Two New Manicures

Hello Beauties!

This first mani is what I wound up with on Monday after several failed attempts. I used Rimmel#331 Speed Date for the red base and then stamped using Konad Special Polish in White with Plate M65. Then I french tipped them using Wet and Wild Black Creme, put a few white dots and added some lines and square rhinestones. I'm still trying to get a handle on line work. I find it exceptionally difficult using my left hand. I need to invest in a good brush or maybe a decent nail art pen.


And this is the mani I am wearing now:

I used one coat of Rimmel Lycra Nail Tip Whitener with a coat of Nailene French Manicure over top. The Nailene is a thinner polish so it gave me a nice finish over the thicker Rimmel. Once that was dry I used the water marbling technique with Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength in Chocolate Kiss (which is actually the red-pink), Pure Midnight, and one from their Chrome line called Crystal.


Then I used Konad plate m60 to stamp the daisies randomly where the spaces would allow. I used both the black and white special polishes to do this.


I dribbled a little of my new Cover Girl holographic Nailsparkle Topcoat called Disco Dazzle onto a plate and picked out the larger sparkles with a toothpick, placing one in the center of each flower. I finished with a topcoat. By far it isn't the smoothest mani I've ever had but I really enjoy the way the Chocolate Kiss melded with the Chrome and created a pretty pink sparkle. I might even have to try my first franken. :P

I found those Sally Hansen Diamond Strength polishes to be very thin when applied as a straight polish. You need like 4 plus coats to get a nice coverage from the Chocolate Kiss, but they work super well for the marbling as they are thin and drip off the brush fast, spreading quickly on the surface of the water. The marbling technique is really only successful if you can do it FAST.



Cheers!
<3

JQ

Purple and Green #2

I call these colour entries Sarah's Picks. Sarah's my bestest and I think she has a knack for colour combinations (ones that I might not normally pick myself). It just so happens that we agree wholeheartedly on the hotness of purple and green. A variation of this combo became my wedding colours (eek 6 years ago this Saturday?!) I haven't put a topcoat on these yet, as they were still a bit soft last night. So as I sometimes do, I went to sleep with my hands out beside the fan. :p

I am always sad when I think about how her and I are halfway across the blinkin' country from each other, because I would love to be able to do crafty, artsy, primp-y things together.


For these nails I used the water marbling technique, with Rimmel Lycra Nail Tip Whitener as a base, and Icing's "Grooving Green", and "Grapetini", in combination with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's "Green With Envy"for the marble.


I finished off with a daisy stamp from my Konad plate m60 using the Special Polish in white. Also I played around with the NotsoSpecial polishes and discovered that the Grapetini works great especially against a lighter background. These Icing Neons are really thick and I had trouble dropping them into the cup quickly enough to do the marbling properly. Plus they set quicker than other polishes in when they hit the surface of the water. Needless to say I wound up with gobs on some of my nails. :s

Over all I am digging this look!

Have a splendiferous day!
<3 JQ

Better Photos!

Ola!

So, as promised I've already been looking into how to take better photographs.

Here are a few shots of my nails using the Macro setting on my camera. Really JacQueline. How hard is it to read one little blurb in your manual? :P

Many thanks to Laquerized for her blog post about How to Photograph Your Nails. These tuned out WAY better already, saving for my cuticles which need some serious TLC. :)


And I have a lot of trouble with layering coats of polish and still getting them to dry properly. I also experienced some bubbling with the water marbling. Is that normal? It could be because I can't afford to buy/can't find around town any of the nicer polishes that are often shown on other nail blogs. Or maybe my polishes are getting too old? I may have to start pocketing my coffee fund and ordering polishes online, but this month I'm using my coffee fund to order 21 nail image plates from Bundle Monster. :) :) slowly but surely.

Cheers!
JQ

Greetings Jellybeans!

I recently discovered PolishHoarderDisorder (check my blog list for the link) and was REALLY excited about the weekly challenges. This past week's challenge was Nature, and I did my nails two different ways, but my brain must have leaked because I lost Friday completely off the map. I missed the deadline.

Here they are anyways. This first one I call "Printemps". They are bubblegum pink with spring green french tips, Konad daisy stamps in white, with a holographic sparkle topcoat.


And I am currently sporting these dandy "Coral Reef" water marbled nails in bright orange, shimmery sea-foam and teal, with bronze metallic accent. I will try very hard to get better aquainted with the nuances of my camera. Hopefully the next photos will be clearer. These are the nails I used in my header too.


The above was my very first attempt at water marbling and I CAN. NOT. WAIT. to do more. :)

Thanks for dropping by and if you have any tips, hints or suggestions for me about techniques or what you might like to see on my blog please don't hesitate to leave them!

Cheers n' Beers!
JQ