Festive Fourth Nails

So...I don't usually do 4th of July nails.  Typically, they turn out to be a great big mess.  This year, I thought I'd give it another try and, well, I just couldn't stop - stars and glitter and flags and the Statue of Liberty and dots!

In my head, I had some kind of lean and sophisticated look going, but in fact, it's like The Party Store exploded all over my nails...and I kinda like it. :)

I used Wet n Wild Red Creme and Revlon Urban as the base colors.  I went about it the easy way and polished the whole nail red, stamped my stripes with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, painted the blue tips, and stamped the stars over that.  Cheeky CH4 provided the perfect stars and wavy stripes.  I used Cheeky CH51 for the star image on the thumb and Essie No Place Like Chrome for the stamping.

My favorite part of the mani is the way over the top image of the Statue of Liberty on the accent nail.  This plate is Winstonia W114 and, boy, is it cute! Decorated with a little red glitter and silver dots, it's a fun added touch!

Well, thanks for stopping by, Konaddicts!  If you're reading here in the US, I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Moons & Stars

Today, I'm wearing moons and stars!  I love moons and stars; they remind me of my favorite pair of comfy pajamas. I have searched and searched for an image of moon and stars together and couldn't find anything that fit the bill, so, for this mani, I decided to improvise.

I started with a base of Sinful Midnight Blue.  I sponged on some Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Blue Blast. I added some glitter with Wet n Wild Shine Kaleidoscope.  I stamped the designs with Konad Special polish in White and China Glaze Passion.

I used images from Mash 32 for the moon, Mash 33 for the shooting star, and Cheeky 4 for the star cluster.

It's cosmic!
I really like how this turned out (despite the dent I managed to get on my thumb)...

Sheesh...my nails are getting longer.  I think I might try some french manicure designs before one of them breaks!

Thanks for reading, Konaddicts!

PS:  Guess what?  My new set of Cheeky plates finally arrived in the mail!  Hooray!  I can't wait to try them out!

Seeing Stars (the Remix)

Hi, everyone!

Now that my Layla Hologram Effects Flash Black has arrived, I thought I would give my Seeing Stars mani another try.

Flash Black is an awesome color!  In the shade, it's a mild charcoal grey.  

In the sun, Flash Black is dazzling!

Here's another look:

I used the same plate - Cheeky Plate CH4 - to stamp the stars and substituted Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White for the silver I used last time.

What do you think of this redo, Konaddicts?

Seeing Stars

I have had stars on my mind for a while now.  I tried to come up with something different, unusual, awesome...but I didn't quite get there.  I ended up with the fairly traditional combination of dark blue and silver stars.

This is Sally Hansen Insta Dri Blazing Blue followed by topcoat with Spectraflair.  I stamped the stars using Cheeky plate CH4 and Love My Nails Silver Bullet.  I finished with my regular topcoat.

This was my first use of topcoat with Spectraflair while I was layering and stamping.  I'm still feeling my way through how best to use it.  For this mani, though, it may have been better to have used a holographic polish since the two topcoat layers seem a bit chunky...  :(

Well, living and learning...and looking up!  You keep looking up, too, Konaddicts!

Spectraflair tips, anyone?  I'm all ears!