It's My Birthday!!

Yes, today is actually my birthday. I've had a bad week, so I decided to paint my nails to cheer me up. This is my first real attempt at a birthday nail manicure. Last year I attempted it, but it was so horrid I don't even think I took a pic of it. This year I'm much happier with it. After the jump I'll explain each nail separately.

How To Make Stamper Decals

Yesterday I mentioned Stamper Decals. Decals are images printed on some other substance that are then applied to the nails. There are all kinds of images you can buy online and in the stores, but here is a way to make some at home using your stamping plates. Using this technique you can color in the stamped images before applying them to your nails.

 Check out how after the jump.

Paisley Stamping Decal

Co-worker pointed out a card at work and told me I should paint my nails like that. I'll try and get a picture of it (Google isn't being helpful right now) but it was a pink and green paisley card. I decided to try a technique I read about a month or so ago called stamper decals. I'll write up a post about that soon, but here is my first serious attempt at stamper decals. Looks good, but next time I'll be more careful about getting it to lay flat, it wrinkled a little when I put it on. Base color is Sally Hansen "Straw-Ready" ( I really love this color for summer) and stamped with BundleMonster BM315 in Milani "White on the Spot". I then filled in the stamp with Sally Hansen "In Record Lime" and Sinful Colors "Hazard" a coral-y orange that unfortunately just looks like more of the base color. Other than a few mistakes, I really like this and might do the decal on ALL my fingers instead of just an accent, but the decals take a lot of time to make.

Fuzzy Coat

I saw this in the store the other day. Now you guys know my thoughts on the "textured" fad right now like liquid sand, but this seemed different. There isn't any information on it on the posters in the stores, but this picture was shown:

Photo from ConfusingCourtney

Looking at that photo I thought the Fuzzy texture would be soft. Maybe some company has finally figured out how to do nail polish and flocking powder in one! I was so excited thinking of velvet nails. Well...no. Its still a cool polish, but not for any of the reasons I thought it would be. As cool as it is, I'm still vaguely disappointed in it. See more pic's after the jump.

Nail Polish Lexicon ~ Crackle Polish

OPI "Gold Shatter", Avon Mosaic Effects in Black, Sally Hansen "Distressed Denim" and "Cherry Smash",
L.A. Girls Cracked in White, China Glaze "Haute Metal", "Cracked Medallion" and "Oxidized Aqua".

I love crackle polish. Yeah, I know, the fad is pretty much over, but that doesn't change the fact that I still like it. Last year it was all over the place and each brand was coming out with different colors all the time, but now? You can find it on clearance some places, but I can't think of any brand that carries one in its everyday line. I could be wrong tho. Any way, what is a crackle polish? A Crackle polish is special effect topcoat that when it dries cracks, allowing you to see any color polish you put on before it. Confused? Ok, well here is a close up of a finished nail with crackle on it.

I painted this nail with 2 coats of Orly "Liquid Vinyl" and let it dry. That's important. You have to let it dry or the crackle will mix with the under coat and either not crack right or the base coat will crack with the crackle and you won't see it below. The crackle I used with this nail is OPI "Gold Shatter". There is something about the glittery crackles that I adore, but don't freak out, they go on pretty sheer but as they dry and crack the color gets stronger. The solid colors are good in black and white, but the colored ones you have to be careful about what color you pair with it. Like this one...

This is Mystery Polish "Hot Rod" with Sally Hansen "Cherry Smash" Crackle coat over it. I thought it would make a neat Christmas polish, all green and red, but the dark green made the red look muddy and gross. So from now on I'll only use this red over lighter colors.

One other note on crackles, when they get old they get chunky and thick. I'm not sure how well nail polish thinner works on them or if it affects the crackle, but I don't think it hurts it much. When my white gets a bit thicker I'll give it a shot and let you guys know if it hurts it. Hmm, I didn't start out with the intention of making this a Lexicon post but it kinda turned into one :)

Mermaid Tail

I love the idea of the mermaid tail mani. A glitter blue green polish stamped over with a fish scale stamp. Well, problem is I don't have a fish scale stamp so I tried this 2 ways with different stamps. The polish below is Orly "Halley's Comet" stamped with Pure Ice "Silver Mercedes". The stamp above is on my left hand and is BundleMonster BM319.

On my right hand I used the same polishes but instead used BundleMonster BM209. I liked this one better but had some issues after I bumped it and scratched off the stamping on the end. Happens to my right hand all the time *sigh*. This one works better as a Mermaid's Tail but I'd like to add some chunky glitter to the polish before stamping next time.

Barbed Rose

Another attempt at layered stamping. I painted the nails with Orly "Mirror, Mirror" stamped with Sally Hansen "Straw-Ready" in BundleMonster BM323 roses and Wet n Wild "Black Creme" same plate barbed wire. On the accent nail I went over the roses with Sally Hansen Gem Crush "Cha-Ching". I also tested a different topcoat on my left hand and it smeared so badly and never dried well or smoothly. So as of right now Seche Vite is still my go to topcoat.

Nail Polish Lexicon ~ Undies

There are polishes out there that are glorious in one coat. Easy to apply and stunning. Then there are other polishes, that while just as pretty, need some help to achieve a knock out manicure. Neons, pastels, and some dense glitter or holographic polishes come to mind as needing a base color to make them stand out wonderfully. Neon and pastel polishes usually look their best over a white color while glitters and holos are best over a black. The color you put down, in these examples black and white, are what are known as underwear or undies polish. The idea is it is a polish you won't see, but make the polish you do see better.

Here is an example of white making neon look better.

Sally Hansen "White On"

Here I painted half the nail white and left the other half bare so you can see the difference.

Sinful Colors "Pink", "Summer Peach","Neon Melon",
"Irish Green", and "Love Nails"

See how much more the neon pops over the white? Especially the yellow.

Wet n Wild "Black Creme"

And here is 2 polishes that benefit from being painted over black

Wet n Wild "Born Into Privilege" and Hard Candy "Beetle"

Alot of dense glitters look better over black and most duochromes as well. There you go, now you know what undies polish means!

Love Letters

And a second take on my purple milky glitter franken. I'm really working on my layered stamping, but just don't quite have the hang of it yet. I stamped BundleMonster BM311 in Sally Hansen "Grape Race". On the accented ring finger I stamped again in BundleMonster BM323 (isolating one of the roses) in Milani "White On The Spot". I like it, but its still missing something. Maybe if I stamped in a super pale purple instead of white....I dunno. Still working on it.

Lace Ribbons

Here is the milky glitter I made yesterday. Of all my frankens, this is my fav so far. I really need to make more milky glitters! Stamped with BundleMonster BM321 in Milani "White on the Spot". Very easy, light and girly. Sorry for the short post, I'm having some real internet problems and I'm trying to get a few posts done fast before I lose net again.

Nail Polish Lexicon ~ Franken Polish

A Franken Polish, like Frankenstein's Monster, is a polish made up from other polishes. A drop of this and a drop of that to make a whole new creation. I have just started making up my own starting with a hideous topcoat that has been sitting around in my stash for years. It became thick and yellow and I was NEVER gonna use it. I probably should have thrown it away, but now I'm glad I didn't. A couple drops of thinner, some color from other polishes, and a pinch of glitter and I have my first Franken.

Here I really wanted a St. Patrick's polish, a nice Emerald or Kelly green with gold hex glitter floating in it like gold coins. While I'm proud of it it does have a major issue that I still need to research. The glitter falls to the bottom fast and needs to be shaken constantly to get it on the brush. I've heard that to add glitter to polish you need a suspension liquid to add to the polish so the glitter stays spread out, but I don't have any and don't know what could work in its place. Here is a close up of the jelly like green.

And of course I can't stop at one Franken Polish!

Now, how exactly do we make a Franken? Find out more after the jump!

My First Franken

Guess who just took her first steps into the world of Frankening! I'm gonna make a Lexicon post on Frankens later but I'm just so excited I had to share this first. Basically I took a clear polish and added drops of other polishes to make a new color. I'm still learning how to make the colors opaque, but I'm excited about these first few bottles I made. Both the yellow and coral have a hint of shimmer to them but it's not coming through in the pictures well.

So much fun! I'm off to buy some more clear polish. And maybe some empty bottles...

Nail Polish Lexicon ~ Jelly Sandwich

For quite a while I was stumped by the term "jelly" and "jelly sandwich". I kept getting it confused with Gel nail polishes and tips. The main trait of a jelly is it is very translucent with a weak or watery color. To make it opaque would take a crazy amount of coats if you could get it opaque at all. I used to hate the few jelly bottles I had thinking they were lame polishes and the color too weak to do anything with. I've since apologized to them :) Now that I'm using them correctly I think of the colors and squishy (no idea why) or like Jolly Ranchers or some other hard candy.

The most popular use of jelly polishes are layering them with other polishes, usually glitter. Layering them is what is known as a jelly sandwich. This gives depth and dimension to a manicure. Check out a few samples after the jump.

Memorial Day 2013

Memorial Day this year was a little dreary and wet, but we still had a good turn out at our local cemetary where my family does a little history presentation. For fun I did index and ring in Wet n Wild "Saved by the Blue" and thumb, middle, and pinky in China Glaze "Hey Sailor". Dotted on the blue and stamped on the red in Milani "White on the Spot". The stamp is BundleMonster BM221. Just something slapped together the night before, but still fun.

And again, trying to use my webcam for photos. Still haven't gotten the hang of it yet. Sitting in the library where the internet is hundreds of times better than at home.