Pink overload

I've been too busy to re-do my gel lately so I went with regular polish for a few days.  Vinylux again.  It still doesn't work well for me but since I purchased about 10 of them I might as well use them, right?  This is Tutti Fruitti and Gotcha as an accent.

I wanted to practice my acrylics on the Princess but she came to me with such nice nails I decided to do the 'make it look fake' nails on her instead.  I squared them off a bit and did a glitter french.

I used Gelish Gossip Girl on her tips and scrubbed in some raspberry holographic glitter.

I also embedded a fimo slice on each accent nail.

And then the little Countess wanted some pink stamping but couldn't decide between hearts or stars so we did both!  I used Kleancolor Metallic Pink to stamp.

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Great Stamping Polishes

This is probably a long overdue post but I thought I'd share my favourite stamping polishes - both readily available and somewhat hard to find.

My requirements for a good stamping polish is that they absolutely must stamp well on BOTH black and white backgrounds.  Many polishes stamp decently on light colours but the true test is whether or not it shows well on black.

Sally Hansen Chrome polishes are fantastic for stamping.  They stamp well on both white and dark colours.  There are also old Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polishes (white cap) that are almost exactly the same as these.  All of these can often be found in bargain bins.  I found all of mine in bargain bins for $.25 a couple of years ago with the exception of the square purple bottle on the right which I had purchased way back when these polishes were originally released.

And now on to the more readily available polishes:

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Celeb City (top) is good but has a fine glitter in it and is a little more subtle than most of the 'chrome' type polishes.  The other 3 are all Pure Ice, which is clearly available at Walmart for $2US lol.  I've heard they carry these in Canada now but I'm not sure how much they are.  From L-R or top to bottom: Silver Mercedes, First Time and Pussy Cat.

Once again we have Sally Hansen but it's the fabulous Insta-dri collection.  These are hands down the BEST polishes for stamping that you can find in your local drug store for about $6 (or $4 on sale).  The cremes especially stamp like no other brand - very opaque. Out of the 15 or so colours of Insta-dri I own, only one colour doesn't stamp well on black, even though my  photo is shitty they do show really well.  Above is L-R, top to bottom: Presto Pink, Jade Jump, Mint Sprint and Brisk Blue.

Kleancolor Metallics are worth an honorable mention.  Although not all of them stamp well on black the bold colours are just not available in other brands.

Where the Kleancolors really shine (literally) is once you add top coat.  Those vibrant kind of colours don't typically come in the chrome finishes.

And of course the essential black and white polishes.  The good ones are harder to come by than you think because just any old black or white polish isn't necessarily going to be opaque enough to stamp with.  For blacks I've got L-R, top to bottom: Wet and Wild Black Creme, the original Konad Black and an old hard to find Sally Hansen No Chip in Black Berry.  Truth be told nothing works better than the original Konad Black.  When I use stamps that have fine lines like above or intricate designs, it absolutely has to be Konad.  For everything else, Wet and Wild is my 'go-to' black.  The Sally Hansen is a bit better than the Wet and Wild however it's close to empty and I've given up hope that I'll find another.  As for white, I have so many that just don't cut it, my original Konad white is empty and the best white I have ever found is Billie French White.  Unfortunately Billie is a Canadian polish that was sold in Dollar Giant stores across Canada.  Dollar Giant was purchased about a year ago by the US Dollar Tree and although you can still find Billie polish at the Dollar Tree, I believe it's likely they won't be stocking more and are slowly depleting their supply.  I've tried probably 6 different Dollar Trees now in SW Ontario and there is no Billie French White to be found. I do have one backup bottle left but my next bottle of white will likely be the Sally Hansen Insta-dri since I've read that their white is decent.

And there you have it.  The verdict is - cheap polish works best!  And my two most used polishes - Wet and Wild and Billie - are less than $2 CAD!  Notice there are no OPI's, Essie's or China Glaze's in this post.  If you're just getting into stamping and looking for which polishes work you can't go wrong with the Insta-dri's.  I also recommend picking up Wet and Wild Black Creme which is usually just under $2 and also Pure Ice Silver Mercedes at Walmart.  And if anyone finds Billie French White in SW Ontario let me know!

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Random Swatches

It seems like I'm all over the place here lately but I swatched some of my recent purchases:

This is Jessica Iridescent Eye, the Chanel Peridot Dupe.  It's very cool, I really like it.  I like that it looks mostly green instead of gold.

I stamped it with Kleancolor Metallic Brown and plate RA-118.  Yeah I also ordered the Red Angel stamping plates from Amazon and had them delivered to my sister in Delaware.  My US haul post was already so big I didn't see a reason to include them at the time.

This is a swatch of another polish I picked up in the US - Kleancolor Holo Green, 2 coats over my black gel manicure.  Even with a coat of Seche Vite this is gritty as hell.  It reminds me quite a bit of the Color Club Mistletoe Collection.

And finally we have Duri Purple Rain.  This is the blackest purple I own and it has a really nice shimmer under light which you can barely see on my middle finger.  This is my second Duri polish and can I say that I friggen love these!  Nice application, nice brushes and ZERO staining!  I honestly couldn't believe that there was not a single stain on my fingers even after a light swipe of remover.  Amazing brand and I look forward to more.

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Ah, I can type again...

This is 2 coats of China Glaze Fifth Avenue with a coat of Seche Vite.  Not my typical kind of colour but I don't mind the dusty pinks sometimes.  I'd picked it up when Sally's had a 3/$12 sale and it was sitting in my drawer forever.

I stamped it with Kleancolor Metallic Red and plate BM213.  I've used this colour combo before and I like it but I'm not fond of the design.

And yes, I'm taking a very short break from the soak off gels :)  I need to remember to take a photo of my nice white, undamaged nails.

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Couple of quickies

On my Red Carpet Manicure in Violetta Darling base:  Showcase plate B86 using Kleancolor Metallic Green and Sally Hansen Chrome Royal Purple.  I wish I'd used a darker green.

Them on the same base I tried this one out with not much success.  First I stamped with plate BM205 (the butterfly design) and used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Showtime (a silvery scattered holo).  I honestly thought this would have been a little more obvious, but it was barely visible.  Anyways, I freehanded the tips with Essence Fairy Berry and then took it off right away.

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She's my cherry pie

I couldn't resist that title since we've been watching back to back episodes of Metal Evolution lately and the last one we watched was on the Glam Era which, as cheesy as it was, got me into metal initially.

This is another polish from my Gosh mini set called Ashy Grey, one coat.

I stamped with Showcase plate B89 yet again using Kleancolors in Metallic Red and Metallic Green.

I wish this had photographed better because I loved it!  I need to wear this one again.

So my blog is now officially one year old.  I have to say I'm pretty happy that I'm still here and although my direction has changed slightly, I'm glad that it's still managed to hold my interest.

In honor of my one year anniversary I will explain the name of my blog.  You will notice sometimes that I refer to my younger sisters as the Princess and the Duchess.  These are nicknames that my Dad gave to the 3 of us as kids.  One of our duties was to clean up the dog poop from the backyard.  So my Dad dubbed us as the Queen of Crap, Duchess of Doo and Princess of Poo.

It's good to be Queen ;)

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Superpost

I took a few days off last week to spend with my sister from Delaware who was here for a visit.  While she was here I took her shopping in Toronto and visited some places I've never been to before.

I was actually on a quest for Shellac and I did find some but no way in hell was I paying $30 for a .3oz bottle!  I did end up finding some pretty awesome polishes though at Pacific Mall.

From L-R: NYX Girls Enchanted Forest and Under The Moon, Essie Shine of the Times, Ruby Kisses HD Midnight Stars, Kleancolor Midnight Seduction and Afternoon Picnic. 

The NYX's and Essies were 15% off already cheap prices at Pacific Mall - It came to $12 for all 3.  The Ruby Kisses was from a random beauty supply outlet for $2.50.  The Kleancolors were 2/$5 at Dixie Mall.

I have to share a quick photo of our dinner in Toronto because it was amazing and a first experience for my boyfriend and my sister - Korean BBQ.

This was the aftermath.  The table has a hot grill situated in the middle and they bring you plates of raw marinated meats, rice, soup, kimchi and various pickled veggies.  And then you cook it all on the grill in the middle, similar to a fondue.  It's also all you can eat but you just ask them for refills of your favourite meats and veggies.  Toronto is one of the only places around that has these restaurants so if you ever get there, I highly recommend trying this out.  This is meat lovers heaven.

When I got home from Toronto I added a coat of NYX Girls Under The Moon over my blue Gelish manicure.  This photo is day 14(!) of my manicure.  Yes the growth looks terrible but still not a chip in sight!  This is the longest I have worn a soak off gel so far.  Honestly, I bet I could have gotten away with another week!

So on Monday I had to take my sister back to the Buffalo airport and of course I just had to stop at Ulta ;)

So the China Glaze haul consisted of: The Let It Snow set including Blue Years Eve and Snowglobe ($7 at Sallys), Fireside Glow, Lighthouse, Ingrid and VIII.  I also hauled some soak off gels at Ulta but they will be in my Christmas post since they were technically my gift from my boyfriend.

A new brand for me Petites, I found at Rite Aid and I bought 2 - Craze and Daze.  Then there's China Glaze Blonde Bombshell and Nubar Meadow Sparkle.  Funny thing I noticed about my collection after I bought these - over 500 polishes and not a single gold glitter!  The last item is a glitter set I found at JoAnns for $7 that I thought would be amazing for scrubbing into soak off gels because....

They're all holographic!  Can't wait to try the light blue one.

And here's one last shot of something I did for my 2 year old niece last week:

I painted this in her new room directly over her crib.  It's probably 3 feet high, just used plain old acrylic paints and took around 3 hours total.  Hope she likes Tinkerbell until she's 18 :)

Hope you all enjoy your holidays!

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In a slump

I'm taking another short break from the soak off gels and I'm feeling uninspired.  The awful Gelish glitter did a real number on my nails but mostly because I peeled it since I couldn't stand to look at it.  My nails are almost back to their natural white now and I'm taking it easy with some lighter colours for awhile.

This is 2 coats of OPI Designer...De Better.  The pink flecks aren't visible in my photo but it's a pretty nice colour.  I've purchased a lot of foils lately but they aren't really thrilling me.

I stamped it with Kleancolor Metallic Red and plate BM224.  It's kind of loud and odd and reminds me of old curtains but I like it.

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A short break from the shellac

First up is a quick mani I did for the Princess.  She wanted glitter on her tips.

I painted one coat of a shimmery peach - it was OPI and it was a random polish I grabbed from her stash, no idea what it's called.  Then I pressed some red glitter into her tips and dry-brushed down.  I stamped her with konad plate m4 and konad white polish and then finished it with tiny clear gems in the centre of each flower.

And this was for her hubby's birthday.  I haven't done a cake in ages it seems.  I find it more difficult to use fondant when you have nails because it's so easy to nick the icing.

And this was my own mani after removing the last uv gel manicure.  It's 2 coats of OPI's Skull and Glossbones.

So the Gelish base coat was a real bugger to remove.  I even let it soak for an extra 5 minutes and still had a hard time with it.  It's not impossible, but I'm not too happy about it since my Shellac base coat is almost empty and I don't know where to buy it.

And now for my stamping fail.  I used China Glaze's Bogie with konad m6 and Kleancolor Metallic Jungle with konad m36.  Blech.

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Adventures in UV Gel

This is a french I did for the Princess with Shellac.  It looked awesome but chipped on Day 5.  I'm still having problems with this.  So now I've picked up a Gelish base and top coat to see if I have better luck.  With the Shellac base and top coat I'm getting chipping every time around Day 5-7.

So it probably wasn't the best time to try out glitter when testing my new base and top coats but I did it anyways.

I used Gelish Foundation, 1 coat of Shellac Romantique, pressed some glitter into the tips and 2 coats of top coat.

Then I stamped it with Kleancolor Metallic Purple and Konad plate m4 with a coat of my trusty NYC quick dry top coat.

But look what the Kleancolor polish did to my stamper:

It might be a bit hard to see, but it's definitely stained!  If it does that to the stamper then imagine how badly it will stain your nails!  I've never had a polish stain my stamper like that before.

Anyways I'm crossing my fingers that the Gelish will hold up better than the Shellac.

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Bling bling

This is 2 coats of Kleancolor in Midnight Queen.  There's a barely visible pink sparkle in this one.

And when I stopped by Zellers last week look what I found:

I had my Mom look for these when she was in the US last week and she couldn't find them so I was shocked to see them here.  They were in a display along with the pink glitter and Carbonite!  L-R: Facets of Fuschia, Blue Mosaic and the OPI is not from Zellers, I found it in a salon at the same mall for $5 - it's Skull and Glossbones.

So I slapped Blue Mosaic on right away:

Just one coat over Midnight Queen.  I didn't expect it to be that glitter-packed.  I was also surprised at the large green hex glitter in it.  It doesn't come through very well in the photos.

So it's not that I didn't like this mani, but I ended up taking it off the same night because I picked up the Shellac set that I purchased off Kijiji.  I was so excited to use it and I'll show you the results in tomorrow's post but here are the colours that came with it:

L-R: Romantique, Tutti Frutti, Cream Puff, Negligee and Red Baroness.  My plan is to use these as a base to strengthen my nails and also help my Mom and Sister to grow theirs out.  I totally plan on polishing over them so no worries about me disappearing here :)

Anyways, I was so excited I made a pit stop at Sally's on the way home to pick up a colour more suited to me haha.

I picked up Gelish Ooca Coocha Bing Bang Bam - Alakazy Alakazam (yeah uh that's the actual name of it, ugh) which is a teal layering glitter and the other is Bella's Vampire, a vampy wine colour.  These polishes are mini at 0.3ml and they sell for $18.95 with a Sally's card!!!  OUCH!  But the awesome chick at Sally's gave me a coupon for $15 off my purchase plus she gave me another one to use for later!  I could seriously kiss her!

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DS Mystery and some new Joe's

I'm back from lunch and I found some goodies at the grocery store again.

I think the first two are brand new colours as I've never seen them before.  First is Teal which is super greyed out with a shimmer.  I don't know offhand what this would be comparable to but I'll check when I get home.  In the middle is Khaki, which is the first one I spotted and it looks like a dupe for Essie's Sew Psyched.  I will have to swatch a comp on that one.  And last is not a brand new polish, it's Oyster, which looks to be a much lighter/silvery version of Grey's Anatomy/Not like the Movies etc.   It flashes way more pink than green.

So this is 2 coats of DS Mystery.  This polish looks amazing in the sunshine.  Under artificial light it just looks black and glittery but under sunlight you can really tell it's purple and the shimmer is super bronze/golden.  I was honestly shocked how easy removal was and had no staining whatsoever.

I added a little accent nail stamp in Kleancolor Metallic Yellow and plate BM13.  I also added a little gold gem to the middle of the cross.  My nails are taking forever to grow this time!

I am super excited to tell you that I found another amazing deal on Kijiji and I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow so cross your fingers that everything goes well and I will be the proud new owner of a CND Shellac set!  The lamp alone retails for $150US and she's letting it go for $100 with 7 polishes and accessories!  I'd been thinking about getting one of these for awhile so I can do my mom and my sisters nails with it in hopes that it will help them grow out stronger.  It's going to be so much fun experimenting!

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Golden Rose 108

This is 2 coats of Golden Rose Holographic 108 - Grey.  This was the darkest of the 4 silver holos that I ordered.  I have to say this didn't thrill me in the least.  The holo was barely there.

I stamped it with Kleancolor Metallic Navy and plate BM01.  I had a really rough time with this image as the stamp wasn't picking it all up.  I didn't even keep this mani on for very long either.

And here's a little haul I had at Walmart last week since they had all their Revlons on for $3:

From L-R: Pineapple Fizz, Plum Night, Grape, Punk and Princess.  Punk (light green) and Princess (light blue) were part of a new metallic collection which I plan on using for stamping.  The sale is still on but most of the Walmarts around are bare.  I'm going to check out one more before the sale is over :)

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