Silver Houndstooth Konadicure

Houndstooth is my most favorite pattern that exists. I dunno why but I am obsessed. The reason I got into nail stamping was because I knew it would be possible to have houndstooth nails (for realz). I've done this pattern tons but here we are again. This is actually from about a month ago but I'm catching up in blogland now that I'm settling into working full-time again.

• Base: One coat Sinful "basecoat" + Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear "Grey Area" (2 coats) + one coat of  SV*
• Image Plate: fauxnad m63
• Stamping Polish: Sally Hansen Insta Dri "Silver Sweep"

And just for kicks... Here is a picture of my very first attempt at nail stamping:

Houndstooth, of course!!!

Thanks to all my new followers, both here and on tumblr. Welcome! I will post my Year-Long challenge mani  pics for this week's challenge (Half Moon Mani) tomorrow. 

xo

*"SV" will always refer to Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat on this blog

Freehand Nail Art: Cloudy with a Chance of Rainbows

My first attempt at utilizing the sponging technique. I LOVE it. I think sponging is one of my new favorite nail art techniques. I love the way it turns out and the amount of control I have. I had started out with a grey polish and was going to do some dotting (inspired by this tutorial) but when it took FOREVER to dot just one nail, I decided to do a cloudy sky look on the rest of my nails but it looked weird with just white and grey so I sponged some blue around the white and then sponged some more white to make it look "fluffier"/more cloud-like and voila! I got so many comments on these nails. I ended up sporting this mani for almost a week (I usually can't go more than a day or two between manicures)!

Polishes used (L to R): SH Insta-Dri Blue-Away & Whirlwind White (sponged clouds); SH Insta-Dri Rapid Red, Borghese Capri Coral, SH Insta-Dri Lightning, Revlon Posh, SH Insta-Dri Brisk Blue, Borghese Palermo Plum (rainbow dots)

I redid my accent nail so the dots would be smaller.

For the sponging I just used some generic (walgreens' brand I believe) cosmetic sponges that I tore up into bits. I'd describe the process of sponging but there are already so many great tutorials out there, like this one @ Nailin' It.

My Polish Collection Swatches: Part 1, Nail Wheel 112

The numbers in the first photo correspond to the list, which indicates the brand, polish name, line/collection/edition (if applicable), and bottle number. Oh yeah, and FYI, the little red marks above each swatch are how I keep track of the number of coats I used to achieve the resulting color.

Outdoors, natural light.

Nail Wheel 112

1. Sinful Easy Going 300
2. Sinful Courtney Orange 30
3. Sinful Black on Black 103
4. Sinful Beautiful Girl 314
5. Sally Hansen (SH) Wild Life 32 - Xtreme Wear
6. SH White On 02  - Xtreme Wear (old formula)*
7. SH White On 300  - Xtreme Wear
8. SH Twisted Pink 240  - Xtreme Wear
9. SH The Real Teal 39  - Xtreme Wear*
10. SH Rockstar Pink 140  - Xtreme Wear
11. SH Purple Potion 13  - Xtreme Wear
12. SH Mint Sorbet 340  - Xtreme Wear
13. SH Marine Scene 23  - Xtreme Wear
14. SH Lime Lights 22  - Xtreme Wear*
15. SH Black Out 24  - Xtreme Wear
16. Sinful Let's Talk 929
17. Sinful Irish Green 198
18. Sinful Happy Ending 946

Indoors w/Flash.

Indoors w/flash.

Leave a comment if you want to see a full swatched manicure review of any of these  polishes featured  in this series!  

* = Discontinued

** = Discontinued and hard to find (HTF)

*** = Discontinued for ages and VERY HTF

My Polish Collection Swatches: Part 1, Nail Wheel 111

The numbers in the first photo correspond to the list, which indicates the brand, polish name, line/collection/edition (if applicable), and bottle number. Oh yeah, and FYI, the little red marks above each swatch are how I keep track of the number of coats I used to achieve the resulting color.

Outdoors, natural light.

Nail wheel 111 - Sally Hansen

1. So Much Fawn 412009 - Salon Nail Lacquer*
2. In the Navy 41 - Xtreme Wear
3. Gunmetal 310  - Xtreme Wear
4. Grey Area 330  - Xtreme Wear
5. Fuschia Power 16  - Xtreme Wear
6. Flirt 38  - Xtreme Wear
7. First Blush 08  - Xtreme Wear
8. Crushed 36  - Xtreme Wear
9. Cherry Red 18  - Xtreme Wear
10. Caribbean Coral 450  - Xtreme Wear
11. Bubblegum Pink 470  - Xtreme Wear
12. Brick Wall 20  - Xtreme Wear
13. Blue Me Away 130  - Xtreme Wear
14. Blue It 37  - Xtreme Wear
15. Black Out 370  - Xtreme Wear
16. Bamboo Shoot 03  - Xtreme Wear*
17. You-Gurt Style 17 - Salon Nail Lacquer*
18. Wine Not? 53  - Salon Nail Lacquer*

Indoors w/flash.

Leave a comment if you want to see a full swatched manicure review of any of these  polishes featured  in this series! 

* = Discontinued

** = Discontinued and hard to find (HTF)

*** = Discontinued for ages and VERY HTF

My Polish Collection Swatches: Part 1 (cont.), Nail Wheel 110

For this one I don't have a picture with a black background because the ones I took came out wrong and I'm too lazy right now to go take another one. :-p

The numbers in the first photo correspond to the list, which indicates the brand, polish name, line/collection/edition (if applicable), and bottle number. Oh yeah, and FYI, the little red marks above each swatch are how I keep track of the number of coats I used to achieve the resulting color.

Outdoors, natural light.

Nail Wheel 110

1. Sally Hansen (SH) Pardon My French 65 - Salon Nail Lacquer*
2. SH Pat on the Black 57 - Salon Nail Lacquer*
3. SH Pink About It 73 -  Salon Nail Lacquer*
4. SH Shrimply Divine 93 -  Salon Nail Lacquer*
5. Avon Classic Fit N801 - Nailwear Pro
6. SH Wishful White 54 - Maximum Growth*
7. SH Real Royal 53  - Maximum Growth*
8. SH Adoring Amethyst 56  - Maximum Growth*
9. SH True Tulip 05 - No Chip 10 Day*
10. SH Tenacious Ruby 93  - No Chip 10 Day*
11. SH Steady Ready 49  - No Chip 10 Day*
12. SH Resilient Red 85  - No Chip 10 Day*
13. SH Pink Persuasion 09  - No Chip 10 Day*
14. SH Infinite Natural 17  - No Chip 10 Day*
15. SH Lavender Sapphire 36 - Prisms*
16. SH Cherry Nice 60 -  Salon Nail Lacquer*
17. SH Creme de la creme 61 -  Salon Nail Lacquer*
18. SH Made You Blush 21 -  Salon Nail Lacquer*

Indoors, flash.

Leave a comment if you want to see a full swatched manicure review of any of these  polishes featured  in this series!  

* = Discontinued

** = Discontinued and hard to find (HTF)

*** = Discontinued for ages and VERY HTF

My Polish Collection Swatches: Part 1, Nail Wheel 109

The numbers in the first photo correspond to the list, which indicates the brand, polish name, line/collection/edition (if applicable), and bottle number. Oh yeah, and FYI, the little red marks above each swatch are how I keep track of the number of coats I used to achieve the resulting color.

Indoors w/flash, wht b/g.

Nail Wheel 109

1. Sally Hansen (SH) Radiant 01 - Lacquer Shine*
2. SH Gleaming 06 - Lacquer Shine*
3. SH Bright 02 -  Lacquer Shine*
4. Essie After Sex 468 
5. Essie  Wild Thing 583
6. Essie  Licorice 56
7. Essie Soiree Mauve 329
8. Revlon Winter Mist - Mini
9. Revlon Cherries in the Snow - Mini
10. Revlon Pink Ice - Mini
11. SH Coral Creme 022 - Hard as Wraps*
12. SH Berry Frost 015 - Hard as Wraps*
13. SH Reflective Rose 16 - Maximum Growth*
14. SH Pure Putty 28 - Maximum Growth*
15. SH Practical Plum 13 -  Maximum Growth*
16. SH  Imagine Coral 48 -  Maximum Growth*
17. SH Vibrant 05 -  Lacquer Shine*
18. SH Luminous 02 -  Lacquer Shine*

Indoors w/flash, black b/g.

Outside (late afternoon), natural light.

Leave a comment if you want to see a full swatched manicure review of any of these  polishes featured  in this series! ! 

* = Discontinued

** = Discontinued and hard to find (HTF)

*** = Discontinued for ages and VERY HTF

My Polish Collection Swatches: Part 1 (cont.), Nail Wheel 108

The numbers in the first photo correspond to the list, which indicates the brand, polish name, line/collection/edition (if applicable), and bottle number. Oh yeah, and I don't think I mentioned yet... the little red marks above each swatch are how many coats I used to achieve the desired color.

Outdoors, natural light, white b/g.

Nail Wheel 108: Sally Hansen

1. Heartbeat Creme 024 - Hard as Wraps*
2. Wined Up 350 - Insta-Dri
3. Whirlwind White 120 -  Insta-Dri
4. Slick Slate 310 -  Insta-Dri
5. Silver Sweep 230 -  Insta-Dri
6. Rapid Red 280 -  Insta-Dri
7. Presto Pink 210 -  Insta-Dri
8. Peachy Breeze 01 -  Insta-Dri
9. Mint Sprint 440 -  Insta-Dri
10. Lightening 250 -  Insta-Dri
11. Lickety-Split Lime 450 -  Insta-Dri
12. Jade Jump 04 -  Insta-Dri*
13. Chartreuse Chase 03 -  Insta-Dri
14. Brisk Blue 430 -  Insta-Dri
15. Blue-Away 05 -  Insta-Dri
16. Beige Blast 130 -  Insta-Dri
17. Sheer Lilac Gloss 011 - Hard as Wraps*
18. Magenta Creme 016 - Hard as Wraps*

Indoors w/flash, white b/g.

Indoors, w/flash, white b/g.
Leave a comment if you want to see a full swatched manicure review of any of these  polishes featured  in this series! 

* = Discontinued

** = Discontinued and hard to find (HTF)

*** = Discontinued for ages and VERY HTF

My Polish Collection Swatches: Part 1, Nail Wheel 107

The numbers in the first photo correspond to the list, which indicates the brand, polish name, line/collection/edition (if applicable), and bottle number.

 

Outdoors, natural light (late afternoon/early evening), white b/g.

Nail Wheel 107

1. Sally Hansen (SH) Right Said Red 69 - Complete Salon Manicure
2. SH Peachy Keen 140 - Complete Salon Manicure
3. SH  Gilty Pleasure 29  - Complete Salon Manicure
4. SH  Choco-Latte 240  - Complete Salon Manicure
5. SH  Indulgence 03 - Color Fast***
6. SH Gilty Frost 18 - Color Fast***
7. SH  Accelerate 42 - Color Fast***
8. SH  Purple Diamond 48 - Chrome**
9. SH  White Dove 25 - Beyond Perfect*
10. SH  Merlot A79 - Hard as Nails
11. SH  Sweet Pea A61 - Hard as Nails
12. SH  Wedding Bells 74 - Diamond Strength (old package)
13. SH  Sheer Magic 58 -  Diamond Strength (old package)
14. SH  Romantic Rose 26 -  Diamond Strength (old package)
15. SH  I Do 62 -  Diamond Strength (old package)
16. SH  First Dance 70 -  Diamond Strength (old package)
17. SH  Berry Pretty 30 -  Diamond Strength (old package)
18. SH  Pure Crystal 65 - Crystal Chrome*

Indoors w/flash, black b/g.

Indoors w/flash, white b/g.

Leave a comment if you would like to see a full review on any of these polishes (or any of the others in my collection!)

* = Discontinued

** = Discontinued and hard to find (HTF)

*** = Discontinued for ages and VERY HTF

Day 14 of the 30 Day Mani Challenge: Animal Print

Okay, since I really don't like animal prints on anything other than animals and I don't like to wear bright colors, I decided to use all my brightest nail polishes and stamp all of the animal print patterns at once. Why not, right?

I actually really liked the final result. It took me FOREVER and it was tedious but when I was finished I was rather surprised on how much I actually liked it. I even wore it for a few days (most of my manicures are lucky to make it a full 36 hours before I get the itch to do the next one).

 Left Hand, Indoors w/flash

 Right hand, Indoors w/flash

Outdoors just before sunset, no flash

To Get This Look: I've numbered each nail on the above photo so I can list the base polish, polish I used to stamp with, and image plate (in that order) for each nail.

1. SH Insta-Dri "Lightening" (base), Wet N Wild "Black Creme" (stamp), m61 (image plate)
2. SH Insta-Dri "Lickety-Split Lime", Revlon TopSpeed "Grape", m78
3. Maybelline ExpressFinish "Go Go Grape", Revlon TopSpeed "Electric", BM221
4. Wet N Wild "Sunny Side Up", SH Insta-Dri "Brisk Blue", BM211
5. Maybelline ExpressFinish "Timely Turquoise", Konad Light Pink Special Polish, BM223
6. SH XpressFinish "Twisted Pink", Wet N Wild "Black Creme",  SH25
7. Sidenote: I decided that animal footprints technically fall under the "animal print" category heh heh. Maybelline ExpressFinish "Go Go Green", Revlon TopSpeed "Espresso", SH08
8. Sinful "Pull Over", SH Insta-Dru "Rapid Red", m78
9. SH XtremeWear "Blue Me Away", SH Insta-Dri "Whirlwind White", BM211
10. SH XtremeWear "Caribbean Coral", Revlon TopSpeed "Electric", BM223

There ya go. Lot's of time for something I thought I'd hate but ended up liking. I hope the other challenge I'm dreading turns out so good (I'm scared of water-marbling...).