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: Butter London Knees Up

The name isn't actually as naughty as it sounds - I guess it's slang for having a good time, like a dance or party =)  Butter London Knees Up a gorgeous red:

I really could have left it alone but I tried to Konad it ... and I say tried because it wasn't one of my more successful designs, I used Sally Hanson Tassel & Bundle Monster image plate bm11:

They're supposed to be little hearts kind of strung across your nails ... but it came out so faint I really wasn't totally happy.  

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

Salon Express Nail Art Stamping Kit Unboxing & Review

While this is an "as seen on TV" product, I got mine at Sallys, and have spotted it at Target also.  I found out that the Salon Express kit is available on Amazon too.

Not much else to say other than what I go over in the vid ... to summarize - I love the stamper, I hate the scraper, and the plates are actually pretty nice for the price, but not as high quality as real Konad.  If you'd like to see exactly why I hate the scraper, check out my full review vid:

It's also worth mentioning that today is my 3 year Blog-ivesary =)  I don't have anything special planned other than continuing to play catch-up (I'm almost done with 2011 stuff at least LOL), but I'm remembering on the correct date this year!  Which, if you're a new follower, is a first - the last 2 years I was anywhere from I think a few days to a full week late.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: OPI Designer ... De Better +bm221

Mom kept calling this color champagne; and while the final effect is kind of a champagne color, I kept correcting her - it's silver with fine copper glitter.  And I think one of my favorite colors of the year, and became even more of a favorite after stamping! 

 

I started out with OPI Designer ... De Better & wore it solo for a few days, to me this is the best color from the Muppets collection:

 

I don't remember what polish I used for the stamping - either Konad Black Special Polish or Wet n Wild Black Creme ... whichever I found first at the time LOL.  They're pretty interchangeable as far as I'm concerned.  This lovely flower design is from Bundle Monster image plate bm221 & it took me a while to figure out which sides I wanted to match up, but I finally decided to stamp sideways, and match the top & bottom edges.  Some nails more successful than others, I particularly like the way my ring finger lined up, but even those that aren't right on look pretty good:

 

LOVED wearing this a lot =)  Finally getting into December manis with the stamped version.  I've still got pics to edit for my Mosaic Snowflakes, OPI Ali's Big Break, Ulta Into Astrono-Me? & my Candy Cane Water Marble, so stay tuned.  Had a great day of frosting & baking & tray making today!  & plenty of pics to come of that as well of course.  Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette