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!

My First Tape Mani...

(well, if you don't count the time I used tape to do french tips once before, that is!). And I cheated too, using scrap booking scissors! Here's what I came up with.



Started with a base of Finger Paints To-Teally Chic; two coats.



Then got out my newly purchased scrap booking scissors. I was by Michael's not terribly long ago picking up a few stocking stuffers. I had one of those 50% off one item coupons and picked up a set of these. I think the total was around $15...I thought my DD could use these for scrap booking too when I'm not doing manis.



After I cut the tape, I put it on my nail like so.



Then added a coat, maybe two of Nicole by OPI Snow-man of My Dreams. I removed the tape right after applying the polish as I remembered reading that if you let the polish dry, it will pull off along with the tape when its removed.



Stamped with Nicole by OPI Positive Energy using XL C, then topped with SV.



Have you used crafting scissors for a mani? If not, do you think you will give it a try? I'd love to know your thoughts!!

Thanks for looking!

China Glaze Hyper Haute

When the China Glaze Tronica collex came out, I drove around to a lot of Sally's until I had the full collection. Hard to believe I did all that running around and had never yet worn any of them! Finally decided to try one of them out and decided upon Hyper Haute.



Stamped using fauxnad XL C using CND Silver Chrome. Here's a couple different pix using different lighting; the pix below is artificial lighting.

The pix below is natural daylight again. Was really happy with the crisp image using CND Silver Chrome for stamping. This is the closest picture to real life that the mani looks like.

Two coats of Hyper Haute all by itself again under artificial light.

It's too bad I cut down my nails last night before I did this mani as it would have been nice to see more of the cool image on them. That's the case with a lot of these XL plates...I'll have to keep this in mind for when my nails are a little longer! But I had to cut them down as they were starting to curve up and it was really starting to annoying me!

Thanks for looking!