Delicate Rose Decals

Hi everyone,
I didn't have much time for nails this week, so I decided that it might be a good time to try out my nail decals from the Born Pretty store.  Ach!  I love them!  They're water decals, so they're super easy to apply and they lie flat on the nail.  Since the decals are typically clear, you need a light base color.  I used Sinful Easy Going.

I love these!  I am surely headed back to the Born Pretty Store for more decals.  They have awesome sales that making stocking up on these a cinch.  I only wish I had tried them in Spring when the pastels would have a been a better fit for the season - we actually have a light dusting of snow this morning!

Take care, Konaddicts!  Thanks for stopping by!

Fuchsia Hearts

Hi everyone!
This is simple mani I did earlier in the summer.  There's simple stamping on three fingers and a nail decal on two.

The color is NYC Greenwich Village, a lovely hot pink, along with black and silver.  I used Pueen 41 for the full nail pattern and Cici and Sisi 02 for the decal.

Easy - and fun!  Thanks for stopping by, Konaddicts!

Glitter Blush

Hello, everyone!
It's been a while since my last post, but I'm glad to have a chance to share my glittery nails!

The Born Pretty Store has a gorgeous set of polishes for a glitter gradient.  I didn't want to order it, because it's sometimes hard to justify buying more polishes, but I couldn't resist.  In the meantime, though I tried to see if I could recreate the look with polishes that I already had.

I used Revlon Diamond Texture, Sally Hansen Strobe Light, and Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink.

What do you think, Konaddicts?  It's a lot of sparkle!  I can't wait to try this out again when my Born Pretty polish set arrives!

Conversation Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day, Konaddicts!  

Hope you have an awesome day filled with love!

~Polishes & Plates~

Base: Essie Fiji

Conversation Hearts

Plate: Messy Mansion MM03, Konad M18 (for the pinky heart)

Heart Stamping Colors: Sally Hansen Insta Dri Mango Team, Blue Blast, Fuschia Flare, Urgent Orchid, Konad Polish Pastel Green, Sp Polish in White

Accents

Pueen 21 stamped with metallic Love My Nails Berry Nice

Dots of Essie No Place Like Chrome

He Loves Me...

Hello, everyone!
So many Valentine's images, so little time!  :)

Today I'm wearing a simple combination - Essie Fiji as a background stamped with Love My Nails Berry Nice.  I used Konad M95 for the full nail hearts (eek!  I love these!).  For the accents, I used the heart from Messy Mansion MM03 and stamped the children and cupid in black with Winstonia W102.

Aww...

Hope you're having a great Valentine week, Konaddicts!

Sweetly Peach

Hello, everyone!  We have a sunny day today - very exciting after all the moody winter weather we've been having.  Today, I'm wearing a very easy, super simple two-color manicure.  This is L'oreal Complete Salon Manicure First Kiss stamped with NYC French White Tip.  The plate is the classic Konad M60.  It's simple and sweet, perfect preparation for Valentine's Day!

I hope you're having sun - and love - wherever you are, Konaddicts!  I think I'm going to try out my Messy Mansion plate with conversation hearts for Valentine's Day, so I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out!

Think Pink: Pink Panther Nails

 Hello, everyone!
When I was doing my Raggedy Ann nails, I noticed that the MJ XVI plate also had an image of the Pink Panther!  I was inspired by that and by all of your kind comments on the rag doll nails to give it a go.  What a fun walk down memory lane!

Essie Fiji (of course!) is my base coat.  Our perplexed panther is a decal made with MJ XVI and Orly's Sweet Temptation, a gorgeous chrome pink, as the stamped outline.  I filled in the panther's eyes with Sally Hansen Butterfly Stroke and filled in his body with Pure Ice Love.  Once I transfered the decal from the stamper to the nail, I used a pin to dot his eyes and add his eyebrows in black.

I went with a full nail pattern from Cheeky Jumbo Plate European Romance.  I stamped with Sweet Temptation and filled in random squares with Love and with Kleancolor Holographic Pink.

I don't know if you remember the cartoons, but the fun part of the cartoons was watching the poor, unlucky Inspector trying (in vain) to catch the Pink Panther.  I decided to make foot prints and a magnifying glass (I have been dying to use that!) to incorporate that into the manicure.

I used Sweet Temptation and Cheeky CH27 for the foot prints.  I used the magnifying glass from Gals GA 47 and Milani Black Magic for the magnifying glass.

Well, Konaddicts, thanks for stopping in.  I noticed I have 86 followers now!  How did that happen?  Thank you!  I appreciate that you let me share my polish obsession with you!

Pink Kissses

Hello, everyone!
Are you ready to start a new week?  I know I'm...not.  Well, there's nothing like a fun mani to get the week going (at least that's what I'm hoping!).

For this mani, I decided to use my absolute favorite design - this simple little weave from BM 21.  This is my favorite "full nail" pattern.  I don't know if I have a sentimental attachment - since it was the first plate set I bought - or whether I just like the look.  Of course, Bundle Monster was new at the game, too, so the design is small and you have to do some finagling to get it to cover your entire nail.  Anyway, I love this pattern and I rarely use it, so I decided that today would be the day.

I wanted to jazz it up a bit, so I decided to stamp it over a pink gradient.  I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri Pink Blink and Milani Cherry Pie.  I stamped my BM 21 pattern using L'Oreal Violet Vixen.

I wanted to add something else.  At this point, I usually go with a flower.  I decided to try something new (for me!) and decided to go with kisses.  These lip smacks are from BM 02 (I was on a BM roll!) using Konad Special White.  I couldn't resist testing the "Kiss" phrase from Cheeky 27, so I decided to add that as well.  You can't see it perfectly, but it's fun to know it's there.

Well, Konaddicts, thanks for reading!  I'm hoping you have a week full of love!

Tell me, what patterns top your "all time favorite" list?

Lattice and Roses

Hello, everyone!
If this is your "Back to School" week, I hope it's going well.  As for me, things have been a little hectic and I'm still wearing a peeling and cracking mani from (gasp!) last week! I wanted to take a moment to share this design with you because - amazingly - I did NOT use Essie Fiji as a base (what?).

I LOVE Essie Fiji.  It's a sweet, pale pink that I use all the time.  I've never been fond of the application of Essie Fiji, but the light color and opacity has made it a favorite.  When I saw Sinful Easy Going, I thought I might be able to add a little variety to my pale pinks.

For this design, I used Easy Going and stampepd it with Orly Mind's Eye using Pueen 22.  I was going for a softer, vintage rose look when I added Pure Ice Love and Wet N Wild Lavender Creme.  They came out a little more "impressionist" than "vintage", but I liked the overall effect.

Well, Konaddicts - what do you think about this one?  Are there other pale pinks that you'd recommend?

Chocolate Dipped Nails

Hi everyone,
Whew, what a week!  I'm glad to finally get a chance to sit down and get to the important stuff - nails! :)

I was hoping to get some good sunshine to take this picture, but we've had cloudy days all week.

This was a fun second attempt at using the "drip effect".  It's my go-to pastel pink, Essie Fiji, painted with delicious globs of a Nail Savvy pearly chocolate brown.  I wanted to add some additional color, so I made "sprinkles" with Kleancolor Barbie Pink, Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, MyOnline Shop Stamping Yellow.

Overall, it was not very difficult and a fun design to wear.

I have actually been wearing the same polish all week (gasp!).  I'm going into polish withdrawal!  I had better get to polishing!

Thanks for stopping by!  And, by the way, in case you ever wonder about what happens when the skies finally open up over the dry and thirsty desert, this is it!  What a commute!

Hello Kitty: Camo Kitty

Hello, everyone!
Hello Kitty reporting for duty!  I received my new MJ HK image plate (I ordered mine from Etsy but you can also get them at the MyOnlineShop Facebook store).  The plate has 50 (gasp!) Hello Kitty images.  There are some that I probably won't use - like an Emo Hello Kitty and a Darth Vader one - but it's lots of fun to have so much variety.

I was intent on using the "army" Hello Kitty image from this plate.  I decided to try a camouflage design for the other nails.  As a side note, apparently I misspelled "camouflage" so badly that my spell check suggested "guacamole" (geez).

The camouflage is made of a base of Essie Fiji.  I used a nail brush and three colors to paint in the irregular shapes that became my camouflage.  I started with the lightest of the three, L'Oreal Walk on the Beach, and then used Milani Cherry Pie and Kleancolor Military Green.  I had to experiment a little with the size of my shapes in order to get a look I was happy with.

For the stamping, I used the "decal" method.  I stamped with Military Green and used a nail brush to fill in the image with Konad Special White for the face and Walk on the Beach for the helmet.  Once I had the image transferred from the stamper to my nail, I streaked a little pearly pink under her eyes.  The image transferred well, but got a little streaky when I added topcoat.

Well, Konaddicts, thanks for reading!  It was fun to try a different look with Hello Kitty.  Hope you're having a great weekend!

Subtle Spring Flowers

Hello, everyone!  
I had a hard time trying to capture this pastel mani on camera.  With temperatures topping 104 degrees (!), I was in the mood for something light and airy.

This is a light gradient of Salon Perfect Lavender Fields and SP Azure.  I used the cute butterflies on  Pueen 39 and Sally Hansen Whirlwind White for the stamping.  This was my first experience with Salon Perfect polish and, I have to say, the Lavender went on like butter!

Here's another look - this time indoors.  The focus isn't perfect, but it gives a truer sense of the colors.  

Well, Konaddicts - I hope this post finds you cool and collected!  Thank you for stopping by!  Be sure to catch my Saturday post - I'm going to be doing a "nautical nails" twin post with Jajuana from Mani's by Moore!  I've never done nautical nails before, so it's going to be a fun challenge!  See you soon!

Sweet Tone on Tone Peach

Hello, everyone!
I've been feeling like something a little different - and I love how this turned out!  After all the bright shades, it's nice to wear a sweet, mellow peach.

My base color is Revlon Peach Petal.  The stamping color is the pearly Revlon Bronzed Rose.  The curlicue designs are from Gals plate GA37, the stripes from H-series plates H12, and the flower is the classic from Konad M31.  I finished off with a little rhinestone in the flower.

I've noticed more and more manis with different designs on each finger.  I didn't feel quite that adventurous this time, but I think the stripes add a nice touch.

BTW: have you seen the new Holiday set of Bundle Monster plates?  They have some very cute designs!  At some point, I'm going to have to stop buying plates and get busy using all of them!

I hope you are having some sweet, summer days!

Fuchsia Flowers

Hey, everyone!  I hope you had a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend.  Thank you to all of those veterans out there!

We've had an illness in the family, so I have been traveling a lot and I've had to keep things simple and quick. This bright and cheery mani completely fit the bill!

This is Sally Hansen Fast Fuchsia stamped with Konad Special polish in White and dotted with SH Insta Dri Quick Canary.  There's a sparkle to the yellow that's a little hard to see in the picture but it adds just the right amount of spring to design.  The plate is another lovely design from the Pueen Love Elements plate set - Pueen 31.

There was one weird thing - I noticed that the Fast Fuchsia dried with a lovely shine to it.  So lovely, in fact, that the stamp didn't want to "stick" on the polish.  I gave each nail a very quick wipe with polish remover, and "voila!".  I wonder if there's a new addition to the Insta Dri formula?  Anyone else out there have this kind of issue?

Be well, all.  Thanks for stopping by!

A Berry Busy Mani

"Classic" Strawberry Shortcake?  It's a nail dream come true!

I've always hoped to find decals of the 1980s version of Strawberry Shortcake but have never come across any.  These little decals from Pretty Girly Girl totally made my day!

I wasn't really sure what the best "set up" would be for my awesome decals, so I chose a pastel pink - Essie Fiji - as a background.  The decals appear to be the "homemade" variety - the ones printed on water decal printer paper.  The design was perfect - no issues there - I just had trouble getting them to stay in place on the nail.

I opted for two contrasting nails - which broke up the design and also meant I didn't need to do anymore wrestling with the decals.  The contrasting nails are polished with Pure Ice Siren and stamped with Konad Special polish in White using Shany SH19.  To finish, I used a dotting tool to add dots of the contrast color around the decals.

Even with my "technical difficulties", I really love this one.  I think the ladies also approve!

Aren't they cute?  They were an awesome eBay find!

Take care, Konaddicts?  Have you had nail dreams come true?  Tell me about it!

Messy Mansion Hearts

Hello, everyone!
There are just so many things to love about the Messy Mansion plate MM03!  I have always wanted to be able to make Valentine's day candy hearts and I could never find a plate for them.  This little eBay find was a dream!

Excuse the left over polish -  I was experimenting!

I decided to go with the unique and lovely full nail design. My base is Pure Ice China Girl, a chrome-like peach, stamped it with Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Rushing Rubies.

The top look is the combo in shade.  The sunlight version is more subtle but still pretty sweet.

Take care, Konaddicts!  With all the new plates and plate sets out there, what new plate(s) are you just crazy about?

Checkmate

Hey, all!
I've got a quick mani to share today.  This is Wet n Wild Lavender Creme stamped with the checkerboard pattern from Mash 38 using Konad Special Polish in Black.  The crown is stamped from Red Angel plate 119.

Quick, easy, and fun!
Thanks for reading Konaddicts!  See you soon!

Valentine Hearts and Roses

Hello, everyone!  Valentine's day is long gone (thank goodness!), but I'm still in the mood for hearts and flowers.  Luckily, Mash 39 has a unique design that is both roses and hearts!

I have been eyeing this plate for a while but I hadn't been able to come up with a design I liked.  This time, I opted for double stamping, and I love the result!

This is a base of Orly Sweet Temptation with a thin coat of holographic glitter - Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope.  I thought about sponging a background, but opted for something a little quicker.  Instead, I stamped the design once with Konad Special Polish in Pastel Pink and then stamped the design again with the darker Orly Mind's Eye.  I tried to line the designs up, but didn't worry too much about overlap.

Pink + Hearts + Flowers?  Love it!

Wishing you much love, Konaddicts!  See you soon!

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

Vibrant Pink and Teal

This looked nicer before the cotton ball got stuck on my ring finger! :(

Hello, everyone!  I hope you're having a great Saturday!

Today's nails came about in a backward sort of way.  For several days, I've been wearing Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear The Real Teal.  I planned to stamp it, but I wasn't sure what design I would use.

I picked Wet n Wild Lavender Creme as a complimentary color.  Since my nails were already teal - and there's no way the creme would stamp over it - I polished my tips white with Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Whirlwind White.  Then, I polished the Lavender Creme over the white, to give me a bright vibrant pink.

I stamped the heartbeat line using Wet n Wild Black Creme using Mash 38.  I used a little nail brush to fill in any spaces missing colors.

Take care, Konaddicts!  Take time today to remind your loved ones how much you care for them.