Last of the Fall Mani's...I Think!

I spent some time over the Thanksgiving weekend simply taking in the views of the amazing scenery in cottage country and thought I'd do a mani kinda along the lines of what I seen.  At the bottom of the post are a few pix of some of the scenery too...some are spectacular IMHO.  Unfortunately, my nails are not nearly as gorgeous as some of the landscape, but none the less, here's what I came up with. 

Started with a base of two coats of OPI Don't Talk Bach To Me, shown with tc.

Using SdP 8 and with Konad Brown stamping polish, stamped in the tree trunks for the trees.

  

Using the same SdP plate and assortment of Konad stamping polishes, placed the different colour of bunches of leaves on the branches.

This is what the SdP plate looks like for an idea of what I was doing.

Then continued to individually stamp on the single bunch of leaves from the SdP plate to make the bunches of leaves look bigger.  I didn't have to be too exact for this, as you can see below.  As I went along, I also did some maple leave stampings using the same stamping polishes with plate HB21.

Started working on the other tree as you can see from this pix below.

  

I seen there was a whole lot of space at the top of the trees before it hit my cuticle, so made the bunches of trees a little fuller and taller.  After I did this, I thought the leaf area is so messy that it may have been pointless to do all that individual stamping as it was fairly time consuming and could probably have just sponged on some leaves, but none the less, I just stamped and stamped and stamped to get the leaf effect.

Then painted in the tree trunk with a paint brush to take it down to the tips using the Konad brown stamping polish.

Topped with SV to finish.  After I did the topcoat, I noticed a blue fibre that made it onto my thumb nail when I added the SV...this irked me to no end, let me tell you!  I never even noticed it IRL and didn't see it until I was previewing the shots taken.  I had posted the pix on FB AiS whining about it as well as my lack of photoshopping skills to fix it...and a kind gal there edited it for me, which is the very first pix you see in the post.  Thanks so much again, Christina!

 Here are a few pix that I took over last weekend.

The pix below isn't the most vibrant because it was overcast when it was taken. 

 This pix below, it wasn't the best of the landscaping but thought I'd share as I was fascinated by the size of the cloud in comparison to the trees.

The same general area across the lake but at a different time of day when the reflection in the water was apparent.

Somebody has some raking to do.....! That would be my husband and kids...

Have a great weekend! 

Thanks for looking!

Harvest Moon by Amy's Nail Boutique

Here's another fall mani I came up with not too long ago.....with a polish that arrived in the mail not too long ago....Harvest Moon by Amy's Nail Boutique.

Started with a base of China Glaze Desert Sun, two coats. The pix below has no topcoat as I knew I'd be layering.  I'm scratching my head looking at this pix...to be honest, Desert Sun has been a favourite go to fall polish in an assortment of mani's that I've done this year....but looking at the pix below, I wonder why I want baby poop on my nails cause that's what its reminding me of today as I type this!  Looking at it too, I wonder how close it is to OPI OPI & Apple Pie....but I don't think it's a comp I'll be doing anytime soon! 

Anyhooo, added a layer of Harvest Moon by Amy's Nail Boutique.  This polish is crock full of glitter and I struggled trying to get a *thin* coat of glitter on my nails as I wasn't going for an all over glitter to fully coat my nails look but more so a hint of glitter. Does that make sense? lol! Now crock full of glitter isn't a bad thing...but I just wanted a layered look versus overall glitter so *tried* to keep it on the thin side! I see my thin coat attempt needs more work though!  Feel free to click on the pix for a closer look. 

A couple bottle shots of Harvest Moon. 

Loads and loads of glitter here!

For some stamping interest, stamped using fauxnad XL Y using CND Gold Chrome as the stamping polish and added SV to finish.

This pix you can see the glitter under the stamping a little better.

Amy's Nail Boutique polishes are available via Etsy here. 

I really liked the way this autumn mani turned out and wore it for a couple days before I took it off to do my Thanksgiving nails....even though its a colour  scheme typically outside of my comfort zone!

Thanks for looking!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving here in Canada; this is what I've been wearing all long weekend!

Started with skittles of fall appropriate polishes. Going clockwise starting at thumb is L'Oreal The Perfect Trench, China Glaze Desert Sun, OPI Schnapps Out Of It, OPI Don't Talk Bach To Me, and Orly Coffee Break, all two coats.

Image plates used where Blink H50 (turkey on index), Blink H15 (cornucopia), SdP 89 (turkey on middle), HB21 (leaf on ring and thumb), T41 (acorn on index and pumpkin on ring), LLC3 (pie on thumb).

Added a few dots for some colour using assortment of Konad special polishes.

Topped with SV (no pix but first picture). 

Blink H plates can be obtained here.  Nail Art Decoration is located in Indonesia.  When I first contacted them to ask if they would ship to Canada, they responded no, that they only ship within Indonesia.  After emailing them again....begging that they make the plates available for international shipping....they agreed, however, agreed to registered mail and because of this, shipping was on the expensive side.  While I paid $29.20 shipping for 50 plates which is the rate for shipping 1kg or under, I've emailed them a couple times and asked if they would consider a less expensive option for just one plate as I know that other nail fanatics would be interested in just one or two and not necessarily all 50.  They have indicated there is a 500 g shipping option, but I don't know how much that is.  I don't know if it would be cheap enough for just a few plates. I'll update the post if/when I hear back!  The other thing to point out with the plates is that the images are fairly faint; while it is a good stampable image, you have to be quick for transferring and the images are on the smaller side.  The plates themselves weren't terribly expensive at $1.90 each (at least that is what the per plate cost was when I bought all 50 of the Blink H ones.)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian nail friends....hope you had a great long weekend...and thanks for looking!

Oopsie Daisies With A Cherry On Top

 This is Oopsie Daisies With A Cherry on Top; another polish from the Sweet Treat collex from Oopsie Daisies Etsy shop.

Started with a base of two coats of Sally Hansen Hearts on Fire.  I found this old beauty a couple weeks ago at one of my local discount supply places...they randomly stock the old square bottle Sally Hansen's and I keep on going back in the hopes of stumbling across Project Runway.  This is two coats with no topcoat and while you can see just a hint of VNL, I didn't add a third as I knew I'd be layering and stamping on top of it.

Added a coat of Oopsie Daisies With A Cherry on Top,** which is an assortment of red glitters in a slightly tinted base.

Bottle shot of With a Cherry on Top, which can be layered on its own but can also be applied over your favourite red base.

I don't think I've shown the bottom of the Oopsie Daisies polishes in other posts, but I adore how they are labeled on the bottom like the large retail brands.  I thought this was a great idea! 

Because I chose to layer With a Cherry on Top on a solid base, I thought there may be some interest in seeing how the polish layers.  Starting at the left, the first swatch is one coat, the middle is two and the end right one is three. 

For stamping, I wanted a stamp that the base layering could be seen, and wanted to do do something stylish and sophisticated, versus a themed or cutesy mani.  Chose A44, stamped with black Konad special polish. 



Added a coat of SV to finish. 



I can't wait to use this same combination of red base, layered With A Cherry on Top with holiday appropriate images at Christmas and Valentine's. But because its fall now, on the other hand, and just to show you how versatile With a Cherry on Top is, I layered it with Oopsie Daisies Apple Picking.  I loved this combination too!  My apologies for such poor clean up and cuticles on my right hand, but I couldn't help but share!  

Have I mentioned that Apple Pickings is one of my favourite fall polishes? I just think its an interesting combination of glitter colours and sizes in the clear base that just goes perfectly with so many different polishes as shown here, that if I wasn't such a nail fanatic and have an inner need to change my polishes and stamped images so often, that I'm sure it would be on my nails straight through September to November! I think I've worn it at least four times since I got it over the last few weeks which I think is some type of record for me as I simply don't wear a polish that often.

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

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

White Stamping Polish Comps over 515

Another stamping polish comparison post...using a different holo base...not nervous this time as I know if I drop or spill it, I can replace this bottle a little easier!    This is what I came up with.

Started with a base of Ozotic 515.  After my regular base, I did add a coat of Nfu aqua base, then two coats of Ozotic 515.

After Ozotic 515 was applied, I used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Flash Fast dry topcoat (aka the one in the black bottle).  As I've mentioned before, I had read that this topcoat doesn't dull holo polishes...and so far, I can't complain with the results.

For this stamping comparison post, I decided to do a comparison between Konad white special polish and FUN white stamping polish.  While I'm happy with the results and cleanup of Konad white, I did this comparison more so just to see if FUN came close to the end result of Konad white as Konad does seem to be set the standard of white stamping polishes IMHO. The pix below is the stamping using both Konad and FUN stamping polishes.  Can you tell which one is Konad and which one is FUN?  Neither can I!

On the thumb, middle and pinky as shown below, FUN white stamping polish was used.

Index and ring finger were stamped with Konad white special polish.  I couldn't tell the difference between the two!

The image plate used for this comparison was the same as my last post, XL Y.  This plate quickly became one of my favourites because it has some great full size images and you can see the base polishes well underneath which is great for layering experiments.  I again topped with this mani with Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Flash Fast dry topcoat (aka the one in the black bottle); you will notice too that there wasn't any stamping drag using it on either of the stamping polishes.

The next day, I took a pix of Ozotic 515 outside in the sun.

I was really pleased with the results of the FUN white stamping polish.  When I ordered back in the spring, I ordered the small bottles because I wasn't too sure on how they would stamp.  I've since ordered a large bottle for when the mini runs out...along with larger bottles of most of their other colours as I've been happy with the results using the FUN stamping polishes generally.   The small bottle is 6 ml and when converted, sell for $1.69 US.  The 12 ml, larger bottles go for $3.13.

FUN stamping polishes and XL Y are available at My OnLine Shop and Fab Ur Nail.  Ozotic 515 (and other Ozotics) are available from llarowe and Harlow & Co.  All online links are provided on the homepage on the tab Where I Get My Stuff.

Thanks for looking!

Black Stamping Polish Comps over MPJ

*Warning.....long, wordy post with lots of pictures*

This is probably going to sound silly, but have you ever owned a polish, but were afraid to wear it?  This is how I felt about OPI My Private Jet.  Silly, eh?  I've had MPJ for a long time, but never wore it.  Then, not too long ago, I got to thinking why am I not wearing some of these htf polishes I own?  Why have them if not to wear and enjoy them?  But I know that my fear is that I'm afraid I'd spill or drop the bottle in the middle of my mani...which I've done before...more than once...then it would be gone.  Then the possibility of getting another bottle is slim to nil.  But it seemed a little silly having a bottle but never putting it on.  So as nervous as I was about putting  it on.....yes, I was nervous about it, no kidding....as well as worried about dropping or spilling it in the process....not too long ago, I took the plunge and decided to do a mani with MPJ; here's what I came up with.

There are a few different versions of MPJ out there; I too have a couple of them.  This is the original holo version; I happen to stumble upon it just as I was starting to get back into polishes after I discovered Konad a few years ago...problem was, I didn't even know it was a *special* polish.  I bought a bottle just because I liked the pretty rainbow in the bottle.   After joining Makeup Alley, I read about the much sought after MPJ holo version.  So I decided to take a closer look at my bottle, and sure enough, it looked like I had one.  Shortly thereafter, I went back to that polish store to see if I could snag a few more bottles for swapping to spread the MJP holo love around like I did when I stumbled upon a place that had oodles of bottles of Essie Ruby Slippers and the China Glaze OMG collex......but unfortunately, they were all gone.  I don't know if a nail fanatic stumbled across them, knew what they had and then sold them all on eBay...or if a bunch of polish noobs like me bought them just for the pretty rainbow in the bottle!   

Here's a whole bunch of pix of it....feel free to click on the pix for some better views.

The pix above is two coats all on its own; I didn't do a black base coat although I may do this next time ....to conserve the bottle!  Two coats makes it look more on the gray side versus charcoal/black; three really were needed to get it on the darker side.  The pix below is with three.

Wayyy too many pix of MPJ...trying to capture some decent pix more than anything!  As beautiful as this is, the holo is hard to capture...at least it was for me!  MPJ has a scatter holo versus a linear holo as seen in the Layla or Jade holos.

Speaking of Layla or Jade, I have the charcoal/black counterparts in their brands plus a few other brands because I do love holos....maybe some day, I'll have to do a comparison post.  I'm positive their versions will be much more holo-tacular...but none the less, I'm still happy I have this one in my stash. 

The pretty-rainbow-in-the-bottle pix.

It was tough to stamp on top of this beauty but there's there's not too many mani's that don't get some stamping on them.  I thought I'd do some black stamping...and while I was at it, sample some different stamping polishes that I had bought recently in my ongoing effort to see if anything stamps as well as Konad black...but without the dreaded cleanup issues.  So did a bit of comparison stamping.

The polishes used were FUN Charcoal (thumb and middle finger), Konad black (index and pinky) and Mash black (index).  All of these images are from plate XL Y.  I chose this plate because it looked like there were a variety of interesting designs that you could stamp on your nails, yet see the base polish underneath.   

The above pix is after SV added.  Looking at the above pix, you can't even tell which polish is Konad and which ones aren't.  Both the Mash and Fun polishes were dark and cleaned up well...the problem is, that with this mani, I didn't have too hard of a time doing the cleanup of the fingers using Konad either...but I know its not always like this.  Based upon past black comparisons like the one I did here, I'd have to use the black stamping polishes on a light base to see if truly they are Konad replacement worthy.  But if the above pix are any indication, I'm sure they will be!  As much as I love Konad black for stamping...the clean up issues are the only problem...I love the dark stamping of Konad but sometimes I just can't get it off my cuticles during the cleanup process afterwards!

Lastly, a pix taken outside a day or so later.  Hello holo!  So pretty!

And still way too many more pix as I can't seem just to pick one or two sometimes....!

Thanks for looking!

PS: I didn't drop or spill the bottle!  Makes all my fear and nervousness seem really silly now in retrospect! 

PSS: Fauxnad XL Y and FUN stamping polishes are available at My OnLine Shop and Fab Ur Nails; as is Mash via their estore.  All links can be found on the tab on my homepage 'Where I Get My Stuff.'

PSSS:  My next post will be a white stamping comparison post on a different holo base.