Five Manicures and a Proposition

Ohhh, bad blogger. Very bad blogger. Its disappointing, I meant to do better than this.

Sorry you guys. :c Pity because two weeks ago I was all "Followers! Comments! OMG!" and now I just failll. I'll do better, I promise. I HAVE been busy, with exams. Why, exams, this time of year?! Yes. Yes, this time of year. It sucks.

I have so-o-o-o much to talk to you guys about today. Do read on (or just skip to the very end), not just for the pictures.  But, y'know, those too. ;)

Sooo, some of my friends came over... a week ago? Two weeks ago? And we had a teeny manicure party.



And this is Ayesha. She's wearing one coat of SOPI's Mermaid to Order.



And then two coats.



And used the er... um, uh, well, I don't know what this design is called. I see it everywhere. So urban. I think there are Vans like this. Suits Ayesha well since she's always wearing Vans. Its BM 19.



This is Amara. She went for a Hot Topic black. (She has such pretty natural nails!)



Which was actually pretty glossy without a topcoat.





Stamped with a Revlon gold chrome in BM 20.

I did do two other manicures... on Sabina and Sarah, except Bean's was a really big fail and I didn't get a good picture for Sarah's. I AM doing Bean's (Sabina's) nails tomorrow, but more about that in a bit.



What a crappy color. I can't even bear to look at it. Its a Love & Beauty (Forever 21) matte teal, and its nasty.





Well... hello there. Isn't that hot? It looks so hot. I almost made out with my nails. I might just marry Seche Vite one day.





Stamped with a Maybelline Express Finish silver, BM 11. Very hot, I liked this one so much.



Quick fail picture, right before removal. SOPI's Leaf him at the altar, stamped with Orly's Lemonade. This is BM 11.



Yesterday's uber-tacky fauxnadicure, in Rumba Romance stamped with BM 21.



I did get a lot of compliments though.

Alright then. Now down to business - I'm thinking of starting a collaboration kinda thing with some other stamping/nail art blogs called The 21 Plate Project. The idea is every blogger works their way up from BM1 to BM21, weekly, using just that one plate and no other. I think it would be a pretty cool way to figure out how to use your designs differently - I tried out a sample manicure with BM 1 the other day and already the ideas are just flooding in. And this would be with several other blogs, so you could see people's different take on a certain plate.


One of the other reasons I want to do this is because I find myself primarily using full nail designs and there are some plates that I feel a lot of people would never get around to using, or wouldn't use that often. What do you guys think? Does it sound cool? Is it something you'd wanna see? Lemme knowww.

Okay, and secondly, one of the other reasons I've been busy lately is because I've been preparing for a Model United Nations (MUN). Which is basically a debating tournament, but its my first MUN tournament. So I'm really hoping to have a really cool manicure. And with an MUN, you're assigned a country, and mine is the USA (ha!) because our school is reputable for having a great team and the US is a top dog in world politics. So I'm thinking - American flag nails? Or is that too tacky? What about something neutral and sophisticated but bold, like something a real US representative would wear to a committee meeting? Me and Sabina are both doing it, so and she's Iran, so she obviously can't do Iranian flag nails, its not very well known. So what should she go for? What would YOU go for? You tell me, more comments. :3

So, this has been a pretty long post, I'll have a shorter, sweeter one tomorrow (or, actually... I'll be doing the manicures tomorrow, so maybe the day after instead. ) Can't wait to see what you guys think!

Pretty Ripples Fail

So, I'm a nail-polish blog addict. I can't get enough of 'em. I just read read read and when I finish reading, I click on another one from the nearest blogroll. I spent a majority of my internet time this summer just looking at nail polish.

So, I shamefully admit that I have read every single article on Kronicles of a Konader. Every now and then she would mention how a stamping idea was so much better in her head, and when I saw how this manicure turned out, I finally understood what she meant.

Le sigh... It seems to have mostly to do with the colors not showing up properly. Its still kinda cool, kinda like the reflective surface of really clear water in real life, but definitely not what I was hoping for.

I used a trio of cool-toned shimmers, blobbed 3 big drops onto the swirly pattern on BM19 and dragged the colors around with an orangewood stick before scraping.

I used two coats of American Apparel Cotton for the base (though 3 would have evened it out a bit better) and then the shimmers were a nameless purple with gold shimmer from The Face Shop, and Sephora by OPI's Mermaid to Order and Leaf Him at the Altar for the blue and green.

Topped with a thin coat of Seche. I'll probably revisit this on a rainy day. When I lay my claws on some better stamping polishes, eheh.

Thank you, Polish Insomniac!

Hey you guys!

I know a lot of my very first followers also read Polish Insomniac's blog. Well, I won her WnW Pixel giveaway!

Can you say, "EEEEEEEE!!!"?

Just wanted to dedicate this blogpost to her, big big thank you! Without you, my blog may never have gotten off its feet. And if you haven't seen her blog yet, click here, she's a lovely lady and I highly recommend it.

Again, thank you so much.

Denim-Inspired Antique

This particular manicure reminds me of a what would make a really good pair of jeans, and I'll tell you why so I don't sound like a complete kook. First off, the base color would makea the best juicy shade of indigo and the copper makes me think of some nice shiny buttons.

Darn, I still sound like a kook. Well, maybe you catch my drift?

This is OPI's Light My Sapphire, a smoky charcoal kinda on the purple side and some blue undertones. Pre-cleanup, natural light.

Bottle pic - it looks pretty black unless in direct natural light, but this shows all of the delicious shimmer.

And then stamped the center, foremost design of BM21...

Using an incredibly aged Revlon called Copper Chrome.

And I am pleased with the results. Topped with one coat of Seche Vite.

I like it, reminds me of old anitquated jewelry. I did this as a vintage-vixen inspired look. (Speaking of vintage vixen, can you say drool?)

I do have a bone to pick with Scrangie, though. Her review of it almost dissuaded me from buying Light My Sapphire.

Anyways, till next time.

Work Appropriate Fauxnadicure

So, about a week ago my mother (who has way nice nails than me, where did the genetics go wrong?) decided she wanted me to do a teeny 'nadicure on her. She swore not to wearing a boring color like pink or red, but being a school principal wanted something slightly demure. Although she said she'd go for one of the blues and greens I'm always wearing, she shied away from all of the ones I showed her.

So, finally we settled for a Forever 21 brand - Love & Beauty seems to be the brand's official name - that I had completely wrecked with nail polish remover. Oh, very blasphemous, I know but there had been no thinner on hand and I had desperately wanted to try. Desperate times call for desperate measures?

This particular blue-toned cement grey is called "Blue." Very eloquent, indeed.



And you get a crapberry pic, yay!

This was about 3 coats of polish, with no base coat, none of the basic manicure essentials really. Stamped over it using the only current Essence plate with a Hot Topic black polish and one thin coat of Seche Vite. The old one, it seems there are 4 more square plates being released, but nothing on their official website yet.

This manicure held up pretty well actually, went an entire week with no chips. I'm finding it hard to credit the wear-time to Love&Beauty, maybe it was the Vite?

Anyways, tomorrow I have a denim-inspired fauxnadicure that I've been itching to wear. Till next time!

A Plethora of Giveaways

These are some really crazy giveaways. All nail and cosmetics related, o'course. Enjoy!

http://paintedladyfingers.blogspot.com/2010/08/art-club-black-white-and-bold-giveaway.html
Enter before Sept. 15th


http://kelliegonzo.blogspot.com/2010/08/special-k-giveaway.html
Enter before Sept. 31st


http://glamgeekchic.blogspot.com/2010/08/wanna-win-some-nail-polish.html
Enter before Sept. 5th


http://polishfreshie.blogspot.com/2010/08/100-follower-giveaway-whoop.html
Enter before Aug. 31st


http://aliceinpolishland.blogspot.com/2010/08/back-to-school-mini-giveaway.html
Enter before Sept. 15th

http://beautyponder.blogspot.com/2010/08/goodiebag-giveaway.html

Enter before Aug 26th

http://makeupwithdrawal.blogspot.com/2010/08/urban-decay-naked-palette-giveaway.html

Enter before Aug. 31st

http://tinyladylife.blogspot.com/2010/07/give-away.html

Enter before Aug. 30th

http://computergirl2007.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-giveaway.html#comment-form

Enter before September 6th

http://ooohshinies.blogspot.com/2010/08/giveaway.html

Enter before August 27th

http://thexperfectxdrug.blogspot.com/2010/08/2-giveaway.html

Enter before Sept 5th

http://enamelgirl.blogspot.com/2010/08/400-follower-giveaway.html

Enter before Sept 9th

http://www.maylovesmakeup.com/2010/08/my-500-followers-giveaway.html

Enter before Sept 10th

http://lakieroholiczka.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-giveaway.html

Enter before Sept 30th

http://manicuretime.blogspot.com/2010/08/manicure-times-first-giveaway.html#comments

Enter before Aug 31st

http://iknowallthewords.blogspot.com/2010/08/very-merry-unbirthday-to-you-giveaway.html

Enter before Sept 7th

http://www.magic-maid.net/2010/08/700-follower-giveaway.html

Enter before Sept 3rd

http://www.all-you-desire.com/2010/08/china-glaze-vintage-vixen-giveaway.html

Enter before Aug 31st

http://polishinsomniac.blogspot.com/2010/08/wint-it-wnw-pixel-perfect-giveaway.html

Enter before Aug 28th

Whew! Are you overwhelmed yet? :P

Testing... One, two, testing... ahem.

Hello hello!

Nobody every really sees the first post of a blog, but it just seems wrong to jump in without a leetle intro.

So, basically, the idea behind my blog is to archive all of the manicures (that is to say, fauxnadicures) I make with my bundlemonster plates. And since I don't own any thing but the bundlemonster package, you get the bundlemonster exclusive. I can rarely keep anything on for more than two days, so I hope to update a lottt.

And, since some of you may not own/know about these plates, heres a summarized review.

1.) These plates arrive with plastic covering and are without paper-backing, unlike konad plates. The edges are supposedly super sharp, though I've never done anything worse than splitting a little skin while peeling off the plastic.

2.) There are 21 plates which include full nail designs, french tip designs, and miscellaneous designs. All 21 plates cost $17.99. I believe you can order them via the bundlemonster website or amazon. You can click here to view or purchase them.

3.) Now about quality and such... almost every review talks about how small the full nail designs are, and they are. I find that I need to double stamp on almost every finger save for the pinky finger, but it all depends on the alignment. Some designs are a little blobbicle, and some are so indistinguishable they're not worth using. But its a ridiculously great deal, and if you're into stamping, its a must have.

And that's pretty much all that you need to know if you haven't purchased them yet. So, in the future you can look forward to a proper layout and fauxnadicures galore. Till next time!