AIS Challenge: Spiders

Hey Lacquer Lovers!

I know I have not been posting regularly, but life has been keeping me pretty busy lately.

So the nails that I have for you today were done for the AIS Sunday Stamping Challenge.  This week's theme was Spooky and Scary.  First, I attempted a haunted graveyard design for this challenge but it was not coming together how I wanted, so I scrapped that idea, and I'll try it again another time. 

What I ended up with was a cute but not too scary spider mani.  For the base color, I used 2 coats of China Glaze Gothic Lolita.  The stamping was done with SHID Silver Sweep and Kleancolor Black.  The images I used come from BM-13, MASH-38, SH09 and SH01

So sorry for the extra rough looking cuticles on the last pic.  I moisturized before taking the pic, but obviously not enough :)

Thanks for checkin' me out.  Happy Polishing!

Dupe or No Dupe: China Glaze No Plain Jane -vs- Nicole by OPI Iris My Case

Hi Ladies!

As I was going thru my stash a while back, I was amazed by how many polishes that I have that are possible dupes.  Well, I guess I shouldn't be that amazed, I mean I do have over 400 polishes. And I just keep adding more. 

So today, I'm gonna compare two of my newer pretties China Glaze No Plane Jane and Nicole by OPI Iris My Case. 

 

They look just about identical in the bottle, and it also carries over to the nail. In the pictures below, I have on three coats of each with no topcoat.

 

 

Iris My Case has a slightly thicker formula than No Plane Jane.  Both polishes have decent dry times. I do prefer IMC only because I like the wider brush. I feel like I have more control over the polish and it's easier to get a nice line down near the cuticle (which makes for less cleanup).

Verdict: Dupes!!

Which one do you have in you collection, or do you have both?

Thanks for checkin' me out.  Happy Polishing!

China Glaze Flying Dragon + CH16

Hey Peeps!

I have really been into neon colors lately, so I pulled one from my untrieds that I was kinda on the fence about.  Flying Dragon from China Glaze claims to be neon on the label, but it just doesn't live up to it in my opinion.  It is a very pretty color but seems more suited for fall to me.

Flying Dragon is a saturated plum with very fine pink and blue glitter. It goes on matte, like most neons, and is streaky and uneven with the first coat.  The second coat takes care of the streakiness and brings the polish to full opacity.  The swatch is more color accurate than the full picture at the bottom.

 

This color was too dark for what I was going for, so to lighten it up a bit, I decided to pull out the ole stamping plates :)   I used Cheeky CH16 and SHID Fast Fuchsia for the stamping.

So what do you think of this color, does it qualify as a neon?  Is it more appropriate for summer or fall?

Thanks for checkin' me out. Happy Polishing!

Summer Challenge: Summer Chevrons

I created this mani a couple of weeks ago, and I decided that it is perfect for the Summer Challenge over at the Purple Crumpet Fairy Challenge.  This was done before my nails were reduced to nubbins courtesy of a family bowling outing.  I know, I know, bowling is the kiss of death for long nails, but I had fun.  I actually only broke one nail while bowling, but over the next few days the rest of my nails decided to have a pity party and break too, so I was forced to take them all down to nubbins.

Anyways...on to the mani!  Here is my version of Summer Chevrons.

outside, shade

outside, sunlight

outside, shade

This was my first attempt at a tape mani.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out , although some of my lines are not as crisp as I would like.  I used regular transparent Scotch brand tape to make the chevron. 

So let's meet the players.

Sally Hansen InstaDry Lively Lilac

2012 Prayer

Sally Hansen InstaDry Mint Sprint

Milani High Speed Jiffy Orange

Finger Paints Drawn To This Shade

I used Jiffy Orange for the base and Drawn To This Shade for the accent finger.  To make the chevrons,  I used Mint Sprint, and before I removed the tape, topped it with Prayer, which is a purple crackle polish.  After I removed the tape, I added the dots with Lively Lilac and Mint Sprint. 

I think this mani has a tribal look to it.  What do you think?

Thanks for checkin me out.  Happy polishing!

Check out the other chica's participating in the challenge.



Monkey See Monkey Do Monday!!

Hi Ladies.

Today is my first time participating in Monkey See Monkey Do Monday.  I am so excited to to be a part of this with all the other fabulously creative nailnistas :)  The rules of Monkey See Monkey Do Monday are simple: re-create a mani from another blog and provide a link to the original manicure. 

My MSMD inspiration comes from Thriszha at Fab Ur Nails. She has the cutest nail designs and she also sells stamping plates and polish. Check out her blog. 

Outside, sunlight

Outside, sunlight

Outside, shade

To get this look I use the polishes above, L to R, Presto Pink, Fast Fuchsia, and stamped the design with Orchid Express. 

I thnk I'm gonna like the Monkey See Monkey Do thing.  I have seen so many great mani's that I can't wait to try.  This should be fun.

Thanks for looking.  Happy Polishing!!