Black and White tips!

I finally got my Bundle Monster plates and lemme tell you...no regrets!!! I super love the designs that they have and they work just as well as the Konad plates!

So I decided to stray away from colour and do a little bit of black and white and here's what I came up with.

Left hand

Right hand

Both pictures taken in natural light without flash. I used Sally Hansen Insta Dry in Whirlwind White for the white tips and Wet n Wild Black Creme for stamping. The image came from BM plate 220.

I sponged the white tips on first then put a layer of Insta Dry top coat (absolute fave right now!) Then I stamped with Black Creme and voila! Black and white tips!

Let's compare!

So Fiona from Swatch and Learn had posted up swatches of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue It. Seeing the swatches reminded me of OPI DS Magic and then of course I wanted to see how they compared.

Yay, my first comparison post! All shots were taken beside a window, no flash.

Bottle shots! Blue It on the left, DS Magic on the right. Right away you can tell the difference. DS Magic has so much more....magic going on in the bottle. There's blue and then purple and then you're just lost in the mix.

But of course the "magic" doesn't really translate that well onto the nail. Don't get me wrong...it's still purdy but I wouldn't mind seeing the purple outside of the bottlel!

DS Magic on the left, Blue It on the right. Magic needed 3 coats to be fully opaque, Blue It needed 2.

So while I was doing comparisons, I remembered I had wanted to do this one as well! Dupe alert?

Wet n Wild FastDry in SaGreena the Teenage Witch on the left, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Emerald City on the right. They look fairly similar right?

Well that's pretty much where the similarities ended. StTW looked like that with 2 coats and Emerald City looked like that with 2 coats. See the difference? StTW is so sheer, I couldn't stand it! Emerald City just applied way better.

Here's a shot indoors with natural light, no flash. 

L-R: Blue It, DS Magic, Emerald City, SaGreena the Teenage Witch.

So here ya go Fiona, this one's for you! :)

Lively Lilac Bandanicure!

Hello everyone!! Long time no post. Hope everyone's doing ok. We've had some weird weather here, spring-like temperatures one time then next thing you know, we're having a snowball fight! I wish nature would make up its mind. 

Anyhoooo, I've realized that I don't have a lavender/lilac polish and all of a sudden, I really wanted it! So off I go to Walmart and I picked up Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Lively Lilac! It's exactly the shade I was looking for! =) It's a pastel lilac with a tiny hint of shimmer.

Didn't get a swatch of it on its own, but here it is Konadicured with Wet n Wild White Creme and image plate m64 with the image my BF has dubbed "Bandana".

Pic taken indoors with natural light. If you enlarge the pic, you can see the shimmer in the bottle! In real life, the lilac is a bit brighter. It looks slightly dusty in the pic, IMHO.

Here's a pic of me holding my phone. Yesterday I matched everything, purple scrubs, purple nails, purple phone! Lol!

Application was very nice, 2 coats was more than enough. Dry time was pretty fast, I'm not gonna lie. Actually, the Insta-Dry topcoat is becoming a fast fave of mine. I find myself reaching for it now instead of my Seche Vite. *gasp* I know right? It dries pretty fast as well! Plus it's Big 3 free, so I've got my replacement for SV! 

Haul update!

OK as promised here is a post of the hauls that I got these past few weeks.

First off is my Wet n Wild mini-haul. I picked up FuchsiaRama, Gray's Anatomy and SaGreena the Teenage Witch.

(Left to Right: FuchsiaRama, SaGreena the Teenage Witch and Gray's Anatomy)

Second is my Nubar haul.  Chel found this other secret hole-in-the-wall that blew my mind. I nearly pissed my pants when I saw all the polishes they had! I picked up 7 Nubars, it was buy 6 get the 7th free, which works out to $4.75CAD each. But I bought 2 of them for Chel so I ended up with 5. 

(Left to Right: Pharaoh's Purple, Nubar 2010, Purple Beach, Reclaim, Peacock Feathers)

Here are skittle swatches of all of them except 2010. Please pardon the messiness, I was in a hurry so I can eat a yummy dinner. :)

(Left to Right: Purple Beach, Reclaim, Peacock Feathers, Pharaoh's Purple)

Last but certainly not the least, my Bobbie Haul. Bobbie is a nail polish brand that is only available in the Philippines. A friend of mine has been so kind as to pick up some for me so I can experience the awesomeness!

I'm probably gonna have to do a separate post on these babies cuz there are too many of them!! I can't even figure out which collection some of these belong in. There are glitters, foils, metallics, holoprisms, etc.

Here is a sad excuse for swatches.

I can't really see in the swatches the different kinds of finishes. It's hard to photograph at night in a room with super sucky lighting. :( Oh and I write better than that I promise. Looks like someone gave a pen to a chicken. LOL. I started doing the swatches then in the middle of it got the idea to post it up, but by then it was too late to re-do.

 My fave out of the bunch is Weng Weng which belongs to the holoprism collection.

Here's a sneak peak!

Click on it to enlarge so you can see the prettiness. Isn't it gorgeous??? That's without sunlight, indoors with flash.

I'll be posting up my two manis soon. I haven't stamped in such a long time, I've just been freehanding! 

'Til the next Konadi/manicure!!

The Anatomy of a Steel Grey

Next mani please! I wanna erase the previous one from your memories LOL!

This one is a bit better...I actually really like how this turned out. Although, it looks way better in person because I just CANNOT capture the duochrome-ness of it.

Base colour is Rimmel London Steel Grey and then I taped off half my nail and painted on Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy. Can I just say how much I love Steel Grey? *sigh* I resisted buying it for so long but its siren call has lured me. It applies like a dream and I actually really like the big brush! Barely any clean-up for me. Gray's Anatomy is streaky and frosty but forgivable because the duochrome is AWESOME! Both pictures are taken in natural light.

I also took pictures of the bottle in hopes that I can capture the duochrome.

You can see a bit of the grey to purple to green.

More green.

That's all for now, beauty bloggers and readers!

'Til the next Konadi/manicure!

Valentine's Day mini-haul

Belated Happy Valentine's Day to you all!!

So my bf and I celebrated on Sunday because he had to work yesterday. He took me shopping at Sephora, went out to dinner at our fave lil hole-in-the-wall that serves Thai and Vietnamese food and watched Gnomeo and Juliet! So at Sephora, he told me to pick out what I wanted (all within his budget of course) and I came out with these beauties!

Left: Tarina Tarantino Dollskin Eye Primer

Middle: Tarina Tarantino Fleur De Lash mascara in Black Opal

Right: Tokidoki Gelato Lip Balm Stain

Of course as soon as I purchased them, I tried them on! The eye primer is very good. It made my oily lids look matte and clean. Unfortunately, didn't have any eyeshadow on me so I can't test it for creasing, fading etc. 

The mascara was fantastic! Those who know me, know that I'm such a stickler for mascara. I was actually worried that I wouldn't like this because my first choice was Fairydrops Scandal Queen mascara. Unfortunately, they were sold out. =( So I quickly looked around and this caught my eye. This mascara is DEFINITELY buildable with minimal clumping for me. I still went through my eyelashes with a comb of course just to help fan them out. But I love love love it! No matter how many coats I put on, my lashes never had that crunchy feeling, they still remained soft.

The lip balm stain is also a big win for me. The shade I chose is Donutella, which is a sheer coral strawberry. The packaging is adorable first of all. I've always liked Tokidoki ever since I first saw it. The balm itself is fantastic! It glides very smoothly on my lips and the colour is very apparent!

Chel also picked this up for me at the Winners that she went to. Color Club Dark Romance The Matte Collection minis!!! 

L-R: Matte Top Coat, Alabaster, Smoke and Mirrors, Dark Romance

I have resisted matte polishes for so long because I never thought that they would look good on me. I wanted my nails shiny and eye-catching! But as soon as I put these babies on...I died a little. It opens up a different world of possibilities for nails! And of course, Chel said the proverbial "I told you so." I'm currently sporting Dark Romance with Hidden Treasure and matte top coat.

After our night out, we stopped by Walmart and did a little bit of grocery shopping. I stayed away from the cosmetics department until an idea popped into my head. I realized that I had no space for my polishes with the kits that I currently own, especially with 21 more bottles of polish coming my way! See previous kit post. So I picked up a Caboodles "doctor's bag".

L: Konad supplies, top coats, stripers, polish remover, cotton squares

M: China Glaze, OPI, Color Club

R: Sally Hansen, Wet n Wild, Joe, Minis, Sula and all others

China Glaze, OPI and Color Club

Sally Hansen, Wet n Wild, Joe, Sula, Minis, CQ, Rimmel, Maybelline

Next post will be my Valentine's Day mani and current one.

'Til the next Konadicure!

More V-day Konadicures and failures

Hello beauty bloggers!! Hope you're all doing well. 

I've got 3 Konadicures to show you, 2 I like and 1 I am ashamed of. 

1st is a base colour of China Glaze Short and Sassy and stamped with Sally Hansen in Red Chrome. 

Taken in indoor light. It just won't photograph properly and my skin has such  weird colour. You can see tipwear because I've had this on for 4 days when I took these pictures.

Taken with flash. Short and Sassy is such a beautiful colour! I used the images from plates m64 and m71 and alternated the images on my fingers. Jay really liked this one. =) He remembered the bandanicure design from m64.

Please don't hold this next mani against me. I don't know what came over me that I thought it would work out. This was done at midnight so I'll just use that as an excuse.

Photo taken in natural light. Base colour was OPI The Show Must Go On. Super blingtastic polish that required 2-3 coats for opacity. Tips were stamped with Rimmel London Pure Silver.

I sent a pic of this to Jay and I said "I'm not sure about this one. I don't like it." He replied with "Yeah you're right. You should've kept the other one." =( FAIL.

So after having this for less than a day, I was determined to create a better one. And out came "Black Lace and Ruby Pumps".

First a swatch of China Glaze Ruby Pumps in natural light. Can I just say all the hype about this polish is TOTALLY DESERVED. I am so in love with this colour and the glitter is just amazing!!

I added 2 different stamps to imitate the faux lace design that Beautopia had done. First I used Wet and Wild Black Creme to stamp the fishnet image from m57 then added the floral pattern on m71.

Close up shot so the beautiful glitters can come out and play.

From afar this looks like a vampy red with glitters. But up close you can so see the lace design and the glitters peeking through!

I'll try to keep this on until Thursday and I'll change my manicure on Friday for V-day weekend!!  So excited for Thursday night, Jay and I are gonna be watching our very first live hockey game!! And I'll be rocking this mani while cheering for the Leafs.

'Til the next Konadicure!

A Long Kiss to Spark my Mistletoe

New Konadicure!! So much for my Lubu mani lasting me a week. LOL! It was feeling too dark and I'm in such a happy Christmas mood, I had to change it!

Warning: This post is picture heavy!!

We had a Christmas party at my house last night and my Kris Kringle got me Nicole Tinsel Tips set and the Glee Christmas album!!! (She knows me soooo well!)

Look how tiny they are compared to my Color Clubs! They're so cute!!

So here's my new Konadicure I dub "A Long Kiss to Spark my Mistletoe".

I used China Glaze in Long Kiss for the tips and base colour for my accent nail. Can I just say how much I LOVE this polish? Application is wonderful and opaque in one coat! 

For the glitterati, I used Nicole by OPI in Spark My Mistletoe. Gorgeous glitter! Perfect for the holidays!

The image was from plate m63 and stamped with Wet n Wild in Black Creme. I also used m19 for the tips.

This was taken in soft light, no flash.

Blingtastic!!! It flashes green, blue, and red with micro and hexagonal glitters.

This was taken with flash.

Pardon the not-so-perfect application of the tips. I was kind of in a hurry because I still have to get ready for tonight! But of course I had to post the pics before I left!

I'm going to enjoy sporting this at tonight's company Christmas party and tomorrow when I meet up with my Puppy to exchange our gifts and watch CON: Voyage of the Dawn Treader!

'Til the next Konadicure!

KOTWs

Wow haven't updated in ages!! Sorry about that...just a mixture of busyness and laziness. LOL!
Ok so moving on to the KOTWs. In all these Konadicures I used Orly Bonder as a base coat and Seche Vite as a top coat.

I call this Bronzed Henna.

Base colour was Wet n Wild Craze in Rustic, stamping colour was Sally Hansen in Rave Review Critique. I used image plate m64.

My boyfriend said "It looks like a bandanna" when he saw this Konadicure, therefore it has been dubbed Bandanicure. LoL!

Base colours are Wet n Wild in Black Creme and Rimmel in Grey Matter, stamping colours were vice-versa'd.

Image plate used was m64.

I was so gung-ho about taking a pic of this mani that I failed to clean around the sides before snapping a pic of it! FAIL!

My boyfriend said this looked like winter so I'm naming it Black Frost.

Base Colour is Sally Hansen Silver Lining, stamping colour was Wet n Wild in Black Creme.

Image plate used was s6.

Taken with flash.

Taken without flash.

For some reason, I got tired of this one real quick and couldn't wait to change my nails. =( It made my hands look dirty for some reason. Weird??

Current KOTW. Silver Sculptured Tips.

For the tips I used Finger Paints in Silver Sculpture. For the design I used China Glaze in Grape Pop and LA Colors Art Deco in silver glitter.

The image plates used were m19 for the tips and s6 for the design.

Until the next Konadicure!

Flower Power!

My fishnet konadicure didn't last very long. One of the nails peeled off!! Fail. So here's a new one done so very late at night!

Used Wet n Wild in White and Black Creme for stamping. I also used LA Art Deco for the silver glitter in the middle of each flower. The image plates used were m19 for the french tips and m60 for the flowers.

Taken in soft light. 

With flash.


It's past 1 am so I'm off to bed!! Gnite all!

Flirt in Celeb City!

Current Konadicure for the week...hoping it lasts that long anyways! =D


Base colour is Sally Hansen in Flirt, for stamping I used Sally Hansen in Celeb City. Image plate used was m57.

Photo with flash...you can kinda see a hint of what the base colour really looks like. SLOPPY CLEAN UP ALERT! :D

Without flash, in soft light.

I forgot one Konadicure that I did...I tried the whole fishnet with lace thing but sadly it was a fail. :( I used Sally Hansen Pedal to the Metal for base colour and Wet n Wild Black Creme for stamping. I used image plates m57 and m36.

Til the next Konadicure!!