Flashy lightening bolts

Hello ladies~ I'm finally showcasing my first stamping attempt with the Bundle Monster stamping plates! I received them for a birthday a couple of weeks ago and never got around to playing with them until awhile later. Anyway, here's my attempt with plate BM-301. I started with two coats of Orly Sweet peacock and then stamped with a no brand black polish. I loved the contrast of the bright Orly blue and the black.

Mmm, can't wait to play with these plates more! ;) Do you own the set of plates?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Pretty, girly and french :)

Hello ladies! Another quick post today as I finish off my essay (finally!). I started with two coats of OPI Passion, then layered a coat of NOPI Kim-Pletely in love. I freehanded the french tip using NOPI It's all about the glam and added the silver glitter with a nail art striper polish. Quick and easy for a work appropriate manicure which I wore while I was still on prac :)

I'm not normally big on the French manicure, but it was pretty and something to wear while on prac. What's your stance on French manicures?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Saran wrap and fail stamping

Hello hello :) With this being my second time trying out the saran wrap technique, I was really pleased with the outcome of it. I started with a base colour of OPI Do you lilac it? and letting it dry before taking OPI My very first knockwurst and applying a thick coat of it over Do you lilac it?. I then used my cling wrap to dab over the nail, taking away bits of My very first knockwurst to create the marbled look.

Awesome looking, no? ^^

But because I can't leave the good alone, I just had to stamp over it using fauxnad plate m64.

Which actually wasn't such a bad idea, the final glitter layering just ended up being too much and I promptly removed the manicure. The glitter was LA Colors Starlight.

It totally would have looked okay without the glitter :(

Have you overdone a manicure before and how so?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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A rose wallpaper

Hi ladies! A super short post today because I really need to get on with my essay. I loved the rose nail art Simply Rins posted on her blog so I followed the tutorial to create the design. It is in no way as pretty as hers but I liked it all the same...sort of :P I used OPI Thanks a windmillion for the base colour and acrylic white paint for the roses.

It's super dainty...or would be if my roses turned out better :P What do you think?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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My very own Shooting Star jelly sandwich :)

Hello everyone! When I first laid eyes on Tony Moly Shooting star over at Tales about nails, I knew I had to own it. BUT! Before forking over the money, I decided to try a layering combination I had in mind. Starting off with two coats of China Glaze Light as air, I then applied two coats of OPI Rainbow connection over it. To create the jelly look, I applied two coats of Flormar #20.

Well, they're not exactly dupes but I'm thinking it's close enough for me to not purchase the Tony Moly :P I love how the combination of Rainbow connection and #20 are able to satisfy my lemmings like this!

What do you think? Would this kill your lemming or would you still purchase the original nail polish?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Stamping series: A review of the stamping plates

Hello everyone :) Just to round up, here are the stamping manicures I showed over the past few posts! The plates I used from left to right, top to bottom: m71, m79, m73, m65, m69, m77, m65 (clicking the links will lead you back to the original post)

You may or may not have noticed this - the stamping plates I used in all the manicures shown were in actual fact fauxnad plates available for purchase from Born Pretty Store under the name 16 pcs New Design Nail Art Stamp Template. As you can see from the designs I've used and from the link, these plates are the exact copy of the original Konad ones. If you don't really care for brand, then you can buy all 16 plates for $18.48 and you get free shipping! Quality wise, I found only one plate of the 6 I have tried so far to be of lower quality as the design was not etched deeply enough to ensure a clean transfer.

If you're a beginner with stamping, then this is a set of stamping plates worth considering, especially since there are such a large number of designs to choose from. Even if you're an experienced stamper, you can do with some cheap plates ;) The plates all arrived individually packaged and with a plastic covering over the metal plate to protect it. I love, love, love the fact that these plates are so cheap! At $18.48 for 16 plates, it comes down to $1.16 per plate and considering the original Konad plates are $6.90 each, that's a real bargain. Besides the free international shipping you can check out with, I also have a discount code PIJ61 for a further 10% off your total purchase.

Have you tried these stamping plates before? What are your experiences with stamping in general?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Stamping series: Fit for a royalty!

Hi ladies~ It was my birthday a few days ago so I decided to wear my favourite colour on my nails for the day - purple! Since I was still on prac, I wasn't able to do much nail art and really, this was rather extreme for a workplace appropriate manicure! :P

I started with two coats Chi Chi Hung up. To add a little more sparkle to the shimmery polish, I layered a coat of OPI I juggle...men over it. Then, because I just have to stamp over it, I took fauxnad plate m77 and stamped the necklace design over the gorgeous base colours :)

Yummo, I loved this manicure while it lasted. I took it off after two days though, only because I could finally wear bold and bright colours again! :D

How's that for nails fit for a royalty? And on my birthday, no less. Of course, I'm the queen when it comes to my day... ;)

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Stamping series: Cloudy and rainy blue skies

Hi everyone! Today I have a manicure which was a fail at first but turned out quite nice in the end. Spotting a cloud design on my newly acquired stamping plates, I knew straight away I had to incorporate them into a manicure. I have wanted for ages to put together a blue sky and cloud mani but never got around to sitting down to free hand the clouds. Lets just say the freehand might have been less frustrating than the stamping :P

I started with two coats of Ulta3 spring shower (spring is in the air now in Australia! :D). I then took a no-brand white stamping polish to stamp the cloud design from fauxnad plate m79. This step frustrated me the most as my white stamping polish refused to be picked up - in fact, I had to try several times before I was able to transfer the design onto my nails. Even then, it was really faded and not at all like the in your face cloud design I had hoped for.

Time for Plan B! I decided to layer over a coat of OPI Pirouette my whistle to make the mani look softer and more subtle. And hey presto, a cloudy and rainy looking design was born :)

The plate that I used for the cloud design, see how the design is etched deeply into the plate? Definitely user error and not the plate's fault!

I'm actually really pleased with the way the mani turned out. It's not what I had in mind initially but pretty all the same. I had some kids complimenting my nails while I was on prac and wanting me to do theirs too... ;)

Thanks for dropping by!
~Sharon

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Stamping series: Silver and purple

Hello ladies~ Carrying on with the subtle stamping theme from my previous post, here is some purple and silver stamping. I started with two coats of China Glaze Light as air before stamping with Rimmel Your majesty and fauxnad plate m71.

I found the design on this plate wasn't etched as deeply as it was quite hard to transfer the stamp. It definitely wasn't Your majesty playing up as I have used it with other plates and it stamps perfectly fine. Such a pity as I was looking forward to a lovely lace design.

Are you a huge stamp lover like I'm becoming? ;)

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Stamping series: Subtle stamping over Fantasy Fire

Hello hello~ I wanted to continue with my stamping but didn't want to cover up the beauty that is Max Factor Fantasy fire so I decided to try a more subtle attempt at stamping. It's actually a little more obvious in real life but wow is the stamping subtle in my photos! :P

I used fauxnad plate m69 for the stamp design. I have always wanted to try different animal print designs but could never for the life of me get them looking right. Thank goodness for stamping plates! :P

Do you prefer subtle or bolder stamping designs?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Max Factor Fantasy Fire

Hey everyone! I interrupt my Stamping Series with a nail polish I have wanted for some time. Recently, Max Factor Fantasy fire started popping around in Pricelines and Targets in Australia and I was lucky enough to score one. Of course, I had to remove my current manicure and play with it at once! Here I've layered one coat of Fantasy fire over two coats of OPI Road house blues. Mmmm, just look at that shimmer! ♥ I took a billion and one photos of this and it was just too hard to choose which ones to show. I tried really hard though ;)

I need to get myself out there and find a back up stat, it's just too tiny! Do you own this bottle of beauty?

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Stamping series: Fashion addict meets geometry

Hi everyone! Keeping up with the stamping series I have going, today's post features Color Club Fashion addict. This is a soft lavender purple holo which I don't wear often enough (shame on me!). I didn't manage to get good photos of it on its own but you can imagine the beauty of it ;) I stamped with BYS Thank god it's friday and plate m73.

Here is the plate I used to stamp the design. It's an exact replica of the Konad one, except it's cheaper and can be bought from Born Pretty Store.

I love playing around with the plates and trying out the designs. Do you enjoy stamping? :)

Thanks for dropping by.
~Sharon

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