Red & Black Lace Nails

Good morning everyone! Today I have a mani to share with you that I did back in March. I can't believe I actually have this much stuff to post that these are from that far back. It's because I've been swatching a lot lately and it's really hard for me to swatch without stamping over it. I guess it's a good thing because it's made me so productive!

For this mani I used Gelibility base and top and stamped using PUEEN 27 in Mundo de Unas Black. The red is OPI GelColor Coca-Cola Red, one of my all-time favorite reds!

OPI Do You Take Lei Away & MoYou London Tropical 01

Happy Friday beauties! I'm so happy that Spring is here because that means lots of colorful manis and floral prints to come! Here's my first one using one of the polishes from the OPI Hawaii Collection.

I used OPI Do You Take Lei Away and stamped using MoYou London Tropical 01 in Mundo de Unas White.

I added some gold glitter in the center of the flowers to make it pop. You probably can't tell, but I made this into a gel manicure with Gelibility. I love having my stamped manis last me all week at work now. I just need to figure out a way to use studs with gel and get through the week without them falling off. I've already tried anchoring the stud with gel topcoat, curing, then adding 2 coats of topcoat and curing. Any suggestions?!

Celtic Knot for St. Paddy's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! So I did this gel mani yesterday morning before work. The original image of a shamrock I wanted to use from Bundle Monster BM-H05 just did not want to transfer to my gel. I've come to the conclusion that a lot of my BM images won't transfer on gel or topcoated nails because I've had this issue several times now that I've been using gel or only using BM when I swatch (over topcoated polish). Anyways I decided to use plan B and use the only Irish or St. Patrick's related image from one of my MoYou London plates as my MoYou London images transfer seamlessly to gel polish or topcoated nails.

I used OPI GelColor Alpine Snow and stamped using MoYou London Tourist 04 in Mundo de Unas Orange. I used Gelibility with Essie Shake Your Money Maker and China Glaze Angel Wings.

It's a bummer I finally had the chance to use my St. Patrick's themed images and it didn't end up working out. I've now added MoYou Festive 17 to my to-buy list!

Hugs & Kisses for Valentine's Day

Hi loves! I'm trying to get a good amount of Valentine's nail art posted before it's over and I can't use those stamping images for another year lol. Last year at this time I was so busy with my new job and I was taking my blogging break so I'm happy to finally put my Valentine's stamping images to use.

I made this gel mani with Gelibility, but my mistake was that I used a red crelly. From now on, I won't be using a crelly or jelly with Gelibility since mixing Gelibility dilutes the polish. It doesn't make much of a difference with cremes, but with OPI Red Hot Rio it took me 4 coats for opacity!

I used OPI Red Hot Rio, Zoya Pixie Dust Chyna, and Morgan Taylor All White Now and stamped using Bundle Monster BM-411 in Mundo de Unas Black.

Double Stamped Valentine's Day Hearts with PUEEN 77

Happy shopping Saturday my friends! OMG I went on a shopping spree today and it was awesome. The OPI Hawaii collex was one of the many things I got today so be on the lookout for those in my upcoming posts. Today I have my first Valentine's Day look to share with you all. I made this into a gel manicure with Gelibility and I loved wearing them all week. I used OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian and stamped using PUEEN 77 in Mundo de Unas Neon Pink and White. Stay tuned tomorrow--I'll be posting my review of the new brand of stamping plates by Uber Chic Beauty!

Creative Shop Stamper Review

**Press Sample**

Hi friends! Today I have a review of the stamper from Creative Shop, a Ukraine based online shop. I had seen a lot of people starting to use this stamper over the last couple months and when Ksenija of Creative Shop asked me if I wanted to review the stamper I jumped at the opportunity. The stamper is made out of a unique material unlike any of the other stampers I own, has a large silver holder with a unique shape, and did I mention it's huge! Take a look at the size compared to the stamper I currently use from EBay. It also came with a card containing the shop info and doubles as a scraper.

As you can see the Creative Shop stamper on the right is made of a semitransparent soft silicone. It's not as squishy as a "squishy stamper," but still conforms to the nail. It's hard to describe but basically when I press my finger into the center of my regular stamper, the stamper "spills over" the sides as it's so soft. If I do that with the Creative Shop stamper, my finger still goes deep into the stamper, but it doesn't "spill over" the sides if that makes sense. 

When I first used the stamper for this manicure, I noticed that there were "hairs" on the edges of the stamped images which I have never encountered before. You can see them if you look up close, but no one is going to notice them since they're so tiny.

I also used the stamper for another manicure. I decided to do a mani inspired by Deborah of Love Varnish. I did this Gelibility manicure using China Glaze Lotus Begin and stamped using MoYou London Pro 06 in Mundo de Unas White and A-England Crown of Thistles. I didn't get any of the "hairs" with this second manicure.

All of the thin lines transferred very well, but I will note that compared to my other stamper, the lines are a little finer. If I were to compare it to fonts, I would say my regular stamper transfers "bold" and the Creative Shop stamper transfers "regular." This is something that would be a matter of preference as sometimes I want my images bold and there are other times where I want to do something that won't cover up too much of my base. 

I won't be ditching my regular stamper, but overall this is a great stamper. It transfers images very well, it's easy to use, doesn't need any priming, feels comfortable to hold, the stamper head didn't fall out while I used it, and it's huge. You can purchase this stamper here for $8.

OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, Konad M79, & Bundle Monster BM-317

Hi beauties! Whomp whomp--back to work tomorrow and I start school again this week. The good news is that it's my LAST semester of school and I doubt I'll ever go back. This semester won't go by fast enough. Today I have a Gelibility gel mani I did a week ago. I used OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around and stamped using Konad M79 and Bundle Monster BM-317 in Mundo de Unas Black. Glitter is Zoya Pixie Dust Dahlia. I absolutely love how these turned out! I got the inspiration from my one of my boss's blouses lol.

Gelibility Review

Hi friends! Yesterday I mentioned that the mint and white Christmas sweater mani I did was all gel. If you were wondering how I did it, wonder no more--I used Gelibility! I've been mentioning in my last few posts that I've recently been getting into gel polish. While I was doing some online shopping, I stumbled upon Gelibility. I decided to buy it and see how it worked out. Gelibility is a system that allows you to turn any regular nail polish into gel polish. There's a great video on their page that shows how to use it, but you basically mix Gelibility with your regular nail polish, apply it, cure it, and viola--gel polish. I mixed my polish on foil and I used a polish brush from an empty Seche Vite bottle. I'll show you my pics and then I'll let you know my thoughts!

As you can see, day 14 looks just like day 1--shiny and no chips! The only thing I noticed is that there's a slight tint of yellow to the polish as time went on, but I honestly didn't even notice it until I looked at my photos today. One more thing to note is that if you use a glitter polish for example, it may take an extra coat to achieve opacity as the polish becomes slightly diluted once you mix it with the clear gel. 

I have to say I'm impressed with the results. It was easy to use and it lasted a solid 2 weeks, which is the longest I've ever worn a manicure, ever. I love that I bought this early on getting into gel polish because I don't have to buy any new colors and start a gel polish collection from ground zero. There's a lot of polishes I own that I avoid using because I know they chip fast, but I look forward to trying them out with Gelibility! You can purchase a Gelibility set here for $37.95. 

**I purchased this**

Mint & White Christmas Sweater Nails

YAY I made it to Saturday! This has been one of the longest weeks ever. Worked 68 hours this week and saying I'm pooped is an understatement. What's worse is that I was supposed to have a couple weeks off from work for winter break, but now I will be on call. Waaah there goes playtime for my nails. Oh well, at least I have some posts saved up that I was able to do over the Thanksgiving break.

Today I have some Christmas sweater nails! I know you've probably seen a ton, but how could I go through the holidays without doing some? I used Morgan Taylor Mint Chocolate Chip and stamped using MoYou London Festive 04 in Mundo de Unas White. The glitter is Zoya Tomoko. You can't tell from the photo, but I turned this all into to gel using Gelibility! I've been wearing this mani for the past 2 weeks and I'm ready to remove it today with my new Steam-Off gel removal system from The Painted Nail! I'll be reviewing Gelibility and the Steam-Off gel removal system in future posts. Keep your eyes peeled!