Konad Sky Pearl Special Polish & m63

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I did a manicure that came to mind the other day when I came across my Konad Sky Pearl Special Polish, and it turned out really well.  Not perfect, but I like it well enough that I don't especially care that it's imperfect.

I started out with Orly Frolic, the lovely two coat purple creme, which I thought would look really cool with Sky Pearl stamped over it.  For the pattern to stamp, I used the swirly one from Konad plate m63 that looks a lot like water marbling.  Since I liked how it was coming out off the bat, I used a coat of Konad top coat to prevent any smudges prior to finishing it off with Poshe.  Here's Orly Frolic with m63 in Konad Sky Pearl in the sun.

Konad Sky Pearl Special Polish over Orly Frolic with Konad Plate m63

You can see the the pearl finish in the Special Polish is very subtle - this is in sunlight, and the shimmer doesn't really show otherwise.  What I like about the Konad Pearl polishes (Black, White, Sky, Violet, ...) is that they don't seem to smudge anywhere near as easily as the cremes and they make exceptionally crisp stamps.

That's all for today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

What a Wallet

I've had this wallet for ages. I picked it up at Forever 21 at some point, buying it because I loved the retro look of the pattern. It's one of those hinged wallets that clasp shut. I never really use it anymore, but I was going through my stuff recently (I need to pare my belongings down) and came across it.

I used American Apparel Cotton as a base, with Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme for the oval, butter LONDON Minger for the orange, Barielle Aura Angora for the yellowy mustard color, American Apparel Pinto for the burnt red, American Apparel Cocoa for the taupe color, then American Apparel Raccoon for the darker brown. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Sephora by OPI Nail Art Decals

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's manicure seemed like a good opportunity to give you a closer look at Sephora by OPI nail art decals, so that's just what I have in store.

I started out with the intention of a hot weather manicure, and the first polish that appealed to me for that was Misa Sandals, Flip Flops and Hip Hop, which is kind of an red-pink-coral neon creme.  It took three coats of color, which is pretty good for a neon.  It's really pretty on its own, but just a bit plain, so I went looking for something to spruce it up a bit and ran into my Sephora by OPI Hello Kitty nail art decals.  I specifically recall how impressed with their quality I was when I last used them, and since I see Sephora is offering a greater variety of nail art decals now, I thought I'd show you just what I found to be so impressive about them.

I used a total of three decals from two packs on an accent nail, which is a little much, but this manicure really turned into a decal demo.  The three I chose were a rhinestone flower, a butterfly with a trail of tiny rhinestones behind it, and a plain Hello Kitty Face, and I chose those three to have one of each type (only rhinestone, with rhinestones, no rhinestones).  To apply them, for each I loosened the decal from its paper backing by bending the paper to expose an edge, used an orange stick to lift the decal up by the just-freed edge, lining it up just above the nail, then placing it with the orange stick and patting it down.  The last step was to gently press each down with a right-hand finger, then I sealed them with a coat of Revlon Color Stay Top Coat and one of Poshe.  I took close-up pictures from several angles that are really not the most flattering of either my nails or the manicure, but their purpose is to illustrate how perfectly smooth the decals lie on the nail, so that's what we're looking for here.

First, the whole manicure.  Here, you can get a sense of how easy the Sephora by OPI decals are to work with - they don't stick to things or get bent when I remove them from their backing, and they're very, very thin so they shape to the nail nicely when they're placed.

Sephora by OPI Nail Art Decals over Misa Sandals, Flip Flops and Hip Hop Nail Polish

Here, the accent nail is pointing at the camera so you can see how flat the decals lie across a curved nail, so they don't catch or snag on anything.

Sephora by OPI Nail Art Decals Lying Very Flat

These two side views illustrate the same point with a better view of the rhinestones, which are often problematic in decals and are not here.

Sephora by OPI Rhinestone Flower and Hello Kitty Nail Art Decals

Sephora by OPI Rhinestone Butterfly and Hello Kitty Nail Art Decals

I have no idea why I didn't notice that the last picture was 90° off from the others until this very moment, maybe because my finger's going in the opposite direction.  That's okay, I trust that it shows the same thing...

I bought these because, well, they were $5 and had both rhinestones and Hello Kitty .  When I opened them, I felt a little ripped off at the little sheet of decals for $5, and how having used them twice, I've completely reversed that sentiment.  Most decals (with the exception of Konad's, which I've mentioned how much I like)) are a fight for me to apply without messing up a nail, then about 90% of the time the decal flattens back out and the edges of it pop up off my nail after top coat and before they're dry, so all they accomplish is completely destroying a manicure.  I haven't shown you many (if any) stick-on decals in almost three years, and I have used them a handful of times only to have such a complete failure that I didn't leave it long enough for a picture.  So for me, that means for my $5 I can have five larger packs of decals that don't work, or one small packet of decals that are very easy to apply and wear.

More Sephora by OPI Nail Art Decals are on my wish list because they're such a handy little addition to a manicure, so when the day comes that I have others, I'll give you a look.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!