Gold with flowers and jewels

-Savvy Golden Honey: One coat
-Konad black with  plate m64
-Rhinestones from Algeria (see previous post)

Nail Catch-up #1

Wow I have never fallen this far behind on posting nail photos! Sorry for the quick post. I got a lot of great new nailpolishes over the holiday season. I got some for my birthday, bought some for myself, and even got a whole new box for Christmas. But before I dig into them I really want to get caught up on all the photos I have saved on my computer and my phone. So here they are! Enjoy!

 

 

Pink Purple Gradient

I put on this design a week ago today, and they're still looking really good. Must be the high-quality nail polishes. :) I've gotten a lot of compliments on these over the last week. Feels pretty good!

Ingredients:
Seche Vite Base Coat
Sephora by OPI "Lost Without my GPS"
Finger Paints "It's an Original!"
Nicole by OPI "Razzle Dazzler" (black tips)
Konad Black
Konad Plate m79
Sally Girl 812031
Seche Vite Top Coat

Another quick update

Super quick update - Pink and Green

Super quicky update on my nail blog. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of my Fourth of July nails, but I don't consider that a huge loss because I didn't really like them (I did them in a super hurry the night before).

But here are some others for you to feast on until the next update! Enjoy!

Orly Limelite Experiment

I really should sell konad. I must have introduced about 5 cashier ladies to the concept of nail stamping just by having my nails done. Today's nails were complimented by the nice post office lady who always has nice makeup on. I remember mailing something to my sister in a Sephora box (it wasn't makeup, I was just re-using the packaging) and she said something along the lines of "Oooo I love Sephora!!" I've told her before that her makeup is cute. She makes my sister and me want work at the post office because she's always so cute and friendly.

Yesterday I went to mail something and she goes "Ooo I like your nails. Where did you get them done?" and I told her I did them myself. Then I told her it's a stamp, and you just paint the background color and they you roll the stamp on top. She was so interested, so I told her the name "konad" (along with the spelling, because everyone who asks me about it has never heard of it) and that she should look it up. She goes "I'm excited! I'm going to look it up tonight." 

So I've converted another one. :) Like I said, I really should sell konad, that way I can just hand over a business card and have them buy from me. It's so tempting to tell them my blog address but I don't wanna seem all full of myself like "Oh, you like my nails, look at ALLLLLL my nails on my blog!?!?" or something like that. My plan is that I"ll ask her about it next time. 

What I used:

• Base coat: Avon smooth beginnings (whoops, forgot to put it in the picture!)
• Base color: Savvy Nail Lacquer in "French Sheer White" -- 2 coats
• Blue: Orly "Limelite" -- 3 coats (yes, three!)
• Stamp:
• Konad black polish + konad plate m64
• Top Coat: Seche Vite top coat

What I learned:

I really had to layer that Orly on to get it to show up. I actually experimented with putting it straight onto my nail but since it's so clear I went with the white base, which helped. Oh, and I followed the advice of Polish Hoarder Disorder who kindly answered an email I sent her about keeping the polish so clean and tidy. Slower painting and detail touch-ups... worked like a charm. :) That and I also tried painting further away from my cuticles than I normally do. 

Evil Ruby Slippers plus no video tutorial

I originally had grand plans to upload this one with a video tutorial on my youtube channel and everything... but my computer can't really handle it. I recorded the video clips with my new digital camera that takes really good resolution video and apparently when I open all the clips in Windows Live Movie Maker I get glitches and all these little icons pop up on my status bar next to my desktop clock. So... nevermind.

I call them Evil Ruby Slippers because they're red and sparkley but in a villainous sort of way. ;)

What I used:

• Basecoat: Avon smooth beginnings base coat
• Base: OPI "My Private Jet" -- 1 coat
• Top: Forever 21 in "brick"
• Stamp:
• Konad black polish
• Konad nail plate m64
• Top Coat:
• Seche Vite -- 1 coat because it doesn't blur my Konad polish
• Avon UV Gloos guard top coat: as an extra top coat just cause I wanna!

Haul it in! I love free stuff - Third Haul of 2011

I successfully reached a $25 Amazon.com gift card reward through my Amazon Visa and decided to use it up on some nail stuff I've been wanting for a while now.

I got these from the Amazon seller named "KJ Beauty Store." I have nothing but nice thoughts about them due to this order. Everything went very smoothly. Technically each item that I bought from them had a shipping fee of $2.99 to $3.99 but when I paid for it all together my shipping was only $5.99 total, so that's awesome. Highly recommend KJ Beauty Store on Amazon.com for your Konad needs. 

From left: Konad Black Nail polish and Yellow Nail polish, Konad OneTouch Remover bottle, and Double-sided Konad Stamp set

1. Polishes: I have been wanting to print a vivid black print onto my nails ever since I started working with Konad but none of my black nail polishes ever quite did the trick. Konad's expensive though, so I couldn't just go and use $8 to buy a simple black nail polish. Good thing I got these for free! The yellow one was one that I bought on the fly, because I knew I wanted another color but wasn't really sure which one. I can see myself doing some yellow stamping on a dark base color. That'd be cool. Bumble bee nails, anyone? I'm excited.
2. Bottle: I was really happy to find that Konad makes these because for the past few weeks I've been wanting a bottle with a push top like this one. I considered getting one from Sephora. My sister is a regular reviewer on there so she reads reviews on a lot of products and she actually told me that their bottles are kinda iffy -- like I'd have to buy one and make sure it works and then keep exchanging it until I get a good one. Not really worth my trouble, plus $11 bucks for a plastic bottle? I even looked through Target and Walmart because I vaguely remember using a toner (that didn't work well on me- was it Almay?) that had that kind of dispenser on the bottle. I figured the drugstore product would coast me about $5ish and I could just dump out what's inside and keep the bottle. But no luck. Really glad I found this on eBay and then got it for free on Amazon. It works wonderfully and will surely come in handy.
3. Double Stamper set: I've been wanting this for a long time too! Mostly because I thought it would be smaller, actually. :| But it turns out that having a bigger stamp is pretty convenient for me because I have large hands for a girl, and this one is more comfortable to hold than the one that came with the set that my sister bought me. I think it will really come in handy to have two scrapers too, because I noticed that sometimes I get polish buildup while I'm doing my nails and I have to stop and clean it off -- which kinda puts me at risk for getting cotton lint on my newly painted nails. Or maybe I'm just making up excuses for using my gift card on something like this. Either way... I'm happy I have it. :)

Till next time. Comin' up: Half-moon manicure /slash/ reverse-French manicure!

"Simple" nails

I've gotten so many compliments on these nails this week. It's funny, because these are the simplest nails I've done in a LONG time and people seem to like them so much.

I didn't really feel like putting a lot of effort into this week's nails so I went with my favorite color combo, black and white.

What I used:

• Base Coat: Avon Nail Experts: Smooth Beginnings Base Coat -- 1 coat
• Black: Nicole by OPI in Razzle Dazzler - 2 coats
• White design: Konad white nail polish with plate m60
• Top Coat: Seche Vitte -- 1 coat

By the way, Seche Vitte is an awesome top coat. So glad I used my eBay bucks to get it. :)

New Year Nails 2011

These are the nails I'm wearing to bring in the new year. :)

What I used:

• Top and Base Coats: the usual Avon stuff
• Pink color: Sephora by OPI in "Lost without my GPS" -- 2 coats
• Stamp: Konad stamp plate m79 with Konad blue nail polish
• Glitter: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color in "09 Disco Ball" 

My goal for the next year is to take more time for my nail blog. I want to update as soon as I do my nails instead of just taking a picture and waiting until one or two weeks later to upload. I already cleaned up my blog by changing the design and fixing all my labels.  This year I made 26 blog entries compared to 2009's 20 entries, so here's hoping for a better 2011 year of nail designs. Yay!

More Christmas Nails 2010

Apparently this week I forgot how to use a camera and all my pictures came out blurry. Sorry about that! Hopefully you get the idea, though. 

What I used:

• Top and base coats: the usual Avon stuff
• Green undercoat: ORLY "Green with Envy" #40638 -- 1 coat
• Sparkley Green: China Glaze "Watermelon Rind" #80226 -- 1 coat
• Gold stamp: Savvy Nail Lacquer in "Golden Honey"  #627088 with Konad stamp m60
• Stickers: Random snowflake stickers from my box. (Sorry, I don't know what brand they were)
• White snowballs: OPI Nail Lacquer in "Alpine Snow" applied with the end of a paintbrush
• Gold Confetti: Sally Girl #812070

December 2010 Haul

It's been a while since I bought these but I thought I'd share anyway.

1. Sally Hansen Insta-dry #250 "Lightening" from Walmart
2. Sally Hansen Insta-dry #16 "Blush Rush" from Walmart
3. Konad stamp plate m60 and m79 from the seller "trendservices" on eBay

On the polishes: Whoever said those nail polishes are insta-dry was wrong. They take forever to dry! Luckily I really enjoy doing my nails so it didn't make a difference that I had to wait for them to finish. :)

On the plates: I noticed when I've playing around with konad stamping that I needed more full-nail stamps, so I found these online and ordered them. They've been great! 

Gold winter nails

I went to a wedding reception (for the same girl whose henna night I went to before) and did some gold nails for the occasion. Not much to say about these, just gold, stamp, tips, flower stamp.

What I used:

• The usual base and top coat
• Gold: Savvy Nail Lacquer in Golden Honey 627088
• Dots: Konad stamp plate m79 with Sally Girl "Poser 812051" (note to self-- I need a thicker black nail polish for my konad stamping)
• Tips: Nicole by OPI in "Razzle Dazzler" -- I used this instead of the Sally Girl black because I like the brush better for painting on tips.
• Sprinkles: Sally Girl 812070 (I love this stuff. I need to get some in silver)
• Flowers: Konad plate m4 with Konad white nail polish

Birthday Nails

Last Saturday, December 4, was my 27th birthday! Yaaaaay! Here are my birthday nails. This is my first time doing rhinestones.

The rhinestones were actually fun. I've always thought that anything 3D that I put on my nails would really get in the way, and it wasn't ENTIRELY true. I did have a few times when I wanted to scratch my ear and had to force myself not to for fear that I might drop a rhinestone in, but the final verdict is that I like 'em. I wouldn't do it all the time but I like it.

What I used:

• Top and base coat: the usual!
• Blue: Nicole by OPI in "It's up to you" -- 2 coats
• Stamp:
• Konad stamp m64
• Konad white nail polish
• Rhinestones:
• The ones that came in my Konad set that my sister bought me. :) I love you stupid.

Coming up:

Christmas nails and Mini hauls. I bought two new colors from Target that I'll show off, plus I have two more Konad plates coming in the mail. I got some birthday money from my dad and decided to spend it on lots of little things instead of one big thing, so now I'm one happy 27-year-old with DVDs and a cute apron and nail stuff and DVDs on the way. Come in UPS, step on it!

Pink henna night

Last Saturday, on November 27th I went to a henna night for my friend who's having her wedding reception on December 11th. Her husband's family (she and her husband were officially married last year when I was out of state for school) is Afghani the henna night is a traditional celebration with lots of dancing and money and gifts and photographs. It was pretty amazing and I had never seen anything like that before.

The theme was "pink" so I wore a pink dress and did my nails for the occasion. Enjoy!

What I used:

• Top and base coat: the usual (click here)
• Pink: Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Fast Cry Nail Color in #16 Blush Rush -- 2 coats
• Flowers: 
• Sephora by OPI Nail colour in "What a Broad" 
• Konad plate m64
• Glitter: Sally Girl #812005

Black tips, white hearts

Can I just say that I loved these nails? They were so frickin cute.

What I used:

• Top and Base Coats: The usual!
• Tips: Nicole by O.P.I. in "Razzle Dazzler" -- 2 coats by hand. 
• Hearts: Konad plate m56 with Konad white nail polish

Soooo cutie. I'm surprised at how good they came out... I'm getting better at painting on tips and my aim's improved as far as stamping goes. 

Lagomuffin cameo + Purple swirlies + Avon order

My sister, who writes awesome blogs as lagomuffin here on blogger, is making  a cameo this week. :) She's a fan of plain, simple nails and has awesomely long fingernails that would probably look ghetto if she grew them out and filed them like I do. She's got my mom's hands. She likes doing single colors, MAYBE a top coat, sometimes both a top and base coat if she happens to be using my stuff. (By the way, most of my color choices are too loud for her taste... har har). I am still working on getting her to at least stamp ONE nail one of these days.

And Tissa the pookie is making a cameo in the cameo. Yes, she's laying on pretty, cutesy tissue paper.

My sister, lagomuffin, and Tissa the pookie.

Here are some nails from a couple weeks ago. I love this purple.

What I used:

• The usual basecoat and topcoat
• Base purple: Sephora by OPI --"What a Broad"
• Stamped swirlies: 
• Konad m64 stamp plate; color: 
• Finger Paints Nail Color --"It's an Original" 
• Ring finger accent: 
• Konad m53 stamp plate;
• Savvy Nail Lacquer --"Golden Honey #627088"

I really liked how the two purples looked with each other so I only stamped a gold accent on the ring finger.

And congratulations, I finally finished my first bottles of nail polish! I had to make another order of Avon Top coat and Base Coat because the ones I'm using are pretty goopy now. That, and they're really low and the polish only fills the bottle to the very tip of the brush. So, yay Avon! I have good timing, apparently, because both $6.00 bottles were on sale for $3.99. That basically equaled out to "free" shipping by the time I checked out, which is awesome considering I SO would have paid $6.00 for each bottle if I had the option of buying them in a store. Excellent.

No nail updates until I get those bottles in the mail, though. Till next time, folks.

Rockin' the plaid this week

Okay I admit it, I'm addicted to Konad now, and I can't help but want to use at least three stamps on each fingernail. I almost always have to start over because I've overdone it and can only pull off two stamps per nail for now. But man this stuff is fun! Love it.

What I used:

• Base Coat: Avon Nail Experts Smooth Beginnings Base Coat -- 1 coat
• Color: Sephora by O.P.I. "What a Broad" -- 1 coat
• Plaid Pattern: 
•  Savvy Nail Lacquer in "Golden Honey"
• Konad Nail Plate #M64
• Flower Pattern:
• Konad Special Nail Polish (White bottle that came with my Konad set)
• Konad Nail Plates #M4, #M53
• Sprinkles: Sally Girl Nail Color #812070
  
• Top Coat: Avon Nail Experts UV Gloss Guard Top Coat -- 1 coat. 

Lacy flowers - first attempt at KONAD

Not really my TRUE first attempt, actually. My first true attempt crashed and burned because I have horrible aim and slow reflexes. Discouraged me for a few days and then I did THIS and feel better!

What I used:

• Base Coat: Avon Nail Experts Smooth Beginnings Base Coat -- 1 coat
• Tips: Konad plate M56 with Konad white nail polish
• Flowers: Konad plate M53 and M4 (pinky fingernails) with Finger Paints "It's an Original"
• Sprinkles: Sally Girl #812005
• Top Coat: Avon Nail Experts UV Gloss Guard: Top Coat -- 2 coats
• Drying Agent: Drip Dry by OPI -- 2 drops on each nail 

What I learned:

• You don't have to put that much nail polish on the plate before scraping it off.
• Dark nail polish (like the purple I used) comes out quite light, and light nail polish comes out useless.
• I still have bad aim. 
• I can't clean off the plate, scraper or stamp until right before the next time I use them, or else I'll mess up the nice nails I just finished!

 Fun stuff!!

Next week: Something black and purple dedicated to Hit Girl from Kick Ass and the psycho kitten named after her.

KONAD is WIN

My awesome sister bought me a KONAD set on her birthday trip to Vegaaaaaas!!! Yaaay! My sister is WIN.

Box set plus two extra discs. Hoorah!