Matte with Blue Dots!

Everything melted today.  It was too hot for stamping and too hot for dotting!  But I wanted a cool manicure to end the week with, so went for icy looking blues and whites.   I also learnt that stamping polish does not help produce consistent dots.  It simply is too thick and gloopy.


Base colour:  Rimmel 60 Seconds, 842 Too cool to Tango
Base ring: Rimmel 60 Seconds, 825 Sky High
Stamp colour: Primark unnamed nail polish
Stamp ring: Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine,
Top coat: Rimmel Lycra Pro, Matte Finish (sadly I can't get this anymore)
Image plate: Moyou London Suki Collection - 05

Polka dots: Konad White, which was a mistake.

Forgive the inconsistent dotting

Tools of the trade

I will practice dotting 

Indirect sunlight

Greek Mythology Finger Swatches

Not a proper manicure, a post for reference

I keep excitedly picking up this Greek mythology image plate, then putting it away again because I don't know quite which bits I want to use and how.  I have simply picked out my favourite sections of this plate and stamped, with no regard to how the finished manicure will look.  So this is a selfish post and it will be my inspiration for a number of manicures in the future.


Base colour: Clear
Stamp colour: Konad White
Image plate: Moyou London Greek Mythology Collection - 02

This is probably the most delicate of the Greek Plates by Moyou

Same image on thumb and pinky

I didn't manage a photo of my left thumb :(

This image was taken from the Moyou website.

Metal Leopard

Inspired by my phone case

Scroll to the bottom to see my inspiration.  I think the print would have been more striking had I stamped with black, but I couldn't resist combining this coppery / bronze metallic from Asda with pretty summer pastels. I love the way this metallic polished stamped and think I will be returning to asda to pick up the other shades in this range.

Base colours: Barry M 309 Strawberry I/C, Barry M 318 Peach Melba, Rimmel 60 Seconds, 450 Get your Shades on and OPI Ski Slope Sweetie HL E15
Base stamp colour 1: Konad White
Base image plate 1: Konad m57-1

Stamp colour 2: George Molten Metals, No 5 Party Animal
Image plate 2: Konad m93


Have a look at my previous post here for more details about the base for this manicure

I am very impressed with Asda's Molten Metal range for stamping

Grrrr!

Sorry about the glare

Tools of the trade

My phone camera seems to increase saturation

My inspiration: htc desire hd phone case

White Leopard

This manicure is the base layer preparation for the AIS Sunday Challenge, in which I will be trying to copy a darker leopard print phone cover.  Keep watching this space to see how this develops.

Base colours: The following colours are all fairly sheer, so I added two different coloured coats on each finger, trying to make every finger slightly different.
Barry M 309 Strawberry I/C,
Barry M 318 Peach Melba,
Rimmel 60 Seconds, 450 Get your Shades on
OPI Ski Slope Sweetie HL E15
Loreal top coat confettis, Splash Peach (bottle not photographed)

Stamp colour: Konad White
Image plate: Konad m57-1

Making progress 

I couldn't resist Loreal top coat confettis, Splash Peach on my pinky

This stamp would be fantastic to spruce up a tired manicure

Base coat colours

Both hands stamped cleaned and oiled

Shiny on Matte

Nearly Nude

Shiny stamping image over matte base coat:  I keep seeing lovely examples of this look. braver girls often stamp the same colour over the matte top coat, I am stamping with a slightly darker nude.

I loved the way this manicure turned out.  My only complaint is that it did not last long enough. I wore the mani over a busy few days, and without a top coat, the stamping image began wearing away at the tips, and by day three, the contrast between matte and shiny had disappeared completely.

Base colour: Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Lychee
Stamp colour: Max Factor Max Effect Mini, 21 Soft Toffee
Image plate: Konad m89

Blue Skies

Indirect sunlight

In the sun

Tools of the Trade

Scary Closeup

Halo Lighting

Goodbye Long Impractical Nails

When I started to struggle typing and using my smart phones touch screen, it seemed about time to cut my nails back to a more manageable length.

And of course, there's nothing better than a doily stamping image and a nude holographic polish to wave off the old and prepare for the new.

Base colour: Born Pretty Holo Polish, Color 6
Stamp colour: Konad Black
Image plate: Moyou London Tourist Collection 07 xl

Tools of the Trade

Quick swatch under halogen lamp

Swatch indirect halogen lamp

Sunday Challenge: Choose an image you Don't Like

I almost didn't want to vote on a challenge this week, I realised all three choices would be quite tricky for me.  They all meant there was no chance of grabbing a nice and forgiving generic full nail flowery swirly pattern, I would have to leave my comfort zone!

1. A stamp you don't like
2. Only using individual images, no full nail images
3. Nelson Mandela International Day (inspired nails)

Finally "A stamp you don't like" was voted for and I realised it would be a great chance to try out an image I would never normally wear.

So I chose the bold scales from Moyou London's Sailor collection.  I really want to like this image, but it just seemed too bold and the scales too large for my liking.  I decided a really really pink girly glitter would help the image to look like delicate fish or mermaid scales.

Base colour: Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, and lots of pink iridescent glitter
Stamp colour: Konad Black
Image plate: Moyou London Sailor Collection

The point of no return

The scales look chunky from every angle

My nails are about the longest I am comfortable wearing them

If I glance at my nails at arms length, I see a crossword puzzle

Even with low light, the scales are too strong looking for me

Tools of the trade

Aqua Gradient and Simple Floral Stamping

Summer stamping, a quick, easy tip design.  I used my pink stamper from Moyou London (squishy firm) to apply white konad stamping polish on everything but my accent nail!

I saw a similar manicure by a girl in "Adventures in Stamping" Facebook group, but I can't find the photo to give her credit.  She had used the same image on her half moons, and stamped white over pink.  It was a very pretty manicure.

Base colour (index only): Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine,  Green berry
Ring Finger: Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Sugar apple 404
Base colour everything else: Primark unnamed
Stamp colour: Konad White
Image plate: Konad M51

Lunchtime sunshine

Tools of the Trade

Indirect natural light

Halogen lighting

Art Deco Lace

July 6th Sunday challenge:  Lacy

I wanted to use this dusky nude pink from primark with something grown up.  Then, to my delight, the "Adventures in Stamping" Facebook group came up with lacy for this weeks Sunday challenge.

I didn't have a traditional lace stamping plate, but this image from my cheeky plate reminded me so much of my grandparents home decorations and in particular, some ornate lacy dresses they had cherished in their youth in the 1930's.

Base colour: Primark, unnamed.
Stamp colour: Konad, White
Image plate: Cheeky Jumbo Plate C

Halogen light

Halogen light

Light through north facing window

Bright natural light

Indirect low summer sun light

Tools of the Trade

Just add glitter

Updates to my rose manicure...

...to get me ready for the 4th July weekend! I basically just added a lot of glitter to my ring fingers, then stamped over it with more roses (last images).  Repetitive pictures due to me trying to show how shiny and sparkly the glitter is.



Base colour: Sinful Colors, Snow me White 101
Stamp colour: Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Grapefruit
Image plate 1: Moyou London Tourist Collection 13
Image plate 2: Moyou London Pro Collection xl 07

With Flash