So, I wanted to jazz up my China Glaze Lemon Fizz mani with a little nail art. I was bored ;) So I grabbed my dotting tools and some of the new China Glaze Poolside shades and just started messing around. I used the dotting tool to make the flowers first. I used Pool Party and Kiwi Cool-ada for the petals, then filled them in with Kiwi Cool-ada and Towel Boy-Toy then I used Sun Worshiper to make some dots around the flowers. I felt like this was super obnoxious, and the orange dots on the pastel yellow background really didn't work for me, but I figured I'd post it anyway to show you guys just for nail art ideas.
The world's most amazing green polish was my pick for this festive Irish holiday manicure. China Glaze Emerald Sparkle is a deep, rich emerald with teeny, bright jewel-toned green glitter. This polish is perfect for so many things; Christmas, St. Pat's, May birthdays (yay for Tauruses!!). With a simple golden celtic knot stamped on with China Glaze Passion and Konad plate s06, this may not have been the most creative or unique St. Pat's mani, but it has been making me super happy. The green glitter has such depth that the chrome-finish golden knot sometimes looks as if it's suspended above the polish. In other lights it looks like gold-painted green velvet. Either way, if you don't have Emerald Sparkle, you need it, hands down. What is your St. Pat's mani?
I loved how MAC Blue India was set off so beautifully by my gold ring, and I was inspired by the curls in the ring, so I used China Glaze Passion and Konad plate m77 to stamp a gold flower on top. Then I added clear rhinestones to simulate the diamonds. I liked the way this turned out.
Essence Nail Art Stampy Set ($2.99) and Nail Jewels ($2.49) available at Ulta
You guys know I'm a hardcore Konad addict, so when Essence came to the States and brought along the Stampy Set, it was a no-brainer. I picked it up at Ulta for about $3 which includes a stamper, scraper and a plate with 7 mostly floral designs. I thought I'd review it and tell you, compared to Konad, what I thought.
The first thing that really seemed different to me is that the plates from Konad have a paper backing on the bottom of the plates and this plate does not. I don't know what purpose this backing serves, but presumably it's to keep the plate more stable and strong, because a bent plate is a ruined plate. The stamper and scraper are very similar in looks to the Konad brand ones, but the actual smooshy stamper part is somewhat more smooshy and slicker in surface texture. These properties make it easier to pick up the design on to the stamp, but harder to transfer it to the nail. The scraper seems to have a bit of a longer blade than the Konad one, but it's very uneven and scrapes the living crap out of the plate. Not to mention the fact that only seems to scrape off some of the excess polish. I had to abandon the Essence one and use my trusty Konad one to finish the job. The plate is pretty nice except that it's a lot more flimsy than Konad plates, so it might not last long if you don't take good care to store it where it won't get bent. The images are fairly deep and create nice clear images when I use my Konad scraper. All in all, for $3 it's a good deal because of the plate alone.
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China Glaze Orange Pacific is one of the most vibrant and shimmery oranges I've ever put on my nails. It's a real eye-catcher, so since it's been sunny this week, I was in the mood for a fiery bright shade. I also got in some new Konad plates in so I wanted to try out some of the designs, and was stuck on this design from plate m69 that reminds me of flames, but really kind of looks more like zebra stripes. I settled on Orly Foil FX in Luxe for the image because the bright gold foil complemented the gold glass-fleck shimmer in Orange Pacific. So you see the final result, in bright light the orange is the dominating color, and inside the gold really stands out the most. Overall, I loved this combination and think it's going to be awesome for summer.
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I used China Glaze Admire and this swirly pattern from Konad plate m64 over Zoya Savita. I liked the bold shiny chrome over the matte finish and the pink sheen of Savita was really set off nicely by the pink chrome. I really liked this combo. I also tried it with Seche Vite topcoat which darkened the final product up a bit and made it much more shimmery in both the base and design colors. Below you can see topcoat on only my pinkie and middle fingers.
Click to see the photos of this manicure with topcoat!
For this Springy manicure I used a base of Barielle Blossom, which is the perfect mix of peach and pink. Then I used Konad plate m74 and China Glaze High Hopes to put this happy graphic floral design on it. The two colors are just a few shades apart making it quite a subtle effect. I loved the look of this one. High Hopes is a bright mango shade that looks amazing on it's own as well. If you're new to Konad, here's a video tutorial on how to use it. I buy my Konad supplies from wowsocool.com, which I definitely recommend as the shipping is shipping is fast and cheap (or free for orders over $20) and the service is great.
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China Glaze polishes are available at Sally Beauty Supply stores for about $6 and online at transdesign.com and 8ty8beauty.com for around $2.50
China Glaze Custom Kicks from the "Kicks" collection is a vibrant teal with a gorgeous golden sheen, so I wanted to use China Glaze Passion which is a golden chrome-finish polish, to do the design to bring the gold in the base color out a bit. I also used Konad plate m78 for the design. I love this particular image because it reminds me of jewelry draping across the nail. This is another reason I loved the idea of a gold stamp. I really like this mani a lot, and I like the image a lot more than I thought I would.
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If you weren't already aware, I'm a pattern fanatic. If my Konad addiction weren't enough of a tip-off, you might recall my love for toile. It doesn't stop at toile; something about patterns just gets me. The uniqueness and interesting designs I could stare at all day before I could ever have a real grasp on what's really going on in front of my eyes. For this reason I also love Vera Bradley products. I love seeing the new patterns every season, even if they're not my cup of tea. Same goes for Liberty of London, who is famous for busy and breathtaking patterns that leave me in awe. When I found out MAC was collaborating with the London store for a new collection, I was so excited. Sadly, barely any of the products are calling out to me enough to actually buy them, but the scarf caught my eye. I'm not going to be purchasing a scarf with a makeup brand's name on it for $100, but I can still enjoy the look of it.
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The sun is making appearance this week after our long battle with feet of snow freezing, windy days, so I wanted to do a holographic manicure. I picked Color Club polishes in Worth The Risque (base) and Wild at Heart because they've both got some holo qualities and have a nice contrast with each other. I've been obsessed with my Konad plates recently, so of course I broke 'em out for this one. I thought this design from Konad plate m64 fit with the prismatic quality of these polishes. The design really reminds me of light cutting through a prism and shooting off in different directions.
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