Chinese Lacquer - ORLY Star Spangled, China Glaze Hi-Tek, Sally Hansen Glossy

Happy Chinese New Year! It's the Year of the Dragon - you would think I'd have a dragon-inspired manicure for you today but... no. =p My initial plan was to do scales but I got lazy and ended up doing a french+stamp combo again. This one is inspired by Chinese lacquer boxes (though to be honest, the result is more like Japanese lacquerware!). 

[Three coats: ORLY Star Spangled]

I started with a base of ORLY Star Spangled, a red jelly with red glitter. This is another possible dupe for the infamous China Glaze Ruby Pumps which I will be doing a dupe comparison post for (along with Milani Ruby Jewels) hopefully soon!

[Bottle-to-nail comparison: ORLY Star Spangled (3 coats)]

This is three coats, since it's a jelly it's fairly thin but since it is thin it spreads easily and dries fast so three coats isn't really a chore. You also get great depth with increasing layers. It can look pretty vampy in dimmer light but it definitely sparkles a bright red in the light.

[Base: ORLY Star Spangled; Stamp: China Glaze Hi-Tek]

I topcoat-ed, then stamped over it with China Glaze Hi-Tek, my trusty chrome stamp-buddy (I should really get a couple more from the Khrome collection!).
 

[Base: ORLY Star Spangled; Stamp: China Glaze Hi-Tek]

I can't remember if I took this pic before or after top-coating; the floral stamping looks kind of matte. Also I had trouble picking up the pattern on one end of the stamp as you can see. This sometimes happens and can occassionally be fixed by either varying the scraping pressure or scraping from a different direction across the plate.

[Base: ORLY Star Spangled; Stamp: China Glaze Hi-Tek; Tips: Sally Hansen Glossy]

I then completed the look with tips using Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine in Glossy - a deep blackened red.It looks black most of the time but shimmers deep red in the light.

[Base: ORLY Star Spangled; Stamp: China Glaze Hi-Tek; Tips: Sally Hansen Glossy]

I would have actually used black as I usually do, but in the spirit of the new year (where black is considered unlucky) I picked this colour instead! It's still red, right! =p

[Base: ORLY Star Spangled; Stamp: China Glaze Hi-Tek; Tips: Sally Hansen Glossy]

And there we go! A festive Chinese New Year manicure~ =)