Hexa-Gon With the Wind

Day #6 of fabric week, and today's fabric is simple earthy tones, and geometric shapes. I chose it because I love orange and brown together, and I liked the simpleness of the pattern.

The fabric inspiration:

The nails:

I used Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme as a base, with a mixture of Zoya Jancyn and OPI Ginger Bells for the orange shapes, then lightly dotted with American Apparel Cotton. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Anyone have recommendations for a 'crick in the neck'? I get them all the time lately, but the pain from my current one refuses to go away, and keeps getting worse. I'm having a hard time sleeping, walking, functioning, etc. Not being a wimp, but this shit is getting out of control. I've tried heat, tylenol, massage, stretching, homeopathic remedies, ergonomic pillow, and medicated pain relief patches (not heated patches). It's been 4 days and it's gotten progressively worse. *ARGH*. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Stone Art and Failed stamping

Hello my sweet Nail-Art Lovers!
Yesterday i felt an irresistible urge to do somehting arty. Luckily for me, idea came along when i saw the rocks around the house. So i created some "Stone Art" using the same one stroke technique that use for Nail art. I also used some Nail-art decal materials to enhance those little gray stones, and i really hope that you will like this.
As for a manicure, i stamped black flowers on a white base color, but however dint allow it to dry completely, so when i tried to cover it the the top coat, i totally screw the design. I took one picture of my right hand before top coat, so you can see the difference. I had to wash this manicure off, and will have to come up with something new tonight.
With top coat
Before top coat

Fabuloustreet.com

Since I post about Nfu Oh products every now and then I get a lot of questions where I buy these. There's actually a small list of etailers that carry the brand and one of them is www.fabuloustreet.com. It's a really nice website with awesome customer service and they have a wide range of Nfu Oh products. I've recommended this website to a lot of people. A LOT. It's even in my FAQ section. Turns out, there are some issues with the site so I feel obliged to let you know the following. Please note I'm not making this post to cause any panic or slander the company.

On The Nailboard over at www.makeupalley.com there have been postings ( 1 | 2 | 3 ) about how some (not all!) people ordered from this etailer, paid with creditcard and experienced weird fraudulent credit card purchases not long after that. Somehow something got messed up. They're already on it as you can read here:

Thank you very much for your message
I am very sorry that you are having this same problem as well as the other customers. We are starting a detail investigation on this. We will call our credit card handling company (Paypal) to work on this issue. As soon as we find out some information, we will immediately post on our News section for updates.

On the technical side, we never see credit card informations. When we process orders with our hosting software, we do not see credit card numbers, (only the last 4 numbers.) So I can ensure to you that it was not our staff. But like I mentioned before, I will do everything possible to find out what happen.

Thank you very much once again for your message and I hope we can end this problem once and for all

Use PayPal

I'm guessing it's most likely security holes instead of a malicious Fabuloustreet. So if you're placing an order, please make sure to use PayPal, which is a lot safer.

Retro Fruits

Today brings the renewal of FABRIC WEEK!! :-P I bought the fabric that inspired today's manicure because of its bold colors and graphic retro imagery. I love it!! :) Today in Vegas is HOT. ugh! I did score a super sweet find at the Antiques Mall though- a zippered leather case in the shape of the sole of a shoe, it's about an 1" thick, and when you unzip it? LEATHER SLIPPERS!!! They're so rad, and they fit like Cinderella's, so of course it was fate, and I had to own them. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow. It's awesome. I'm trying to figure out who made them, the logo is gone, but the faint imprint of 'MILANO NEW YORK LONDON PARIS' is still visible in gold. Dunno, but they're rad, and they were cheap and in great condition!

The fabric inspiration:

The nails:

I used American Apparel Cotton as a base, with a mixture of China Glaze Salsa and CND Electric Orange for the red, MAC Showy for the dark brown, Pure Ice Wild Thing for the lighter green, L.A. Girl Army Green for the darker green, China Glaze Flyin' High for the teal, and American Apparel Manila for the yellow. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

How To: Konad

Hi everyone! For today I've got another how-to that has been requested a lot! I'm not saying this is the way to do it, because I'm sure everyone has their own preferences, but this is my take on it! The end result in the last picture is really awful, please forgive me, but I was working (too) fast because it's still subtropical in The Netherlands and I almost succumbed to the heat!

Before you start anything, you want to make sure you got the right stuff right in front of you. This will minimize little problems like knocking over very expensive nail polish remover or nail polish and the likes. (At the end of making these pictures I had nail polish on my cheeks and an almost empty bottle of Zoya Remove +).

Stuff you'll need

A medium file Image plate Stamp Konad/Awesome pigmented polish Konad special top coat (preferred)

Plastic Card Nail polish remover/acetone Cotton pads Perseverance A good mood

1. Roughen it up!

This is a step that you really don't want to skip. Just grab a medium file and file lightly over the stamp. If you don't do this, it most likely won't pick up nail polish at all.

2. Polishes

Before you start prepare a cotton pad (or more) with nail polish remover and lay it next to the plate. You'll have to clean the stamp (and sometimes the plate) after every go. By using something like tweezers to pick up the cotton pad you won't mess up your manicure.

The polish you use can really influence the end result. Konad sells special polish for stamping, but if you got some really nice pigmented (one coaters and such) nail polishes, you can use these too!
You don't have to fill the entire design on the plate, just apply a bit at one side of the pattern. (I accidentally kinda went overboard while I was taking pictures so you can use less than pictured).

3. Scrape

Most Konad kits come with a scraper. I don't like it. It's sturdy and damages your image plates like no other. Using a plastic card is easier on the plate and it's easier to move around anyway.
Scrape your polish from one side to the other, making sure the nail polish fills every gap in the design. Don't press too hard, because you don't want to scoop nail polish out of the grooves.

4. Be like Speedy Gonzalez

Speed is a really huge thing when you're Konad-ing. You really have to work fast or the polish will turn too dry to pick up with the stamp.

5. Stamp

After you applied nail polish, scraped around, immediately place the stamp on the design. You don't have to press hard, it will only mess up the design.

6. Press

Now you're good to go. Depending on your nail shape, there are several ways to stamp on the nail. My nails are a wee bit curvaceous, so I don't place the stamp flat, from the center. If you have really flat nails, I think this might work for you though.
I align the stamp to the side of my nails, making a circular movement while placing it on the nail. You want a steady, quick hand with this, or you'll end up with a design looking like mine :-P.

7. Top it off

When your done, it's time to get out the top coat. This can be a little bit tricky because it's very easy to smudge your fresh design. Konad has a top coat especially made for this. You can also use other top coats, just make sure it's not thick and apply it in a floating manner, like you're not really touching the nail with the brush.

Well, this is how I go around doing Konad. It's not something I really fancy doing, it can get very messy!

The nail polishes I used in this how-top are Color Club's Worth the Risque and Revvvoluton. Review coming soon!

We Stole the Statue of Liberty!

...the small one, from Las Vegas!!

HAHA, I'm so ridiculously excited to see this movie- the trailers crack me up. "IT'S SO FLUFFFFFY!!!!" and "Is this annoying??" make me laugh every damn time. Today, since I'm going to see Despicable Me tonight, I decided to paint the hilarious Twinkie-shaped minions on my nails, and the silhouette of 'Gru' from the movie logo on my thumb. Seriously silly.

I used China Glaze Happy Go Lucky as a base for the minions, and Zoya Jancyn as a base for the thumb. For the overalls on the minions, I used Pure Ice French Kiss as a base, with a mixture of Pure Ice French Kiss and Orly Snowcone to make them look like jeans (like in the pictures), for the buttons and chest logo, I used American Apparel Hassid. For the glasses, I used a mixture of American Apparel Hassid, American Apparel Factory Grey, and Pure Ice French Kiss for the goggles, with American Apparel Hassid for the goggle strap. For the eyes, I used American Apparel Cotton with American Apparel Hassid for the pupils. I used Zoya Jancyn to shade the bodies, American Apparel Hassid and A Beautiful Life Poison for the mouths, and American Apparel Hassid for the teeth. For the tongue, I used Essie Foot Loose mixed with American Apparel Cotton and CND Electric Orange, then added A Beautiful Life Poison to the mixture to shade. For the 'Gru' silhouette, I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud. Topped everything off with two coats of Seche Vite top coat.

MIX IT UP

Click directly on this picture to get a better view. There are hollow dots so you can actually see through the nails. All of these colors are from the Young Nails neon collection. I painted the white circles with a nail art pen.

This is glitter that I purchased from dollar nail art. I mixed the glitter with clear acrylic to make it super easy to apply. The purple background color is lava lamp art glitter. The ring fingers have 3d stars and the green acrylic is art glitter in fishnet.

On these nails I painted an abstract design on the black. Scroll to the bottom of this post to view the matching toes I did with these.

I have done a lot of flags this July. They are each a little different. I call this one my Dr. Seuss flag it curls in at the end a little. Just always having to get a little artsy and creative whenever I can.

On these nails we were trying to achieve the color apricot. I wish you could see the color in person because it is beauuutifullll. I faded two colors together.

This is opi gel polish in black onyx with a base coat of happy anniversary.


I have done soooo many cute toes lately, I'm frustrated because it is so hard for me to get a good picture of toes. I just can't get the right angle or lighting and the coloring turns out all wrong in the picture. I would appreciate any photography advice. I did think these pics turned out ok but the toes were much cuter in person. Grrrrrr

Deborah Lippmann - Ruby Red Slippers

Celebrating!

Hi guys! What's up? Today may not really be the time for vampy colors, since it's an excruciatingly hot summer day, but today is the day I've been blogging for six months so I wanted something festive! Only six months, it seems so long already!

Glitter

I think this polish is just fabulous! Red Ruby Slippers by Deborah Lippmann is a black jelly base with a mix of small and big hexadecimal hexagonal red glitter. Absolutely divine. It's like China Glaze's Lubu Heels on steroids!

Application

Polishes like these are never the easiest to apply though. You really have to be careful when it comes to the placement of the glitter, it can be all over the place! I actually had to use a stick to immediately push the glitter back in, away from the cuticle, while it was still wet. Normally I like to layer wet over wet, but this one needs a little bit of drying time between layers. But it's so stunning to look at, that I'm gladly taking this for granted!
You can wear this at two coats, but I applied 3. It does dry bumpy and not so glossy, so you definitely want to bring out the top coat. I applied 3 layers of Nubar Diamont to create a smooth glossy surface.

Deborah Lippmann polishes cost between $16-$20 for 15ml each. You can order them online at deborahlippmann.com

Thanks so much for stopping by and see you next time!
- Michèle

Review: Zoya Remove +

Zoya Remove Plus Nail Polish Remover

"Zoya Remove Plus is an award wining, gentle, yet highly effective 3-in-1 nail polish remover, nail prep and nail conditioner. Longer nail polish wear starts with Remove Plus.
Polish remover is just the beginning of what this wonder 3-in-1 formula achieves. Clean and prep nails while moisturizing, nourishing and fortifying the nail plate for guaranteed extended polish wear. Nails are left without a trace of nail lacquer, without streaking or staining, hydrated and ready for a base coat."

Zoya Remove +

I received a mini bottle of Zoya's nail polish remover "Remove +" as a gift with an order and holy crap, I think I love it. There's not much in the bottle, only 2oz or 60ml but it was enough to suck me in.
I'm surprised that a formula with litte acetone in it does the job so well. It removes polish super fast, without a weird residue.

The thing I like about it the most is the fact that I can use this and my cuticles stay intact. They don't turn white, wrinkly or dry. No, they stay exactly the same. Normally, I can't swatch 12 polishes in one go because my fingers WILL start to decompose. Not with this. I'm being super thrifty with it, because I don't want to run out already!
It also takes pretty good care of glitter. I Remove + on OPI's malicious Absolutely Alice and it didn't take me hours.

Have all that and smell nice too!

If it works this good, it probably smells like chemical waste right? No, not at all! It's pleasantly fragranced, it smells like lavender, but not too strong.
Zoya Remove + comes in different sizes, besides the small one I got ($5.99 for 60ml) they also have the handy Big Flipper bottle ($9.99 for 240ml), that one has one of those nifty dispensers. They also have a big refill ($25 for 960ml).

What's not to like?

For me there are only two disadvantages, the availability and the price. Zoya isn't available in stores around here, so I'd have to order online, and I go through a LOT of remover. It isn't really cheap either compared to other removers I've been using. But if I could get my hands on this high quality product easily, I'd just suck it up and get it all the time. If you swatch a lot, I'd say it's absolutely worth it.

Ingredients

2-Propanone (Acetone), Water (Aqua), Glycerine, Fragrance, D and C Violet #2

Visit the Zoya Website

Fine Vines

WOO!! Day four of fabric inspired goodness. If y'all are getting bored, I apologize, just a few more left? :-D I love this fabric, I actually used it to make the first version of my latest iPhone case design (trying to perfect it), and I use that case every day, so today, my nails matched my case! :)

The fabric inspiration:

The nails

I used American Apparel Hassid as a base, with American Apparel Cotton to paint the flowers, leaves, and vines. Topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

It's almost Friday!! ---->Hooray! (Despicable Me comes out tomorrow!!)