Grey Forest

 

It's still dull and grey outside. I've been trying to do a perspective mani for a while. Mostly at Halloween with tombstones, but I just haven't gotten the hang of it yet. This one actually turned out ok. I started with an off white base, Sally Hansen's Coconut. Over that I stamped with Maniology's Front Page, Literary Classic and Straight Up Black. I considered adding a glitter over it but eventually decided against that. I did add a silhouette of Santa's sleigh and deer flying above, but it was too much and I'm glad I got a pic of it before I did that. The trees were stamped with Maniology's MXM078 and MXM108

Lunar New Year

 

This was originally planned for a Christmas mani, but I think it works very well for Lunar New Year. This is Maniology's Queen of Hearts and Yellow Brick Road. Over Yellow Brick Road I added Honeypot for extra gold flakes. This mani was also an opportunity to use the golden art nouveau stickers I got in a Mani x Me box. I cut them up a bit so that they fit nicely at the cuticle. Simple and sophisticated, I'm pretty pleased with them.

Snowflake Pond

 

I love pond manis. The depth hinted at is fascinating to me. It's a fairly simple illusion to achieve using sheer polishes. Here I've used a sheer blue (I've recently moved and it is still in a box. I've forgotten the name of it but I think its a Sally Hansen) then stamped a couple snowflakes in Maniology's Bam!White. Then another coat of the sheer blue, another couple snowflakes. Keep repeating until you have the effect you are going for. The first snowflakes you stamp with be the faintest and the sheer blue builds up over it. The last snowflakes will be the brightest. I'm fairly certain I also layered Funky Fingers' Olaf, a matte white glitter and snowflake confetti in between the sheer blue too for more interest. 

Grey Snowflakes

 

We have a couple snow storms on their way in my neck of the woods, so I decided it was time to post this mani I did a few months ago for a contest. I didn't win but I still had fun. A simple gradient of greys (Maniology's Literary Classic and Front Page) stamped with white (Maniology Bam! White). I think there is even a topper of micro gltter to give it a sheen, but I've forgotten what I used (Maybe Maniology's Cloudy?). The plate is Maniology MXM078

Deep Blue Snowflakes

 

This is prolly one of the best gradients I've ever done! I was worried when I picked up Kraken, it just seemed too dark, but look at that! It turned out great! Kraken, Alice, and Blue Ribbon from Maniology make up the gradient. Bam! White is the stamped white from Maniology's plate MXM 116. I think I also used Sally Hansen's Disco Ball for a bit of sparkle. 

Sweet and Spooky Carnival

 

I tried my hand at a Sweet and Spooky mani today! It's October and I love this season. I've been posting a little (really very little) on TikTok and they had this neat filter thing that would change on picture into another. I wanted to do something that looks sweet and innocent but then would turn creepy. I also have to practice my reverse stamping (I'm still so rubbish at that). So I have the happy Fun Fair mani up top with balloon animals, candy and confetti. 

But then....

A Creepy Carnival with clowns, spiders and skulls!

I'll do my best to remember all the plates and polishes I used. 

Fun Fair: Maniology MXM 094 and MXM 095 

Sally Hansen base colors and Maniology Stamping colors.

FreakShow: Maniology M 312 and BM S244 (which I think has a new number but I'm not sure what it is)

The base colors of polish I think were Sinful Colors, Sally Hansen and Maniology. The stamping colors are all Maniology.

Tropical Sunset

Tropical summers aren't really my thing. I'm more of a State Park/National Forest type of girl, but you cant deny how gorgeous an island sunset is. I decided to do an odd gradient and WOW! I had no idea just how cool that would turn out! I'm rather proud of how the stamp complimented the gradient so much!

Maniology Brand Ambassador

Use my Coupon Code at Maniology.com

FOXFIRE10 for 10% off!

 

I can't believe it! I've loved Maniology for YEARS. Back when they were BundleMonster. I discovered stamping in March of 2012. My first BundleMonster order was in April of 2012. So when they came out with the Brand Ambassador program I really wanted to join, but I'm not a big presence on social media. I don't TikTok. I barely Instagram. Ok, I Facebook a lot, but that's just friends and family. Heck, I can barely keep this Blog updated! (sorry!) So I dithered about it for over a year if I should apply or not.

Then my local library asked me to do a nail art program and I *really* wanted to include stamping. Yes, I'll cover other things that you don't need extra tools for, but I LOVE stamping and want to share it with everyone! But how terrible would it be for me to do a program, show everyone how to do this cool technique, then tell them they need all these extra tools for it. It would be nice to give them a coupon code to help them get started. Maniology does do a free kit for beginners (just pay shipping) but for those that want more I want to give them a code. Becoming a Brand Amabassador would give me a coupon code for friends. So I did it. Even though I'm not some big YouTuber or anything I decided to try. 

THEY ACCEPTED ME!!! I am now a Maniology Brand Ambassador. What that means is I have a coupon code, FOXFIRE10 , and anyone who uses it gets 10% off at Maniology.com. Full Transparency here, I also get a commission based on how much my code is used for. But MBA or not, I do love their stamping plates and tools. So you might see an uptick on my activity now, and it might be more directed at Maniology. 

Another Messy Mansion Celtic Knot

 With all the plates and polishes, all the nail art I own, I still come back to Messy Mansion for my St. Patrick's day mani. For a holiday I love so much I really need to get more plates for it. This is China Glaze "Refresh-Mint" with OPI "Gleam On!" Over it. Stamped with MM04 in Maniology (formerly BundleMonster) B441 "Alocasia".

Valentine's Day 2022

A simple mani for Valentine's this year. A smooth mauve pink magnetic to give a little bit of a cat's eye look by Nabi. Then I found a mini bottle of glitter that matched the color so closely that they could have been made for each other. And then, just because I had the box open in front of me, a pearl heart stamp using Salon Perfect's Pearl Stamping kit. Simple and subtle, which is nice cause coming soon is St Patty's and you guys know, simple and subtle doesn't really happen often with me and St Patty's!

Crystal Stamping Kit

 

I swear I posted about this before, but I simply can't find the post. I guess I never actually did so here we go!

Back in 2016, I saw a video someone took at CosmoProf. It was s demo for a stamping technique, but instead of applying polish, it applied crystals to your nails in certain patterns. Great for getting perfect lines and super fast! The company was Pave and after that one video I saw once, I never heard about them again. Jump ahead about 4 years and I find these kits at my local Walmart by Salon Perfect. I'm not sure what happened to Pave, they still have a website but most of their stamping templates are sold out as of this writing. I have no idea if Salon Perfect and Pave are related (I really don't think so) but I am LOVING this kit. And at about 10 bucks each I got both the crystal and pearl set. 

Mani x Me

 I did it. I finally got a subscription to the Maniology Mani x Me boxes. Curious, is it Mani and Me? Or is it Mani by Me? Both ways work. Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked. I'm excited to show you January's box even though it's almost time for February. I'd apologize but by now you guys know I'm just not a fast blogger lol! I have to admit, I took these photos after I already opened the boxes. I was excited. 

And the very first time you order a subscription box they send you a mini scraper and a rectangular stamper. Every thing came well packed. This month's theme was Art Nouveau. 

There are 2 subscription boxes available from Maniology. The first comes with 2 plates, 2 polishes, and something extra, this time it was some stickers. There is a cheaper option, however, that is exactly the same it just doesn't come with the polishes. Let's take a closer look inside after the jump:

Pink Water Marble with Injured Finger. *WARNING* Graphic Photo After The Break!

Late in 2015 or early 2016 I got my finger caught in our car door. I really mangled and bruised my index finger to the point that we thought I might loose the nail. I didn't but it was a close thing. I went weeks without painting my nails letting the bad one heal up until it was driving me crazy and I painted all but the bad one. I say all this because after the jump break there is a picture of my hurt finger. It's not really that bad, most of the damage had healed by the time I did this, but it is a very large nasty bruise. I just want to warn you, if that makes you squeamish DO NOT CLICK THROUGH TO THE REST OF THE POST. All the important information is right here, there is only more pictures on the other side and one is of my hurt hand. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Oh, this is a water marble using 3 Sally Hansen colors that I can't remember the name to. A very pale pink, a bubble gum pink and a dark pink.

Pueen Stamping Kit #1: The Pink Box

Look what I found at my local Wal-Mart! Now I know they have carried this kit for a while, but this is the first time I've picked one up. I'm familiar with the brand Pueen (even if I can't pronounce it. Does it rhyme with queen?) and I've always thought of them as a reputable company. I'm so stunned to see something as niche as nail stamping in a Wal-Mart! Can this make stamping go more "mainstream"? Anyway, this is the pink box, I believe there is also a blue box version as well as a few individual plates. (UPDATE: I got the Blue box and 2 individual plates so I will do a review on them as well. It also looks like there is another pink box called watermarbling. I might have to hunt that one down.)

Check out all that comes in the box and how well it works after the break!

Halloween 2021 Black to White Spiderwebs

I'm loving this simple gradient. Sally Hansen's black fades into a cool Orly grey and into Pueen's stamping white. I wanted the spiderwebs (a MoYou stamping plate) to fade into the white at the tips so I used the same stamping white to stamp the webs. It kind of worked. You can still see the webs at the tips so they didn't fade completely away. This is all so a rare shot of my right (or Cindy) hand. The left one got some weird wrinkling and bubbling going on in the top coat. I think I globed it on too thick because I was worried about smearing the stamping and it just dried weird because of it. But in my defense I was running late for work.

Hand made and painted mask, hand made hat, hand done make up and polish...I am loving this!

Stamped Dotticure

Attending a recent* funeral I decided to try and match the blouse I was wearing. Not a bad attempt I think. I'm fairly certain the color is Covergirl's Star Wars Limited Edition "Emerald Blaze" duo chrome over a black polish. I really should have left it solid black to match my blouse better but I had just gotten that Star Wars polish and was eager to play with it. I think the stamp is a Born Pretty plate with a stamping white over it. I did this mani pre-pandemic and I really don't remember what I used. 

*I started to write this blog post over 3 years ago. It's been sitting in my drafts folder for way too long so trying to finish if off.

In The Valley Of Kings

    Forgive the poor dry cuticles, I'm working on getting my nails back to picture perfect. Well, maybe like picture acceptable? Anyway, this was a challenge to use a plate I haven't yet played with. This is another BundleMonster (now Maniology) plate. BM-S250 which is now M063. A couple coats of Sally Hansen's "Coconut" from the Jelly Belly collection. I really like this polish because it is a "warm" white. Not really a cream or off white, but not super bleach brilliant white either. Stamped with Sinful Colors (I don't remember the name of it but it had "rock" in the title) and Maybelline's "Bold Gold" my fav gold stamping polish. I had a scarab beetle on one finger with a dot of blue for it's shell, but I disliked it so much I redid the whole finger. Sometimes less truly is more.

    This was a simple stamp, but I would like to try more with it in the future. I love the Egyptian feel to it and would like to incorporate more color to it.

Very proud of how straight the lines came out. No waviness at all!

The Spirits Speak

This is the plate that got me back into nail art. I'm so in love with this Ouija board plate (M071 and it's sister the Tarot card plate (M072) from Maniology. This is a very simple stamp of Sinful Colors black with Essie's "Dive Bar" blue duo-chrome over it. The stamped with BundleMonster/Maniology stamping white.

Quoth the Raven...

Yeah, it has been a while. Life got messy, as it does, and though it's not less messy, I feel the need to paint my nails again. I've always loved Halloween and now that I'm working in a library (OMG I love this job so much!!) I wanted something literature-ish and also Halloween-ish. Edgar Allan Poe it is! I don't really have an old paper colored polish, so my pastel yellow "Unicorn" from Sinful had to do the job. I stamped with a brown Sinful Colors that I've forgotten the name to. I think it had "rock" in the name. I really like that brown over the pale yellow. It gives the old paper with faded ink effect I was going for. I stamped over that with BundleMonster's stamping black polish. BundleMonster has changed their name to Maniology, so I'm going to mess that up quite a bit before I get used to the new name. The stamping plate is from when they were still BundleMonster. So the plate I have is BM-S248 but they have remade it so now it's M64.

Old BM plate

But it looks like M064 combines 2 plates, Poe and Vampires, so its like 2 in one now! That about does it for now. I have a Maniology order coming in soon so I hope to share new plates with you soon!

Holographic Pigment Powder

Holographic powder isn't exactly new. Spectacular? Yes. New? Not really. SpectraFlair has been a popular polish additive for years. the difference now is how its used. The holo of old was added to existing polish to give it a holo sheen but balancing the ratio could be difficult. Too little and you see no effect. Too much and you end up with grey sludge. The new powders in holo, chrome, and multi chrome that have recently exploded into popularity are buffed into the nail after it is polished. The coverage is surprisingly complete and I believe it uses significantly less of the precious powders.

One of the first pigments available in brick and mortar stores. I got this at Sally's Beauty Supply a few years ago. (yeah this review has been sitting in my queue for years.) SuperNail came out with Chrome, Rose Gold and Holographic. Of course I had to go with Holo. It was also a great time to use my Seche Vite UV lamp I got on clearance years before but never had polish to go with it. Pigment powders work best with a UV/LED No Wipe Top Coat.

Its really very easy to use. Just paint with the top coat, cure it under a light, use the eyeshadow applicator to pick up just the tiniest bit of powder, and buff it into your cured polish. That's it. All there is to it.

Literally this is all the powder you need for one nail.

This is Layla holo nail polish (with a little stamping for flair). I've yet to find a regular top coat that doesn't "eat" the holo effect so this is not top coated and wears away at the tip.

More Layla polish with no topcoat. Ring was with Black Holo, others with regular Holo.

Holo powder buffed into the nail with another coat of No Wipe on top of it so that it shines too! Index and ring have a coat of black under the top coat, the others are naked.  I'm in love with powders and now have a large collection of tiny pots of powder.