Monthly Archives: October 2014

So, the fabulous @polished.plumage has created a few manis using Zoya Pixie Dust polishes to create a 3-D sort of effect.  I thought they looked really cool, so I decided to give it a try!  I used some nail vinyls from Glam My Mani that I got a few weeks ago and just went for it:

Yes, I know this picture kind of blows.  It was really hard to get a good picture of the design without a terrible glare.  I have an edited version at the end, so you can get a better idea of what it looks like!

Here is what I used:

From left to right: Essie Grow Stronger (new bottle!), Oh So Wet, Zoya Geneviev, Zoya Arianna, HK Girl and, in the back, a sheet of nail vinyls.

I first put down a base of Grow Stronger, then two coats of Geneviev, which is freaking gorgeous.  WHY HAVE I NOT USED THIS COLOR YET???  I was sort of iffy on the formula, but I love the dark gray color.  This is two coats topped with OSW quick dry:

I almost stopped right there because I love it so much.  Such a simple color, but I really like it.

But, since I didn’t stop, the post is going to keep going too.  Once Geneviev was completely dry, I started in with the vinyls.  I wanted to take pictures of my process, but I am still learning how to use them, and was trying to move fast so that I did not ruin a design.  I just placed them wherever I wanted, playing with the design.  I made sure to press the vinyl down completely and doubled checked my edges — loose edges have ruined more than one design for me.  I painted Arianna where I wanted it to go, then immediately (but oh-so-carefully) used tweezers to pull the vinyl off my nail.  Here is what I was left with at the end:

(it was a tea night)

This is pretty clean for me.  Typically, my stamping manis make quite a mess!

Here is an edited photo of this mani:

I played with the colors and lighting, just so I could show what the design actually looks like.  I love that the lightning bolts are raised.  It just lends a little something different, which is always fun.

Thanks for stopping by!

So, the #BHBSpooktober challenge yesterday was candy corn nails.  I had these done Thursday, but life got in the way (damn life…won’t respect my priorities!!), so they are just getting up today.  I really liked the way they turned out:

Here’s what I used:

From left to right: HKGirl, China Glaze White on White, Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, OPI Toucan Do It If You Try, and my trusty container.  My container is actually from one Easter’s Egg dying kit.  The cups were so cute, I couldn’t throw them away (yes, I am a tad bit of a hoarder — reuse ALL the junk!)

And….I just realized I forgot put Essie’s Grow Stronger in the picture.  That is the base I used.  Ah well, now you know, and that is what I started with while my water marble dried:

I am in love with this technique.  One day, when I have infinite patience and a good deal of leftover humility, I will take pictures demonstrating why I use this method and not the traditional water marble.  All will become clear (and you can get a good laugh at my expense!)

Anywho — this was the second version.  For this one, I used one drop of orange, one drop of yellow, but two of the white for each ring.  Then I used a toothpick to drag the design.  I’m still not great at dragging.  I see some gorgeous water marbles (…is it “water marble” or “watermarble”?  I use it both ways.  Eh — either way you know what I am talking about!) on IG, and love the designs they create.  I’m still very much a novice!

Once it was completely dried, I gently lifted it from the water:

You can see my first attempt on the right.  HOT. MESS.  I don’t even know what I was thinking. I got drag happy!  Anywho, after I snapped this pic, I cut out the portions of the design that I wanted to use for my accent nail:

And put them on my ring finger:

And, ask you can see, I also put down two coats of White on White.  No top coat on the white, but I had top coated the watermarble.  Ultimately, I went with two coats of top coat on that nail, for no real reason other than that I felt like it.

I started my cloud mani with the white, because it usually requires two coats to look nice.  With the cloud, you want to pick colors that you can get an opaque look with in one coat, because that (a) is much easier, and (b) gives a cleaner look.  Once the white was dry, I added the orange:

One coat of Toucan Do It If You Try over the white.  It is funny to me that I have been using this polish so much and I actually really like it.  I generally hate orange.  It just always seems to look funny on me.  I picked up this color to round out a sale purchase.  I don’t recall exactly what it was, but I needed one more polish for the discount, and this ended up being what I grabbed.  I have definitely gotten my money out of this baby.

And while I was fondly remembering my history with this polish, it dried and I added the yellow:

Yellow is another color I’m usually not in love with, but I really liked this mani!  This was the finished product, top coated.

Now…I am using a lot of past tense.  That is because shortly after I took this picture, I absolutely wrecked the mani.  It apparently wasn’t completely dry, and I knocked against my helmer, and BOOM!  DESTRUCTION!  So I will fondly remember our brief history together, and start planning my next mani!

Thanks for stopping by!