Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Red Carpet Oscar Nails: Antique gold and red stamped louboutin nails with Boom Boom Pow


Hello everyone!

Red Carpet Oscar Nails

I had planned to make this mani before watching the Oscars, but I didn't start until I watched the experts talk before the show. I love to see what the stars are wearing, and to see who wins of course. But this year I was surprised by all the great singers.

Red Carpet Oscar Nails

Red Carpet Oscar Nails

Red Carpet Oscar Nails


Used:

Stamping plates:
Konad: m63, m69
Bundle Monster: BM- 303

Nail polish (from left to right):
Gosh: Nero
H&M: Antique Gold
Deborah Lippmann: Boom Boom Pow
Konad: Red
H&M: Red




What I did:

I painted my nails black to achieve the gorgeous bottle color of H&M Antique Gold with fewer coats, but I liked that it looked a little darker. I tried to make a little gradient with Antique Gold first, and then with Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow on the index finger and middle finger. But I wanted the fingers to look different, so I applied many layers on the pinkie, and the thumb and the ring finger are without glitter. Then I did the stamping, and painted the underside of the nail tips with a little brush. Next time I'll paint the underside earlier in the process. But this was my first louboutin nails, and I hadn't checked how to do it.

Red Carpet Oscar Nails



Did you watch the Academy Awards? Who did you wish would win? And if you made Oscar nails too, what did yours look like?

Lani

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Sat- ART- Day Club: 1960's


Hello everyone!

Sat- ART- Day Club: 1960's


The theme this week in the Sat- ART- Day Club is the 1960's. I was inspired by Jimi Hendrix clothes and albums, and Yayoi Kusama's dot patterns. First, I wanted to use aquarelle water color, but I had to take it off. I ended up using only nail polish, and painted, stamped, and painted, stamped again, and painted, and dotted. And the end result is very different from my sketches...


Sat- ART- Day Club: 1960's

Sat- ART- Day Club: 1960's

What I did:

First I painted my nails white, and then painted all the nails yellow and purple, and added top coat. Then I stamped a different pattern on each nail, and used the stamped image as a guide. I chose some very bright colored nail polishes and used a little round brush to paint on top of the stamped images, and tried to make psychedelic designs. I also added dots with a dotting tool, and stamped a peace symbol on my middle finger. But when I remembered what happened on the moon in July 1969, there was no more room left for space nails, not even for a moon.



Sat- ART- Day Club: 1960's


Used:

A small dotting tool
Brush
Pallette
Stamper & scraper (from KKCenterHK)

Stamping plates:
Bundle Monster: BM- 301, BM- 320
Konad: m63, m65, m78

Nail polish:
OPI: My Boyfriend Scales Walls (white)
Gina Tricot Beauty Nails: #17 Aspen Gold (yellow)
Linda Johansen Nail Candy: Lilac Lilly (lilac)
China Glaze: 108 Degrees (dark pink)
Gosh: #570 Peachy (orange)
Gosh: #571 Wild Lilac (purple)
H&M: No Mambo Jambo (green)
H&M: Blue my Mind (blue)
H&M: I'm not a kiwi (lime)
Konad Special Stamping nail polish: white, black, red.

Nail polish used to make the 1960's mani

Sat- ART- Day Club: 1960's


I wish I had more stamping polishes. I only have white, black and red. Do you have any stamping polishes to recommend? I'm thinking about buying a blue, purple, yellow and pink Konad stamping nail polish. And maybe green? Don't forget to take a look at the other participants' 1960's nails!

Lani

Friday, February 22, 2013

January haul



Hello everyone!

January haul (2013)


I have already started to use what I've bought this month, so today I'm showing you what I bought in January. I didn't buy very much: 3 new from Pieces, one from Gina Tricot, and the rest from H&M.

H&M:


H&M: Play It, Run Baby Run

Play It, Run Baby Run. The color of Play It is a little strange. It looks like a mix of grey and silver with one drop of green. Run Baby Run is as you see it. Maybe I'll wear it when I watch the Oscars.

I liked H&M Bella's Choice so much that I bought a backup bottle, when I found it, and it was 80% off. Here you see the first bottle:

H&M: Bella's Choice
I also found these tiny mini bottles (5 ml):
H&M: Go Green, Active Blue, Play it Coral, Sporty pink
Go Green is a very pale mint with gold shimmer. The coral and the pink are creams. Active Blue has blue and a little purple shimmer, and I'm not sure what to call the finish. Microglitter or foil?


Gina Tricot Beauty Nails:

Gina Tricot: #116 Cream. I'm wearing mi-ny: Blue Sky





#116 Cream has gold shimmer. I hope it will be visible on the nail.


Pieces:

Pieces: Red Mahogny, Fresh pink, Lilac Rose


Red Mahogny, Fresh Pink, Lilac Rose (also used here). All these are creams.


Did you buy any of these polishes? Do you want to see swatches of any of these, or of any polishes from earlier hauls?


Lani

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Sat- ART- Day Club: Dotting Tools


Hello everyone!




The keyword for the Sat- ART- Day Club on Saturday was: DOTTING TOOLS. This is what I came up with. First I'll tell you what I did and show more photos, and further down I'll include a photo and a list of the polishes used, and thumbnails with links to the other dotticures.

Sat- ART- Day Club: Dotting Tools


What I did:
I started with pink, mint, peach, purple and blue cream skittles. Then I used the dotting tool and made darker dots and flakie dots on the sides of one finger, and then dotted three dots of the flakie in the middle of the next finger, and so on... So I used 3 polishes from each color family: one pastel cream, one a little darker, and one flakie.

Sat- ART- Day Club: Dotting Tools


Sat- ART- Day Club: Dotting Tools

Sat- ART- Day Club: Dotting Tools

Sat- ART- Day Club: Dotting Tools

Sat- ART- Day Club: Dotting Tools

Sat- ART- Day Club: Dotting Tools



What I used:
I used my biggest dotting tool, a little palette, base- and top coat, and all these nail polishes:

Click to enlarge


From pinkie/ left to thumb/ right (pastel- darker- flakie):

Pink:
Gosh: #598 Bubble Gum
Pieces: Lilac Rose (and in the latest post)
Deborah Lippmann: Sweet Dreams (also used here and in the latest post)

Mint/ green:
mi- ny: Klimt
H&M: Gentle Sky
Nfu- Oh 56 (also used in the Concrete and Nail Polish contest and for layering experiments)

Peach:
Pieces: Peach (This polish needs many coats, but the other Pieces creams have normal opacity)
Pieces: Fresh Pink
Nfu- Oh: #49

Purple:
Gosh: #002 Misty Mauve
Gosh: #571 Wild Lilac
Nfu- Oh: 51 (also used herehere, here and in the Concrete and Nail Polish contest)

Blue:
Gosh: #001 Lavender Love
mi- ny: Blue Sky
Nfu- Oh: 52 (and in the Concrete and Nail Polish contest)

Sat- ART- Day Club: Dotting Tools


I know I'm posting late, but it took time to get well from the virus. As usual, you can click on the thumbnails below to take a closer look at the other participant's dotticures!

Lani

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Valentine's Day nails #5: Hearts with Sweet Dreams


Hello everyone!




One of the manicures that I wanted to recreate was The Beauty Department's "Wasi Tape Glitter Heart" manicure. But I didn't have wasi tape, and wanted to try my new nail polish (Pieces Lilac Rose), and saw that the color of Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams is very similar. So I ended up with this monochrome fuchsia Valentine's Day mani. I used this step-by-step photo instruction from The Beauty Department, but I used different colors, and put one heart on each nail. Maybe I'll try to make an exact copy some time too.

Hearts with Sweet Dreams
Hearts with Sweet Dreams

Hearts with Sweet Dreams

I used:
Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams    (1 thick coat)
Pieces Lilac Rose    (I used 2 coats, but this is nearly a one- coater!)
Tape    (I made it less sticky before using it on the nails)
Scissors
Pen

As I have mentioned earlier, Pieces and Deborah Lippmann are not tested on animals :-D

This was used to make 'Hearts with Sweet Dreams'




What I did:

How I made 'Hearts with Sweet Dreams' 

How I made 'Hearts with Sweet Dreams' 


Wearing this made me realize how much I've missed Sweet Dreams. I don't know why I haven't used it more often. Maybe because I often use my untrieds?

Hearts with Sweet Dreams


Lani

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentine's Day nails #3: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts


Hello everyone!

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts

This is my third Valentine's mani. I used the holo brother of Color Club Eternal Beauty; Beyond. Over this black linear holographic nail polish, I layered a holographic micro glitter (Northern Lights). Then I stamped black hearts over it, and used Northern Lights as top coat.

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts


Because of all the "holoness", only the hearts look black. And the background color looks blue- gold- green- dark grey in bright light. It even matched my green jacket and dark blue jeans. In dim light/ evening the background color looks dark grey, but the holographic micro glitter sparkles in silver, red and green. I felt that my nails were ready for a party :-)

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts
Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts





List of what I used:
Color Club: #994 Beyond
Konad: Special Black Stamping Polish
Bundle Monster stamping plate: BM-317
INM Out The Door Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat Silver

(I always use base coat. I always use base coat for holographic nail polish when I use holographic nail polish. I have seen that many don't, and get good results. But because I was talked into buying one when I bought my first holo, and in case it works, I use it.)

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts,
Bottles: Konad Black SP, INM OutTheDoor Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat Silver, Color Club: #499 Beyond

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts, bottle: Konad: Black SP


Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts

The photos are taken both inside, like I did in the last post, and outside. But we had no sunshine, so it's just winter daylight, and not good for photographing holographic nail polish. I think the LED lamp I use makes the holographic effect show better than sunlight, but it was difficult to make the camera focus. For the tree last photos above I used Ott- lite. The first photo below is taken in the light from a normal yellowish lamp.

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts

 I was better at stamping this time, but really struggled with clean up.


Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts, bottle: Color Club: #499 Beyond

Valentine's Day nails: Black holo+ holo glitter+ black hearts


I had hoped to get time to do some more Valentine's Day manis. I don't celebrate Valentine's Day, but it's such a fun theme for nail art, so if you're not sick and tired of it, I'll do Valentine's Day nails for the rest of the week.

Lani