around it to make sure it stays closed. A minor detail and nothing a rubber band can't fix. 

Like I said, Because I had Amazon Prime I got them in 2 days. I also got Free Shipping, but I honestly don't remember if that was by the seller or because of Prime.

I will be cancelling Prime after my trial.

Cheeky Plate Set was 15.99


I will be playing around with stamping today and will do a post about my results. I am really hopeful and excited.

Nailed It!

UPDATE :  So about five minutes after I wrote this post, I ripped open a Mash Plate and started. Huge success. The stamp worked each and every time I tried it. I am beyond excited. I wanna take everything off and try every one, but instead I am going to wait. I am really happy!

My Red Carpet Nail Polish Came!

I just love getting packages in the mail! Who doesn't right?

Brief run down of my story : 

Keely was showing me stamping and she has a huge collection of polishes and plates. She told me to pick a color and do my nails. I chose her Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear #390 Red Carpet. I only did my thumb nail, but I instantly fell in love with the color. A deep red with ultra tiny micro glitter. It was delicious! So as soon as I got home, I googled to see if I could get some online.

Now back to my purchase : 

So I found a woman on EBAY who had more than one to sell. She was asking 1.00 a bottle (WOW) new and unused! Shipping was 2.50 but if you bought more than one bottle you got reduced shipping. I bought the last two she had. Total order... 5.50! Awesome!

They just arrived today! I was really surprised when I opened the envelope to find the 2 bubble wrapped bottles of nail polish inside of a cosmetic bag. BONUS!!  Pretty awesome! I am tickled Red! ;)

Another great deal and a fantastic color polish. Tis a good day my friends. :)

Nail Away!

Ruby Slippers

I always cruise Nail Art websites and about 2 months ago I got a bright idea that I wanted to do gingham nails. I always loved a gingham print and it seemed so springy. I stumbled across this manicure at ©Chalkboard Nails and loved the idea of it. A Dorothy inspired manicure as seen below.

(Image taken from ©Chalkboard Nails)

I didn't have any red nail polish and my attempt at gingham was.... not very good. I am sure it would have passed, but I wanted perfect lines like she got... and no such luck. But I wanted these nails! I loved them and  the Wizard of Oz is one of my all time favorite movies. (Like so many people).

I asked my Sister if she had any red nail polish I could borrow. She had 2 bottles.. neither one were very sparkly, but I wanted to work with red. Every time I went shopping I kept my eye out for any glitter red polish that matched my idea of what Ruby Slippers would look like.

Finally at Rite Aid I found the perfect red glitter nail polish! When I got home I tried it and was sorely disappointed. It was a clear polish with massive red glitter, but when I applied it, I got very little of the glitter. So I gave up... until today!

NOTE : My Friend Keely suggested that when I use the glitter polish not to swipe the brush on the side of the bottle like you do for regular nail polishes. This was why I wasn't getting much glitter. Her tip was a huge help and it worked well.

Again I decided to visit the idea of an Oz themed manicure... Like I have said in other posts, I always try things on just one thumb nail... this is what I did... and I hated it! Came out terrible!

This was quickly removed! But in the process of testing my theme, I fell in love with how the red glitter looked. I did a base coat of what I borrowed from my sister and then 2 coats of  my new red glitter polish and I was hooked. So I had to do ALL my nails that way.

Nail Polish Used : 
2 coats - Mega Last #216 Infatuation
2 coats - Wet n Wild #34099 Rocking Rubies

2 coats - Jordana #406 Quick Dry Top Coat

These pictures do not do it justice. I hope to get some better shots to post so you can really see how much they sparkle. I am in love!!!

Hopefully I get some better shots, but you get the general idea.

If you love red sparkle.. give this a try!

Nail Away!

Jaided

Dotting Tool Lace

I looked at my naked nails and was itching to get some polish on them.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I painted a nice base color of purple. I've had this purple bottle for years! I just never seem to get around to using it.

The other day my friend Keely did a quick manicure on herself to teach me how to stamp properly. Like I have said before... she is my "Go To" person for nail art questions. I loved what she did. She used a lace stamp with two alternating colors. I loved it! (Hope she doesn't mind that I stole her picture and am posting it here). It was a great manicure to show off her beautiful new Mother's Ring her children gave her for Mother's Day.

So as I said, I was looking at my naked nails and I wanted to do something. I tried stamping again, but I came to the conclusion that my plates are just not good enough. I have seen the Konad Plates in person and they have deeper grooves. My Plates aren't that deep. So it makes sense that I can do it great with her plates, but not at all with mine. So next month I will invest in one or two good plates.

I loved the lace and decided to try that. I have been doing computer graphics for over 15 years, and I knew how to make lace in Paint Shop Pro... so I thought I might give it a try with nail polish. I liked the end result... not bad for a first try at it. However I am OCD and I hated that I went too far over with the white than I intended. But I will definitely try this one again.

The Purple I used was 60 Seconds Vinyl Shine by Rimmel #872 Climax.
The White was Jordana #090 White.
Then I used some dotting tools. A Large tip and a very tiny tip.
Pretty Simple!!

I will definitely try and perfect this one.. because I think if done right it will be very pretty!

Happy Nailing!
Jaided

Nail Art Shopping

When you cruise the Nail Art websites you will find people can really spend money on supplies.. especially polish! Yikes! I have known people to spend 15.00 on a bottle. I can't even imagine it!

Most of my nail polishes come from the Dollar Store, Dollar Tree or Walmart. I haven't spent more than 1.98 on a bottle. I know people say "You get what you pay for" and in some cases that is true, but I haven't really had any issues. My Basecoat and Topcoat were only a 1.00 a piece too. Don't get me wrong... I have drooled over many of the higher priced polishes in the store, but I am on a very tight budget. So don't be afraid of the less expensive polishes.

Some of the brand names I use are Jordana, L.A. Looks, Rimmel and Sinful Colors. I also buy my cotton balls, nail polish remover and orange sticks at the Dollar Store as well.

Ok... for the rest of my stuff.. I turn to Ebay! You can buy supplies there really cheap and the cheapest things come from China and Hong Kong. The downside is the wait for shipping. It can take up to 3 weeks to get your stuff. So far my wait has been averaging 2 weeks. But honestly it's worth it.. You pay a very low price and in most cases, Free Shipping as well. How can you go wrong. So I am going to show you some of the items I bought online and from which sellers.

Some of these items may no longer be available, but the majority of them have multiples for sale.

This is a 7 piece Nail Brush set I bought.
Shipping was Free and it came from New Jersey.
I am pretty pleased and have used them a couple times.

Price was 3.65

Here's the link to that item.

This is a set of 15 Nail Brushes that come from China.
I have not used these yet. I bought the pink set. Shipping was free. It took almost 3 weeks for me to get these from this seller.

Price was 4.80

Here's the link to that item.

Zipper Waterslide Decals.
I have used these and they work perfect. This is a USA seller and shipping was very quick. You get 20 in a set. There are a few sets to choose from. I bought the miscellaneous. This also has Free Shipping.

Price is 2.14

Here's a link to this item.

Nail Striping Tape. Comes with 30 rolls. I was surprised when they arrived how small they are. They come from China. You get random colors. Some of mine seemed to be duplicate colors. The price was really good for 30 rolls and 1.00 Shipping.

Price was 3.57

Here's a link to that item.

Rhinestones!! These are a great addition to any Nail Art Collection. This set was for 1800 pieces. Each piece is 1.5 mm which is tiny, but perfect size. You can see an example in my "Good Bad and Ugly" post from 5/11/2013. These came from the USA... New Jersey. Free Shipping!

Price was 2.99

Here's a link to the item.

Glitters! These are rhinestone glitters. They are no longer available from the seller I bought from. This picture does them no justice. The colors are stunning. The bottles are teeny tiny!! I have not worked with them yet. Free Shipping.

Price was 3.13

5 Piece Dotting Tool Set. A must have... well ok.. you can get by without them. I used all sorts of household items for dotting tools before I bought these, but this does make it easier.  Mine have been doing me well and I have had no issues. Free Shipping.

Price was 3.98

Here is a link to this item.

Baby Pearls! Flat back. They are tiny, but I found them to be perfect size for my nails. I believe these are 2mm. The set I bought came with 1800 pieces. But who knows.. I wasn't going to count them. They came in a cellophane package. I love them. Free Shipping from China. Took about 2 weeks to get.

Price was 1.59

Here is a link to this item.

Colored Pearls from China. 200 pieces. This seller offers you a choice of colors and size. Well I know nothing about MM's at all. I bought the red in a 4mm. Too Big! The pink I got in a 3mm... better, but still kind of big. Free Shipping. They look nice. They come in a cellophane wrapper. Shipping took about 2 weeks as expected. These are flat back as you can see in the picture.


Price was 1.98  - Each Set.

Here is a link to this item.

More Pearls. These were each a set of 200 pieces. Same issue as above, I bought the wrong size simply because I don't know mm's, but I will know for next time. These are flat backs. These come from Hong Kong... took about 2 weeks. Free Shipping. They came from the same seller above. They are very pretty and because of their size, they were much easier to work with. But still I prefer the tiny. Tho these will make a stand out accent. I will use them. I have already used 2 of the black ones in a manicure I was trying.

The Black Pearls were 1.99
The White Pearls were 1.80

Here is a link to these items.





That's it for this post. There will be more posts on what I have purchased coming. Cuz I already have stuff bookmarked for my next purchase.

Thanks for Reading!
Jaided