Monday, August 31, 2015

Girly Bits Man Size Love

Continuing with more indie polish love, this is the jaw dropping, tongue dragging on the floor, drool inducing gorgeousness of Girly Bits Man Size Love!


These pictures are over a year old; I haven't had my nails this long is forever, so they don't even look like my nails to me!  I have no idea what took me so long to share this beauty but better late than never!  Started with a base of two coats of Girly Bits Man Size Love, no top coat.



Different angle and lighting.



Stamped using black FUN stamping polish with an image from Infinity 39.



Infinity 39




Topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.



I was just over at the Girly Bits estore as Pam just released her latest collection, What Really Happened in Vegas (that I forgot to order last week but will soon remedy that!); if you were looking for Girly Bits Man Size Love, it is still available!

Thanks for looking!



Friday, August 28, 2015

Hare For Margot Tenenbaum

I'm going to share some more indie polishes mani's over the next little while to continue to support all the indie polish makers!!  #SupportIndiePolishMakers!!!

Here's one I did a few months ago that I loved how it turned out but it doesn't translate the best in pix.  The stamping was kinda cool as it seemed to be floating over the base...hopefully it can be made out in the pictures!


Started with a base of two coats of Hare For Margot Tenenbaum with three coats of China Glaze For Audrey to accent.  I thought For Audrey was a good match but not that close in some pictures lol!


Topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top before stamping.

Stamped using CND Gold Chrome using image from MJ XXXV.  Added a few studs to accent (and it drives me nuts they aren't the same colour!)


MJ XXXV








Top coated with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.



Have a great weekend; thanks for looking!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

My "Badge" to Support Indie Polish Makers

Unless you've been vacation in the middle of the desert or on top of a mountain or some remote location without internet or just haven't been online for some reason, I'm sure you've heard of the terrible issues some people have been having with some Mentality Polishes.  I won't go into details here; there are many bloggers who have already covered extensively what is happening and it's being talked about in most FaceBook polish groups as well.  I don't have anything to add, nor have any background, history or knowledge to add anything meaningful to what's being said.  So if you aren't aware and want to know, google Mentality Polish Issues for more information.

What I do know is that there are people who are now questioning if their other indie polishes are safe.  I can't speak for indie polish makers nor can I claim all indie polishes are safe; I know nothing about making polish (indie or otherwise) or the chemistry of what effects what, what short or long term effects there is with any polish; I'm just a simple end user who loves all the sparkling things!  I do know that I've been buying indie polish for a long time; from a lot of makers, and have never had an issue that has damaged my nails (I'm not talking about polish staining here lol!). I do hope what is happening is isolated to the one brand, the cause be determined and it never, ever happen it again. 

I believe my first indie purchase was probably Lynderella but could easily have been Girly Bits, CrowsToes, Elevation, Pahlish, Contrary, Smitten, Hare, just to name a few as I know I was buying them all up around the same time!  Or what seems in my memory to be around the same time as this was a few years ago. More recent polish brands include cbl, Glam, Love, Angeline, Different Dimension, Lacquistry, Nail Pattern Boldness, KBShimmer, Emily de Molly, Shimmer, Chaoes & Crocs....but there are so many other brands; I can't even remember all those indie brands that I own!  I also know that I can't speak for other bloggers or polish makers or even for you but I do know myself that I feel comfortable wearing indie polish and will continue to support my favourite makers in the future.  Heck, I've placed three indie polish orders in the last couple days and am eagerly awaiting sales to open on a few new collections in the next week or so! I'm not going to endorse any brand specifically; I don't know how polish is made and what effects if any will be known from the use of polish down the road nor can I say definitely there will be no other problems in the polish world and would hate to say support brand x and then something to happen..... but I do know that I myself won't stop wearing or buying indie polishes because of what is happening now in the indie polish world. 

So when I sat down to do my nails last night and was searching through plates, my eye caught the wording on an UberChic plate and the thought went into my head of what the nails of the night would be.  I quickly pulled a few indie polishes; this is what I came up with!



Started with a base of a skittle of polishes.  Starting at thumb and going clockwise, they are Elevation Polish Ubsunur At Night, Pahlish Train Under Water, Different Dimension Da Ba Dee (blue), CrowsToes Blue Christmas and Girly Bits Prototype 446. (Above pix is just for reference; not in correct order of application.  I did plan on wearing them in that order but changed my mind and was too lazy to take another picture.)  All are two coats except Blue Christmas which is three.  I want to stress that while I have five brands here, it was just a random sampling of what I thought would look OK for a mani; I only wish I had many more fingers to share the love for the other indie brands I own!


Top coated with KBShimmer Clearly on Top.  (More indie love; KBShimmer Clearly on Top has been my go to top coat for quite a while now.  My only beef is they won't ship to Canada but I grab as many as I can via Harlow & Co. when I order if they happen to be in stock.)


Stamped using Uber Chic 1-03 on all fingers except middle which is Uber Chic 4-01 using FunkyFingers Gesso. Unfortunately, even with side stamping the words, I couldn't quite get the words to stamp all on my nails as I do find the images a little large for my nails.  Even "the" missed most of my nail but I removed what stamped then restamped just the single word onto the nail.



Uber Chic 4-01






Top coated with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.


Thanks for looking....and I hope you continue to support your favourite indie polish maker(s)!

Monday, August 24, 2015

Cherry Blossoms!

One themed mani that I've always wanted to do but have never gotten around to is a cherry blossom mani; I had plates set aside for a while now and finally did one!  Here's what I came up with!


Started with two coats of Ulta Concrete Evidence.



Stamped with images from Marianne Nails n.33 (near tip on index and bird on pinky), Chez Asiatique 002 (mountains on middle and pinky as well as structure on ring) and cherry blossoms from Sugar Bubbles SB022. Polished used was FunkyFingers Dark Knight.



Embellished the cherry blossoms using CND Girly Pink.



And a little further colouring using CND Raspberry Parfait.



Marianne Nails n.33





Chez Asiatique 002






Made a stamper decal using an image from Infinity 56 and acrylic paints....


...and added it to thumb.



Top coated with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.


Thought this might be another mani that looks better with a matte topcoat.  Undecided which way I like better; I think shiny!



Thanks for looking!

Friday, August 21, 2015

825 Days Old

I'm away having an extra long weekend, having taken off Thursday and Friday this week.  I actually have an internet connection and time to post which doesn't always happen when I'm away. So sitting down to do a post, I'm looking through the 75 mani's I've uploaded and are in archives for posts only to discover that due to my iphone sync nightmare with DD's phone a few months ago, I have no notes on most of those that I have archived to share for a post.  (I actually paid to recover them but don't have the printed notes with me). Anyway, I was able to find notes on this mani so will share now....this mani happens to be 825 days old now according to my iphone notepad!


Started with a base of two coats of Maybelline Color Show Styled Out; no top coat.


Stamped using an image from Dash 31 (not sure which stamping polish but I'm guessing back then it was white Konad special polish).


Added dots using Sally Hansen Instadri Lightening.


Top coated to finish.


Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for looking!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Fairies!

Adding the fairies to these nails was an afterthought one night just before I thought I was going to take off this mani.  But liked the look of it so much, wore them another day!  I had originally done the sponging with the single stamp but the following night as I was sitting down to take off the mani, I thought it might be a cool mani for some double stamping.  I added a few fairies; it's a little on the busy side but busy nails might be my middle name a lot of the time!  Here's what I came up with!


Started with a base of two coats of Nicole by OPI Bee In the Moment.  I was pleasantly surprised with this polish that I had picked up at Winners.  Yellows are notorious for being streaky (especailly the first coat); but this applied and level well.  In fact, I think it might be my new go to bright yellow polish - I even picked up a second bottle!  This has no top coat as I knew I'd be sponging.


Did a sponged gradient using Orly Truly Tangerine.



Stamped using FunkyFingers Dark Knight using an image from Apipila P19.



Apipila P19




Top coated with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.


As I mentioned earlier, when I sat down to take off my mani, I got to looking at it and thought it would be an OK design to add some stamping.  Went with a few fairies from Marianne Nails n.11, n.58 and n.59.



Marianne Nails n.59





Marianne Nails n.58




Topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.




Thanks for looking!