Summery Zig Zag

Hey y'all!  So today I have a mani that I did over the summer, while my nails were long. I'd ordered a few things from Born Pretty Store, one of those being chevron nail tape, and decided to just do something random.  Lets get to it.

I wanted something really simple, and easy enough to do on both hands.

The polishes I used are Fresh Paint Guava, China Glaze, Mix And Mingle, and BMC (Bundle Monster) #10.

On the ring finger, I used both purples (Mix And Mingle & #10) to have darker tips before using the tape and a dotting tool to put Guava over the top. I almost didn't add the dots, but I thought the blank space needed something.

For the rest of the nails, Guava was the base color & I just used the purples for dots and gradients.  The 2 purples were sponged on separately, so it almost looks like there's more than one shade.

I liked how this turned out.  It was bright and dark at the same time & I think suited the stiletto shape well.

Neon Pink Leopard Nails

Hey y'all!  Today I have a bright leopard print design that I want to share with you.  I was inspired by a pair of shoes that I saw on Pinterest, but I had to add some color other than the blue tips to it.  I looked over at my untrieds basket and went with 2 pink shades.  Then as I was saving the files, I noticed I apparently have a thing for leopard print nails. 

I actually plan to recreate this again soon without the blue tips because I LOVED it so much.  I didn't even want to take it off.  If you want to see what I used and how I achieved this design, keep reading.

I started off with a base of Color Club Hot-Hot-Hot Pants.

Then I sponged Color Club Peace, Love, & Polish on about 2/3 of the nail.  Using a makeup sponge helped diminish the neon a little and soften it a bit.  Once that was done I put a top coat on before going to the next step.

Next I used black acrylic paint and a dotting tool to make the leopard spots.  Normally I use a brush, but I think I actually liked how this turned out better.  I put top coat under the paint so that if I didn't like it I could easily remove it without removing everything.  In the end it wasn't needed, but it's always helpful.

Lastly, because the shoes had a bright blue toe, I used tape and applied some Bundle Monster stamping polish in #24 Royal Blue on 3 of the tips.  Unfortunately, the blue was more sheer than I thought it would be and you can see the black under it.  I think next time I'd use a white before the blue.

I'm really looking forward to doing this again.  What do you think?

Color Club Not-So-Mellow Yellow & stamping

Hey y'all!  If you happened to catch my recent post from the Atlanta Nail Meetup, then you'll have seen this in the haul.  Not-So-Mellow Yellow was part of last years Poptastic collection.  In order to keep this short and simple I'm going to get right to it.  So, keep reading for more info, swatches, and some stamping.

I wore this mani recently and my kid LOVED it.  I think because this is his favorite color & he has some shirts that match.

 I only needed 2 coats for this opacity and no white base under.  

Not-So-Mellow Yellow is a bright yellow/green with a golden shimmer.  When held next to something green, it appears more green.  When next to something yellow, more yellow.  

 I only needed 2 coats for this opacity and no white base under.  

I felt like I needed sunglasses when I was editing these pictures because it was SO bright.

Then I wanted to do some stamping, using my new BPS plate I'd just picked up BP-L006.  I was having issues getting the images onto my nail so I made a decal using Bundle Monster Royal Blue stamping polish and the base color, NSMY.

 The decal made everything SO much easier, but because of the yellow and blue the design appeared more green than blue.  Which was totally fine & it still looked great.

I can't wait to play with the other shades I picked up from this collection.  Do you have any of them?

Masked Affair & Leadlight Hearts

Hey y'all!  Today's mani is one of the easiest that I've done lately.  This was actually my Valentine's mani, BUT I didn't get a chance to work on the post until now.

I used a few different techniques, which have a few different methods, so the easiest thing would be to search & see what is easiest for you as mine would just be horrible from not taking step-by-step pictures.

Starting off with 3 coats of L'Oreal Masked Affair, I wanted to keep the holo as much as possible.  So, I just layered 1 coat of Sally Hansen Water Melon(pink sheer jelly) over all my nails with exception to my ring finger.

outdoor cell phone pic

 Then I used my Red Angel #114 plate and the Bundle Monster stamping polish in #21 Electric Pink along with Verity Deep Violet(filling in the hearts) to make a leadlight stamping decal. 

outdoor cell phone pic

I couldn't stop staring & had to take pictures in my car while out shopping.  I love that the jelly didn't take away from the holo and actually tinted it to look a little more purple.  I'll definitely be layering more jelly polishes over my holo's to give them a little something extra.

For my first time trying the leadlight technique I'm super happy with how this turned out.  Even better is that it was my first successful stamping decal too.

What do y'all think?

UGA Grunge Nails

Hey y'all!  So if you've followed me for a while, or at least during the fall, you'll know I'm a HUGE UGA (University of Georgia) Football fan.  I have UGA stuff scattered throughout my house and I generally get at least one UGA type gift for Christmas.  I've even posted pics of my "I Bleed Red And Black" shirt on Instagram.  Their colors are red & black with white and silver sprinkled in.

I didn't go to UGA, or college for that matter, but I'm a total Georgia Girl.  I generally do a few special mani's each season & since I didn't do one for the first game, I had to do one this past weekend.  If you follow me on Instagram, you got a sneak peek.  I obviously wasn't happy with the outcome of the game, but at least I have purdy nails!!!

First I'll tell you what I used & how I did this before more pics and rambling.  As you can see in the bottom right pic in the collage above, I started off with a base of Make Up Store Greta and Zoya America on the accent ring finger.  The thought, in my head, behind this was that the holo would show up as I did the "grunge" effect.  It did a little, but not nearly as much as I'd have liked.  The other polishes I used were Wet N Wild Black Creme, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and Bundle Monster #17.  On the accent nail I added Maybelline Precious Pearl and China Glaze Fairy Dust over top of Zoya America.

On both hands I alternated how I layered the colors for this effect.  I had a tutorial that I followed the first few times I've done this & it's been so long that I forgot how....and sadly the blog I learned it from is gone.  Basically I just used the silver, white, black, and red(on top) in layers, allowing each to dry before putting the next one on.  When I felt it was all mostly dry I took a brush dipped in acetone, or you could use a q-tip, and started "removing" the polish in different spots.  Trying not to let it eat all the way to the nail.  I think having the holo base color helped with that.  Once that was done, I applied top coat.

For the accent nail, I used the white glitter with a dotting tool to make the "G".  Now, the G is supposed to be more oval, but I actually like how it turned out.  I thought it needed a little more, so I added some black dots and Fairy Dust for some sparkle.

Oh, and here's a few macro shots I took with my phone.

I think my Purple Grunge nails that I first did a couple of years ago turned out WAY better, but I think I know where I went wrong with this.  That being said, I do actually like how this looks.  I'll have to try it again soon and do a step-by-step tutorial so I remember in the future.

Would y'all like to see a tutorial?  I might try to film it, IDK yet. 

Stamping - Wet N Wild French White Creme vs Bundle Monster White

Hey y'all!  While testing out the Bundle Monster stamping polishes, I decided to test the white out up against Wet N Wild French Creme.  I'd not used it for stamping before, but it's pretty opaque on its own.  So, I grabbed my BM-414 plate and started playing.

 I used BM Royal Blue(24) as my base, it's a cobalt jelly like polish.

Wet N Wild French Creme is on the middle and pinky fingers while BM Angelic White(1) is on the ring and index fingers.  

Again, my stamping skills aren't the best, but you can see which is the clear winner here. 

Stamping - Wet N Wild Black Creme vs Bundle Monster Black

Hey y'all!  I've had this done for a while and thought I'd posted it, but sadly I forgot.  Today I have a comparison post.  While I was playing around with the Bundle Monster Creative Art polishes I grabbed the Noir Black(13) and put it up against Wet N Wild Black Creme.

I started off with a base color of Electric Pink(21), which is a bright pink cream.  It dries flat, so I used Seche over top of it.

I used my BM-408 plate on the pinky and ring fingers and my BM-412 plate on the index and middle fingers.

Wet N Wild Black Creme was stamped on the middle and pinky fingers while Noir Black 13 was used on the index and ring fingers.

Please keep in mind that I'm not a stamping expert yet, so as you can see there are some blank spots in each of the images.

 Cell phone macro shot of Noir Black.

Cell phone macro shot of WnW Black Creme

As you can see, Noir Black is super opaque while Black Creme actually looks brown.  It's still a great stamping polish for something from the drugstore, but I really like the Bundle Monster black. :D

Bundle Monster Stamping over Black

Hey y'all!  Today I have a post to share from playing around with the Bundle Monster stamping polishes.  

I started out with a black base, I believe that I used Wet N Wild Black Creme rather than the BM black polish. The image is from the BM-223 plate.

 L to R: 17 - Iced Silver, 15 - Sunshine Yellow, 26 - Liquid Gold, and 5 - Crimson Red

BM 5 - Crimson Red

BM 15 -Sunshine Yellow

BM 17 - Iced Silver

BM 26 - Liquid Gold

While I like how well these polishes stamp, I think that the metallic ones work WAY better over darker shades than the others. 

Bundle Monster Creative Art Polishes & Stamping

Hey y'all!  Today I have a little bit of stamping to show ya.  Keep in mind I'm not completely AMAZING at stamping just yet, I'm still learning.  However I'm slowly getting there. 

Bundle Monster recently came out with two sets of Creative Art Polishes for stamping.  Each set contains 6 opaque polishes that can be used as a normal polish or a stamping polish and retail for $12.99, or individually for $3.99.  I didn't do any swatches as I wanted to play around with them more, but you can see set #1 on Colores de Carol and set #2 on The Polished Mommy. 

Now that that's out of the way, lets get to the fun for the day.

I started out with the white, it's named "1", as my base color & it was super opaque.  Then I grabbed 21 - a bright pink, 20 - a dusky marine blue, 12 - a true & bright orange, and  8 - a grassy green to stamp the splatter design on from the BM-416 plate.

I quite like how this turned out.  I didn't need to use a ton of polish and they worked awesomely.  I picked my set up for around $9 each when they first released, but even at $13 it's not a bad deal.  Plus, even if you're in the US shipping is quick.  I expected it to take longer to arrive to me in GA from HI, but it was only a few days. 

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some other mani's I did while playing around with these.  I just didn't want to do a whole bunch at once & overwhelm.