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

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?

Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots

Hi everyone!  I'm excited to finally get a chance to post.  It's been another busy week.  First, I had a leak and woke up to a small swamp in my apartment (argh!).  I was also preparing for a family reunion - which turned out to be a great couple of days with family.  It was wonderful to be able to be able to see my aunts and cousins, some of whom I haven't see in years!

So now...back to the nails!

I picked up this bottle of Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots Blue Marks the Spot (which must be the longest name is polish history) and wanted to try it out.  I used Rimmel Blue Eyed Girl as a base then I added the Blue Marks.  This polish is packed with glitter; one coat is probably enough.  I was being a bit of a glitter glutton, so I went for two.

To add a little variety, I polished the glitter over manicure tapes on the ring finger and decided to stamp the thumb.  I used Pueen 8 and Kleancolor Pastel Blue for the stamping.

I haven't tried many glitter polishes with different sizes and shapes of glitter.  What have I been doing?  This stuff is awesome! The variety of glitter adds interest to your nails, even if you're just wearing it over a simple polish. Blue Marks was the only one left on the shelf, but I'd really like to try out some of the other ones!

I hope you're enjoying your summers, Konaddicts.  Can you believe we're creeping into August now?

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

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!

Spring Blue

Hello, Konaddicts!
Today I'm wearing a quick and easy two-color mani using a cute design from the Pueen Love Elements set of plates. This is Sally Hansen Insta Dri Blue Away stamped with Brisk Blue (one of my very favorite polishes!).  I used Pueen 32 for the full nail design and the cute little butterfly from Pueen 13.

Sweet, simple, and easy!  I hope you've got blue skies, Konaddicts!

St. Patrick's Day Nails

Hello, everyone!  St. Patrick's day is right around the corner.  To celebrate, I've gone with an easy and colorful green manicure using a design from Pueen plate 2.

I polished three nails with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lickety-Split Lime and then used Revlon Top Speed in Emerald for my 2nd and 4th fingers.  Then, I stamped Top Speed Emerald over the lighter Lime on thumb, middle, and pinky.  
I wasn't sure how well Lickty-Split would look over the darker Emerald, so for 2nd and 4th fingers, I opted for an apple green stamping polish from MyOnlineShop's Facebook store (love, love, love these stamping polishes!).  The apple green provided the lighter contrast over the darker color and stamped beautifully.

Quick, easy, and just enough contrasts to keep it interesting.

Wishing you a lucky and safe St. Pat's day, Konaddicts!

Metallic Gold and Black

Hello, everyone!
I am still not feeling 100%.  This year's flu is a nasty one!

I decided to go with another simple two-color manicure.  This is Essie Good as Gold stamped with Konad Special Polish in Black using a design from the Pueen 12 plate.

It's simple and strangely interesting.

Here's another shot of the golden goodness!

Well - that's all for now, Konaddicts!  

Pueen Nail Plates Mini Review

Hi everyone!
I'm sorry I've been missing lately.  I came down with a terrible case of the flu!  Now, almost SIX days later, I'm finally well enough to show you a new addition!

When I spotted my Christmas Amazon gift card, I knew exactly where it would go - a set of Pueen nail plates I'd accidentally run across!  It's a set of 25 plates, you can see the designs in the Amazon listing here, for about $18.

The plates come individually packaged including the film to protect the engraving.   Each plate has a backing and the edges are smooth.

In terms of stamping quality, the designs that I've tried have stamped beautifully, which is great because some of the designs are really interesting and different - I think the alligator skin pattern is going to be a favorite of mine!

Each plate has about four full nail designs and two smaller designs (the reindeer, snail, and Mary Jane shoes were unique enough to sell me on the set!).

Pueen 23.  Sorry for the low light - it was way too cold to take pictures outside!

In terms of size, the full nail stamps most closely match the size of pattern in the 2nd and 3rd set of Bundle Monster plates.  Here's a quick comparison using a full nail pattern from Pueen, BM, and Konad.

Well - I can't wait to take more time to try out my new plates.  So far, I think they are a great addition to my collection (and for a very reasonable price) - thanks, Santa!

Take care, Konaddicts, and, if it's as cold where you are as it is here, be sure to bundle up!

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UPDATE 1/23

Jane asked for close ups of Pueen 20 and Pueen 24.  Here they are!