31 Day Challenge, day 25: Inspired by Fashion

Hi everyone! :-) Today's nails were kind of an experiment. When I saw this super cute Modcloth dress, I couldn't wait to capture the edgy neckline with the starry mesh fabric on a semibare accent nail. I used an image plate (that I bought here) to stamp the star pattern, and later I added the rest with the help of tape for nice and crisp lines. It didn't turn out as awesome as I hoped it would though, the stars made the sharp edges of the 'neckline' fade a bit. So next time I try this, I'll probably leave out the stars. What do you guys think about my fashion-inspired nails?

My inspiration: 'Written in the Stars Dress' from Modcloth

31 Day Challenge, day 6: Violet

Day 6! Which means violet nails... Like my last challenge, it's a leopard print look, but with a different take. The violet basecolor is China Glaze Gothic Lolita. I immediately knew I somehow wanted to use it for this challenge because I just love the color and I'm smitten with the subtle shimmer. After a coat of Seche Vite I could start on the leopard half of this fifty-fifty mani. To do that I covered half of each nail with tape, then I applied the blue (China Glaze First Mate) as thin as possible and stamped over it with a silver polish and Konad imageplate M57.

I've got mixed feelings about the final result, it looks almost too tacky but I somehow kind of like it too. Is that a bad thing? :-P Anyhow, I enjoyed working on it and I'll see you soon! :-)

31 Day Challenge, day 5: Blue

Blue nails! For this challenge I decided to bring out my stamping tools. The basecolor is Essence Via Airmail! from the Ready For Boarding collection. On top I did a leopard print in black with Konad imageplate M57. Stamping isn't a technique I often reach for because I always think too much about the mess afterwards that I'd have to clean up, especially when I'm using my opaque and therefore hard-to-remove black polish Color Club Where's The Soiree, like in this case. But clean-up actually wasn't that bad this time because I rubbed a bit of greasy handcream on the skin around the nails, making it harder for the polish to stain. :-) Even the pattern transferred okay on the nails! It's definitely not perfect, but that's the nice thing about leopard print: imperfections are hardly noticeable from a distance. ;-) So all in all I was quite pleased with how this mani turned out. I really should do stamped manis more often...

Blue stars

Hello everyone :-) Today I have an older mani with blue stars to show you. I was very excited to make another starry mani with my new Essence stamping plate (called Be Creative!), after liking the gold version so much. Because Orly Sweet Peacock is such a striking blue and has a foil finish, which often covers very well, I picked that color to fill in my stars. The result didn't turn out as awesome as I hoped though, the blue was very subtle so the star shapes weren't so noticable, I mainly saw blurry, shimmery spots of blue when Iooked at my nails from a distance. Quite interesting, but not enough to keep the mani on for very long. I am loving that stamping plate though, so it probably won't be long till I'm doing yet another star pattern look ^^

Shine like a star

Hello everyone! I hope you're having a merry Christmas with your loved ones. This year I'm rocking this star pattern that I made with a new image plate from Essence. It's only available in a set including a stamper and scraper, which I already have, but I really wanted the star design. The star shapes I have on other patterns are quite small which makes them harder to work with and less recognizable. (And besides, €3 for the whole set is a pretty good deal!) I used Color Club Where's The Soiree as my black, as usual, and the gold is China Glaze 2030. This look isn't very Christmassy per se, but I love it anyway. So much that I might even wear it again for New Year's Eve ^^ Happy Holidays!

Christmas nails with lace

Hi guys! These lacy nails were made recently when I was in a very Christmassy and girly mood, can you tell? ^^ I used OPI Big Apple Red and Konad imageplate M71 with Essence Stamp Me White!. This look is a lot girlier than I'm usually going for, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, squealing like a little child when I noticed how they matched red Christmas glasses from the Ikea was part of the fun haha.

Thanks for stopping by!

Leopard chevrons

Wow! This look so isn't me, hahah. But once I had the idea I just had to make it reality. I used tape to make the chevrons, then I added H&M Golden Treasure for my gold background and finally I used konad plate M57 for the leopard print. Normally I suggest people to remove the tape right after applying the polish, to prevent the polish from sticking to the tape, but this time I ignored my own advise. But it turned out alright, as you can see :D I applied very thin coats and then after I stamped, carefully removed the tape strips, one by one. The pretty blue metallic/shimmer is Sephora's Summer In Bangkok, my favorite Sephora polish after It's Time To Rock. It's actually more turquoise in real life, very pigmented and unfortunately also stains so bad! That's why I'm wearing two layers of base coat underneath... Anyway, would you wear this wild design? Or does it scare ya? ;)

Teeez Outta Control + accent nail

Hi guys :) This is a recent mani. I started with the accent nail, one coat of Essence Bella with silver dots. To match the accent nail I chose a purple creme for my other nails, W.I.C. Dakar (similar to OPI Funky Dunkey). But after I applied the first coat, the sun suddenly began to appear, so not long after I was applying two coats of Teeez Outta Control on top. What a pretty purple that is! The holo isn't extremely strong, but definitely visible. Another lovely surprise was how shiny it was, I didn't even need topcoat. And it stayed just as pretty the day after, I couldn't stop staring at my nails! (Which can be quite dangerous while riding a bike... *Cough*) Thanks for reading!

Subtle leopard

Hi everyone, today I decided to practice my stamping. The base color I'm wearing is China Glaze Below Deck. For the leopard print I used Konad plate M57 and my favorite gold 2030 (also from China Glaze) to add some sparkling. I don't normally wear neutral shades a lot, though I love it on others, but this is something I might try again. As you may have noticed, I have a weakness for bold colors, graphical patterns or heavy glitter, but I kind of like the subtlety and minimal 'bling' of this calm look :) What do you think, would you wear this yourself? Thanks for visiting!

Innocent blue

Hello everyone! And happy Independence Day to the American ladies :) Last night I posted pictures of H&M Coral Summer, which is also the base color for this look. Coral Summer was such a sweet and innocent blue that I wanted to complete that vibe with something cute. So I added a lace pattern along the tips, using Konad image plate M71. As you may notice, I don't do konads very often, it's because I'm bad at it and don't like the amount of clean-up of scraper, stamp and image plate in between haha. But I must say that it went pretty well this time, though I still have a lot of practicing to do before I reach the same perfection as the ladies from Emerald Sparkled or Oooh Shinies. The white polish did make the whole stamping process a lot more comfortable, it's Essence Stamp Me! White which I already had been using for regular polishing. It has a great opacity (one to two coats for full coverage) and a very affordable price: €1,49 for 5ml/0.16fl.oz., love!

So after this encouraging experience I might even attempt some more konading from now on :) Thank you for visiting!

4th of July nails

Hello everyone! For today's post I made 4th of July nails for my American readers. Holidays are always a fun theme for manis, so I was very excited to do some nail art for Independence Day, eventhough I do not celebrate it myself. The look is clearly inspired by the American flag, albeit with subtle changes, and tape was my #1 tool. I really couldn't have made the designs without it.
In total I used four different polishes: a red from Etos (Dutch drugstore), China Glaze's 2030 as my gold, First Mate as the blue base color and for the white stripes I used China Glaze Millenium, which is a silver. I picked a silver instead of a white because I thought it would pop more. But also because I didn't want the stripes to look too much like a candy cane or a Christmas elf ;) As mentioned earlier, tape was my magic helper in this little project. I used it to create both the stripes and big star shapes, which are supposed to be stylized fireworks, can you tell? ;)

To make the firework shapes I basically used the same technique as the one for the zigzag pattern, only I started at one corner of the tip, working my way back to the beginning of the nail (at the cuticles). So I started with the blue, then the gold on top and finally I applied the red. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just visit the tutorial for the zigzag pattern and hopefully it will all make sense then :)

Of course our flag wouldn't be complete without stars, so I added those afterwards with a (nameless) stamping plate from Essence.

I hope you guys like my first 4th of July nails and that they may have even inspired you to make a cute mani for monday :) Thanks for reading!

Hello Kitty!

Hi guys! Wow, I can't believe I already have over 100 followers! Thank you to each and every one of you for taking the time to read this blog and leave comments. I'm so glad that you're enjoying and inspired by my designs, because that's what this blog was created for. To the mani then!

So this time I decided to do a Hello Kitty mani, I had just received my free Hello Kitty imageplate from Born Pretty and couldn't wait to play with it. I used the imageplate on my ring finger which was already covered in two coats of Essence Stamp Me! White, after that I just filled in the bow and her nose with a tiny paintbrush. The rest of my fingers all have a different cute design, which - combined - create a playful look. The base color is a warm baby pink from Hema, unfornately I don't have the number anymore but I do think it's still available. On my thumb you can see two little flowers, they're stickers I once bought in Hong Kong and though they're not meant for nails they stick pretty wel on the surface. On my index finger I painted the Hello Kitty bow with (how appropriate!) Kitty Queen from H&M's Hello Kitty cosmetics collection and a black creme. My middle finger is done with even sized tape strips and the red is 022 from DA, a local drugstore. And finally I used Konad's M79 on my pinky, 'cause polkadots and Hello Kitty are BFF's for life :)

Thanks for reading and take care!

Hello Kitty imageplate from Born Pretty

Cute flower stickers!

Red polkadot + Mickey accent nail

Hello everyone! I was in a cute mood when I did this mani and the polkadot pattern is a great way to achieve cuteness! I used Konad imageplate M79 and China Glaze Millenium on top of a classic red creme from Catrice. (Don't know the name or number, I pealed off the sticker back in the days when I didn't know that could be useful... )

I wasn't aiming for the Minnie Mouse-look doing this mani (maybe more of a pin-up look), that's why I used silver and not white. But how can you not think of her seeing this classic pattern. So I drew a little Mickey(!)-symbol on my ring finger. Now why Mickey are you wondering? Because he's more recognizable :)

Speaking of cute, I've got another cute mani planned for this week, with someone who's a recurring character on this blog...

See ya :)

Mickey!