OPI Suede

This is my first time posting a suede...OPI, We'll Always Have Paris Suede....I tried using it once during the summer but I had a small nail flaw which was just amplified with this polish...even now, I made the mistake of double swabbing a nail during application which you can see the flaw on my index finger...suedes are not very forgiving to any nail flaws or misapplications....



...So what solves all nail flaws...stamping of course!

Stamped with fauxnad XL D using Konad blue special polish.






And just for something different, topped with SV...in real life, the blue wasn't as bright...but this was kinda cool anyway. The downside is that this mani chipped even with topcoat less than 18 hours later...the upside is more reason to do another mani!



This pix was just to show easy comparison of matte versus shiny while mani was in progress.





Thanks for looking!

Dainty Pink

Here's a dainty pink mani...China Glaze Innocence. Two coats over one coat of OPI Tickle My France-y (to help cover up visible nail line).



Konad IP m56, Konad black special polish.




A little different on a cold Canadian winter day!

Thanks for looking!

Another Leopard Konad....

Konad image plates have been around for a while so we'll probably all seen the leopard IP 100's of times...but when I applied Zoya Richelle recently, it seemed appropriate to use...plus I wanted to practise my tip stamping skills! I so love stamped french tips on others but they never seem to suit my nails!

Zoya Richelle, stamped with Konad black special polish, Konad IP's m44 and m57.

Here's Richelle all my herself:

I don't know why I keep on buying these bronze/goldy colours, but I do!

And just to be a little different, I shattered my right hand, using OPI Black Shatter.

I love crackle polish-it is so cool!

Please look away from the terrible cleanup-I'm right handed! Its almost embarrassing to show these right handed pictures but it is what it is! LOL!!

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

We Have A Winner!!!...Plus an Added Surprise for 3 of You....

I was so excited to host my very first giveaway!!!!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! I was utterly blown away to see how many entries there was to my 100 follower giveaway...and was astonished to see that my followers almost doubled in three short weeks! Thanks so much! So you may recall from the posting that I had asked for everyone's top six just for fun from the China Glaze Anchors Away collex...and here's what you said: Sea Spray: 50 votes Below Deck: 43 votes White Cap: 42 votes First Mate: 38 votes Pelican Gray: 37 votes Ahoy!: 31 votes Knotty: 27 votes Star Board: 24 votes Lighthouse: 19 votes Sunset Sail: 19 votes Hey Sailor: 12 votes Life Preserver: 9 votes I was personally surprised with the results...mainly because one my personal favourite, Ahoy!, was middle of the road....and I thought that White Cap would be the front runner...it is so versatile for layering! Now onto the exciting part! The winner of my very first giveaway is..... ****Salla****!!! As I mentioned, Salla will be able to pick her favourite six of the China Glaze AA collection, and they will be sent to her along with fauxnad H12 image plate! Congrats, Salla! Please remember to contact me within 48 hours of my email to you or another entrant will be awarded this giveaway! Now onto the surprise for 3 of you!!! To thank everyone for following me, and to recognize that my followers have almost doubled, I also randomly drew 3 additional names, who will receive a four piece set of the Anchors Away collex with Life Preserver, Ahoy! First Mate and White Cap. Here's the pix: The three followers that will receive this set are: Xeno Cel Jan Congrats! Now, if by chance Salla does not reply to my email, I'm going to up Xeno's name to the winner as her entry was picked next (and so on...) and I will draw another follower for the four piece set...but here's to hoping that Salla will reply so that this won't be necessary (except if you're Xeno, who's probably gonna cross her fingers that Salla won't reply, LOL!!) ! If by chance this does occur, I'll edit this posting with the updated information. Thanks so much for everyone again for following my little blog! I read every one of your comments and reply to any emails (I think??!!) that have been sent my way and thank you for taking the time to stop by...especially when there are so many awesome and talented bloggers out in the massive cyber world (including a lot of you, who I follow!!)!

Here's me pulling the entries, if you want to have a look and a few more pix to vouch the winners!
I don't know if you can see my current mani in the video...its Zoya Richelle, and will be my next post! Thanks so much again!!!

Edit: April 1st, 2011: I've now heard from all four gals, who have confirmed receipt of their prizes. Just wanted it noted as didn't want anyone to think I had a giveaway and the prizes weren't sent/received!! And no, its not a joke-just happen to be the date I got last confirmation!!!!

A Lengthy Manicure....

I had some time to spare on Saturday so I thought I'd just experiment a little. This is what I came up with:



It was a lonnngggg road...for me at least....I don't usually have this much time to try things out!

Started with two coats of KleanColor Neon Sapphire:


This polish was $3/10 at Designer Cosmetics at local mall....not too shabby!

Then two coats of Essie Matte About You:



I wasn't sure what I was gonna stamp it with, so here's my right hand with China Glaze L8R G8R, OMG, LOL and then Konad Special Polishes metallic purple and purple (was trying to see the contract versus the shiny and regular finish with the Konad polish stamping).


Settled on China Glaze OMG, using IP XL B.

I actually didn't mind it too much like this but then I had heard about all the stories about mattes being chippy and as I didn't want to redo, I ended up topping with a coat of SV...I'm glad I did cause I like it like this best! LOL! But, it was fun to experiment with the matte topcoat!

Lastly, thanks so much to everyone who entered my very first giveaway, which is now closed! There's a lot of votes to tabulate but I'm going to start counting them and hope to have the results posted soon! Thanks very very much for anyone who stopped by to look at my little blog and Good Luck!!!

OPI Shatter!

I think the crackle of OPI Shatter is so cool! I felt very fortunate that I was able to swap for Barry M and P2 crackle in the fall and right after they arrived, it was announced that the Katy Perry for OPI collex (and Serena Williams) would have a crackle polish in them!


Above pix has been top coated with SV.

This pix is no topcoat; matte finish.

Used Color Club Pink Lust, Tangerine Scream and Volt of Light.

Here's my right hand...as I'm right handed, I knew I'd never be able to paint three colours even somewhat decent so just stuck to one colour....CC Pink Lust, then one thin coat of OPI shatter, then first pix is with one coat of SV.

Tip: If you are looking for lots of thin crackle like my mani shows (mainly), apply a thin coat. If you want a crackle with bigger chunkier pieces, apply a thicker coat. Only one coat is needed...it cracks fast and is very neat to watch before your eyes! One coat of SV made the mani smooth; but if you are doing a thicker crackle, two coats of topcoat may be needed (but beware of SV shrinkage... :( Be sure to apply on dry polish only!

Got this at my local Trade Secrets...the shatter seems to be selling fast so if you are looking for it, be quick!

And this is the final reminder that my first giveaway ends at midnight on January 22nd! Please enter here for details!

So what's your thoughts on shatter? Cool or not so much....

Thanks for looking!

Whats Black & White and...

Black and White and Black and White all over? Just my current mani!!!

OPI Brides Bouquet and Misa I Will Survive on alternating fingers, stamped with Konad black an white special polish, using IP XL A. I wished I had taken more time to make sure all the dots were solid...but unfortunately it was in the wee hours of the morning and I was getting tired....



And for some reason I just liked the blurry pix! I think cause the black and white dots look more perfect...


And lastly, please remember to enter my first giveway ever....six polishes of your choice of the China Glaze Anchors Away collex plus image plate H12! Enter here! There's only a few days left as the giveaway ends January 22nd!

I've been reading all your comments and will tabulate the entries soon! It will be interesting to see if there are any clear favourites in the collection.


I cannot thank everyone who is know following my little blog! Thanks for looking!

New Image Plates!

I'm always on the lookout for new stamping plates and was super excited to get these new XL stamping plates...these plates are fantastic in my humble opinion.... especially the ones that are full nail designs...so I was fooling around with them tonight and here's what I came up with....

This is a couple pix of my left hand... sorry about poor cleanup and scraggly cuticles...I love that you can see the holo in these pix!

This isn't focused the best but I love the holo's!

These XL image plates are available thru Chez Delaney and Magnonails. (Edit: Apparently US and Canadian orders can't be processed thru Magnonails' website; here's email to place order if interested: info@magnonails.de)

Base is China Glaze OMG and 2Nite...stamped with Konad black special polish. I have a couple pix of just plain holo ...I'll edit post and insert in the morning...camera battery died and couldn't upload them!
Edit: Heres a pix of just OMG and 2Nite plus the sun came out so I took a couple more pix...I love holos!





And it looks like its down to the last week for entering my first giveaway for six polishes of your choice of the China Glaze Anchors Away collex and IP H12...if you haven't already, please enter here!

Edit: Here's size comparisons to Konad image plates:

With ruler...the XL plates appear to be about ? larger...the first image is XL, the second is Konad...

The XL plate is 3/4" right down to the top but if you weren't using it for french tips but rather full nail, its slightly less.

Konad is slightly more than 1/2".

And here is the width...first image is XL, the second in Konad...

XL plate is slightly over 1/2" wide....

Konad is slightly under 1/2". Hopefully this helps anyone who may be wondering if you have long or wide nails!

Thanks for looking!

**Please note that I paid the invoiced amount in full for my plates. I do not endorse nor promote this website/etailer other than I am passing on the info of where I got them to those who may wish to know. I have no affiliation with any company and received no compensation for promotion of these products, nor am I promoting them...just letting fellow bloggers where they may be obtained should they be interested.