Just Wing It!

  This has got to be one of my all time favorite polishes... and on an interesting side note, this is the exact same manicure that was my very first Konad!  I was wearing this polish on the day that I bought my first Konad set at the mall and did this design as my first ever Konad experience... it was definitely time to recreate this one!

Outdoors, partial shade, no flash

  This is three coats of OPI Wing It! from the Summer Flutter 2010 collection.  This is a stunning deep pink/reddish jelly polish packed with blueish purple flecks that give it a duochrome like appearance.  It is a bit on the thin side - this is three coats and there is just a touch of VNL, but it is so gorgeous I really could care less!  You can really see that purple in the bottle there, but it is also very apparent on the nails.

Cropped for detail

  The pattern on this one is one of my favorites, the flowers from Konad plate m64 in Konad Special White polish.  I think the white looks really nice against that fuchsia background.  I still love this mani just as much as that first day I bought Konad!

Linkin Park Concert!

  One of my friends and I went to the Linkin Park concert last night - it was SO much fun!  I have to admit I am somewhat (aka majorly) naive to the concert scene - it is always bad timing or to expensive or I don't have someone to go with... so this was really awesome.  I have never been to a concert where everybody in the crowd sang at the top of their lungs to every song, haha.  I wanted to do something for the concert, and also for my KSU Wildcats who were playing (and got totally trampled, but I was expecting that) and I came up with...

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash

  Holo purple and silver!  I thought it fit perfectly for both events.  I started off with two coats of Color Club Wild at Heart, which is a gorgeous deep purple holographic.  This was my first Color Club and I love it - this will probably be my new go-to K-State color.  I was very impressed with the formula, covering excellently in two coats and with a very fast dry time.

Close-up of the holographic effect

  For stamping, I used Color Club Worth the Risque, a really great silver holo that is perfect for Konad.  I used plate m64 to add the swirled pattern to all but the ring finger, and then I added the music notes with plate m73 since they were my concert nails!  I topped it with a coat of Deborah Lippmann Addicted to Speed.  I am really enjoying these nails and have gotten several compliments on them.  I think I am going to have Linkin Park songs stuck in my head for quite awhile! :)

Happy Anniversary!

  Dan and I celebrated our second Anniversary last month.  I borrowed one of Becky's new polishes that fit the day perfectly - OPI Happy Anniversary!

Outdoors, full sun

  Happy Anniversary is a hard color to describe - it is a very sheer, silvery-white polish full of pale multicolor and silver glitter.  It has a sort of opalescent sheen to it and it really shines in direct light.  I used four coats to achieve something close to opacity, however this is really pretty with just one coat as well, for something more sheer.  Forgive my slightly terrible pictures, as these were the first I was taking on my new camera and I was still figuring it out! :)

Indoors, artificial light, no flash

  I added the image with Konad plate m64 and Konad Special Black.  I wore this for our Anniversary date to watch Tron in 3D at the AMC Fork and Screen, where we ate some really yummy food while watching the movie.  A very pretty manicure for a very special day!

Christy's First Blue Nails!

  When I was visiting my sister a couple of weeks ago, my nail polish addiction started to rub off on her... we went to Ulta and she purchased some of her first ever blue polishes!  After I left she continued to go shopping to pick up some new colors she had never worn before.. I am so proud of her, haha!  While we were visiting, I gave her her first ever blue manicure!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash

  For these nails, we started out with two coats of China Glaze Adore, which is a completely gorgeous metallic blue with a hint of green.  This one was my polish, and I have not worn it yet but it is stunning, and I cannot wait to wear it myself.  I feel like I am getting too many polishes, there are so many pretty ones I haven't gotten the chance to wear yet!  On top of this base color, we added flowers from Konad plate m64 using OPI Ink, which was one of the new polishes Christ picked up.  It stamped really nicely, and is a really nice color.  I haven't bought this one yet but it is a polish I have considered many times!  Very pretty.

Indoors, natural light from window, no flash

  I was really happy with how these nails came out, and more importantly Christy really liked them too!  I am glad to have passed on just a bit of my crazy obsession to her (and to have introduced her to Ulta, heh).  We had a lot of fun playing with polish, in addition to the adorable baby.  ;)

Glorious Glitter and Flowers

  Today I have for you another amazing polish from the Zoya Flame collection.  In addition, I used yet ANOTHER polish from this collection for the stamping!  This was from the day I got my Zoya BOGO order in the mail.  I was super excited to try it out - can you tell?  :)

Outdoors, shade, no flash

  For this look, I started with three coats of Zoya Gloria, which is a stunning medium pink full of multi-colored, multi-sized glitter.  It has an amazing glittery foil finish, with larger gold chunks that really stand out among the rose and magenta glitter.  It is really a beauty!  I am totally in awe of pretty much the entire collection.  This one almost got away with two coats but I really thought the third coat was necessary to eliminate all visible nail line.  Application was smooth and dry time quick.  That is 3/3 amazing polishes I have tried from Zoya!

Artificial light - check out the glitter sparkle!

  I really debated over whether to Konad on this one or leave it as is.  As I was thinking about it, another polish from my order caught my eye... and I realized I just had to give it a try!  I used Zoya Valerie and Konad plate m64 to add the purple flowers.  Valerie is a totally beautiful color and I can not wait to try her on the full nail!

Outdoors, full sun, no flash

  I topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite and wore it for three days with minimal tip wear and only the tiniest little chip at the end, so wear was pretty good in my book.  This was one of those more subtle looks, that from far the design was barely noticeable (if at all) but up close it really popped.  I loved wearing it!

Mummy, May I Konad?

  I have been dying for the CG Awakenings collection ever since I first saw them.  A couple of days ago, Dan brought me home two polishes from the collection, Ick-A-Body and Mummy May I?  He is so sweet to get me some pretty polish, especially when I am home sick!  :)

Outdoors, partial shade

    For these nails, I used three coats of China Glaze Mummy May I? followed by two coats of Seche Vite top coat.  Although I was loving the color by itself, I wanted to go ahead and play with some Konad as well, so I used Konad Special White with plate m64.  I do not currently have any Halloween plates, but this one still kind of reminded me of a spider web, so I went with it!  Maybe it is about time to order those BM plates... :)

In full sun

  The polish is a very dark purple/wine color, with loads of pink glitter.  It is really pretty!  I have noticed several comments on this being bumpy even after top coat, and I will admit, that after two coats of Seche Vite it was still just a tad bumpy.  However, I personally did not find it to be distracting or annoying at all, since it is not that bad and the polish is definitely pretty enough to make up for it!

Outdoors, shade

  Overall a very fun, pretty, vampy color!  I am loving it as a Halloween polish as well as just a fall polish in general!

Pretty Little Flowers - Konad of the Day

    First off let me say - I have made it to 50 followers!  I am very excited about this first follower milestone.  Thank you all so much for following, I am so glad you are here!  Don't forget to enter the Follower Appreciation Giveaway if you haven't yet, you can find the link at the top of the left sidebar.  :D

  Last night I decided to try out some new China Glaze polishes that I grabbed at Sally Beauty last time I was there, and got out my Konad for the first time in a little over a week!

Outdoors, shade, no flash

  For these nails, I used three coats of China Glaze Thataway, followed by Konad plate m64 using China Glaze For Audrey.  I just thought the colors looked so pretty together in the bottle that I needed to give them a chance together on the nail!  I was not unhappy with the results!  This is only my second time using CG - the first time being on my toes, which I have not showed you here - and I love this brand!  The polish went on very nice and smooth, and had a very decent drying time.  After stamping the design, I added small Konad gems to the centers of the largest flowers for a little something extra.

Outdoors, full morning sun, no flash

  I really like how these nails came out overall, I think they are fun and summery, which I have to enjoy these last few days of summer before fall is officially here tomorrow.  Dan and I bought some new Halloween decorations last night, and I am really excited to get them up soon!  I don't think I will be able to wait until October 1st.  I am planning out a bunch of fun Halloween designs as well, so I am getting really excited for the fall, and the "official" Halloween time, to get here!

Purple Mist and Swirls- Older Konadicures

I realized today that I never got around to showing you my nails, or my sister's toenails, from when I was down visiting last week!  So tonight I will share these with you.

Outdoors, partial sun, no flash

This is three coats of OPI The Color to Watch, a gorgeous shimmery lilac purple.  I really love this color a lot; it is very pretty on the nail.  The application and dry time was very nice as well.  Over this, I used Konad plate m64 with Nicole by OPI Positive Energy, which I have found to be a great stamping silver.  I was still experimenting with Konad here, and on this mani was trying to find the perfect scraping strength to apply to get the best results.  Therefore, the Konad is a little messy here since it was all experimental.  But still I found that this looked very pretty, and was a delicate wispy pattern and color combo.  I enjoyed it a lot!

I also did my sister's toes while I was visiting.  Toes are harder with Konad, since there is no way that the pattern is going to fit on a big toe (at least not any of the people I have tried so far!) so you have to put the pattern on multiple times.  I think for the most part this worked out for me, although there is a tiny bit of a gap.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash

Outdoors, partial sun, no flash

For her toes, I used three coats of Orly Out Of This World (two probably would have sufficed), which is a gorgeous dark purple with duochrome effect.  The duochrome in this polish is less than with Space Cadet, but it is still very gorgeous.  It is harder to get pictures of, especially on toes, and with the Konad pattern - I will be using it on my nails soon, I am sure!  I used Konad plate m65 with Konad Special White for the pattern, which I mostly got lined up on that big toe!  This was done very late at night when I was very tired as well, so it is a tad more messy than usual, but oh well!  Overall some very cute toes.  I am sure she is probably still wearing these.  :)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already (see below)!  Thanks to those who have entered so far.  I have some really great ideas for some larger, multi-winner giveaways in the future if I get more followers as well, so spread the word, I really appreciate it!

Konadicure - Blue Jay

This is a Konadicure from last week - I will call it Blue Jay.  It is only my third attempt at Konad, as well as my first try layering two designs.

Bluejay Konadicure (Outdors, full sun, no flash)

 For this I used Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!, and then Konad plates M60 and M64 for the patterns, with Konad special polish in black and white, respectively.  I feel like the finished effect was almost like a bluejay's wings (although a very brightly colored bluejay).  I really loved the Blue Me Away polish, it went on very easy, covered beautifully in two coats, had pretty speedy drying time and was a gorgeous blue.  I wish I had taken a picture of the blue itself - next time!  Overall I was pleased with this manicure, even if the final product was a big different than expected.

I had some issues with the Konad on this manicure, as well as some of the same issues on previous attempts.  Other than my obvious need to practice getting these centered and covering the whole nail in some cases!  I am hoping some of you that are more experienced with Konad will be able to answer these questions; any advice is appreciated!

1. I notice that when I Konad, the patterns are not always perfectly clean.  You can see some here, especially on the argyle pattern, that there are little black lines or splotches where there shouldn't be.  Is this because I am not scraping the polish off enough before I roll the stamp on the plate, or is it the rolling/application itself?

2. I have also had a problem with Konad smudging when I paint on the top coat.  I have even waited up to 20 minutes after applying the Konad print to top coat, but still it smudges a bit when I apply the top coat.  It is not as bad here, but it was even worse on my non-picture hand.  I have been using OPI Rapid Dry top coat, although I did get some Seche Vite and am going to try that out tonight.  Do I just need to wait longer, or is the switch in top coats going to help?

3.  Finally for my most obvious (to me, at least!) problem of this manicure - I put the white stripes on AFTER the black argyle.  This looked fine until I applied the top coat; then the black showed through the white, with the final result as shown above.  I assume this could be fixed  by applying a top coat after the black, then doing the white, then another top coat?  Or is there something else I should be doing?

Thanks so much for any advice you can give!  Overall I still enjoyed this mani, even with all of its flaws.  Practice makes perfect!  I am off to practice some more now... :)