Amythest

Hello, everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas or time off with friends and family.  For me, it has been a difficult holiday season.  This was my family's first Christmas without my father, who passed away earlier this year, and without my great-nephew, our beautiful 4 year old boy, who was killed in a car accident in July (that also severely injured my sister).  On Christmas day, he would have been 5 years old.

Despite our losses, it was a blessing to be together, to enjoy each other, and to be thankful for the graces that we have been given.

All that said - I've finally also gotten to do my nails!

This was another design that kind of just evolved.  I started with a gradient of Love My Nails Angel, a pearly white, and Kleancolor Salsa, an unusual pink/gold color.   I added a coat of holographic glitter - Kleancolor Holo Pink - before using XL Plate A to stamp the design in Love My Nails Berry Nice.

From DRK-A Plate

I decided to try a contrasting accent nail.  The colors I used weren't really reversible, so I used Milani Blackberry Baby as the base color and I stamped with Pure Ice Outrageous.

Well...that's all for now.  I hope you are each doing well and preparing for an awesome start to the new year!

Be well, Konaddicts!

Royce - We love you and miss you!

My Dad and Me

Furry Grinch Nails

Hello, everyone!
So, I've been wanting to try out a velvet manicure for a while now.  I also haven't done many holiday designs - I've been too obsessed with my magnetic polishes.  So, when I started this manicure, I figured I could knock out two birds with one stone - a velvet manicure with a holiday theme!

I ordered flocking powder especially for nails, but while I was waiting for that to arrive, I decided to try out Martha Stewart flocking powder (with glitter!) from a local craft store.

I started with a Martha's flocking powder in green and I selected a polish color to match.

Once I got the polish on, I thought, "Hey, this reminds me of the Grinch!"  I'm not much of an artist, so when I saw a crochet patter for this hat, I had an idea of how to draw a simple Grinch face.  I added a little red and white with a nail pen to add to the Christmas theme.

So I was thrilled with these!  I couldn't wait until the next day to try to take a nice photo in the sunlight.

Unfortunately, all of my flocking fell off!!  It seems like (at least to me) the fibers aren't long enough to really say in the polish and to give the nail that fuzzy look.  It might also be a result of the glitter - which looks lovely, but must also make the flocking less dense.

So...

by the next day...

my Grinches were kind of balding!

Oh...now that makes me feel Grinchy indeed!

Oh well, I wanted to share anyway!  I hope your holiday nails are staying together better than mine! :)

By the way, there have been some GREAT holiday designs floating around the blogosphere.  I LOVE the designs that look like cities or snowglobes.  I think I am officially obsessed with Playful Polish's Christmas Design here.  Isn't that the cutest thing?  I think I might have to try it before the holidays are over!  Are there any designs you're trying to fit in before the holidays are over?

Drugstore Magnetic Polish Swatches

Indoors, with flash

Hello, everyone!

I know that magnetic polishes have been around a while now.  I just never caught the bug before - that is, until they showed up at Walgreens!  I had seen the Sally Hansen polishes before but I didn't expect a huge rack of Nabi magnetic polishes.    I picked up a few, so I thought I'd try them out here.

The Nabi polishes don't seem to have names.  They also have a very strong chemical smell and a very weak magnet.  There's also no guard to keep the nail from touching the magnet.  Even with those drawbacks, the colors are really pretty - look how rich that burgundy is and how gorgeous that coffee color is!  

These polishes are only $4.95 each and there are tons of colors and different magnet designs.  Definitely, they're worth a try!

Swatches in natural light

The other polish I tried was good old reliable Sally Hansen - that's Red-dy Response on the thumb and Silver Elements on the ring finger.

They're lovely polishes.  The magnet works well - although there is only one magnet design.  There are little guards on the top of the polish to keep your nail from touching the magnet.

I expected that these would be lovely and I wasn't disappointed.  I wish I could buy more but they're $8.99 per bottle - a little steep for my polish budget, especially when you want to buy all 8 of them!

Anyway...there's my foray into magnetic polish.

I don't know why I was so late to catch this trend - the 3D look that the magnet creates is so intriguing.  There's also something so cool about seeing the change in the polish as you apply the magnet.

The other thing I like is that this will be perfect "vacation" polish - it's pretty and interesting and all in one bottle, perfect for holiday traveling!

Well - if you've been eyeing any of those polishes, I hope this post helps!

See you soon, Konaddicts!

Icy Winter Nails

Brr...
It's finally beginning to feel a little like winter outside!
I have been mulling over ideas for an icy manicure for a while.  The weather's changed, so it seemed like a good time to give it a try.

I decided to start by sponging Milani Sail Away, the darker Kleancolor Metallic Sapphire, and Pure Ice Superstar over a base of Kleancolor Pastel Blue.  That gave me a few high and low lights for my ice.  I used BM 208 and Konad Special Polish in white for the "cracks" in the ice.

Good...but...what else can I add?

I decided to go with holographic glitter - Covergirl City Lights - to add a little sparkle to my ice.  I decided I would finish by adding snowflakes.  White wouldn't show up over my lines, so I decided to use Sail Away again for the snowflakes.  I used BM232 for the tiny snowflakes on the fingers and I used A39 for the larger one on the thumb.

I like the frosty final look!

Take care, Konaddicts!  Stay warm and toasty!

Pastel Gradient Nails

Hello, everyone!  Happy 12-12-12!
I've been meaning to post this one for a while.  I've been experimenting with velvet mani - with varying levels of success - so I figured that now might be a good time to "pull something from the archives".

This is a simple and soft sponging mani.  The base is Kleancolor Pastel Yellow.  It's sponged with China Glaze Secret Peri-Winkle at the top and Revlon Demure at the tips.  I used Insta Dri Violet Vroom and Mash 40 for the stamping.

I like this!  It's perfect for a Spring day - or for a winter day when your velvet mani didn't quite work out like it was supposed to.  :-)

Well, Konaddicts, back to these busy pre-holiday weeks!  I hope you each are getting ready for the holidays - they'll be here before we know it!

Hello Kitty: Glitter Kitty

Sorry for the light - I had to take these inside.

Hello, Konaddicts!  I've seen a lot of Hello Kitty designs using a red background.  It's been a while since I've worn a Hello Kitty mani, so I decided to try one out using red.

I started with Love My Nails Pomegranate.  I stamped kitty in white using plate B87 - a good, full sized Hello Kitty image.  I filled in that outline with a nail brush using Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Whirlwind White.

I stamped kitty in Wet n Wild Black Creme over my white circle and used a nail brush to fill in edges.

I did the accents next, using Insta Dri Lightening for kitty's nose and Kleancolor Metallic Red for her bow.

I was planning to use some glitter on my ring finger as an accent nail.  I decided this would be a perfect occasion to try out Milani Jewel FX Gems - a color I've been saving "for the right time" (you nail folks know what I mean!).

I added Jewel Fix to the accent nails, but I liked the sparkle so much, I had to add it to all the other nails.  I tried to polish around kitty.

Finally, used Konad Special polish in white and plate QA12 for KT design on accent nail.

Here's a view of them without the flash.

And one last closeup:

Even with the less than great light, it's obvious that these are my most sparkly kitties yet!

Take care, Konaddicts!

Bright and Dark

Hi, everyone!
I've always loved manicures with black stamped over a colorful background.  I decided to give it shot - and I love the outcome!

I started with plain white polish and then turned each nail into a little rainbow of vertical stripes.

I used a quick swipe of Sally Hansen Insta Dris in Fast-Lane Fuschia, Lightening, Brisk Blue, Lickety Split Lime, and Heaven Nail Lacquer in Hawaiian Coast.  I started my "rainbows" in different places on my nails so that each nail would have a different lineup of colors.

I topped my rainbows with a coat of glitter - Cover Girl City Lights, a holographic glitter in clear base.

I used Wet n Wild Black Creme and Mash plate 45 for the stamping.

What do you think?  It's pretty bright for December!