Silver Sunnies - Maybelline Mirror Image, Hit the Bottle As Black As Night, Born Pretty BP-L022

It's summer! It's (too) hot, and (too) bright! So I've combined the two and did this stamping manicure to express my feelings... =p

[Slip, slop, slap]

I was thinking my polish from last week was a bit blinding so when I was looking for something to stamp over it... why not a cutesy sunglasses print!

[Bottle to nail: Maybelline Mirror Image (step 2 + base)]

Quick recap: Maybelline Mirror Image - a super-reflective silver chrome. It's really cool watching it dry after application and get more and more mirror-like...

[Base: Maybelline Mirror Image Step 1 + 2 (1 coat each);
Stamping: Hit the Bottle As Black As Night, Born Pretty BP-L022]

The sunglasses print is from Born Pretty plate BP-L022 and I stamped in a black stamping polish (Hit the Bottle As Black As Night). As I mentioned in my last post, tipwear is pretty horrendous with mirror polishes so I free-handed (badly!) a thin french over the worn tips.

[Base: Maybelline Mirror Image Step 1 + 2 (1 coat each);
Stamping: Hit the Bottle As Black As Night, Born Pretty BP-L022]

Still pretty cute! From afar, you can't quite see the fine outline of the sunnies, and it kinda looks like a dotticure!

Chrome Dome - Maybelline Mirror Image

Haha, looks like Jme and I are into our silver manis this past week!

[Bottle to nail: Maybelline Mirror Image Step 2 (1 coat + base)]

Highly reflective chrome seems to be in at the moment (again!) so I dug out one of my vintage treasures to have a go at it myself! This is Maybelline Mirror Image, a two-step polish set consisting of a base, and then a silver polish (above) that dries to an amazing finish.

[Maybelline Mirror Image Step 1 & 2 (1 coat each)]

This is one coat of base, followed by one coat of the silver. I didn't use topcoat over the top in case it dulled the finish, so wear wasn't great which I think is pretty common with these mirror-finish polishes. These photos were taken after one day of wear and you can already see the tips chipping slightly. Also, all these super-reflective chromes do show up every ridge and nick on your nail! Eeek!

[Maybelline Mirror Image Step 1 & 2 (1 coat each)]

Still a great quick fix to get a high-impact eye-catching manicure! Jme has previously done a great comparison to Layla Metal Chrome, another mirror-finish polish, so check it out here!

Silver Sand - Dance Legend Step 1

This will be a relatively short post about glittery holo!

[Dance Legend Step 1]

This is Dance Legend Step 1, and it's a silver holo nail polish. It's purely glitter in a transparent base, so you need at least 3 coats to reach full-ish opacity. But I find it's easier to put down a thin coat of silver chrome nail polish as a base coat before you start applying Step 1, just to make sure there's no tiny bald spot among the glitter once you're done. It was a very shiny nail polish and the holo was sparkling off my nails, which suited my needs perfectly.

The holo is hard to photograph under indirect sunlight, but you can see some of it in the second photo. I think my next post will feature a better photo of the holo glitter, because I use this nail polish as a base for a stamping mani, so stay tuned if you're interested to see more holo photos!

Basic Bling - Gold's Night Out

Not too much to say today! As the title says, it's pretty basic bling we've got here! =p

[Bottle to nail: Maybelline Gold's Night Out (2 coats)]

This is Gold's Night Out from the Maybelline Color Show Sequins range.

[2 coats: Maybelline Gold's Night Out]

As you can tell, it's a dense gold glitter polish with generous splashes of holo gold hexes.

[2 coats: Maybelline Gold's Night Out]

A pretty decent formula with good opacity - these were two coats, pretty gritty due to the large amounts of glitter even with two layers of topcoat. Definitely maximum sparkle!

[2 coats: Maybelline Gold's Night Out]

However, the grittiness really tempted me to pick this polish off, so it didn't last very long on me! Maybe if you could resist, it could go for longer~! =)

Lace it up - MdU Black, Hit the Bottle Chromeo, Born Pretty BP-L045

I have so many manis I did from 2016 which I haven't yet posted, so have a look at a rather old stamping manicure I did.

[Delicate silver and black]

I used Covergirl's Midnight Magic as the base polish, and I stamped over it with Hit the Bottle's Chromeo, a silver chrome stamping polish. I didn't like how the silver stamp on the index finger's nail turned out, so I stamped on top of that with MdU Black. 

[Born Pretty Stamping Plate BP-L045]

The pattern I chose is the one in the lavender box above. As you can see, Born Pretty's stamping plate BP-L045 is full of lace stamping patterns. I have to admit, I don't think I've mastered the art of stamping lace patterns. The ones with particularly busy patterns don't tend to result in sharp clear lines. But I'll keep on working on lace patterns!

[Base: Covergirl Midnight Magic
Stamping: Hit the Bottle Chromeo, Born Pretty BP-L045] 

On the right hand, I didn't stamp with MdU Black. I tried to stamp with different parts of the pattern on every nail so it would look more like lacy fabric stretched across my nails, rather than the same lace pattern repeated across every nail. 

 

[Base: Covergirl Midnight Magic
Stamping: MdU Black, Hit the Bottle Chromeo, Born Pretty BP-L045] 

I think perhaps I'll try again with black nail polish. It certainly looks more like lace when it's in black. 

Greenery - Australis Limited Edition 2, Mundo de Unas Green, Born Pretty BP-83

Ok, so I seem to always forget about this colour of the year business every alternate year... But here's 2017's colour of the year from Pantone - Greenery!

I quite like it, a very nice calm shade with positive connotations for a fresh start...

[Bottle to nail: Australis Limited Edition 2 (2 coats)]

This is the shade I chose to represent it - Australis Limited Edition 2 which I've previously posted about in a dupe test with OPI Who the Shrek Are You?

[2 coats: Australis Limited Edition 2]

Limited Edition 2 is a lovely grassy green which suits the Greenery theme  really well.

[2 coats: Australis Limited Edition 2]

As I've said before, great formula and dry time. This was two coats. I also stamped over it immediately instead of doing it the next night as I usually do, and had no problem with it still being wet/easily dented.

[Plate to nail: Born Pretty BP-83; Stamping: Mundo de Unas Green;
Base: Australis Limited Edition 2 (2 coats)]

Here's the design I used to stamp over my base on the lower left corner. This lovely floral plate is BP-83. I've previously used the design on the bottom right as well.

[Bottle to nail: Mundo de Unas Green; Plate: Born Pretty BP-83;
Base: Australis Limited Edition 2 (2 coats)]

The stamping polish I used was Mundo de Unas Green. It shows up beautifully against the green and stamping was nice and crisp.

[Base: Australis Limited Edition 2 (2 coats);
Stamping: Mundo de Unas Green, Born Pretty BP-83]

You can see above that I actually tested out stamping in a lighter metallic shade on my thumb first, but decided to go with the green instead! I think this design would also do very well for leadlighting - in fact, I think that's one of the reasons I decided to get this plate in the first place!

At any rate, that's my Greenery-inspired mani. Here's to new growth and a luscious year!

Start with a splash - MdU Black, Born Pretty BP-L053, Revlon, LA Girl, Milani

Hello, 2017! How's five days of the new year treating everyone?

[Start the year with a splash...of colours!]

I decided to greet the new year with stamping (to keep with my 2016 trend) on top of gradient mani (callback to older manis I love).

You might recall my gradient mani from last week, which I go into detail here. Click that link if you want to see all the nail polish I used to create the mani, there's just too many to go into again. I rather loved the look of the diagonal gradient mani, and I wanted to prolong its lifespan, so I decided to stamp over it. You can see where it's chipped a little at the edges, and how that's mostly obscured by the stamped pattern. :P

[Born Pretty BP-L053]

I used MdU Black stamping nail polish, with a pattern from Born Pretty's stamping plate BP-L053, to stamp over the gradient nail polish. MdU Black is a really good stamping nail polish. It's a rather thick creme polish and it's easy to handle. I've put a magenta box around the pattern I used on BP-L053 above. As you can see from the pattern on the plate and the pattern on my nails, my nails are too narrow to display the full pattern, which is a shame because I like the spiky edges of it.

[Base gradient mani: Revlon Watermelon Fizz, Revlon Orange Fizz, Revlon Pineapple Fizz,
L.A. Girl Watermelon Splash, Milani Cyberspace, Revlon Blueberry Burst, Revlon Mystical, Revlon Mint Fizz
Stamping: MdU Black, Born Pretty BP-L053

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's a nice stamping pattern and I just love how the colourful background looks through the stamped black lines.

All in all, it's taken me many months but I think I've come a long way with stamping, something I started trying in 2016. I still have some ways to go in terms of improvement, I think, but at least I'm much happier with the results these days. :)

Any nail polish new year's resolution, folks?

Ring It In - Lacquistry Rediculous, Dance Legend Pretty Top, Dance Legend Amazeballz Holo

It's the new year! Once more around the sun we go! Last year seemed to just rush by and I don't remember much of it somehow even though it was generally alright...! Hopefully 2017 will have lots of memorable moments!

[Lit as]

Here's my sparkly mani that I wore for NYE this time around. Nothing like a good classic red polish and extra holo bling...

[Bottle to nail: Lacquistry Rediculous (1 coat)]

My base is the super-gorgeous Rediculous from Lacquistry - sultry sexy sister in the amazing Amazeballz range. Check out our previous tag for all the loveliness from Lacquistry.

[1 coat: Lacquistry Rediculous]

Rediculous is absolutely amazing, but no surprise there. Full coverage in one coat and lovely glowy shine to boot. Of course, it's a million times better if you add a nice glossy topcoat!

[1 coat: Lacquistry Rediculous]

I think this would absolutely be a go-to for a classic red nail. It's a one-coater, quick drying and just the right amount of bling without tipping into cabaret mode... =p

[Bottle to nail: Dance Legend Pretty Top (tips); Base: Lacquistry Rediculous (1 coat)]

I then did a glitter french using Dance Legend Pretty Top, a glitter topper featuring small and large round glitter in gold and silver holo. I just carefully dabbed it on to get the glitter placement where I wantede.

[Base: Lacquistry Rediculous (1 coat); Tips: Dance Legend Pretty Top]

These photos don't really do the sparkle justice - it's definitely much more eye-catching in real life! The only thing I wasn't quite happy with was that I couldn't get as much glitter coverage on the tip as I wanted because the clear base that Pretty Top uses would have been overly thick on the tips....

[Base: Lacquistry Rediculous (1 coat);
Tips: Dance Legend Pretty Top, Lacquistry Amazeballz Holo]

So, a few days later I very carefully filled in the tips using Lacquistry Amazeballz Holo and it was exactly what I was after. Sorted!

Anyway, now that 2016 is over, I can look back and say I'm vaguely proficient at stamping (I hope!). So what's on the cards for the coming year? I've been meaning to actually use up my ever-growing stockpile of water decals and transfer foils, so I'll keep that in mind in the months to follow! =)

All the best to everyone and thanks for reading our little blog!