MOTD- Wet n’ Wild “Caribbean Frost” and KITTENS

Hello there!

I know I tend to favor showing cool-toned polishes on my blog, but those polishes are in my favorite color group. Purples, teals, turquoises, purples, and blues (along with cold metallics like ice white and shimmering silver) dominate my stash. While I do have plenty of polishes in every color of the rainbow, my favorite ones to share are those of my favorite colors, and today is no different!

Today I have Wet n’ Wild’s Caribbean Frost to share with you. It’s a metallic-y teal color pretty evenly balanced between a blue and green base (if anything, it leans ever so slightly green). Though it appears as though it would be similar to Zoya Giovanna, the two are very different- Giovanna is much greener in its base, and really isn’t so much metallic as it is shimmery, whereas Caribbean Frost is all metallic. It does have some brushstroke issues, but with even strokes of the hand, you can still get the polish to look right. It’s almost a one-coater (it’s a bit thick), but I used 2 for the picture below.

Artificial, indoor light

Artificial, indoor light

I wanted to spice up my mani a bit, so I proceeded to unwrap my new Born Pretty Store stamping plate QA15 (shown below) for a quick stamp. For my manicure, I decided to use the ADORABLE kitten icons and the small flower.

I painted over my desired design with Sinful Colors Snow Me White, scraped off the excess, picked up the image, and stamped, giving me the most meow-licious manicure, seen below!

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So what do you think of the polish, and the plate? Are you a cat person, or would you rather have seen a different design from the plate? Let me know in the comments below!

Wet n’ Wild nail polish retails for $0.99-$4.99 a bottle, depending on the nail polish line, and can be found in most chain drugstores, as well as on their website, here.

~Beth~

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Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate QA18

Hi ladies!

So, tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, and I DON’T HAVE OFF FROM SCHOOL. My mom, dad, and sister are all off (and get to sleep in) and I don’t. The injustice is unspeakable, lol. At least I don’t have a tremendous amount of work to do tomorrow, otherwise I’d be even grumpier!

To cheer myself up, I decided to finally get to some of the products that have been sitting in my “untried” pile for far too long. Today I have another goody from the Born Pretty Store to share with you. Born Pretty Store has a TON of nice quality, inexpensive stamping plates for nail art stamping (some of them are under a dollar, and with free shipping too!). I bought five when I ordered a month ago, and I have one of them to show you today!

 

Born Pretty Plate QA18 features 7 different whimsical designs. The four full nail designs include stars, flowers, apples, and hearts, along with smaller, music note/staff decals for a smaller design. To be honest, it was the music notes that drew me to this plate- they’re just so cute! And, seeing as I’m a pianist, they fit right in to my entire lifestyle!

In terms of the plate itself, it was shipped with no damage/scratches (it comes with a peel-off blue film to protect it in-transit), and the designs transfer well to the nail. The only exception was the apples- idk why they wouldn’t work for me. The design would transfer onto the rubber stamper, but it would get completely messed up on my nail. Maybe it was my polish choice, since all the others worked perfectly. The designs themselves are super cute and fun, and at $1.99, how could you refuse? Pictures below feature all the designs from the plate!

Colors used: Thumb: Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Love and Beauty Black, Pointer: Fresh Paints Dragon Lady, Snow Me White, Middle: Sephora by OPI Fiercely Fabulous, Sinful Colors Innocence, Ring: Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, Wet n’ Wild Saved by the Blue, Pinky: e.l.f. Lavender Mist, Love and Beauty Pink

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Born Pretty Store ships internationally for free, and has amazing deals on makeup and nail products, including (but not limited to) stamping equipment, nail polish, flocking powder, nail art wheels, and more. Prices start as low as $0.99! You can check them out on their website here!

~Beth~

Nail Art- Fall Stamping!

Hi guys!

Finally Friday. It couldn’t come soon enough, this week has been insane. I can’t wait to finally get some sleep! I’m going out to a (post) Halloween party tonight, so my post today will be brief. But hopefully, what it lacks in length it will make for in creativity! So let’s get started!

Remember when I reviewed the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure fall 2013 trios a little while back? I commented that I couldn’t wait to stamp with Gold Roses, that delicious coppery shade I swooned over. Well, that time to stamp is now. I started by painting my nails with Rue Beauté 063, a lovely dark brown that screams hot chocolate and warmth. It’s amazing on its own, but it was just begging for more. So I took Konad Stamping plate M-60 and used the paisley design (shown below) to create the design.

 

I painted the plate with Gold Roses, scraped off the excess, picked it up on the stamper, and BAM instant nail art. I’m so pleased with how the design turned out! Pictures below are without topcoat.

Shade

Shade

I love this color combination. It looks vintage to me. The pattern came out so well! I actually did this design on one of my best friends, Tory, recently as well, with a color combo of Aeropostale Live Love Dream in Key Lime Pie and Essie’s For the Twill of it. Here’s her design!

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Isn’t she a great hand model, too?! Which of these color combos was your favorite? Let me know in the comments!

~Beth~

 

MOTD- OPI “Live and Let Die”

Hello everyone!

It’s been a good day today, Zoya retweeted my tweet! It’s not really THAT exciting, but hey, I got some attention from a big brand, it’s like reinforcement I’m doing a good job! Every comment/criticism I get helps me improve my blog for YOUR reading enjoyment, so please, keep on reading! I hope you continue to enjoy what I post!

I feel like I’ve been on an OPI kick recently, and more specifically, a James Bond collection kick. So when I decided to pick a green color for today’s mani, I figured I may as well continue the trend and go OPI. The color I’m wearing is called Live and Let Die, and it’s a deep evergreen color. It’s definitely on the blue side of greens, and looks almost navy or black in some lights, but has a beautiful green glow from within. There’s also some gold shimmer under the light which really gives the polish an extra dimension. It applies like a dream and is almost opaque in 1 coat, but I used two for pictures below, no topcoat.

Shade

Sunlight

Of course, since I’m addicted to stamping right now, I had to see what this looked like. I used the random linear design from the M64 Konad plate I showed in yesterday’s post with Sephora by OPI’s Bring on the Snowflakes, a bright, opaque silver shimmer. I love how it turned out! The gold in Live and Let Die and the silver in Bring on the Snowflakes blend together like a metal alloy, I adore it! Pictures are without topcoat.

Shade

So what do you think of this polish and this design? Are you a big green fan for fall? Let me know in the comments!

OPI polishes retail for about $9 a bottle, and can be purchased at beauty supply stores, some drugstores, and on their website, here.

~Beth~

Nail Art- My First Attempt at Konad Stamping!

Hi everyone!

Happy Sunday! AND THERE’S FINALLY SUN. I seriously haven’t seen the sun in a week, the sight is just too beautiful. How has your weekend been? I’m still coming off a birthday high, lol!

And speaking of birthdays, my friend got me something I’ve been dying to get my hands on for-EVAH, a Konad Stamping set with 3 stamp plates!!!! You don’t understand how excited I am to finally get to try this out! For today’s design, I decided to try out the M-60 Konad plate, with the argyle design.

 

To create the design, I started with two coats of Ulta Salon Formula Nail Lacquer in Ultraviolet Femme, a gorgeous blue-based purple. I then painted Sinful Colors Snow Me White over the argyle design, and scraped off the excess with the Konad scraper. I picked up the design using a rolling motion with my stamper, and rolled it over the nail. Not going to lie, it took me about 4 tries to get the design you see, and it’s still nowhere near perfect, but with practice, I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it! I then put OPI topcoat over my design, and the purple must have bled into the white, because it now looks like the stamp polish color is lavender. I don’t mind, but I kinda wanted it to be white… I guess next time I’ll wait longer for it to dry. Pictures are below!

Artificial, indoor light

Indoor, artificial light

Overall, I’m really excited about having this Konad stamper, and will definitely be doing more designs in the future! What are your thoughts on Konad, or other similar stamping systems? Let me know in the comments below!

If you want to purchase your own Konad stamper, they’re available on Amazon for as little as $5, or you can purchase them off of Konad’s own website, here.

~Beth~