Dragon Scale

Hi everybody!

This one was a guest mani for my friend who was up visiting from the 1st to 10th (hence why I haven't been in to post!)


I was inspired by the Wet n' Wild fastdry Gray's Anatomy that we picked up while shopping. It's a super sheer polish that shines gray, fuchsia, and green. I thought it would lend itself well to a scale effect. I've been really wanting to try a snakeskin style manicure for awhile so we bit the bullet! We used four coats of Gray's Anatomy and still didn't get full coverage so I would use it in the future for layering, or sponging rather than full manis. Also, she told me that two nails just peeled right off within a day so I am wondering if that was just a bad combination with the base coat or if the polish itself a bad egg. I sure hope not! I lurv it.


My camera just doesn't want to capture the duo-chromeness on either manicure. This one looked grey green with a dash of pink but in the photos it seems more golden.


And this is the manicure I did for myself this morning.


My cuticles are icktastic right now. And I got black polish smeared into the dryness so it's staining. Also my nails are considerably bigger than the BM image plate so I had to match up the stamp on every nail but my pinkie. YIKES. and it shows. :( Kay now that I've made you notice that here are a few more shots. I got a bit better show of pink when I went in the shade. All of these should be clickable.



In the photos the manicure still looks pretty sharp but the pink and blue sheen is almost invisible. In person these nails are delicious and shimmery blue emerald and pink under the sharp contrast of black. Any suggestions for how to catch that or do I just have to invest in a better camera?

For manicure #1 I used 4 coats of Wet n' Wild fastdry Gray's Anatomy, for manicure #2 I used 1 coat of Revlon Top Speed Ocean, and one coat of Nicole Count on Me (super pretty, tiny fleck, sheer, baby blue and pink). Then for the stamping on both I used BM image plate 21 Honeycomb and GOSH Nero. Seche Vite topcoat to finish!

Left to right: Nicole by OPI Count On Me, Revlon Top Speed Orchid, Revlon Top Speed Ocean, Wet N' Wild fastdry Gray's Anatomy. Again with the photos not capturing the prettiness. *SIGH*


Yep, that's totally a Lush shampoo bar container. It's almost perfect for holding my BM and Konad image plates. The lid pops off due to the weight of the plates so I usually have an elastic around it. Just one idea for storeage. I do really like the trick of using trading card sleeves and a binder for easy browsing. Might have to switch eventually. :)

Hope everyone is having a stellar weekend!
Cheers!
♥
JQ

Black and White and Valentine Manis

Hi everybody! I got tired of trying to get ALL my guest manis together for a couple big posts and decided that I'll just lob one guest manicure pic in with my current manicure posts. That way I can go fetch them one at a time and it doesn't feel like such a big project.

This is a guest mani I did for my auntie Judith while I was home was done by painting thumbs white and rest of nails black. Stamped the black nails using Konad Special polish in White and Konad image plate #m65 . Thumbs used Konad Black Pearl stamping polish and Bundle Monster image plate #BM14 . I layered up the single rose stamp in a pyramid on each thumb. Used my Art Deco Silver sparkle striper polish to add a little bling to the center of the roses. Topcoat was Seche Vite.


And this is my manicure from last week. Base color is 1/2 Sally Hansen Insta Dri White On, and 1/2 GOSH Nero. Stamped using GOSH Nero and Bundle Monster image plate #BM11, lining it up so that I got a line of crisp white between the solid black and the pattern.


I finished off with Sally Hansen Insta Dri anti-chip top coat. I pour this top coat into a smaller bottle that has a softer brush and I find I don't get nearly as much smudging on the stamp this way. It also helps the polish not to thicken up and get goopy as fast.


And finally my Valentine's day manicure. I just did something quick to match a black and red dress I found at the thrift store that fit me perfectly! I painted a little more than half my nail with Essie Lacquered Up and filled in the other side with GOSH Nero. Stamped using GOSH Nero and the full rose image off Konad plate#m65 (I love that plate) I didn't worry about the stamp overlapping onto the black side. It was visible upon stamping but because it was the identical polish when I went over the manicure with my SH Insta Dri Anti Chip Top Coat it just melted into the previous layer. :)


Sorry there's already a fair bit of tip wear, but I don't think it's the polish. I've been weaving taspestry all morning and the friction of my fingertips against those warp threads really does damage.

Hope your week is cheery!
♥
JQ

Guest Manis!

Ben's neon mani!



We used a Wet n' Wild "Black Creme" base colour, and Konad plate# m65 with the special polish in white. Afterward we took ICING "Grooving Green", and my neon yellow and orange Ardene polishes and sponged them on top of the whole nail. This slightly altered the colour of the black as well. Topcoat and VOILA!


And Ben's Girlfriend Jenna told me I had free reign, but that her fave colour was orange. This is what we came up with:

I LOVE this mani. Sorry the below shot is a bit blurry. Ben was showing me how to trick my camera into getting closer shots, but I'm still learning. We used Wet n' Wild "Sunny Side Up" for the base colour, sponged on a gradation using my neon orange Ardene polish as the mid range and Rimmel Lycra Wear 10 "Tequila Sunrise" for the dark orange tips. Using Konad plate #s6 we stamped this groovy pattern on. I added some baby blue rhinestones which really punched out on the orange. The photos don't do them justice. Topcoat and VOILA!

In this shot of Jenna and my manis together you can see a bit better how the rhinestones popped against the orange. Still not super accurate though!


And a few shots of my mani that I did when I was waiting for them to arrive. It reminds me of licorice:

STILL a bit fuzzy. And my hands are super dry. Ick!


The best close up I have of a single nail. If I did this one again I'd use a coloured rhinestone instead of just a clear one.


So that's it for the guest manis I did this past Thursday. Instead of writing a completely new entry for today's mani, I'll just post a few pics here.

I loved Jenna's TigerTiger-ish mani so much that I just had to do a version on myself:


My topcoat bubbled quite a bit especially around the rhinestones. I guess I put it on too thick. :(



I used Wet n' Wild "Tickled Pink for my base colour, then sponged on Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength "Chocolate Kiss" and Avon "Cherry Jubilee". Using Konad plate #s6 I stamped the circle pattern on using special polish in black, then added my baby pink rhinestones, and finished with a topcoat!

One other guest mani done on my sister in law when she came to visit on Friday:


Blue sponge gradation using Toma (The colour wasn't on the bottle) and Revlon Top Speed "Royal". I stamped on the argyle using Konad plate #m60 and special polish in white.

Thanks for stopping in! I'll have a post tomorrow of my submission to the latest PHD challenge!

Cheers!
JQ