Sunset Polka Dots

I wanted to do a nail design with a sunset color scheme to it. I tried a gradient before and it didn't work out, it looked more like color blocks and I didn't like it so much soooo...here's a different angle. My base coat is China Glaze in Peachy Keen. I used 2 coats. I then used the Konad plate m79 for the polka dots. I just used the dark purple special Konad polish for this. I did a top coat of Seche Vite because I didn't want the dots to come off when I did the chevron tips. For the tips I used Big Spender by Essie followed by a few more layers of topcoat. I debated over adding a silver glitter stripe at the bottom of the chevron tips but ultimately sleep won out. :)

Starry Nights!!

I really liked the story behind the Ruffian manicure and how it was inspired by the moon and the night. I'm a night owl so I felt it suited me. :) For the "moon" I used Pure Ice in Silver Mercedes and then for the "sky" I used Essie in Midnight Cami. Now I know traditionally these have a matte finish but I'm not really into matte so much and like the glossier wet looks so I did not use a matte topcoat. I wanted it to have a little more to it so I used the stars/fireworks on Konad stamp plate m14 with the white Konad special polish and also added a rhinestone to each nail. The original design was to have the rhinestone in the center of the largest star but my rhinestones were too big for that...so I just added them to one spot on the nail. I really liked this one!!!

Nail of the ehhh...

This one didn't turn out how I wanted it to...oh well. I used China Glaze's Princess Grace color, it is a sheer shimmery very light pink. I wanted a pink background for the design and was trying to decide between that and OPI's Mod About You. When I tested it out, I thought the black stood out better on the Princess Grace color...plus I was feeling rather royal...LOL!!! I used Konad plate m57 with Wet and Wild Black Creme for the fishnet design and then used the rose design off of the m65 plate with the Konad black polish. I was trying for a lace look and wanted the roses to stand out more but it didn't turn out quite how I wanted. I think if the fishnet had bigger squares it might have looked better...oh well.

Last weeks NOTW

I've been slackin' but here is last weeks NOTW... OPI's Rumple's Wiggin' stamped with Orly's Wild Wisteria on Konad stamp m63...purples are awesome!!

Freakin' Awesome Combo!!

I was really excited about this one and thought it was such a pretty color combo!! I love how it came out!!!

I used a base coat, followed by 2 coats of Revlon's Top Speed in Royal (1 coat probably would have worked but I wanted it to be nice and opaque and FYI this one has a stinky smell to it). I topped it off with the paisley print off of plate M60 in Pure Ice's Silver Mercedes. I have found this one to be the best silver to stamp with as far as how it appears against the base polish. I like this one way more than the Konad silver and best part...it's only $2.00 at Wal-Mart!!! I finished it out with 1 coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Konad polish vs regular polish

So when I got my Konad, I just got the stamper and scraper and a bunch of plates not any of the polishes. A lot of people were pretty successful with regular nail polish that I just decided not to spend the money on it. Recently I decided to try some of them and compare...

The color is China Glaze - For Audrey, the bows (plate M3) were in China Glaze - White on White, and the flowers (plate M37) were the Konad white nail polish. (pardon the chippage...I didn't have the Konad polishes so this had already been on my nails for 1wk and was right before I removed it). This was also the first manicure I did with the Konad plates too. Personally I liked the Konad white better for the stamping but I still liked the regular one. If you know of a better regular white nail polish, let me know!!