Glam Polish: Frankenslime 2016 + Nail Art

I absolutely love the bright greens and glitters that Glam Polish makes and when I saw this one with purple glitter mixed in, I had to have it!



The formula is fantastic for glitter polish, it applied so easily. I didn't have to double dip the brush or do any of that glitter fishing madness that often occurs with glitter polishes. The accent nail is a purple holo called Blackberry Wine from Nvr Enuff, it's worn here with two coats and topcoat.



I wore two coats to reach opacity and to insure even application. I topped it with Gelous and Clearly on Top from KBShimmer.



The mani was screaming for some Halloween nail art, so I did them up with spiders and webs! I used a spider from Bundle Monster 13 and webs from Vivid Lacquer 013. I used MDU black and avocado for stamping.




I hope you've enjoyed the mani and nail art and I wish you all a happy and safe Halloween!

I designed a stamping plate!

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Exciting news, guys..
I've been working with Anni of Vivid Lacquer to create a custom stamping plate with designs that I've longed for. The project has been in the works for a few months and I am excited to share it with you.

I couldn't have asked for a better person to work with. Anni was patient as I changed my mind a few times throughout the process. I love each and every design that Anni drew for the plate, yes, she sketches out each image by hand and then scans them into Illustrator to perfect them.

It's such a magical plate, plus....it even has my signature and logo on it!



The first design that came to mind was a brick wall pattern. I have another plate with a similar pattern but the lines on it were as big as the bricks. I wanted one where the image was more proportional and realistic.

Next was polka dots. I see utterly beautiful manicures done up with a tiny dotting tool, so precisely. I'm not that skilled and really wanted a tiny dot design with good spacing in between.

I've always loved the patterns of tile and tapestries from Morocco so I requested a quatrefoil and double quatrefoil and of course, one of those tile mosaics they are so famous for. Anni also pulled some of the design elements from the tile pattern to use singly - clever!

I also like how the designs can be used on all nails in any direction so I don't have to make reverse stamps for different nails. ^.^

What do you think of it?

I don't yet have it in my hands as the physical plate just arrived to Anni from the manufacturer this weekend and is launching tomorrow at Vivid Lacquer's Etsy shop.

Crème à la Mode:Winter Box

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The Crème à la Mode box is a seasonal collection of cream finish polishes made by four different brands.
The first box was launched in August, and the second box is coming up soon!
The Winter box is packed with beautifully done shades that are unusual for the season but definitely suit it. All four polishes are opaque in two coats and have exceptional formulas and shine. I've done some nail art at the end of the review - hope you enjoy!



Octopus Party
Malibu Stacy's Mom
Popping Bubble Gum pink




Digital Nails
Arboreal
Glass-like Dark Jade green




Indigo Bananas
Scarlet Night
Juicy, squishy Oxblood red




Literary Lacquers
Breathing Dreams Like Air
Creamy Dusty Lavender




Nail art!

Aliexpress plate BCN018 Roses


Vivid Lacquer VL026 Motherboard


Vivid Lacquer VL009 Pie Lattice


Vivid Lacquer VL003 Books

The Crème à la Mode Fall Box launches on November 15 and will be available for a full week through November 26. The retail cost is $26 + shipping.
Each polish will be offered individually in the artisan's shops after all pre-orders have shipped.

Shopping: http://cremealamode.bigcartel.com/
Connect: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1386204558344706/

Vivid Lacquer: Plate VL007 Stamping

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When I saw this design at The Clockwise Nail Polish blog, I fell in love with it! I happened to be wearing a soft champagne gold holo from Ever After Polish called Creature of the Night so I found a Vivid Lacquer design that I thought would work great for this!




I like the original design from The Clockwise blog better than mine, but I am happy with my results.

What is your most recent design inspiration?

Vivid Lacquer: VL014 Dragonflies

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Wishing it was still spring or summer, I whisked myself away with this nailart instead. Gradient stamped butterflies from Vivid Lacquer plate VL014. I blended a couple of MDU polishes for the effect and stamped over Grace-full Sunlight and Starlight that was reviewed previously.




Did you enjoy this? What is your favorite stamping design?

Grace-full: Mount Fang - stamped!

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I was perusing through my stamping plates and spotted this cool hex design on Vivid Lacquer plate 02. So I stamped it using MDU silver over a perfectly charcoal Mount Fang from Grace-full.





It looks like placed glitter on the nail, doesn't it? I have an affinity for geometric designs, they're edgy and fun!
What do you think of geometric designs? Are they your favorites to stamp?

Addicted to Holos: Stamping Nail Art

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I had a little fun with stamping over a few of the Addicted to Holos polishes I recently reviewed. The box is available for preorder now until Monday at the ATH shop.

For this look I used Literary Lacquers Phoenix in Her Blood and stamped with MDU silver, Finger Angel plate V05 and a candy head stamper. I wanted a brick pattern for such a long time and was finally able to find one. I love how this turned out!




I enjoyed doing some fall nails with Sweet Heart Polish Sugar and Spice. I used the wood grain pattern from Vivid Lacquer plate VL19. The leaves, branches and owl are from XIUYA 26 and 29. MDU polishes were used to stamp with my candy head stamper.

In Honor of Pet Rescuers

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I am unable to have any pets due to allergies, but I do love dogs and cats. So I've made a mani honoring those of you that are able to rescue pets. You are truly amazing folks!



I created this with several layers using a base color from Miss Ashleigh called Show Me Your Watermelons. I then stamped it with Vivid Lacquer plate 01 and 27 in three different layers.



If you are a pet rescuer or want to get a new pet, please do consider fostering or adopting from ASPCA or your local Humane Society.

Ever After Blue Steel Stamping

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Blue Steel from Ever After is part of the Ever After Feminine Chic collection which I recently wrote a review for. When I wore Blue Steel I decided to try some nail art stamping over it. Such a beautiful denim-like base with flashes of teals and blues would surely be awesome under a bright design.




I used Vivid Lacquer Plate VL041 with MDU 5 and a candy head stamper. I love the paisley design and how it contrasts with Blue Steel!

The entire Ever After collection will be available 11am central September 25 at the Ever After online store. It's an amazing collection that you won't want to miss!

Rachel is offering special discount codes!
Chicshipping : free shipping on polish and bombs over $20
jetset: $5 off international shipping $20 and over

b.i.t.c.h. by jaclyn: De-Flowered with stamping nail art

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I've been enjoying stamping with my new stamper from Chelle Lee and well, this polish was begging to be stamped!



I used one coat of De-Flowered for the base color and stamped it with Konad black, VL plate 35, and my new stamper head from Chelle. This stamper is the closest one I've found to the original Marshmallow head that I got from Ninja Polish many many years ago. I've bought and tried at least 30 different ones searching for a replacement, and I think I've found it in Chelle's stamper head. It is made from a slightly different material and feels more durable but it is just as squishy and sticky as the original. If you're interested in this stamper, you can fill the form here to order.



The pixelated skull and crossbones is super cute, yet edgy and goes perfectly with this polish, don't ya think?

Bear Pawlish: Pretty Hate Machine and Vivid Lacquer stamping

I recently ordered a few Bear Pawlishes after having tried one in the Sweet Addictions October Box and loving it. The one I'm sharing today is called Pretty Hate Machine which is a shout to Nine Inch Nails. I'm a fan and I love dark polishes, especially holos. So I had to have it!

The formula was perfect in two coats, but the brush in this bottle had much shorter and stiffer bristles than the other four Bear Polishes that I have and it was challenging for me to keep a clean line with it around the cuticle area. I've sent a message to Bear Pawlish to ask about this. (see edit!) This polish stained my nails a dark black/grey color after removal, so be sure to double or triple your base coat.

Other than that, it's perfection. Dark, vampy, blue based and the holo rainbow is quite prominent for how dark the polish is.






I also did some stamping over it with my new Creative Shop stamper! I used Vivid Lacquer plate VL001 skulls design and stamped it with b.i.t.c.h. by Jaclyn's Trendsetting polish from her signature collection (Trendsetting was provided for review previously).




I hope you've enjoyed my quick review of these! What is your favorite Bear Pawlish?

EDIT: Bear Pawlish responded 12/9 and said she would send a replacement brush if I'd like. Also, after removing the polish I noticed that it's a stainer - so do double up on base coat for this one. (I use Yellow Stopper as my base coat)
Today is March 11, 2015 and I have not received a brush replacement, nor any word of when it might be sent to me.

Creative Shop and Vivid Lacquer Stamping

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I recently purchased a behemoth of a stamper from Creative Shop after reading a review and watching a video over at http://pcontreras8nails.blogspot.com/. If you stamp or have tried it and gotten frustrated - you NEED to know about this stamper from Creative Shop. This is the first stamper that I've not had any trouble with right out of the box. No priming and no redoing my stamps. The clear plastic scraper is amazing too. It's a little thinner and much more accurate than a gift card. It's flexible and kind of hugs the plate leaving the perfect amount of polish down in the design.
I did the very first test stamp on paper and then did all my nails and every single stamp was perfect on the first try.

I got everything in this photo for $16.50 shipped. You can order in a facebook group for shipping to the USA.



For the first test stamp I used Black Cream from Wet N Wild.



For this look, I used a base color of Cupcake Polish Yule Be Missing Me stamped with MDU 49, the Creative Shop stamper and Vivid Lacquer Plate VL006 Snowflake pattern.




Vivid Lacquer is having a big sale right now too, prices are already marked down at her shop.

What is your favorite plate or stamper?

(MDU polish and Creative Shop items were purchased by me, the others were sent for review)

HPB Oct. Halloween Mani Link-Up

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I'm a member of the Hobby Polish Bloggers group on Facebook. We're a diverse group of bloggers who help each other discover new ways of getting the blogging done, give each other feedback when asked, and grow our friendship inside and outside the group. Each and every lady in our group is special, we're very supportive of each other and we each contribute in different ways.

We're doing monthly link-ups, and the theme for October is Halloween! I've prepared a few nail art manicures with stamping and a even touch of freehand on two of them!
(The Simples group is really helping give me the confidence to try more free-hand nail art!)

For this look, I used Sweet Heart Polish Rad!, that I recently reviewed, as the base color. I then stamped it with spiders and webs from the Vivid Lacquer plate VL013. Spooky? Creepy?




Next, I tried capturing the feel of eery night skies filled with bats and different phases of the moon. The base is a sponged gradient of two Darling Diva polishes - Early Riser and Tina the Labradorite. The bats are stamped with Vivid Lacquer plate VL013 and the moon is freehanded with a mixture of Zoya Dove and Sweet Heart Polish Bitchin for a greyed out yellow moon effect.




What will you be wearing on your nails this Halloween?

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art with Vivid Lacquer and Literary Lacquers

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Every once in a while I like to do stamping and nail art with my Vivid Lacquer rectangle stamper and stamping plates. I had a lot of fun doing these over several of the Literary Lacquer polishes from the Wrinkle In Time Collection that I previously reviewed. I used Konad black and Mundo de Unas stamping polishes. I hope you enjoy these!




VL020 chainmail design over Aunt Beast



VL002 stars and VL017 planets over Camazotz adorned with a few loose star glitters. Huge thanks to Jenna from Inky Whiskers, she helped design this look.




VL001 xoxo and heart design over Megatron. Any time I think about stamping over purple or lime green I almost always end up using the xoxo design, how could I not?!




And finally VL008 over Tesseract - with this one I did what's called a reverse stamp or decal. It was quite challenging since the flower petals are teeny tiny, but it was fun and I was able to use every Literary Lacquer polish from the WIT collection, yay!




Which is your favorite? And any tips on a fast dry topcoat that doesn't smear nail art?