Here's a Konad manicure I did recently with the new OPI Ski Teal We Drop and a Nubar I got in my order a week or so ago, Unpredictable Taupe. I used two coats of OPI STWD for the base, and then with Konad plate m60 and UT I stamped on the paisley design. There's really not much else to say about this one, it's pretty simple. The Nubar is  pretty interesting. I tried it alone and it's a bit more frosty than I thought it might be, but it makes an awesome Konading polish. It's more of a frost than a metallic but the color is so neat because it's not quite silver. It's got a bit of warmth to it.

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I got in my new Bundle Monster plates this week and wanted to try them immediately! I picked this pattern because I love damask, and I still needed to use Nubar Prevail from last week's haul and I thought these two were made for each other. The idea was to make it look like a rich purple or wine velvet with black satin design, but the black didn't come out super glossy by itself, I think the bottle is on it's last leg, so I ended up adding topcoat. There is a photo of the mani without topcoat below the cut because you've got to see the beautiful matte finish of Nubar Prevail to appreciate it. I used two coats of Prevail, then used a Bundle Monster plate to stamp this design on with a crazy old and half full bottle of OPI Black Onyx. I ended up with a coat of Seche Vite over it, because it makes everything better.

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Here's a really simple and pretty Konad manicure I did this week. It's basically just a  base of plain ol' glossy black creme, topped with steel-colored roses and a little bit of sparkly silver embellishment. For the black I used LA Colors Black Velvet which I got at the Dollar Tree, and it's super pigmented, and is really glossy. I used two coats of this and let it dry before doing the design. Over the black, I used China Glaze Awaken ($3) and Konad plate m65 ($7) to stamp the gunmetal roses over it. Then using Essence Freestyle Tip Painter in Silver ($2) I just randomly added a bit of silver to some of the curlicue things around the design. The final product is really pretty, I think. It's sort of gothic and romantic at the same time. The name I gave it for this post, if you're wondering, is the name of a Ryan Adams album (and song) that I adore. I just thought it fit.

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Here's a Konad design done using one of my favorite nail art polishes of all time, China Glaze Passion ($3.50 at amazon.com), and my latest favorite from Nubar; Verde ($7.49 at bynubar.com) ! After using two coats of Verde I used Passion and Konad plate m64 ($7 at wowsocool.com) to stamp the design over top. The overall look was really cool because the surface of Verde is infused with golden flecks, so it almost appears like a metallic overlay on some sort of exotic granite. If you haven't seen it already, watch this video to see how to do Konad stamping!

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OPI Who The Shrek Are You - $8.50 at Trade Secret

I originally was going to pass on this entire collection. I am a big Shrek fan, but my favorite character is Puss in Boots, and before this collection was released I thought I might get a polish if it were named after him. What's With the Cattitude just didn't excite me. Much though I love light blue polishes, I do have a ton of them, and the name doesn't explicitly refer to Puss by name, so I passed. This Shrek-inspired green is one of those polishes that you either love or you hate, and I love it. I always thought that "off" colors like this looked horrid on me, but after my experience with the very similar SinfulColors Innocent, I thought I'd give it a try. Seeing it in person in the store pushed me over the edge, I snatched it up immediately. Innocent is definitely in the same family, but slightly lighter and softer in tone. It's got a bit more yellow as well.  If you like the Shrek shade but it's just a tad too warm or green for you, the SinfulColors might be a better, and cheaper, alternative.

This polish applies very nicely; pretty standard for the newer OPI formula. The first coat can be a bit streaky, and make the nails showing underneath have an orange sort of tone. Coat two evens everything out nicely, but it still seemed a bit warmer than bottle color, so I applied a third coat and that brought it up to the wonderfully vibrant Shrek-y green you see in the bottle. I apply thin coats, so take that into consideration. I think with two moderate coats it would be fine. I added a coat of Seche Vite topcoat to the top, and I am absolutely in love with the results. The first two photos are with flash, the other two are in natural light near a window.

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Here's a festive mani I did for my daughter's kindergarten picnic. Their school colors are blue and white, but I was in the mood for holo, so here we are. I used Nfu Oh 61 ($12.50 at fabuloustreet.com), aka the greatest silver holo ever, for the base. Then with Konad plate m51 ($6.99 at wowsocool.com) and OPI DS Fantasy ($9.90 at amazon.com) I stamped the swirly design. I really liked the overall look. For my daughter, I did a Bobcat paws mani for school spirit, which you can see after the jump.

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I love the idea of purple and metallic gold together, it seems so regal, but I wanted to have a pattern for this that wasn't obvious; I originally debated over a couple stamps with strands of beads and delicate lace. These just seemed too contrived, so I went for the most deconstructed sort of design I had in my Konad stash; the Pollock-inspired splats of paint on plate m70. Over a base of Seche Clear, I used two coats of Illamasqua Baptiste, and then stamped the design on with China Glaze Passion, a golden chrome. I really liked the way this turned out and wore it for three days before adding a matte topcoat, which you can see after the jump.

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I mentioned to you guys earlier today that this Sephora by OPI polish I'm holding above, Run With It, reminded me of fresh sparkling sand. So I got this bug in my brain that I wanted to use it in some nail art. I went googling and looked at palm tree images and nail art with palm trees and gave freehanding one a try. It didn't work out so great. So I got out my trusty Konad plates and used plate m29 and plate m79 and got to work. This is the second time I've done "Konad-assisted" nail art. The first was this MAC Liberty of London manicure where I used konad stamps and dotting tools as well. I am the absolute worst at freehanding nail designs, so I figured using konad as a sort of template was the way to go for me. I know it's far from perfect, and usually I'm anal about that, but I really like it. I am even more in awe of the chick at The Daily Nail, I couldn't do this every day, let alone freehand it all and come up with the ideas to begin with. She's my hero...

-I painted the whole nail with Orly Snowcone. 
-Then I used Color Club French Tip and plate m79 to stamp a cloud on the top of each nail.
-Orly Enchanted Forest and plate m29 were used to stamp the palm tree on each nail.
-I used China Glaze Unplugged and a dotting tool to go over the trunk of the palm tree.
-I went back with Orly Enchanted forest and traced the spines of the palm fronds with the same small dotting tool letting the articulated parts of the konad stamp show for a little definition. 
-I used China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and the dotting tool to add a little highlight to the top of the palm
-With Sephora by OPI Run With It, I made little sandy islands with a dotting tool  
-I went over everything with Seche Vite Fast Dry Topcoat

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Grand Prize pictured

So far we've had quite a few entries to the nail art contest, and the contest is nearly half over! I know that way more of you have nail art skillz! There are no rules when it comes to what you can use, use anything you've got! Be creative and enter as many times as you'd like. There are hundreds of dollars worth of prizes to be won, and it could be anybody! Who doesn't want to give winning these prizes at least the old college try? You can send them in one at a time, or all at once, it doesn't matter, I just want to see what you guys can do. Get inspired and get to work!!!! Check out the information on the original post, and get hoppin!

Additionally, starting now, there is an additional giveaway attached to the contest! Whether you've entered a nail art design or not, you can enter to win a special secret prize (it'll include nail goodies, of course) for just telling others about the Nail Art Contest!

Here are the rules for the extra giveaway:

1) Tweet the following: Enter the Beautopia Nail Art Contest before Apr 30, Follow @BeautopiaBlog and see this page for details! http://bit.ly/9x0xqf You can tweet it once a day till April 31 at midnight! Tweet it every day for more chances.
and/or
2) Post about it on your blog. You can use any of the photos in this or the original post.
3) Leave a comment under THIS post with the link to your tweet or post. Please leave a comment for each tweet or post. It'll help me keep track and help to maximize your chances to win!

The winner of the extra giveaway will be announced the week following the contest end.

So this past week I picked up my very first Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes. I bought Haute Chocolate, which is a deep copper, and Gray by Gray which you see here. It's a creamy steel blue; not really gray at all. I want to just mention that I am incredibly impressed with the formula of these. They remind me right off of Rescue Beauty Lounge in that they're smooth and pigmented, and you can get away with one or two coats. The coats dry almost instantaneously, making them perfect for konading. The brush is like the new Rimmel Lasting Finish and the Sally Hansen Insta-Dry polishes; a big ol' paddle of uneven bristles. The brush is what nail lacquer nightmares are made of. However, even with the foul brush, the formula is beyond amazing. It's the best formula I've encountered since old formula OPI and the famed RBL polishes that are like buttah.

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