Zoya Zuza

I have KarenD over at Frazzle and Aniploish to thank for my recently acquired Zoya polishes.  
I was really pressing my luck because I asked if she would mind a swap to include all 12 bottles in the Surf and Beach sets because they seemed to all be calling my name...nothing like asking for super huge favours, eh?  But being the awesome lady KarenD is, she said OK and shortly thereafter, they arrived at my door....this is a mani I came up with using one of them. 

Started with a base coat of Zoya Zuza, two coats.  These foily-like finishes are some of my favourite bases for stamping.  I find the coverage good and the application forgiving...which always helps!

Stamped with FUN dark blue stamping polish using Big SdP F.

Added a few dots using China Glaze 2030.  While the pix below doesn't have the finish coat of SV, the very first one does.

Thank you so much KarenD for making these polishes available to me!  I hope you like the polishes I sent you as much as I love these Zoyas!  Thank you again! 

Thanks for looking!

Squiggly Lines

This mani is a little different than what I usually do but did this as part of my ongoing quest to experiment more with layering and stamping.....anyway; here's what I came up with.

Started with two coats of Magnetic Largo Lilac; this is with no topcoat.  Application was good and it covered nicely in two coats which really surprised me as it is such a pale colour.

Magnetic Largo Lilac is one of three polishes in a boxed set called Florida Moods.  They are a trio of pretty, delicate colours.  However, as I'm experimenting more and more with layering for different looks and how they stamp, I decided to layer some glitter on top; after checking out my stash, decided on Icing Glitteratti.

Loved how this layering turned out...makes me wonder why I had never reached for Icing Glitteratti in the past!  Holo!...Glitter!...what's not to love? These two colours seem made for one another! 

Even though I loved how the layering turned out, rarely does a mani go by that I don't end up putting on some type of stamping...and again, am experimenting more with layering of polishes and stamping, so when I was searching for images, I seen the squiggly lines on MJ II and thought it would be a good image to still see the base and glitter beneath. The only problem was trying to figure out what stamping polish to use.  I decided upon Konad Red Wine, which is a little odd choice, but it didn't turn out too bad.

I did want to point out that IRL, this polish stamped a deep purple and complimented the base and glitter well....as least I thought so!  However, under the glare of the lights for the photo, it does have a reddish tinge...it is called wine after all! lol!  But I don't think it was this bright IRL.  None the less, I didn't mind it and as I say so often, thank goodness its just polish and can easily be removed anyway!  In hindsight, there are dark purple cremes that may have stamped well that I could have used....maybe next time!

Thank you to Nadia at Magnetic Canada** for sending this polish along with my order of Magnetic Freakin' Violet.  One of these days, I'll get around to showing Magnetic Freakin' Violet...it is freakin' amazing! 

Hope you're having a fantastic day...thanks for looking!

**This polish was sent to me for review.  Please see my disclosure policy for further information.

Milani Beach Front

It's late Tuesday evening as I type of this post...it was the Civic Holiday weekend here in Ontario and I decided to take off Tuesday and stayed up in cottage country....so my long weekend, turned into an extra long weekend.  The weather was fantastic...if not even too hot.  Spent time out on the lake, went tubing for the first time (and probably my last time...at least I can say I've done it, right?)  The family went home last night and today, I had a me day.  Went to a local hairdresser, got a much needed, long overdue haircut with some fresh highlights, and then had a pedicure later in the afternoon.  Decided to stop by the local Urban Planet...and low and behold, they are now selling Nabi nail polish for 2/$5. They had lots of magnetics and good selection of metallics and glitters.  I picked up a few metallics as I'm curious to see how they''ll work for stamping.  I'm doing my nails right now using one of the Nabi glitters, but while I happen to have internet access, thought I'd type out a quick post. 

Here's a mani from the archives when I did a bunch of blue manis for tribute nails for a nail gal pal.  Here's one I came up with.

Started with a base of Milani Beach Front, two coats.

Stamped with W212 using Konad royal purple special polish. Messed up the stamping a couple of times as you can see...and didn't do a great job placing the stamp either.  It's one of those funny images I never quite know how to use.  Did OK on the thumb; the rest aren't that good though.

Added a few random white dots. 

Lastly, added some silver glitter to hide my stamping mistakes (as seen in first pix).  I failed with the silver glitter application too...far too heavy handed.  Oh, well, it's only polish, right? lol!

The only terrible thing about extra long weekends...is that they must come to an end.  I'm heading back to work in the morning...but it was a fantastic extra long weekend while it lasted!

Thanks for looking!

Creepy or Cool?

MyOnLineShop was kind enough to send MJ II and MJ III plates recently...and while there were so many cool images that I couldn't wait to use, I decided to do a mani more on the creepy side....well, creepy if bugs freak you out, that is! When I seen the random ants, I immediately in my mind had a scene with ants at a picnic....this is what I came up with.

Started with a base of two coats of OPI Bride's Bouquet.

Stamped using CH3 with Konad red special polish.

Stamped tips using CH22.

Then stamped using black Konad special polish using MJ III. I thought my nails were cool, not creepy...but my friend, she wasn't a fan of these all...too many bugs for her liking! This mani freaked her out!

A pix in the sun....oh my!  My cuticles look so rough in these sun shots...that's why mainly there's shade ones in this post.

I randomly stamped a few of the images on MJ II and MJ III.....any I tried stamped well. 

MJ II and MJ III are available at MyOnlineShop as well as Fab Ur Nails. (For MyOnline Shop, go to the tab that says About and ordering information is there.) 

So, do you think this mani is creepy or cool?  I know one thing for sure....it's not your typical mani! 

Thanks for looking!

Black and Red Challenge

I hope they don't revoke my membership over there at FB Adventures in Stamping!   This week's challenge was Red and Black....a little white won't hurt,will it?  This is what I came up with.

Started with a base of two coats of Duri Taming of the Shrew.  This has SV.

Added images using black Konad special polish. Plates used were fauxnad XL U (thumb), OB17 (middle image) and FUN1 (index, ring and pinky). 

Isolated a single image from OB17 and added in a few random Mickey head outlines in various spots using white Konad special polish. 

Added a few black and white dots using Konad special polish.

Topped with SV. 

All of these plates are available at MyOnlineShop as well as Fab Ur Nails. (For MyOnline Shop, go to the tab that says About and ordering information is there.)

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend; thanks for looking!

Are Peach and Gray an Odd Combination?

In early sumer, I was going through a  coral/orange/peach phase.  It seemed like I was wearing these shades all the time!  This is one of many I came up with at the time.

Started with a base of Maybelline Peachy Petal.  This is two coats, with no topcoat.  I seem to recall what while I loved this colour, I had a lot of problems with this polish.  It was like there there was some type of random grit in the polish and it didn't apply well.  Whatever the grit issue was, I never experienced it before and it was only with this bottle.  I had bought this polish in early spring in the US...I bought a few others at the same time but haven't tried them yet...I sure hope they aren't like this!  My camera didn't like this polish either as these pix aren't quite accurate in colour. Such a pretty colour; but I do remember I had quite the time with the polish with whatever ailed it.  I don't think it's visible in these pix, but all I know is I had to search my stash for something to put on top of it to hid the mess.

I found the solution!  A coat of Savvy Magic Pumpkin.  This is one coat, with SV. 

Stamped using A59 using white Konad special polish.

I wanted to show a pix of the image plate.  See below?  Images like this, I never know how to use.  How exactly is it to be placed on the nail?  I turned the image what I think is upside down and stamped on my nails. Also, even though my nails seem fairly long (to me anyway), as you can see, only a very small portion of the stamped image is on my actual nails.  KarenD, this is one reason why I wish I had man hands as I mentioned in the comments of one of your posts not too long ago!

Anyway, added a few random dots using Orly Mirror Mirror and topped with SV to finish.

 

What's your thoughts?  Did peach and gray turn out OK, or is this a little on the odd side? 

Thanks for looking!

Revlon Surf

Hard to believe I did this mani almost a month ago...I'm so far behind in my posts!  Anyway, I went through a spell when I was trying out a bunch of Revlon's as I picked up a few at Rexall/PharmaPlus for $2.99; this is one I came up with!

Started with a base of two coats of Revlon Surf.  This was quite opaque and probably could probably have done nicely with just the one coat if I had have been more carefully when I was applying it.

Added a coat of NYX Girls Under the Moon for some sparkle/glitter interest.

Stamped using white Konad special polish using Big SdP P.  I think this is an interesting design with a lot of stamping possibilities simply by changing up the base and stamping polishes.  I should point out that the shadowing on my index finger is not a plate problem...I've had this happen a few times with different plates and stamping polishes...until I figured out that the cream I was using on my cuticles before stamping (so you didn't see all nasty dry cuticles in the pix of the base polishes) would occasionally cause my stamper to slightly slip or drag when I was applying the stamped image to my nails......you can see it here too on index finger)...so lately, I've been trying to take pix without the cream to avoid this mis-stamping, unless my cuticles are so dry even I can't stand them!!  But I am glad I figured out what was causing this because I was thinking I had forgotten how to stamp or something!  

While I was blog surfing, I came across a giveaway I thought I'd share.  NailsIT, the creator of some pretty fantastic polishes....who also happens to do awesome stamping mani's.....is having a 100 follower giveaway and the prize package includes said pretty fantastic polishes.  Please go here if you are interested in checking it out!  

Thanks for looking!