Sunday, September 29, 2013

Bundle Monster 2013 Create Your Own Stamping Plate Collection Review


The wait is over! Bundle Monster has finally released their 2013 Create Your Own Stamping Plate Collection. Earlier this year, they had fans submit their designs to be chosen for this collection. The process of selecting winners and producing the plates has taken some time, but I'm glad I finally have them to review for you today. The set is comprised of 26 plates and all of the images are fan created. There is a huge variety of images in this collection including patterns, tribal print, nautical, nerdy, gamer, sugar skulls, sports, music, animals, and romantic images. The list goes on, but when I say variety, I mean it! There are a lot of full nail images and single images as well. Here are a few manis I have already did using the new plates.


Here's the packaging for the plates. It has a zip lock so you can keep the plates in there if you wanted to. You can also see the plates have the same backing as their other sets to prevent you from getting cut on sharp edges.


All of the plates come with blue film to protect the plates from getting scratched in transit. You must remove it before use.


OPI A Piers to be Tan stamped using BM 410 in Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Orange Impulse



It was so much fun creating this crime scene mani. I used China Glaze Liquid Leather and OPI My Boyfriend Scales walls and stamped using BM 421, 414, 416, and 409 in Konad Yellow, MASH Black, China Glaze With Love, and Konad White. 


The small circles on the DNA image (pinky) didn't want to pick up on my Konad stamper, but I switched to my XL squishy stamper and it picked up with ease. I will also say I am impressed at how clear the caution tape details came out so crisp.


OPI My Boyfriend Scales walls stamped using BM 423 in Konad Black. The red is OPI First Date at the Golden Gate and the glitter is China Glaze Glistening Snow. The zig zag image is the image I was looking forward to the most because achieving this image with tape/zig zag scissors or polish decal/zig zag scissors is not always user or time friendly. (Manicure inspired by Selenadee Nails)





The new set is the exact same size as BM 3 and BM Holiday sets.



Click for enlargement. I don't usually include my scans, but I really want to show all of the creative images in this set.


I really love this set. The images are so fun and creative and I am already planning out so many manicures. There is a ton of variety and the quality is just as good as BM's other sets. The best part--the whole set of 26 plates is only $16.50. It is their largest and cheapest set. You can purchase Bundle Monster's 2013 Create Your Own Stamping Plate Collection here. Enter coupon code "thanks" for 10% off your order. Coupon code valid until November 15, 2013. 


Check out Bundle Monster on their:

Friday, September 27, 2013

Marcia Lima, Esmaltes Da Kelly, Alanna Renee, & Penelope Luz Indie Polish Swatches


Happy Friday! Today I have swatches of 4 different indie polish brands I received for review from Color4Nails. There are 3 brands from Brazil including Vermelho Accessories/Marcia Lima, Esmaltes Da Kelly, and Penelope Luz and a brand from Australia, Alanna Renee. If you're ready for all of the glittery goodness, then onto the swatches! All are shown with Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.


Vermelho Accessories/Marcia Lima Dorothy Shoes--3 coats on its own. Red holographic glitter in red jelly base.


Vermelho Accessories/Marcia Lima Electric Kiwi--4 coats over China Glaze Gaga for Green. Different shades of green glitter in a clear base.


Esmaltes Da Kelly Edward--1 coat over OPI Nein Nein Nein Ok Fine. Black microglitter and dark grey holographic glitter in gray jelly base.


Esmaltes Da Kelly Wolfsbane--2 coats over China Glaze Creative Fantasy. Purple microglitter in a clear base.


Alanna Renee It's a Girl--3 coats. Baby pink creme with subtle shimmer.


Alanna Renee Sugar & Spice & All Things Nice--1 coat over Alanna Renee It's a Girl. Pink and purple holographic hex glitter with holographic microglitter in a clear base.


Penelope Luz Geisha--2 coats over OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Black and pink hex, square, bar, and microglitter in a clear base.


Penelope Luz Ocean Jewel--2 coats over OPI Fly. Holographic teal hex and microglitter in light teal jelly base. 


Hope you guys enjoyed all of the sparkly indies. You can purchase them all here from Color4Nails.


Thursday, September 26, 2013

Essie The Girls Are Out & Cheeky Jumbo C

Hi my polished pretties! Today I have a mani that I did to transition from fall to summer. I did this by using a polish from a summer collection and a polish from a fall collection. For this mani I used Essie The Girls Are Out and stamped using Cheeky Jumbo C in OPI Haven't The Foggiest. OPI Haven't The Foggiest is also on my ring finger and pinky. I was going to stamp with one of my silver stamping polishes, but I would feel weird doing my nails with 2 different shades of silver. It's okay though because I liked how subtle this looked anyways.



Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Essie The More The Merrier & MoYou Princess Collection 02

Happy Tuesday! Quick post today. I've been writing papers all weekend and haven't had much time for my nails. Here's a mani I wore for a whole 6 days last week! I used Essie The More The Merrier and stamped using MoYou Princess Collection 02 in Konad White. The glitter is OPI Crown Me Already. This was my first mani using my new MoYou London plates. I had this Tinker Bell mani planned out as soon as I saw the plate online. So far I'm impressed with the quality of the images I used and they picked up perfectly. Can't wait to do more manis with them!



Thursday, September 19, 2013

Essie Sunday Funday & Cheeky Jumbo C

Hi friends! Quick post today because I have to catch up on my homework. Here's a mani I wore a couple weeks ago and I really loved how it looked. I used Essie Sunday Funday and stamped using Cheeky Jumbo C in Essie Good As Gold. The studs are from Born Pretty Store and you can check out my review of them here. I'm so happy that I purchased the Essie Naughty Nautical collection and some Cheeky jumbo plates. I have been playing with them so often! What purchases have you been using a lot lately?



Tuesday, September 17, 2013

OMG Nail Strips Review


Goodmorning! Today I have OMG Nail Strips to review. OMG Nail Strips are made out of real nail polish and don't require any heat to apply them. 


Each package comes with 2 sheets of 7 different sized nail polish strips.

Here's the instructions that come on the back of the package.


Here's my 1st attempt with the nail strips. I followed all of the instructions. I did end up trimming some of the strips because they are quite large compared to other nail strips I have used in the past. I used Seche Vite Quick Drying Top Coat as I always do with my manicures, and the polish strip disintegrated. At first I didn't realize it and thought I got some garbage on my nail, so I went for a 2nd coat on my middle finger and finally realized what happened.


After realizing the strip was made out of nail polish, I removed the first set and tried again with this 2nd set. Instead of trimming the polish strips, I used a clean up brush with polish remover to fit them to size perfectly. I also did an extra, optional, but recommended step and used polish remover on a cotton ball to go over each nail a few times to allow them to adhere better to the nail. In addition, instead of Seche Vite, I used the only other topcoat I own--Konad Top Coat. Results were better, but the strip looked bubbly and not shiny. I felt like I was wearing stickers and not nail polish. 


I ended up doing a full mani to test these out for a few days.


Be careful if you decide to run polish remover over the nail for better adherence to the nail, you might end up removing some of the strip like I did on my thumb. 

Here's what it looked like after 3 days. Tip wear was not great and if you click to enlarge, each nail with the polish strip shows large cracks. 
Minimal tip wear on the corner of my nail with regular nail polish.

Here's my other hand after 3 days. Again, poor tip wear and cracking shown with the polish strips and minimal tip wear with regular polish.



Overall, I was not pleased with the OMG Nail Strips. They're so large that I had to end up using the same size on my ring and pointer finger so that means I run out of that size before I can even get to the other hand, making it difficult to do a full manicure. Also cutting them down to size disrupts the shape of the strip. After I cut mine, I found it difficult to align with my nail bed. The polish strips also don't seem to work well with both of the topcoats I used as one disintegrated and one appeared bubbly and dull. Wear was not great after just 3 days. If you have larger nail beds and have a topcoat that works, you may have a better experience than I did. You can purchase these polish strips here for $6.89. You can also purchase 4 sets for $20 with coupon code “4pack” and 10 sets for $45 with coupon code “10pack.”


Saturday, September 14, 2013

Bundle Monster's New 2013 Stamping Plate Collection

Hey stampaholics! Just wanted to share the wonderful news with you that the wait is almost over for Bundle Monster's new 2013 stamping plate collection. This is a one of a kind collection because it's their first set in which ALL of the designs are created and submitted by fans! Bundle Monster has been releasing sneak peek photos of the collection every day this week. Check them out here! The set will be available for purchase towards the end of September. I will be lucky enough to receive a set for review so I am looking forward to playing with them and sharing that with you! What do you guys think of the collection so far and what images are your favorite?


Eyes On Indie Party

Did someone say nail polish party?! I will be attending my very first nail polish party tomorrow. If anyone lives in California in the San Jose area you should join in the festivities! It's a party hosted by PolishedByKPT and EcoMonster where several indie polish and make up makers will be selling their products. There will also be different stations where you can create your own organic hand scrub, paint your nails, & shop. There will be goodies like cocktails, beer, and macaroons for sale. Admission is $5 if you purchase online from EcoMonster or $6 at the door. Your ticket also enters you in a raffle for a chance to win an epic prize of indie polishes. Come join us! I'm so excited! All the info on purchasing and the event can be found here.


Friday, September 13, 2013

Essie Naughty Nautical Water Marble

Happy Friday the 13th! Good thing nothing unlucky happened to me today. Today I have a water marble I did using some of the colors from the Essie Naughty Nautical collection. Summer is almost over and I did really good at not buying a lot of polish, so I decided to get this collection I've been eyeing all summer. I've been playing with them this week before summer ends. For this water marble I used a base of Zoya Purity and marbled using Essie Sunday Funday, Naughty Nautical, The Girls Are Out, and The More the Merrier. They're not uniform like I usually prefer, but I still like how they turned out. I used an orange stick from Winstonia to do the water marble. You can check out my review on the orange wood sticks here.