Models Own Mixed Up

I was thrilled beyond belief when I was contacted by Katie at Harlow & Co. to say that she had noticed Models Own Mixed Up was on my wish list; would it be OK if she sent me a bottle for review?  I couldn't reply to that email fast enough!  lol!  A hard to find brand (Models Own), with holo (love) glitter (love!) that sparkles like the night sky? This is the mani I came up with using it.

I didn't swatch Mixed Up before I went to do my nails, just went to apply it on my nails as the bottle, thinking it was a holo glitter in a black base as the bottle is so opaque.  But when I put it on my nail, I soon discovered  that it's an abundance of fine black glitter, with holo glitter, in a clear base and knew right away that it would take several coats to cover if I didn't do a dark base.  So I removed it and then did a base coat using FingerPaints Black Expressionism (no pix as I've shown basic black mani before...plus this post is pix heavy enough!).  Then layered one coat of Models Own Mixed Up. Yes, this is only one coat!

Mixed Up is a topcoat eater; these pix have one coat of SV on top to prep for stamping. 

When I was looking at my nails, I thought that they did look like the night sky so knew I had to stamp stars on them, but didn't want to hide the holo glitter up too much, so stamped the tips with Nicole by OPI Positive Energy using CH26.

This pix below, I topped my stamping with one coat of Gelous, then one coat of SV.

You can see from the pix that with two coats of topcoat that weren't left to dry in between, that it was a lot of liquid on the stamp so it wrinkled the stamping a bit.  However, the stamping flattened out nicely once it started to dry.

This pix was taken the next day outside...I'm memorized by the holo swirl near the star on my index finger!

This was a pretty eye catching mani and I received lots of compliments on it when I was out and about.  Next time I wear it, I think I'll do two coats of Mixed Up for more holo sparkle!......still memorized by the swirl!

Thanks so much Katie for fulfilling this wish list lemming!  For those of you not familiar with Harlow & Co., her e-store carries many brands not readily available like Layla, Glitter Gal, Models Own, Barry M, ...as well as independents  like Nerd Lacquer and piCture pOlish.  Looking back, this is the very first time I've worn this brand.....but I'm sure you'll be seeing more Models Own swatching here because when I went over to link up her site, I got a little sidetracked by all the pretties and may have just placed an order for some more Models Own and a few other goodies! 

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Update May 1, 2012:  Just a quick note that I my order from Harlow & Co. arrived just two business days after I ordered!  Wow!  Now off to swatch a few of these new pretties!

New York Inspired Mani

This was my contribution to the music inspired theme for this weeks challenge in the Adventures in Stamping FB group.  My music inspiration was "New York" by Jay Z and Alicia Keys. 

When I was thinking about the mani, I was thinking about what I think New York is about...not even having been there..so was thinking.....fashion, food, the theater (says in uber snobby voice), music, the Big Apple and of course, the Statue of Liberty.  Hopefully this does not offend any New Yorkers, who may have a totally different perspective of their city!  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough nails to get any food inspired stamps as part of the mani but for whatever reason, I was thinking pretzels (the cart style pretzels you see in tv shows)...do you know that in fact there is a pretzel stamp?   This was my favourite finger...er, thumb.

Anyway, started with two coats of OPI Bride's Bouquet (no pix...have shown many times before).  Stamped using SdP D01 (the I♥ image), and m17 and m18 (for NY), SdP 54 (the stars at the  bottom of I ♥ NY), D08 (Liberty image), CH24 (french tip on thumb), SdP D15 (Chanel logo), SdP D03 (CK logo), KD12 (Dior logo), SdP D10 (D & G logo), SdP 45 (mask on pinky), SE18 (apple), SdP 9 (music notes), and lastly Konad m3 (the random stars around Liberty and on pinky and middle finger. Stamping polishes were Konad Red, Blue and Black special polishes.  Topped with SV...I meant to finish it off with China Glaze Fairy Dust or something to jazz it up a bit...but finished this late last night and was so tired, I had already SV'd a couple fingers before I remembered that I planned on doing it!...so nothing on top to jazz it up as intended!

A quick update on the giveaway...there were a total of 337 entries....give or take a few duplicates...I've been working on the spreadsheet, entering the ballots, extra ballots, etc., etc....and so far, I'm on ballot no. 554 and have entered about half of the entries.  I've decided I'm going to use the number generator for the winners, which I will post.  Once the *winners* have been contacted, and as they chose the plate of their choice, etc., I'll update the giveaway page so there probably won't be any further announcements on this main page until its all over; however, I'll do a final post listing all the winners to update everyone.  Just fyi.  But I'm guessing I'll start contacting those chosen (The Chosen Ones lol), within the next 24-48 hours....thanks for your patience!

Thanks for looking!

My Lame Attempt to Dupe A England Saint George

Another mani from the archives...I haven't done my nails in three days now...and there's no stamping on my fingers either to be honest....I'll explain that soon....anyway, when A England released their The Legends collex, I thought, hmm.... I don't need to BUY them...I'll just attempt some layering to re-create them. So this is my lame attempt of Saint George after I stamped it.

Started with a base of two coats of Essie Going Incognito.

Layered with a coat of OPI Standing Room Only.....but it was way too much holo.  Not that I'm complaining.  LOVE holo!  But unfortunately it wasn't even close in my attempt to recreate A England Saint George, which was the whole intent of doing this mani. If you have Saint George, you'll know this.  (After I did this mani, I  bought Saint George...if you don't have it, just take my word its not even close! lol!)

Then I thought I couldn't let all those rainbows go to waste..so stamped some rainbows using Konad black special polish with Big SdP I.

Then topped with a coat of SV.  Unfortunately, SV killed the holo a bit if you compare it to the first pix which was with SV, but it sharpened the black stamping.      

Hope you're having a great weekend!  Thanks for looking!

Stamped Liquid V

Thanks to everyone who participated in my giveaway...and I'd like to especially thank and welcome those who started following AFTER my giveaway was over....as much as I appreciate everyone checking out my blog and joining to be able to enter the contest, its nice to see those join simply for the sake of wanting to check it out "just because".  Thanks too for your comments...I have been reading them along the way and do appreciate the time you took to add a few words!
  

I've been too busy verifying entries etc for the giveaway to do a new mani, so this post is taken from the archives.....I did this mani about a month ago now....Maybelline Fuchsia Fever with a coat of Lynnderella Liquid Valentine. 

Started with a base of two coats of Maybelline Fuchsia Fever. 

Love this!  The purple/blue shimmer is absolutely amazing!  Can you believe I found this for 50 cents when I was checking out a local supply place and spotted it in a random polish bin?  I was actually on the hunt for KleanColor Wild Rose after seeing Steffel's blog post  with it along with Liquid Valentine (she posted on March 13th and I did this mani on March 15th...I really liked her mani obviously!).....there's only a couple places in my area that sell KleanColor and I was at one of them looking for it.  I didn't find KC Wild Rose but I found Fuchsia Fever instead...I think that Steffel's version is so much nicer...but if you can't find the polish, what's a girl to do?

Layered with a coat of Lynnderella Liquid Valentine.

Enough said.

I wore this for a day or two before I decided to stamp it....but in the meanwhile, I had a really peely thumb nail so I decided to cut it...as you can see here.

Yikes....not pretty at all...that's why you've seen all these pix in past posts with my funny, short thumb! Or it was missing from so many pix!  Anyway, after a lot of thought and consideration...well, because its a sin to stamp on top of a Lynnderella, you know....I decided to give it a whirl using KleanColor black polish, CH11. 

Please excuse the tip wear!  It was great to see the layering of the Maybelline and Lynnderella through the stamped image.....minus the short thumb!  

I'll post the giveaway winners as soon as I can ...I live a busy life, have workaholic tendencies (when I'm not surfing the internet checking out nail blogs!)....it takes me time to check out YOUR blogs, be an active part of the nail art community...which I do try to do..take time to time to do my nails....and in between I have to sleep and eat!

Thanks for looking!

Last Call for Giveaway!!

A quick reminder that my giveaway ends tonight at midnight.....if you are interesting in entering, please make sure you go here!

I thought I'd show a mani I did a few months ago using CH12, which is part of the 26 set offered in the giveaway.  If you've been looking for these, you'll be pleased to know that they are back in stock on Amazon....and for any Canadian gals, you'll soon be able to order directly from Cheeky-Beauty and have them mailed directly to you!  I know there is a lot of interest in these plates based upon the emails I've received asking how I got them.  I've also emailed Cheeky and asked if they will be available worldwide to countries that they don't already ship to via their Amazon stores......I'll update the post once I hear back from them. *Edit*  Cheeky have confirmed they will ship worldwide!

Started with a base of Duri Don't Think twice; two coats.

Did a coat of China Glaze Let's Do It in 3-D on accent.

Stamped with Konad Black special polish using  CH12.  Looking back now, I kinda like this look.

Dotted flowers petals with Let's Do it in 3-D.

Added accent dots using CND Raspberry Parfait.

Topped with SV.  I did quite a bit of experimenting with dotting of holos for this type of look....the scattered holo in the China Glaze Kaleidoscope collex by far worked the best.  I didn't get nearly as good holo dots with other polishes such as OPI DS polishes as I them too.

Hope you had a fantastic weekend!  Thanks for looking!





New Lilic Plates!!

 I received the newly released Lilic A03 and A04 plates a week or so ago.  Here's the mani I came up with.

Started with a base of China Glaze Wicked Style, two coats.  This is from the Electropop Collection.

Stamped using Konad white special polish using Lilic A04.  The very first nail I stamped was the middle finger; even though my nails are fairly long, I cut off a bit of the butterfly near the cuticle.  So when I did the ring finger, I eliminated the butterfly and just did the flowers and the tulips.  I used the sun from the dolphin design on the other plate, Lilic A03, and stamped it above the tulips.  I then stamped the butterfly design from Lilic 04 on my index finger...but again, even though my nails are fairly long, long got two of the three butterflies on the nail.  This is good news for anyone with reallyyyyy long nails...no double stamping needed!  I isolated the large butterfly from Lilic A04 and stamped it on my thumb along with one of them in the three image.  Also did a single butterfly on my pinky. 

I'm not 100% sure if my plate is typical, but the etching on the set of three butterflies, the large butterfly over the tulips and the flowers under the tulips is thick and deep.   I used the small butterflies three times and they all stamped the same.   I'm not sure why this is because you can see the perfect fine detail in the dotted lines under the butterfly.  The plate still stamps...you can make out the design, it would look nicer if the lines weren't as thick IMHO!  The tulips are thin; I'm not sure why the flowers and butterflies are so thick.  I have emailed the seller about the etching but haven't heard back yet.

Anyway, with spring in full swing, I decided to add a bit of colour to the mani and fun it up!  So added lots of dots to the flowers, grass and butterflies using Konad Apple Green, Sky Blue and Yellow special polish.  I don't know about you, but I see a sunny side up egg when I see that sun! lol!

Added a few accent dots a few of the nails using the Konad yellow stamping polish, then topped with SV.

Here's pix of the new plates.

Hope you're having a great weekend....thanks for looking!

Holiday Nails

Using the pix of the water from my past trip to St. Lucia for inspiration for this mani as mentioned in my last post, I did a water themed mani.  This is what I came up with.

Base polishes used where Butter London Slapper; two coats.

Topped with a coat of Zoya Maisie.

Stamped using H20 and (thumb and pinky), SdP 17 (ring), and Big SdP J (middle and index) using Konad special blue polish on all fingers except the index. 

I was disappointed how faint the Konad blue stamped so decided to see if I could come up with something a little darker.  For the index finger, I dabbed in a little Konad Royal Purple special polish with the blue and mixed them up on the plate a bit to get a slightly darker outline.

Layered on more stamping using Konad M82 (fish on thumb and pinky), and H20 (turtle) using Konad Yellow special polish.  (Before Fingers comments on the post...I know fish and turtles aren't yellow! lol!)

Added the boat from H20 on the ring finger, using Konad white for the outline of the boat and Konad Yellow for the sun. 

I did a white boat because I went out into the ocean on a white catamaran when I was in St. Lucia...the small one you see in the pix below to the far left was the one I went out on.  This was a pix I snapped when he was coming onto the beach and before we went out on the water.....the pix from my last post of the water was taken when I was out on it. We did some snorkeling off of it to see turtles and fish...unfortunately, I don't have a waterproof camera so no pix.  The catamaran ride was actually one of the highlights of my trip...I love the water and love being out on it!

Have a great weekend...and thanks for looking! 

BL Slapper + Nail Polish Canada Giveaway Reminder

I was looking through some pictures of when I was in St. Lucia a few years ago as someone on a nail board I belong to had asked about vacationing there.  I was taken back by the colour of the water which was this amazing shade so unusual compared to the bodies of water in my area.  The pix gave me some inspiration for my latest mani as I was thinking, hmmm, I think I have a polish that shade!  Butter London Slapper, which I had received from Nail Polish Canada not long ago.

This is two coats. How beautiful is this?

Isn't it amazing to think that water exists in this colour? Here's a pix from my holiday.

Butter London Slapper is pretty close to the water, eh?

Another pix of Slapper. This is without topcoat. Shiny. Beautiful. Application and cleanup was a dream. I was thrilled to see I didn't have any staining as sometimes happens with some greens and blues. 

To add to the water effect, I topped BL Slapper with a coat of Zoya Maisie to give the mani some depth and interest. 

 I'd like to thank Nail Polish Canada for sending me Butter London Slapper* (which reminds me, I still need to order Trout Pout and Disco Biscuit!)  This is a reminder of their current giveaway for the entire Butter London Spring/Summer 2012 collection simply by filling out the ballot, which is offered here.

And you know I stamped it! I'll show you what I did in my next post!



Thanks for looking!

*Please see disclosure policy.

Essie She's Picture Perfect + Giveaway Reminder

Sorry to have been MIA for a few days...I planned on posting yesterday but thanks to seeing KarenD's post about new Salon Express stamping plates being available at CVS...I had a few hours free so instead did an impromptu trip to the US in hopes of snagging them before they sold out!  I was planning a mani in my head before I even had the plates in my hands!  I was lucky to snap up the last package at the very last CVS I visited so I'm sure I'll be posting a mani soon!  Thanks, KarenD, for the info! 

Anyway, before my giveaway ends next Monday, I thought I better do a reminder just in case any one's not aware of it!  I don't want anyone to miss out on them!  I've been checking Cheeky-Beauty's Amazon store for the XL plates to see if they are in stock yet, but they aren't so I guess I won't be able to order them and do a mani to highlight them before my giveaway ends.  The XL plates they provided for the giveaway are very close to other series of XL plates offered...not 100% but close.  They have slight variations....enough that I'm going to order the Cheeky XL A, B, C and D even thought I already have other XL plates.  So I thought I'd show you a mani I did with XL C...not the Cheeky-Beauty XL C as offered in the giveaway which is close; this plate I bought from Magnonails. I wish I already had the Cheeky XL plates so I could do a stamping comparison, but that will have to wait until I'm able to get them.

I have to say, that this mani started OK, ended OK but was a terrible mess in between!  This was another mani that I couldn't stamp right down to the tips to save my life as you'll see from the pix.  Anyway, here's the end result.

This is how it started, which was OK too....two coats of Essie She's Picture Perfect.  I wish all that shimmer as seen in the bottle was more apparent on the nails.

Stamped using XL C using Konad Royal Purple special polish.  Miserable stamping fail on so many levels! I really botched the index finger.

I took the Konad Royal Purple polish and brushed in the bare spots to cover.  I decided I needed a distraction from the stamping fail so added a few white dots using Konad special white.

Decided I needed to add yet more white dots.

Added a little silver glitter using random striping polish and topped with SV.  The end result is OK too.  Not super fantastic...just OK.

Thanks to everyone who has entered the giveaway so far...I think the last time I checked, there were 265 entries.   But if you don't want to miss out, please make sure you go here!

Thanks for looking!