NOTD: The Hunger Games -Effie Trinket Inspired Collaboration + Tutorial

This fun nail art was part of a collab I did over on YouTube with Klaire De Lys.  You can check out the picture that we were both inspired by HERE.  We did it a bit before the movie came out & I had every intention of getting the rest of my pictures posted in short order buuuut ... well.

I started out with a base color of Nubar Precarious Lavender, which in fact is not lavender but pink.  Stamping is done with Wet n Wild Black Creme & Konad image plate m51.  I tried to keep the placement random but once I finished I kind of wished I'd just picked a pattern LOL.  The design is kind of a stem with leaves & I added flowers with both loose bronze flower-shaped sequins that I had, as well as Nyx Girls CN247 which is a silver flower glitter polish:

I did have a couple of favorite nails where the placement of the stamps & the placement of the flowers came together in very pleasing fashion:

& of course here is the tutorial:

Klaire is more of a makeup guru, although she does nails on occasion - & here is her beautiful tutorial as well:

Collabs can be kind of stressful, I feel this need to live up to the expectations of the person who approached me, especially when it's someone who I'm a huge fan of already like Klaire.  But in the end so fun & so worth it =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

The Evolution of OPI DS Temptation

So, let's get some nail pics on this polish blog, eh?  I know it's been a while.

OPI DS Temptation is one of the most recent additions to the Designer Series.  & while they're not as holographically awesome as many of the original colors, it's still a blurple glittergasm & a totally gorgeous polish:

I could have & should have left well enough alone but after a day or 2 I thought I would add some stamping with Komad image plate m69 - I don't know WTF was going on with my white stamping polish, but this is how it turned out - just a patchy mess, worse than it shows up in pics, and not my best job at matching edges either:

Not cool.  Not cool at all - especially late at night without time for a complete change.  So I attempted to cover it all up, using Zoya Izzy, from their 2011 Gems & Jewels Holiday collection:

I didn't quite get the coverage I was looking for after a couple of coats, so I attempted further camouflage with OPI Servin' Up Sparkle, from one of the Serena Williams duos that I picked up a while ago:

& while I wasn't quite happy with it that way either, by that time it was too late & I just kind of gave up LOL.  Needless to say the next day I soaked the whole mess off & found something simple & awesome to replace it with ... which I'll share with you soon =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: The Evolution of OPI Ogre-The-Top Blue (+ Nails Inc Electric Lane + m57)

This was a pretty awesome manicure in all 3 stages.  I started off with OPI Ogre-The-Top Blue from the Shrek collection, which could certainly stand on its own if you're looking for a bright creme blue:

To give it some bling I added Nails Inc Electric Lane:

SO awesome & glittery I had to do a vid, so here's a look in motion:

Then on the last day I did some stamping with black polish & Konad image plate m57; usually I double-stamp this end-to-end, but this time I tried something a bit different on my thumb, placing the design the wide way & stamping side-to-side & it turned out pretty well too:

Which version is your favorite?

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: The Evolution of Zoya Reece

You guys know, pink is not one of my favorite colors, so it has to be an awesome pink for me to wear it =)  Zoya Reece definitely falls into that category, even all on her own:

With a little bit of Konad added I think it's even better - I don't remember which black I used but it's a safe bet to say it was either Wet n Wild Black Creme or Konad special polish in black.  The design is from Konad image plate m70 & because it's so crazy & messy this is one of the easiest designs to double-stamp - as long as there's no a huge gap between it's perfectly fine if you overlap a little:

Then I wore it one more day with some Matte Magic on top:

So, which version is your favorite?

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: OPI Gargantuan Green Grape Matte + m64

I started out with a base color of OPI Gargantuan Green Grape Matte:

Then I did some stamping with Color Club Wild at Heart & Konad image plate m64.  I remember when I had this on being disapointed disappointed that the purple didn't actually look more purple - in a lot of lights it just turned out brown =(  & I had tested beforehand & it looked like it would be OK, I don't know if the top coat is to blame for it blending to mud or what ... 

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

FAQ: Konad Part 2 - Accent Designs & Polish Choices

I didn't realize, until I went back & reviewed Part 1 to make sure I didn't repeat myself too much (you can check out Part 1 HERE if you missed it), that it had been nearly a year since I recorded it.  Time flies I guess =)

 

Part 2 ended up to be a lot longer than I initially thought, but I ended up talking about more than just the technique behind stamping small accent designs onto your nail.  I also touch on what brands other than Konad you can use & how to figure that out, & stamping a designs with multiple colors.  So if you're new to Konad, or just curious how I do mine, enjoy:

 

 

Today would be catch up blogging all day except for one thing - today is Cookie Day!!!  Honestly maybe my favorite day of the year, even above Christmas.  I'm sure I'll still get a few things posted, but most of the day will be spent frosting sugar cookies & making up trays.  If you missed my cookie frosting marbling last year, check it out HERE, posted with last year's Cookie Day pics - and stay tuned for not only pics from this year's Cookie Day, but some cooking tutorial vids very very soon.  I have 3 recorded, & although none are edited yet I'd like to get them all up before Christmas.

 

I hope any of your pre-holiday plans are going as well as mine =)  Although I still have to do the majority of my shopping!  Gah, don't know when I'll fit that in this week but we'll see.  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: OPI Light My Sapphire + m80

I try to do something that I'll really like after a chop - so I picked this lovely dark blue, OPI Light My Sapphire.  The stamping actually came out ridiculously crooked if you compare them to each other, but it's not obvious because of the scalloped edge LOL.  It actually turned out looking pretty good, kind of an eyelet lace look - stamping done with China Glaze Devotion & Konad image plate m80:

 

Thanks for reading =)

 

~Colette