Yesterday was Shakespeare's birthday, and the 400th anniversary of his death. I go to the theatre a lot, and love a bit of Shakespeare, so I did nails.
I started these with a base of a splodged on mix of three beigey-nude colours. I needn't have bothered, as they were so similar I should just have painted them one of the colours. I had been aiming for a sort of parchmenty unevenness to the colour. Oh well.
I then stamped using three different MoYou London plates. The skull was Rockstar 01 and Konad Black, the script was Scholar 02 and Barry M Cocoa, the quill was also Scholar 02, with Konad Black, and the roses were from Pro XL 26 and Colors by Llarowe The Heart Bleeds. I added matte topcoat to all the nails except the one with the roses, because I wanted them to look sparkly. It isn't hugely obvious, but the text is the opening of Romeo and Juliet.
I've been feeling pretty disillusioned with blogging recently, but I have still been doing my nails (and apparently buying FAR too many Mo You London stamping plates!) So today, just a quick look at a couple of the designs I've been wearing.
These nails were more reverse stamping decals. I started with a base of Barry M Pearl, and used MoYou London Flower Power 04 to stamp using Konad Black, Barry M Dragon and Colors by Llarowe This Heart Bleeds.
I really like how these came out! There are a couple of smudgy bits in places, but I'm choosing to ignore them.
These blue nails are the ones I am wearing now - I've had these on for three days now.
I started by sponging on a splodgy, random base using lots of Barry M Gelly blues.
I then stamped using MoYou London Flower Power 08 and Konad White. I managed to get the design pointing in different directions on each nail, but oh well.
The MoYou London Flower Power plates are gorgeous! I had to buy six.
Today I'm wearing another Barry M Gelly, Sugar Plum. This isn't one of the new ones, but it is new to me. It's a lovely bright, happy pink, with a touch of purple to it.
I taped off the tips with sellotape, and stamped using Konad Black and Born Pretty plate BP-21.
The black smeared slightly in places when I added topcoat. I wish I could find a black that didn't do that!
Still, I'm quite pleased with how these look, and the smears aren't obvious unless you look really closely.
Today's nails are some freehand floral nails. I haven't done flowers in far too long!
I started with a base of Barry M Sugar Apple, a pretty blue-green creme. I then used a fine brush to freehand the flowers. I used a combination of Konad White, then Barry M Pink Punch and Rose Hip for the petals, with Yellow for the centre, and Key Lime and MoYou London Spring Green for the leaves.
I'm really pleased with how these turned out!
And just to show that I do always do my right hand, even if it's not quite as neat, here's my other hand! Sorry, I can't pose it properly or hold the camera level!
I kind of wish I'd added lots more flowers now!
Last week I received a surprise package from the Born Pretty Store to review! It was a new stamper, and some Konad White stamping polish.
As you can see, I have a few stampers now. On the left is the new one which I was sent for review. You can buy see that one here on the Born Pretty website. In the middle is a MoYou London one which I bought earlier this year. On the right is my go-to stamper which I use all the time.
The new Born Pretty stamper is a double ended one with a nice comfy hand hold. It's the really squishy, sticky type, which I believe is called a 'mushroom' stamper.
The bigger end is really large, and easily has space for a full nail design.
I really wanted to like this stamper, but I'm afraid I just really struggled to get it to work. When it arrived, the rubber head was really sticky and oily. I washed it well in hot soapy water, and cleaned it with acetone. It was still very sticky though, and I just found it very difficult to get it to pick up and transfer an image. It did work sometimes, but not at all in a reliable way.
Here it is with Konad Black - it has mostly picked up the design, but there are some patchy bits.
Here it is with Models Own Bubblegum - again, patchy in the way it's picked up the design.
Here I've tried a metallic polish, Models Own Gold Chrome, and as you can see, it's hardly picked up any of the design at all.
I found this stamper really comfortable to hold, but it just didn't work reliably enough to use with different polishes. Maybe there is a knack to it that I can't work out, because I know that some people really LOVE these types of stampers. If you know what the trick is, please do tell me! This stamper costs $2.99 on the BPS website, and comes in lots of different colours.
Contrast this with my usual stamper, which picks up the design perfectly, whatever the polish. This stamper is firmer and not sticky. I believe that I bought this stamper from the Born Pretty Store a couple of years ago - you can see it here. I did buy some replacement heads so that I had a contrasting colour - this grey one came from MoYou London. I love this stamper, and use it all the time, and I have no plans to replace it any time soon.
The square stamper is from MoYou London. It is also squishy and a bit stickier than my regular stamper, although nowhere near as much as the new stamper. It works well, and I tend to mostly use it when my nails are very long, so that I can fit a full design on. I always go back to my regular stamper though!
On to the Konad polish! I already have a Konad white and black, and they really are the best polishes I've found for stamping. If you see me stamping with white, then it's this polish. Here are some of the designs I've made using Konad White.
As you can see, it stamps cleanly and crisply over all sorts of colours. It's pigmented enough to be clear and visible over dark colours and pastels, and with bold designs or in fiddly delicate ones. My only issue with the Konad polishes is if you add topcoat too quickly, in which case it can bleed. But patience and proper drying avoid any problems.
You can get Konad polishes on the Born Pretty Store website here in a variety of colours (I've got my eye on the pale pink!) for $7.59 each.
As always, you can get 10% off everything at BPS using my discount code.
I received these products for review purposes, but words and opinions are entirely my own. I do not receive anything if you use my discount code, although when it's been used ten times, BPS will let me host a giveaway for my readers! See my Disclosure page for more details.
For months now, every time I have a bath I've looked at my bathroom window and tried to work out how I could get that on my nails. The flowery pattern against a pale sky is so pretty!
Today's nails aren't really anywhere close to it, but they were inspired by it, so they count!
I did a gradient using Barry M Huckleberry, Essie Maximillian Strasse Her (I still don't understand that name!) and Barry M Grey.
I then stamped over it using Konad White and the MoYou London ProXL 14 plate.
What do you think? Success, or not?
Tonight I've got one last post for June. I don't usually do nails or post them this late in the evening, but I was in the mood for a gradient, so here I am.
This gradient started with a base of Barry M Coconut, the off-white Gelly. I then sponged on a gradient of Barry M Huckleberry and Blue Grape. Sadly, I switched to bargain pound shop sponges, and they're rubbish - there are lots of little lumpy particles stuck to my nails!
After the gradient, I used Konad White and MoYou London plate Mother Nature 14 to add the stamping. The design is actually branches and blossom, but I think its abstract-looking enough to look nice in this colour scheme.
The next plate I tried from my delivery from Born Pretty Store, was BP-48, which has a large paisley floral design covering half the disc (great if you have really long nails!), a pretty rose design, a butterfly, and a lacy pattern that's easily large enough for a full nail.
I wore a base of Essie Sand Tropez, which is a fab nude polish that I really like. This is two coats.
I then stamped using Konad White and the lacy pattern that takes up a quarter of the stamping plate. As you can see, I misjudged this on my thumb slightly and missed a bit, but that was nothing to do with the plate, and everything to do with my clumsiness.
I love how this turned out! It's such a delicate design that it could easily have become smeary or patchy, but the plate etching is obviously good, because the pattern transferred easily and stayed perfectly clear.
I'm really impressed with these Born Pretty plates - the quality is good, and the designs are really nice. And they're really good value! This is available on the Born Pretty website here, for $2.99 - and you can get 10% off if you use my discount code too.
This stamping plate was provided for honest review. See my Disclaimer section for more details.
I've showed you this Dance Legend thermal polish before (see post here), but last time I wore it, my nails were very short. While the polish looked good, I was looking forward to seeing what it looked like now my nails are longer again.
The answer is - pretty damn good! There's some tip shrinkage here from the Seche Vite topcoat, as I'd been wearing this for a couple of days when I took these pics.
This is two coats of Dance Legend Termo 181, with topcoat for shine.
This is a red to black jelly polish, full of red and gold glitter. When it's cold it's a glossy black, with some of the glitter hinting through. When it's warm, it's a gorgeous orangey-firey red.
This is immediately after holding my hand under the hot tap...
And this is the polish gradually cooling down on the tips...
And this French mani look is the appearance it's had for most of the last two days - warm fingers, cool nail tips.
This morning, I wasn't ready to take this off yet. So I stamped over the polish with Konad Black and MoYou London Pro XL 14.
When cold, the stamping isn't at all visible. It's just black polish with a few bits of glitter.
But when I come inside from the cold, the design starts to appear!
And a bit more...
And a bit more...
And a bit more! I touched up the tips slightly with the Konad Black to cover the shrinkage.
I'm thrilled with how this turned out! I think it looks really cool and quite elegant. It sort of reminds me of posh damask wallpaper or something.
I've been away to my parents' for a few days, so haven't painted my nails or posted here. But now I'm home and I've borrowed my mum's Dior Rouge Maya. Isn't it gorgeous?
This is two coats of Rouge Maya. One was very almost enough, but one or two nails weren't entirely opaque, so I added a second. I wore this for a day without topcoat, and it was a bit dull on the surface by the end of the day, so these photos are with topcoat.
This is a really lovely consistency and quality, and I love the flat, rounded brush.
Tonight I then stamped over the tips with Konad Black and MoYou London Mother Nature plate 11.
I like the idea of this more than I like the execution - Konad Black always seems to smear slightly and end up looking disappointing. I need a better black stamping polish! Still, I'm quite pleased with how this ended up.
