4th of July Nails

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I know it's July 3rd, but since I ended up wearing my last manicure for three days (and the polish wore quite well), I figured I'd just go with a holiday one today in case it stays tomorrow.  Truthfully, a holiday-themed manicure didn't occur to me this week until I saw one on somebody else, so I didn't have any grand plans in mind.

I thought red was a good starting point, and I went with OPI Color My Heart... Red, which I think was a heart disease color they did a while back.  It's a really bright classic red and opaque in two coats, so it was the pick.  While it dried, I went through Konad and other nail art stamping plates to look for some designs that would suit Independence Day, and I settled on a little line of stars on plate D15.  I used it twice in Blue Konad Special Polish and once in White Konad Special Polish on an accent nail and called it a holiday manicure.

OPI Color My Heart... Red Nail Polish, Two Coats, Stamped with Stars from Plate D15

That's just about all there is to tell you about today.  I hope you have a safe and fun holiday, and until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Illamasqua Caress with D23

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I tried out a pattern from stamping plate D23, and it turned out quite well.  It's the plate's full nail pattern, which is a lattice of tiny flourishy scrollwork.  It stamps very cleanly for having such fine detail.

I started off with a mani of two coats of Illamasqua Caress, then stamped the pattern using Blue Konad Special Polish and finished it off with a coat of top coat.  Here's how it turned out.

Illamasqua Caress, Two Coats, with Pattern from D23

One thing I've noticed in the past week or so is that my nails are growing really, really fast.  I started taking biotin again a couple of months ago, 5mg/day, and I do think it makes a difference.  There was no reason that I quit taking it before, it was one of those things where I ran out and just didn't think of getting another bottle at a good time until it was completely forgotten.  I think I'm going to try to stick with it this time.

That's the news of the morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Stamping Plate D20

Good morning, Dear Reader!

For today, I tried out one of the D series stamping plates, D20.  It's got a whole bunch of butterflies and Tinkerbell on it.  I started out with two coats of Misa's Spinning Out of Control, a purple shimmer, and stamped over it in Konad White Pearl.  Here it is on a cloudy day.

Stamping Plate D20 over Misa Spinning Out of Control Nail Polish

That's certainly upbeat!  It's also just about all I have to tell you about, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Chanel Mimosa

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I've finally gotten around to trying out Chanel Mimosa again, and yet again, I find it somewhat disappointing.  I'd have been mad if I paid for this one.

Mimosa is a yellow with a great shimmer in the bottle, but on me the shimmer didn't translate to on the nail at all. In normal lighting, it's that kind of finish where you're not sure if it's a creme or a shimmer.  The color is nice, but both times I've used it, it required four coats to be even and opaque.  For high end prices, RBL Yellow Fever is much nicer, and since the shimmer doesn't really show up in Mimosa, they're not too different from one another. Here's Mimosa under artificial light.

Chanel Mimosa Nail Polish, Four Coats

See?  It's just a standard yellow.  I could have used unrealistically bright lights and a closer macro shot to provide you with a prettier picture of the polish, but I was more interested in showing you what it really looks like on me wearing it.

Since a standard yellow isn't nearly festive enough to keep my spirits up these days, I added to it from one of the D series stamping plates, D23.

Chanel Mimosa Nail Polish with Stamp from Plate D23

Adding the smiley face, a pattern I've wanted for some time, made me think of something funny.  A good while back, I'd added Konad fake gem decals or some other nail art to a Chanel.  I liked it, it was fun to wear, nothing out of the ordinary.  Someone left a really funny comment on the post, lecturing me about how Chanel is all about simple elegance and reprimanding me for ruining it, and it just went on and on with the "you should know better" kind of thing.  It made me think of one of my aunts, who'd be about 98 now and always wore a hat and a fur coat, and I pictured her getting all irate about what someone else had done to her own nails, which made me giggle.  I think for me the bottom line is that for $23, I'm not just buying a bottle of polish, I'm buying the rights to do whatever the heck I want to do with it!  Today, that was a smiley face.

That's Chanel Mimosa and the story for today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Stamping Plate D15

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm still playing with the D-Series stamping plates, and today I used D15, which has a bunch of star-themed patterns on it.  I figured I'd go for a night sky kind of thing, so I started out with Sally Hansen Salon Navy Baby, a reliable two coat navy shimmer, and stamped various patterns from D15 over it using China Glaze Millennium, a silver chrome.  Here's what it looked like when I was finished on a cloudy day.

Stamping Plate D15 in Silver over Sally Hansen Salon Navy Baby Nail Polish

The man in the moon was a little smudgy, and I got a smudge with the star surrounded by tiny stars as well, but I find that kind of thing is easier for me to mess up with a chrome polish for stamping rather than the usual Konad polishes I'm accustomed to.  Since there's not a silver Konad polish that shows up this well, I'll just have to live with it.

That's the scoop for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Stamping Plate D08

Good morning, Dear Reader!

On Friday I showed you some celebrity picture patterns from one of the D-Series plates, D09, and today I have a celebrity mani using plate D08.  D08 also has lots of choices, but there was one so perfectly absurd it designed this mani for me - Woody Allen.  Any time nail art comes up conversationally for the rest of my life, I'd like to be able to volunteer, "I own and have used a Woody Allen nail art stamp."  Now I can.

I figured this one should have more of a pop art feel, so I used a patterned French tip and Woody Allen in white over Color Club Gimme A Grape Big Kiss, the purple neon from Wicked Sweet.  Here it is.

Woody Allen Manicure using Stamping Plate D08

I have no idea why I love this so much or why I'm so thrilled with the mere notion of a Woody Allen manicure, but I'm happy for both.

That's it for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Marble Tower & D09

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I finally decided to take a breather from things that sparkle today, but I didn't take a break from fun manicures.  Today I figured I'd try out a few patterns from the D-series nail art stamping plates, which I've only seen at Chez-Delaney.com.  I went with plate D09, which is one with several stamps of iconic celebrity pictures.

For a the stamps, I thought black would be best, and I decided to use Nubar Marble Tower, a light grey creme, as the base color.  Here's what I ended up making.

Nubar Marble Tower Nail Polish with Nail Art Stamping Plate D09

Starting at the top, that's Clint Eastwood on my thumb,  Jim Morrison on my index finger, The Blues Brothers, Audrey Hepburn, and Sylvester Stallone in Rocky.  Audrey won the prize in a battle against Bob Marley for her spot - he's also an option on this plate.

I've been reluctant to try these because the Chez-Delaney.com owner only sells this series as a substantially discounted set, stating that several of the patterns within the set don't work.  With these particular images being so detailed I thought there might be troubles, but there wasn't a single one.  I'll probably play with stamping plates for a few days since I'm so completely enamored with this manicure.

That's all for this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!