Gold leopard print with new Konad stampling plate m93

Hey everyone! I’m briefly coming out of my hiatus because nailpolishcanada.com so kindly sent me one of their newly released Konad stamping plates to review. They are selling 5 new Konad stamping plates if you’d like to check them out. They are also going to be giving away all 5 of these plates, and you can enter to win them at this link.

I ended up chosing Konad plate m93. I was drawn to this plate because of the anchor stamp. I have been looking for a stamp with a single anchor, but all I have been able to find before this was one with a tiled pattern. Needless to say, I have a manicure planned that will be featuring this stamp!

For now though, I wanted to use the leopard print full nail stamp. I have a couple leopard print stamps and I feel like they all give you different looks. For this manicure, I used Zoya Blaze as the base color. I couldn’t get this to photograph right, so I’d say it’s lighter in the picture than it is in actuality. For the gold stamp, I used China Glaze passion. I used China Glaze Herd That with a dotting tool to add a little pizazz in places.

As always, I’m really impressed with the Konad stamps. They always stamp well because they are well-made. The size of the plates is enough to cover my whole nail, unlike some of the lower-end plates. AND I am SUPER excited to use the anchor stamp so just wait!

As for my return into the world of nail blogging, I have four more weeks that I am going to be spending away from home. That’s out of 15 total, so that’s not bad at all. I should be able to get back into the swing of things then because all I will have to do is study (read: procrastinate) for my board exams and then go on interviews. I’m excited to go back home and be done with things!

Oxblood Red Swatch: Essie Skirting The Issue

Hey everyone! Here’s a very quick swatch of Skirting The Issue by Essie, which is a deep burgundy red. The pictures were taking with (I think) 5 coats, but it was still very manageable and didn’t seem too think. It dried in a reasonable time without getting goopy. I still think it would have worked well with fewer layers, but it would not be nearly as dark. I like how the jelly finish works with the vampy color. I hope I have a reason to wear it soon!

Spaceships and Saturn – from the Instagram archives

I’m still on my surgery rotation, so sorry about the lack of updates! For this week, I’m posting an old manicure I did. It’s Zoya Ibiza and Carrie Ann over Layla Coral Glam holo. I stamped it with a plate from the Cheeky Summer Collection (which is great because of the BIG plates and amazing packaging). I’ll look up the exact plate number soon!

Red Konad French manicure, carpet catastrophe

Today was my day off. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that parts of my carpet were a little bit damp, but only in a couple places. I brushed it off and kept getting ready, but then I realized that it was getting wetter and wetter each time I walked on it because the carpet pads were soaked. I tried to figure out where it was coming from, but my bathroom, washing machine, and water heater were all totally dry and there were no leaks in my ceiling. We called the handyman for my apartment complex, and he was pretty perplexed as to where it was coming from also. He decided to check the neighbor’s to see if it was coming from there. Lo and behold, the toilet had been clogged and overflowing and there was no one home. So my carpet is covered in, more or less, poop water! Haha, well I’m lucky I was home and it was my day off so that I could get someone to come by to look at it.

My Saturday manicure is a French manicure in Essie Scarlett O’Hara over my naked nail, with top coat. I used Konad stamping plate M19 with 2 stamped layers of the Scarlett O’Hara. Thanks for listening to my rant!

Merry Christmas kisses under the mistletoe

Merry Christmas y’all! I got over being grinchy and finally posted a festive manicure. I used Migi Nail Art pens for this. My mom is in town for the next week so you may see her (much healthier) nails featured at some point. Happy holidays to everyone

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Venom Vixen

Sorry I haven’t updated in a while! Since my last post, I finished my shelf exam for internal medicine, started my neurology rotation, lost my phone, aaand it was my birthday. So I’d say I’ve stayed pretty busy. This manicure was done using those nail polish strips by Sally Hansen called Salon Effects in Venom Vixen, which is an intense red snakeskin. I messed up one of the tips, so instead of fixing it, I just covered it with gold glitter using Speciallita Hits MTV in Golden Disco. I’ll admit, I’m being lazy this week.

 

Bling-a-ling holiday nails with mini hexagon glitter

I like the idea of sequins and glitter for the holidays, especially for New Year’s, but I don’t think I could pull off something like a sequin dress. I think this is the next best thing for me. I used mini hexagon glitter that I found on ebay, and I just sprinkled on after applying a similarly colored nail polish. It ended up staying on my nails surprisingly well. I put a top coat on over, and I didn’t have much trouble with it. I’ll probably try to recreate something similar for New Years.

This manicure was inspired by Polish Days over at Polly Polish, with the theme “bling.” Check out some of the other wonderful manicures below.

Oxblood and nude ombre manicure with Essie “Skirting the Issue”

I’ve been really into oxblood red this season, so when I saw Skirting the Issue from Essie’s Stylenomics collection, I got it immediately. This manicure was done with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 140 Peachy Keen with Essie Skirting The Issue on the tips. Usually when I do a gradient manicure, I use a makeup sponge to put the second color on the tips. This time I wasn’t going for subtlety, so I just painted Skirting The Issue on the tips. I’d heard some negative things about Skirting the Issue, but the formula worked perfectly for what I used it for. It does have to be layered, but it dries quickly and has a lovely jelly finish. I can’t wait to try it alone.

On the other hand, this Sally Hansen color is a nightmare to apply. It took me 5 coats just to get something that wasn’t streaky! I have some other Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes that I don’t have trouble with, so I think it’s just this color. Either way, I think I’ll have to replace this color with a different polish.

 

Halloween costume party manicure – Red with military insignia

I ended up going to my costume party as a military officer. I really like this costume! I paid about $30 for it a while back, and though it’s still pretty flimsy like most Halloween costumes, I got a lot of comments on how high quality it looked. I figured the outfit looks vintage with the skirt, so I went with red shoes, red nails red lipstick. Any excuse is a good excuse for red lipstick, right?

For the manicure, I used Zoya Sooki, gold tape, and Migi nail art pens for the sergeant insignia. Gotta say, I ended up liking the ensemble 🙂

Happy Halloween! Nails for a Cleopatra costume

I got a Cleopatra costume for Halloween. I’m not sure if I want to wear it, but I still have this manicure if I decide to wear it. This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Golden-I and Migi pens. I just discovered these nail art pens and I’m a huge fan!