Stars For Audrey

I heard so many great things about China Glaze For Audrey nail polish that I had to try it out for myself. Like the name suggests, For Audrey is a Tiffany blue shade. Two coats was perfect and it dried fast. I stamped a snowflake design from Konad plate M59.

 

 

I haven't done anything to my nails in a while but I have some time off work at the moment. My new job as a trainee reporter is pretty full on and I haven't had the time to do the nail art I used to do. I need to get into more of a routine and make time.

 

How do you fit in 'me' time with a hectic work schedule?

Bows and Holos

Using the new M59 Konad stamping plate and OPI DS Signature holographic polish I created a simple yet eye catching manicure.

Firstly, the holographic polish:

Stamping with Konad Special Polish in black:

I have not been in the habit of stamping for a while, for some reason I just couldn't get this bow stamp as crisp as I would like.

I got the OPI polish from ebay a while ago but have barely used it, seeing as the sun came out a bit in North Devon I put it in.

Konad scraper stamper combo

I have been a fan of the Konad stamping system for years, up until now I had been using the small stamper with a scraper. A while back Konad brought out a stamper scraper combo. I appeared to have lost my previous stamper (actually I think one of the kittens may have run off with it) so I bought the all in one. Seeing as I was on Amazon I picked up a new image plate, M59.

The stamper/scraper combo comes with a stand, the green end is the small end, pink the larger end which allows you to create full nail designs and of course the scraper on the side. As far as how it is to use, it feels quicker, I guess because I didn't have to keep putting it down like I do with the individual stamper/scraper.

The image plate, M59 has snowflakes, bows and hearts.

What Went Wrong - The Story of The Vanishing Konad

I was playing around with some Konad stamping, using two coats of Buffy The Violet Slayer  (wet n wild) and stamping with Konad special polish in white and using plate m57 with the zebra print I came out with this:

This is before top coat, see the white polish is all crisp and the pattern is nice and obvious. I applied a coat of SV and this happened:

See what I mean? What happened to my white Konad stamping? Don't get me wrong, I do quite like this muted design, but it isn't obvious I have a stamp on my nails. I have no idea why this has happened, I never have this problem with the black special polish and top coating with SV.

Has anyone else ever come across this problem?

Meteor Match with Leopard Print

I hadn't used any of my Leighton Denny polishes in months so I pulled out Meteor Match and stamped with Konad special polish in black using plate M57.

Meteor Match by Leighton Denny (Atmospheric Collection) was a polish sent to me for review last year and I have used it in a post before. It is a very sheer blue-ish silvered polish with micro silver glittery particles. I took three coats to get a solid base. It is a pretty colour but it does take a little time and effort to get it to build up.

Stamping really jazzes up any polish!

Cyan Blue with Block Orange

Using two Barry M polishes, Cyan Blue and Block Orange, I created this manicure along with some Konad stamping.

Up until now I hadn't tried this stamp design on my Konad plate M63 so thought I would give it a go. I have to say this isn't one of my favs, on some nails I didn't stamp quite straight, therefore I find this pattern unforgiving for flaws. For some reason on top of the orange the pattern seems distorted.

The two polishes before the stamping:

These photos were taken with two coats of each polish, that is one of the qualities I love about Barry M polishes, the are so cheap (£2.99) but the colour pay off is intense.

Beth's Top Turquoise

Using two coats of Models Own in Top Turquoise on all my nails apart from the ring finger where I used Models Own Beth's Blue and stamping with Konad plate M63 I cam up with this manicure.

I love blue nail polish, it's the colour I seem to own the most of and Models Own does some fantastic blue polish, these are just two that they have to offer, there are many more.

I stamped using Konad special polish in black and applied one coat of SV.

Golden Green Zebra

I can't remember the last time I used Konad so I dusted the kit off and stamped away. Base is two coats of golden green from the Beetlejuice collection by models Own.

Stamped with Konad special polish in black with the zebra print from plate M57.

I need to use Konad more often, I forgot how much I enjoy using it.

Vinyl Record with Butterflies

I haven't played with my stamping plates in a while so I created this quick manicure. Two coats of Vinyl Record from LA Girls (one of my fav blue polishes sent from Nicole at Noir Lacquer in one of our earlier swaps last year) then stamping using Konad special polish in black and using the butterfly design on Art Deco plate A95.

I have used this polish in so many of my manicures, it is one of my fav blues, it applies so smoothly and the colour is so rich and creamy. I know this isn't important at all, but I love the shape of the bottle too.

A Vampy Divide

Using two of the polishes Nicole from Noir Lacquer sent me from our recent swap I did a scotch tape half n half manicure. I usually dot another polish over the divide but I like the way this looked with just the two shades.  First i painted a coat of Edyta by Zoya over all my nails and waited for it to dry. Next up I applied scotch tape diagonally across all my nails and painted two coats of essie's geranium. 

The essie polish would be a lot more vibrant if I painted it over a clean nail rather than on top of a dark colour like this Zoya one. But actually I really like the way this looks, dark and vampy.  

A two purple zebra

Playing around with some more polishes from Nicole, a newer Zoya called Jem and a polish she sent me a while ago called Fashion Addict from Color Club. Jem being a deep shimmery plum and Fashion Addict being a light lilac. Here they are are on my nails, two coats of each and the zebra print from Konad plate M57. I stamped using Konad special polish in white and black.

I used Seche Vite to lock the pattern on, take a look at how gorgeous Zoya's Jem is, I just love the richness of this colour.

Finally my other half bought me some flowers, I love carnations, they are one of my fav flowers, they come in such a huge array of colours. 

Beatrice Butterflies

I hadn't used any Konad bits for a while, I didn't fancy a full nail design so I opted for butterflies....

I used two coats of Beatrice by Andrea Fulerton and stamped using Konad special polish in white. The plate is from Art Deco and is A95. After I had stamped the butterfly design I applied China Glaze fast forward top coat, which I think I like more than Seche Vite. My bottle of Seche Vite has gone very gloopy and stringy, there isn't much left, I probably will buy a new bottle at some point but for now I am happy with CG fast forward as it doesn't give that annoying shrinkage at the tips.