NOTD: Lilac Pastelle Fauxnad

The base is Lilac Pastelle, yet another Revlon pastel I have trouble with. It takes at least four-five coats to be opaque. And it's much too pink to be called lilac. Anyway, I used China Glaze Hyper Haute to stamp. Even for those of you who hate the Tronicas, they are great for stamping. I used one of the floral images from Born Pretty's Hello Kitty image plate (M71). Lately, I've been obsessed with off-center fauxnads. So I placed two or three flowers randomly over each nail.

I also added tiny purple rhinestones on a few of the flowers. I found these rhinestones at the grocery store, of all places, but they're the perfect size.

Born Pretty Fauxnad Review

I didn't really need any more fauxnad image plates but when I saw Born Pretty Store had one with penguins on it, I couldn't say no. So I bought the set for my sister, with one catch--I need to use the penguin image. For about 12 bucks, you get a stamper, scraper, and twelve image plates. Shipping is free on all orders.

Most of the images are floral designs but there's a good selection of seasonal stuff, and plenty of hearts, stars, and butterflies. They also have another set with more floral and other images. There aren't any full nail designs in either set, though, so if that's what you're looking for, the Bundle Monster set or Konad plates are your best bet.

I tried out a few of the images using my trusty Wet n Wild Black Creme and most of them stamped well, but one or two took a few tries. It seems like the images just aren't deep enough to hold enough polish after you scrape off the excess. Overall, this is a great set for anyone just starting out with fauxnading, or anyone that wants to expand their image plate collection without paying a lot.

Clicking the image will take you directly to the product page.

If you're interested in this set, use promo code OPENTENOFF before January 31st to save 10% on your order.

OPI What's With the Cattitude? + fauxnad

This is OPI What's With the Cattitude? from their Shrek For Ever After collection. Four (I think) coats. This one went on a bit streaky for me and probably could have used another coat. I have that problem with most pastels though, so maybe it's just me? The true colour is somewhere between the two pics. Not as bright as the flash photo but less dull than the no flash.

With flash

No flash.

I decided to add a little something extra so I used SH Complete Salon Manicure in Gray by Gray and image plate BM20. This picture comes closest to the actual colour of Cattitude.

Christmas NOTD 6: Bells

I'm sorry I've been a bit absent lately. I've been busy with work. I normally get one day off a week and I don't mind working six days in a row. But just the way the schedule worked out the past couple weeks, I had the Monday off of one week and the Sunday of the next so I was supposed to work twelve straight days. Then, this past Sunday, which should have been my day off, I ended up taking someone's shift. So, I'm now on my fourteenth straight day and I have five more to go. But that's enough complaining.

This is Color Club Revvvolution, a holographic charcoal/black. I didn't see the holo effect very strongly though. Maybe I got a bad bottle? Even still, I like the colour and it went on like a dream. One smooth coat was enough for opacity, but, like always, I did an extra to be sure.

NOTD: Greenwich Village

I started off with NYC Greenwich Village, then kept adding more elements. Maybe too much. If I had stopped halfway through the manicure, it probably would have been better. I used fauxnad plate BM17 with Wild Shine Tickled Pink and the glitter and hearts are from Viva la Nails, which I will be reviewing soon.

Looking at the top pic made me realize my nails are finally growing out. I tend to grow them pretty long, then one breaks so I cut them all down to nothing and start over again.

NOTD + Tag

This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green over Revlon Peach Petal. Obviously, before clean-up (again). Peach Petal is way too thin (like most Revlon) and tends to be streaky so this is 4 or 5 coats. And the colour isn't too special on its own, but I like how it turned out with the green. I used bundle monster plate BM20. On its own, Going Green is a medium shimmery grass green which is pretty enough but I really like how it looked more like a softer, pale jade green here. And I added a flower just to make it extra-special. Thanks to Stephanie for setting me off on this nail sticker kick. :)

I also have a quick survey from Stephanie so here goes;

1. Have you ever felt so disappointed in a nail polish you wanted to throw it out the window? And why?
Nothing that extreme but SH Divine Purple let me down. The colour was great but it lasted about an hour before chipping. I'll try it again with Seche Vite and if it still fails, then maybe I'll have to change my answer.

2. What are your top three favorite nail polishes?
  That's really tough. I can name three but then I think of one more that I really love and before I know it I have a list of 10 or 20 I can't part with. But if I absolutely had to name just three? SH Xtreme Wear VIP Pink, SH Hidden Treasure, and China Glaze Dorothy Who?, and also Revlon Gum Drop. I'm sorry it's just too hard to name only three.

3. What is your favorite online store?
I really like ELF for affordable, good quality cosmetics. But lately I've been hooked on ebay for accessories, nail stickers, and a million other things.

4. Is there anything you'd like to share with us that you haven't shared before?
Not that I can think of at the moment, but as I keep blogging, you'll all learn more about me.

5. What is your favorite song of the moment?
Right now, I'd have to say something of Michael Buble, but I can't name exactly one song. My taste in music isn't usually very similar to his stuff, but lately I've really liked it.

NOTD: Pink + White Polka Dots

Today feels like a fuchsia day. I don't know why. I'm not even sure what that means. But if I had to choose a colour today, I would say fuchsia. So I started out painting my nails with Wet n Wild Frosted Fuchsia. I really love this colour. I've been searching for the perfect dark pink for a while. I have probably a dozen pinks but they're all too light so when I found Frosted Fuchsia for a buck at Walmart, I knew I had to give it a shot. And it's absolutely perfect. Dark but still bright with just enough purple/blue undertones without actually being purple.

It looked prettty on its own and with a top coat would have been just fine but of course I just couldn't leave it alone. So, I added white polka dots with fauxnad plate BM19.

To just look at my nails quickly, they look fine, but up close in this photo, I realize how badly the dots turned out. I used NYC Snow White. This isn't a very good polish for fauxnading. It's too thin and streaky. But I've had it for ages so I don't even know if they make it anymore anyway. That said, I think white designs look adorable on pink, so I'm definitely gonna be looking for a good white polish for fauxnading (without paying Konad $7 for special polish, hopefully).

I thought I might have a pink somewhat close to Frosted Fuchsia, so I went through my stash. But the closest is Xtreme Wear Hot Magenta. And they're not terribly similar. Frosted Fuchsia is quite a bit darker and has more blue in it. I'm sure if I wore them on consecutive days, most people wouldn't notice the change though, so I'll have to make sure I don't do back-to-back manis with them. 
edit: I totally just realized that I posted these swatches without saying which is which. Real helpful, right? Hot Magenta is on the left; Frosted Fuchsia, the right.

I know this has been pretty wordy, but one more thing: as much as I love the colour fuchsia, I can't stand the word. I always want to spell it fuschia. I know that doesn't even look like it could be spelled correctly, but neither does fuchsia. It doesn't even sound like a real word, let alone a gorgeous dark pink. That's just my rant for the day. :)

 

NOTD: Full Nail Fauxnad

Elf Desert Haze as the base and Elf Smoky Brown using plate BM19. I really like how these colours look together. The photos don't do it justice. I'm still learning to do full nail stamps. They don't all line up exactly and there always seems to be a little bit of nail showing at one edge.

I love getting mail...

My fauxnad plates from Bundle Monster came today! I wasn't expecting them for another week so it was a nice surprise this morning. The set of 21 plates is only $17.99 (plus shipping). There's a total of 139 images and a lot of variety in the set, with flowers, French tips, full nail patterns, animals, Hallowe'en, Christmas, and so many more. Even a C.N. Tower! I don't know what to choose first.

Butterflies in my Stomach...And On My Nails

Another fauxnad today. This time it's SH Marine Scene butterflies over Elf Mint Cream.

I was a little iffy about this colour combination at first but I think it worked out pretty well. Unfortunately, I did the butterflies upside down. So, here's what they should look like:

NOTD: Fauxnad-icure

I love the look of Konad images on nails but there was no way I could justify paying $6.99 for one image plate, not even including a stamp and scraper. So, I found a knock-off on ebay for under $8 (including shipping) that had six image plates, a stamper, and scraper. All for the price of one Konad plate! 

Anyway, I've been experimenting with different combinations of colours and some polishes definitely work better for stamping than others. (I'm not about to pay extra for special polishes.) Since I couldn't find my charger I haven't been able to take pictures of my NOTDs for a few days, but I finally have batteries in my camera, so here is my first "fauxnad-cure" to show you.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue It over Virtual Violet. I unashamedly stole this colour combo from Susie because I loved her Konadicure over Gum Drop. Check it out here.