Hearts & Hooves Day: Special Somepony Necklace

     Happy Hearts & Hooves Day! This is my final Valentine's manicure, and my first My Little Pony themed of a much planned series. I didn't really want to start out my Pony series with this one, but I absolutely could not let the holiday roll by.

     I am subscribed to this very talented lady, and she recently uploaded a lovely tutorial. I instantly fell in love with the necklace idea, and had to recreate it and put my own spin on it.

     I definitely have nowhere near the length of her beautiful nails, but I had to try it. I should have also used the nail art brush to add a little black around the horseshoes for depth, but I was scared that I would ruin it. I ended up doing that anyhow, but probably a lot less than I would have done with the brush.
     I have had my nail art brush set for a while, but have always shied away from using them because I knew if I messed up that I would have to wear it. I never allowed myself enough time to practice, and be able to remove it if I did. I got into the habit of paint-stamp-topcoat-done, but now that I have more time to play around I am trying to branch out from what comes easy.

Items Used

Main Fingers

• Base Coat - Palladio Moisture Surge
• 2 Coats - Pure Ice Siren
• 1 Coat - Hot Topic Red Glitter
• Stamped With - Konad White
• Dotted With - China Glaze Dance Baby
• Plate - Bundle Monster 317

 

Accent Fingers 

• Base Coat - Palladio - Moisture Surge
• 2 Coats - China Glaze Dance Baby
• Stamped With - Konad White
• Nail Art - Wet n' Wild Black Créme
• Plate -  MASH 37

Top Coat on All - Seche Vite (before and after Stamping)

     The only thing that separates this mani from being a Valentine's mani is the Horseshoes. The Special Somepony Necklace is adorable, and I am glad I bucked up and tried out the nail art brushes. As always, now that I am finished I see about 20 things that I wish I would have done a little differently- but those ideas can be saved for another layer of polish.

     In case you were wondering about how I ruined the mani, here is a very detailed account of what caused those smudges and bubbles.

     I have little hearts the same color as the ones on my thumb that are hollow in the middle. I had them sitting on the bottoms of the horseshoes. Immediately after placing them- I hated it and popped them off. The hearts do not sit flush with your nails, and I couldn't stand the way it felt. They are under topcoat on my thumb and unlike the rhinestones, the polish does not help. It puddles up underneath the sides. They are too big for all of the heart to touch the surface of my nail and get a good seal. I got them both in a set quite a few months back and will not be using the shapes on my hands again. If I didn't like this mani so much, I would have done took them off.  They will come in handy for decorating my BirchBox boxes though!

 

 

 

 

Nail Shape Ramblings

I seem to do this in almost every post. Why not give it its' own section?

     Do you see how my nails don't look as straight from a different angle? This is the anguish that I go through constantly. If I file them with them facing away from me, they are crooked when I turn my hand around like in the pictures. If I file them facing towards me, they look horrendous facing outward. I just can't seem to win.

     It could be the deep C-Curve that I have. Not only is it deep, the sides on a few of my fingers turn inward. Mainly the ones that have been broke, or that were the focus of my torture.
     Did I not mention that I am a reformed biter? Over a year and a half clean. Before I filed them down recently, they were the longest they had ever been in my life. I am constantly amazed by how the smallest thing effects their overall shape. I have been working at not picking at my cuticles and sidewalls, and letting them heal over is making the smallest, yet still noticeable, change in my nail.
      I am very excited for the straight edge clippers that I ordered to get here, they really need to be cut to be straightened I think. I would use regular curved clippers, but I don't want to risk the big chip that comes from having to do them in 2 snips. They are very thick, and break easily. If I can't get them evened out with the clipper, then I may have to explore new shape options because the inwards pull on some nails is just too overpowering to have the square shape that I have always wanted.

*The item(s) in this post were purchased by me.

Simple Valentine's Day Mani - Take 2!

     Today I have another simple Valentine's mani to share. Out of sheer nostalgia, I chose to stick with the stock red/pink/white palette for the first VDay mani of the year. This one still has a nostalgic feel (at least for me!) but incorporates a different color scheme. Using MASH 15 as an inspiration and a memory of some pottery my grandmother has, I created this simple manicure.

 Special Guest Appearance By: My Elusive Thumb Nail!

    I wanted to have a French included in my Valentine inspired manicures because I have not had one in ages, but didn't want to give up the accent nail that I have been addicted to having. To add a modern twist to a timeless classic, I reversed the colors and worked in a sponge French before stamping.

Items Used

Main Fingers

• Base Coat - 2 Coats Zoya - Lucy
  Zoya describes Lucy as : A soft, milky neutral off-white sheer creme. Ideal for French manicures or to be worn alone for a nail-brightening effect.
• Accessories - Blue Striping Tape
  After waiting on Lucy to dry, I started placing the striping tape. I unrolled about double of what I needed to cover the width, and placed it on top of my nail in the center. (The free edge becomes much less tacky the more it is touched, so I tried to keep from putting the bits that i had held between cuttings directly on the nail.) Starting from the center where I placed the tape, and working inward toward the roll, I pressed down and rubbed a few times before cutting. Leaving a little length on the side, and wrapping what was left over onto my finger. Then I would do the same to the free edge side that wasn't attached to the roll. After much pressing and smoothing on the tape to make sure it had gotten a good seal, I cut as close as safely possible to the sides of my nail. I used a pair of manicure scissors because the blades let me get really close, taking any unwanted bits that poked my fingers from the sides.
• Tipped With - Wet n' Wild - French White Créme (& a nail art brush)
  I didn't trust myself to use the handle brush in the bottle, nor a bottle of striping polish because of the excess amount of polish that runs down the bristles. I chose a small nail art brush, and had the easiest French tipping experience to date.

Accent Finger

• Base Coat -  Sally Hansen - Diamond Strength
• Sponged With - Wet n' Wild - French White Créme & Alessandro - Blue Lagoon
  I painted strips of both of these, just barely touching, on a cutting of a make-up sponge. Then dabbed the color onto my nail, working slightly up and down for a not-so-prim effect to counter the crisp lines of the other fingers.
• Stamped With - Konad Blue Pearl & White
• Plate(s) - MASH 15 (Kissing Swans) & Pueen 18 (Floral Pattern)

Top Coat on All - Seche Vite

     While looking for a picture to describe the pottery I had in mind, I ran across this beauty. It looked exactly like what I had in my head when I found the nail plate that had the image of the kissing swans. It is currently for sale, a bargain at under $10- and absolutely gorgeous. It makes me realize that I missed by a little in the color department, and fell short of the cobalt that I needed. Oh well, I had fun doing it, and enjoyed it while it lasted.

*The item(s) in this post were purchased by me, but features an image that is not mine. I was given permission by the Shop Owner to use the image. It has been watermarked with their Shop Site using my stock font to keep uniformity.

Quasi-Valentines Mani/Review/Swatch SuperPost!

 I am sitting on a couple of other posts, but I absolutely had to share this one first. Wanting to stray from the usual Valentine's theme shades, I decided to change it up.

Items Used

Main Fingers

• Base Coat -  None. 
• 2 Coats - Color Club - Harp On It
• Stamped With - MASH Black Stamping Polish & XL Stamper
• Plate - Pueen 02

 

Accent Finger 

• Base Coat - Sally Hansen - Diamond Strength
• 1 Coat - Wet n' Wild - Black Crème
• Stamped/Dotted With - Color Club - Harp On It & XL Stamper, XS end
• Plate -  Pueen 12 --- the same bow can be found slightly larger on Cheeky 01

 

Pueen Image Plates 

    This manicure is more fancy than it is Valentine's. I had a "dress/tuxedo date night" look in my head. I probably should have used a different print for the full nail stamping. There are plenty in this collection with hearts, and yet I chose dots. It makes no difference, I am in love with it all the same.

    I finally got to use the Pueen plates properly, not just on a piece of paper. They preformed just like I had expected. Wonderfully. The etchings are not so shallow that you scrape everything off without trying, and not so deep that polish stays puddled up in the center after the transfer.

   I had some small issues with the size, on my thumbnail. The image was not wide/long enough, and I tried to stretch it across to compensate. It almost worked. The next time, I will do a tape-up mani on my thumb for a half- accent nail to match whatever is on my ring. Crisis averted.

Color Club - Harp On It

 My love affair with Holographic polishes have been running rampant lately, and this one is no exception. There is not much I can say about this Silver beauty that hasn't already been said by every NailGirl ever, except maybe, if you don't have it- scoop it up before prices sky rocket. That reason in itself is why this new collection of Linear Holos are my first samplings of a nail addicts staple. Seeing swatches (and prices!) of things like O.P.I - DS Desire makes me want to kick myself for not having been collecting sooner.
 Although I absolutely love this polish, I don't see me using it on its' own very often. My skin tone + the color of the polish when there is no light hitting it being the main factors in that decision. I was pleasantly surprised at the stampability (NWotD) of Harp On It, and am looking forward to trying it with a full nail design. No photo can do a holographic effect any justice to seeing it in real life.

Random Bits

• Being a Baby Nail Blogger is tough work when you have a years worth of "unpublished posts" in your head from before you buckled down and created one.
• I think that I may have to start doing a few posts a day when I have time, and save them to the queue to publish for me until I can get caught up a little. Blogging is new to me, Nail Polish and manicures are the obsession.
• I am excited to have found out a little bit more about the Color Club polishes that I recently got, and look forward to seeing more swatches from The Fiesta Collection.

 Have you gotten the Pueen stamping plates? If you have, are you as in love with them as I am? And has the Halo Hues Collection been dominating all of your free time as well?

*The item(s) in this post were purchased by me.

Color Club - Fiesta Collection picks & swatches

UPDATE 2/13/2013

I just found 5 shades from this collection listed on Birchbox. They seem to be brand new, and I can not find much about them anywhere else. Throughout this review I have referred to these as The Spring Collection, but Birchbox has corrected me with : The Fiesta Collection.

*Note that the description on the Birchbox page in the Editor's Tip section is from the Poptastic Collection.

 Now that I have posted spoilers of the upcoming February Birchbox, I hope that I don't receive Wild Cactus in my lovely pink box of awesome this month!
 __________________________________________________________________________________

 Never judge a polish by its' bottle shot.

  A couple of days ago, my Color Club order from Enospring got here. I got 4 shades from the 2013 Halo Hues Collection (more on those in a later post.) and also 4 shades from the 2013 Spring Collection. The Spring Collection was $4.50 a bottle when I got them, but seem to have went up a little. The shipping was lightning fast from New Jersey, free for orders over $30, and were packaged a lot better than I had expected.

  The 2013 Spring Collection consists of 12 shades, and all had a very familiar look about them. I couldn't find swatches anywhere at the time I was ordering, so I chanced it. I'm glad I did, because I ended up having nothing like any of them in my stash.
  

 Left to Right: In Theory, Endless Summer, Bright Night, Wild Cactus

 I also recently got the swatchpops I had ordered, and have been working like mad at getting my collection finished. It is very time consuming, because for most of the shades I tip the ends in white. (I am very guilty of wearing white underneath almost everything,  because the tips of my nails are quite pigmented, [see my Diamond Strength post.] leaving me with a gradient look a lot of the time- whether I wanted it or not.) The point of all this is, they will be GREAT for comparison posts.The wheels are so confining, and I don't know how many times I've felt like the world had ended because I got a new shade that I wanted in between the old ones.

 I haven't had the chance to use these on my hands yet, but I did get them on the 'Pops so that I could share them with you all at once. The formula is a little on the thin side, but they dry with a Satin finish. I used 2 coats for all of these, and tipped the ends with a white base as well. I like leaving the swatches a little sheered out instead of adding a third coat, to leave room for creativity while browsing them. 

• In Theory - Is a pink toned orange. The pictures wanted to lean more towards the pumpkin side of orange, but in real life its a beautiful pinky peach.
• Endless Summer - Would either need the full nail with a white base, or a third coat for a fully opaque finish on my nails.Seeing one like this that is a little sheer, automatically makes me want to try it in a sandwich. It is a sheer medium blue.
• Bright Night - Yet another one from the Spring Collection that has a very Summer feel. I can't decide if it is a blue leaning purple, or a purple leaning blue. This blurple is gorgeous. It screams "Flakie me up!"
• Wild Cactus - The only word I can think of to describe this green is Lush. I was worried that it would turn overly dark on the second coat and require a tedious one coat application, but that was not the case. It stayed true to a jungle/grass/Wild Cactus green on the second coat. It is a surprise favorite for that very reason.

 This was actually the first picture I took of them, and then moved them around to put in the bottles. I didn't realize I had gotten them out of order. (Sorry about that!) And by the time I figured it out, I had already put top coat on them. The satin finish is a lot more evident in this than the bottle and 'pop shot, though.

 And finally, here they are with topcoat. Beautiful, glossy, perfection. I'm excited to get these on my hands and see if I can capture some more true-to-life pictures, but I had to share them now.

*The item(s) in this post were purchased by me.

E.L.F Matte Finisher Top Coat

They can't all be winners.

E.L.F is one of those brands that products are a hit and a miss. Some products are amazing, while some fall flat. Matte Finisher is one of those.

 I tried this Top Coat over quite a few colors, all of them finished with this result. A chalky, streaky mess. I chose to use glitter for the swatch so that you could see what happens. The glitter is KleanColor Chunky Holo Black, and I didn't apply the Top Coat over the upper left corner.

 I have used other E.L.F polishes and gotten wonderful results, so I am not sure if this is from a bad batch, or just a bad product all the way around. Either way, I will not be purchasing this kind again. I couldn't even use the bottle for a franken, because no matter how much it was cleaned the Matte product was still there.

*The item(s) in this post were purchased by me.

Konad Polish Swatches & XL Stamper Review

Hey, you two birds- meet this one stone!

 I recently got an XL Stamper, and was having a bit of a time trying to figure out why my luck with it was nowhere near that of others. So, I sat down with full intentions of making it work. It took little to no time to realize that the problem I was having was caused by the included scrapers, and not the stamper itself.

 I am not one of the Nail Girls that use a Shopping Card as a scraper, I have never been able to get the same results as with metal ended ones. But if you are skilled with one, these may be a better option for you- as they are very solid and will not bend. The plastic is probably a whole lot better for the condition of our plates, but I have never had a metal scraper scuff a plate beyond the point of being able to discern the image. While testing the stamper with the plastic scrapers, I noticed that I was pulling too much polish off of the image. No matter what angle I held the scraper at, I wound up with open gaps where polish should have been.  I swapped out for my Konad metal scraper and the difference was enough to make the XL stamper my new best thing. 

 The larger White end of the Stamper is very squishy and pliable. And also somewhat different in what it picks up and leaves behind. It attracts lint and dust like none other, but doesn't seem to leave it behind when transferring. It picks up less polish from around the design lines, leaving crisper images, but it deposits ALL of the polish you pick up. Unlike the Konad stamper, which always has a faint outline of the design left on it, the XL stamper had nothing left after the transfer. Which made for a more pigmented stamp.

 That being said, with the exception of black and white, here is my budding Stamping Polish collection, done with both the Konad and the XL stamper. I chose to do them on paper to save my hands from so much remover. I would rather test them on my hands over something other than black and white, so if you have any suggestions/requests leave them in the comments!  

The Konad is on the Left, and the XL is on the Right in both the black and white bases. 

Both scrapers had been filed.

The Image is from the Pueen 25 plate.

 Pastel Orange

 Move over, Black, we have a new contender for Halloween stamping! See the difference in color on the white paper? That (and all of these) are not from my camera. They are like that because of the layer of polish that stayed behind on my Konad stamper.

 Dark Orange

 I had to stamp this one a couple extra times, just to make sure that the fault was not my own. (Too slow on the transfer, pressing to hard.... a number of things could have made me to blame.) But alas, it was the Konad stamper. I couldn't believe that this one showed up on the dark base, with or without the cool new toy. There really isn't a whole lot of difference between this and the Pastel Orange as far as color goes, in fact I have a pretty hard time telling the bottles apart because they don't have stickers. But when the bottles open, the Pastel is the clear winner.

 Pastel Blue

 Here is the only other from the Pastel line that I have, so far. I have used this one over a few different colors, and it gives wonderful results. 

 Blue

 This Blue is obviously not a good choice for darker bases. The sheered out stamp from the Konad stamper probably wouldn't work very well over anything but the lightest shades.

 Blue Pearl

  However, this Blue... Completely makes up for it. It is metallic, and gorgeous. Again, the XL Stamper really gave a bigger bang on the transfer.

 (Not So) Psyche Pink

 This one, and the Blue Pearl came in the Coraline Set A kit that I got from Amazon a while back. As you can tell from the bottles, this one is nowhere near the Psyche Pink that is advertised. I am thinking that it might have came from a bad batch, as I have read reviews that shown others had the same problem. It is less than visible over anything light, but looks elegant over darker shades- which is why I have kept it around. 

 You will notice that there are 2 stamps facing downward on the dark base. They are both using the XL Stamper, but the left I used the plastic scraper. It left bald spots on the petals, but depending on the color combination it may look nice.

Psyche Pink

 Now, This is Psyche Pink. This is another shade that will look good over both light and dark shades, and is very metallic. I have a feeling I will be using this one within the next week.

 Green

 Green has no shimmer, and like the Blue the transfer from the Konad stamper left it a little too sheered out to really cover many darker shades.

 Red

 Red was a lot creamier than I expected, and like the Psyche Pink- I foresee it being put to use in the near future.

 Yellow

 This one was another that surprised me on the black paper, I thought I would have to wait to get the Pastel Yellow to have one that would cover a darker shade. That is obviously not the case.

 Light Gray

 Light "Gray" is almost a  little too purple for my tastes. I need to try it out over some other shades before I decide whether I like it or not.

Violet Pearl

  Violet Pearl is another of the metallic finish set. It doesn't look as pronounced over the black base as the others, but it is still gorgeous.

Chocolate

 The formula on Chocolate is flawless, it stamps wonderfully. I've used this one a few times as well. It was one that I knew I would use as much as a black or white, and that's why I chose the Princess size bottle of it. I got this on Amazon a little cheaper than on their website.

 Black Pearl

 This one also came in a prepackaged Konad kit, along with a White in the same large size. (French Manicure, Set F I do believe.) It doesn't come off as metallic as the other Pearl finishes, but it is still there. I enjoy this one when I am wanting something more than just black, ha.

Final Thoughts

Tips & Tricks 

• Do file your stamper. (Lightly, with a fine grain.)
• Do keep your scraper very clean.
• Don't apply too much pressure.
• Do practice/test swatch before committing yourself to an entire mani.
• Do shop around before spending money. Some kits offer more bang for your buck. Some stores/sellers offer a better deal than others.

XL Stamper Set

 Though I will not be using the plastic scrapers, that does not mean you shouldn't test them out. Especially if you are accustomed to using Gift/Shopping Cards, because as I mentioned before- they do not give or bend. (Unless you like the bendy?)

 The XL Stamper itself is where the true gem lies. I do believe that I have found my favorite stamper, and have already been testing (on paper, for now.) regular polishes with it. I have had more wins than fails with my picks to try with because of the simple fact - it leaves nothing behind. 

 I am going to be putting the XS stamper on the opposite end up to the MASH dual ended stamper, I do not have the Konad of that version.

Pueen Cosmetics Plates

 I tested others while trying out other polishes, and like this one- they were wonderful. Not too shallow, and yet not too deep. The full nail images are large, and all have the option of a french end. I had no problems with what stamp swatching I have done. I haven't used them in a full manicure yet though, so more on those at a later time.

*The item(s) in this post were purchased by me.

Simple Valentine's Day Mani

Since Valentine's Day is still over a week away, and I knew that I would want to have another one (or two!) before then, I decided to go for a simple one to kick things off.

Using the stickers that Born Pretty sent me as a gift with my first order, and a dotting tool I added a little bit of whimsy to China Glaze Phat Santa. The dots are Dance Baby, also from CG. I got a little carried away with the Seche Vite on the ring finger and wound up with a little crinkle at the edge that is a lot less noticeable in person, ha!

Phat Santa: While very buildable, goes on sheer but dries with a delicious squishy glass-jelly finish. I really want to see what this looks like under a matte top coat. The blue-tone in the red gave me the Chocolate Candy heart box feels that I had been craving, (Why yes, I am in my late twenties and expect one from my pappaw every year. I get him one too.) making it the perfect base for a little nostalgia. Shown here is 3 coats of the jelly. (Crelly? I don't know. I'm still mastering my finishes.)

Dance Baby: A few dots of this youthful pink cream polish left a ribbon like touch to a very plain, but classic red nail. The more I look at it, I'm kind of wishing that I had inverted the ring finger, and had the full nail in this and the dots in red. You paint, you learn.

The glitter Stickers took very little time to add some decoration. The longest part was getting the sticker off the sheet, but the adhesion is good, so it makes up for it. The style I am wearing is from the XF182 sheet, but there are 24 cute Hello Kitty themed sheets to choose from. (I couldn't take it and had to have them all. Did you see the witch and mermaid ones?!)

Random Bits

• I took quite a bit of length of my nails while filing, just trying to get them evened up. Which has yet to happen for me. They are a lot easier to manage at this length, and things as simple as opening a can of pop is now less than equivalent to a level 4 disaster. They looked straight at the time I finally dropped the file, but now they look worse. Maybe its the angle. Maybe my vision is lopsided. 
• However, I did also get a straight edge nail clipper in the order that I made for those other stickers, and am hopeful that my days of partially square nails will be over.
• I also have my picks from the Color Club Halo Hues 2013 Collection coming soon, as well as a few from their 2013 Spring Collection creams line. I am not sure if that is the name of the collection, but I found them at Enospring while getting the Halo Hues and couldn't resist a few of the shades. They are also listed on Amazon with a bigger picture.

*The item(s) in this post were purchased by me, but included a free gift with order.