Neon Gradients with Stamping

Next theme for #WNAC is gradient. I did a green to purple gradient which I have been wanting to do for forever just never seemed to get around to it. I just think these colors mesh so well together.

I have two coats of Orly french white as my base coat. I sponged on Orly key lime twist, Orly skinny dip, and China Glaze plur-ple. I dabbed up and down and side to side to help blend the colors together. I sponged it about 6 times to make sure I got the opacity and gradient I wanted. I used a coat of out the door to help everything blend and dry before I stamped. Once dry I used Born Pretty Store plate bp24 with Mundo de unas white to stamp on the floral image. One more coat of out the door to seal in the stamping.

Macro of ring nail

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha
*These photos were taken in sunlight

Lace Stamping with Born Pretty Store Y003

I absolutely love this plate from  Born Pretty Store. I have been wanting to find a nice lace plate and this one definitely fits the bill. I will say that the only real negative thing about the plate is that there is no backing. Most plates come with something on the back that also helps protect the sides from being sharp. I find I have to be careful when handling this one so as not to cut myself. Other then that this plate is amazing. The images are huge so it will fit all nail lengths, they stamp crisp and clear, the designs are stunning. The direct link for this plate is here.

My base color is 3 coats of Orly mirrorball. I applied one thin layer of seche vite to prepare for stamping. To get the lace image I used mundo de unas black with my pueen stamper. You can tell when looking at my ring finger and thumb that I did put a bit too much pressure when applying the stamp which has made the fine lines smear a bit. It has nothing to do with the plate, it picked up crisp, I just made a bit of error when applying.

Be sure to check out the rest of the nail art  and with my code HMSQ10 you can receive 10% off your order. I really want to use this plate for a pedicure. I think that it would be perfect in white for anyone with an upcoming wedding to attend. You get to still be trendy with stamping and but you get a classic look with the lace.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha

Beauty and the Beast Theme

*Disclaimer: Please excuse my nails in this look. I broke my middle finger nail and did not realize how bad the shape was until I painted and took photos.

Next up in my Disney Princess series I have Belle. Now I admit I did cheat a bit and use these adorable nail decals from Born Pretty Store . This was my first experience with nail decals and I am thrilled to say that they were so simple to use. All you have to do to apply them is hold the decal in water for about 10 seconds, slide it off the backing, and position on it on your nail. It's really that easy. You can check out all their other nail art products. They have a ton of different options and my code at the bottom on my post will help save you 10% off

 The yellow is China Glaze sun upon my skin. I used Opi I just cant cope-acabana to get the details on her dress. The base color is Essie mademoiselle. The roses are all a base of Essie double breasted jacket, with China Glaze bottoms up, and Color Club featured hair out to there for details. The stem is China Glaze treble maker and Opi jade is the new black. I used Seche Vite to seal everything in.

After I got done this with look I wasn't too thrilled with the yellow. I felt like it still looked patchy and is just not a great color on my skin tone. If I was to redo this I think I would use a different background color but when I think of Belle I think yellow.

Macro of ring finger

Macro of thumb

 **I was sent these products for review but it does not effect my opinion.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha

Can I Get An Untz Untz

Last neon glitter from China Glaze's new Electric Nights collection is Can I get an untz untz. The name is atrocious but the glitter is amazing. Just like the other glitters in the collection this works best over a white base. Although it does show up over other colors, it tends to not show all the colored flecks unless over white. I chose not to sponge this one on and just the brush with the bottle. You can see from the photos that you do get a pretty good glitter payoff from just using the brush but if you use a makeup sponge you don't get that buildup from the clear base nearly as bad.

I decided to use some of the other colors from the collection for my accent nail.I do like how well these colors go together. I have found with some collections the colors wind up being inharmonious, so it's nice to see one where they stand alone and together beautifully. The plate, Bp-31 is from Born Pretty Store. I used Mundo de unas black to stamp and filled it in with China Glaze's Daisy know my name, home sweet house music, violet-vibes, treble maker, glow with the flow, and dj blue my name. My white base is two coats of Orly dayglow.I did only use one coat of seche vite for my top coat but you may want to use two as it is a bit of a top coat eater.

Macro of ring finger

Macro of thumb

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha

*Use code RA4X31 for 10% off all your Born Pretty Store purchases.
-All photos were taken in my lightbox

Beach Escape Nails

For those of us still stuck in the colder weather what else is there to do other then dream of the beach. Warm sandy beaches, breeze coming in off the ocean, a nice pineapple drink in your hand. Excuse me while I take a minute to come back to reality. I wanted to recreate a look I did last year that was a gradient and palm trees. Sometimes it's nice to see how far along you've come with your skills. I can great improvement in both my blending of the gradient and my stamping. I added more to these as well.

I started out with one coat of Color Club Look, Don't Tusk before applying a gradient of Fresh Paint Honeydew and Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau. Once my gradient was dry I went in with Klean Color black and stamped on the palm trees. I used two different plates, Mo-You London Tropical 12 on my thumb and Born Pretty Store BP-23 for the rest of my nails. I used the black to paint on the land at my nail edge. I felt like it still needed a bit of something so I used China Glaze Peachy Keen to paint some birds. Unfortunately I applied Seche Vite a bit too soon and smeared my ring finger. 

Macro of middle finger

Original design from July 2014

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha

*Use code RA4X31 for 10% off all your Born Pretty Store purchases.
-All photos were taken in my lightbox

Rainbow Roses

Ever spend so much time on a nail design that your eyes start to cross? This was it for me. I really wanted to have this neon rose look. I am head over heels in love with how they turned out. So much better than I had imagined in my head. So I'd say that were worth the headache.

To save myself some time I stamped all of the roses first. They are from plate BP30 from Born Pretty Store. I stamped them with Klean Color Black. While the black was drying I went in and painted two coats of Honeydew by Fresh Paint. You can Fresh Paint at Five Below. I was really surprised at how well this polish applied. It was patchy the first coat but evened out on the second just time.

All of the colors I used for the roses are from Color Club. The pink is Peace, Love, & Polish. The orange is Foxy Mama. The yellow is Not-So-Mellow Yellow. What a Shock is the name of the green. The only non shimmer polish is the blue which is Chelsea Girl. Last but not least is the purple called Ultra Violet. Because of them being neon I went over the top of the colors I filled in with Essie Blanc which is just a white. It really helps them stand out when applied over the green.

I wanted the roses to fully dry before I applied them because I was worried the colors would smear with top coat so I just set them off to the side while I went in and stamped with Mundo de Unas #55 Orchid and Mo-You London plate Tourist 21. It is a bit hard to see but the stamp says Ooh lala. It is from their Paris themed plate. Because I had let the roses dry to get them to stick to my nail I just went in with a thin coat of Glisten & Glow Hk Girl Top coat. It gives the stamp something to adhere to.

 I used two coats of Seche Vite to help seal in the design. I used two coats because I felt like the roses were raised a bit high. I don't want them to hang on anything.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha

 

 

*Use code RA4X31 for 10% off all your Born Pretty Store purchases.
-All photos were taken in my lightbox

Floral Stamping with Born Pretty Plate 54

I recently ordered some plates from Born Pretty store including BP 54. In the center is this gorgeous floral pattern that reminded me of Winstonia's plate that is always sold out. Theirs is also a bit big. I have a feeling it wouldn't fit on my nail so once I saw the same image but smaller I knew I had to snatch it up. The etching of this plate was deep and produced crisp images. The bald spot on my pointer finger was from my application not the plate. You can purchase this plate here. Enter code RA4X31 at checkout and get 10% off your order.

Base color is China Glaze(CG) Spring in my Step stamped with Color Club(CC) Twiggie with Mo-You London plate Tropical 12 (which unfortunately you can barely see the leaves). I stamped the floral image with KleanColor black and filled in the design with Color Club Wicker Park and CG Givers Theme. I rotated the flower with each finger. Seche Vite as top coat as usual.

Macro of middle finger

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha

 

 

*Use code RA4X31 for 10% off all your Born Pretty Store purchases.
-All photos were taken in my lightbox

Jelly Sandwich with Stamping

Base colors are Rica Squishy Grape with China Glaze Be Merry, Be Bright as a jelly sandwich. Glisten and Glow Hk Girl was used to smooth out the polish and help drying time. I stamped Bp 03 (which you can find here ) with their white stamping polish. Seche Vite is my final top coat.

Macro of ring finger

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha 



*Use code RA4X31 for 10% off all your Born Pretty Store purchases.

-All photos were taken in my lightbox