Giant Mochi stamper nails!

A giant stamper?! Why yes, you could stamp your whole hand if you wanted to! (Yes I thought about it, I love these squishy things). I tried out the new Mochi stamper from Bundle Monster and although I admit I am not a stamping wizard, it turned out okay for my standards lol. The idea behind this gigantic stamper is that you can stamp all your nails in one go! I did two different stamps for some random alternating colour action, but the idea behind this is pretty cool! 

You can get this giant squishy stamper from Bundle Monster and use my code SIMPLY for 10% off!

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW ↓!

How to CHEAT at Watermarble Part 3

Another way to cheat watermarbles cause I can't help myself...

Stamp it on! I got this awesome watermarble-design stamping plate from Bundle Monster! And you can use my code SIMPLY for 10% off! woooooop I just saved you the frustration of actual watermarbling AND monies. BAM.

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW ↓!

Elegant Christmas glitter jelly stamping

I did more stamping YAAASSS how proud of me are you right now? So proud, mom.

Uber Chic Beauty threw the well known Uber Mat my way along with some other goodies including plates, stampers, and glitter dust (we all know about my glitter crack addiction) and I gots to playing and this semi-Christmas-but-not-really design emerged!

I got a 10% off code for you too, from anything from their shop! Use code SIMPLY on anything from the Uber Chic Beauty for 10% off! 

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW ↓!

How NOT to stamp

How do you stamp??? I try to find out...

Watch my video on how NOT to stamp cause it seems this is what happens whenever I try something new that Russians are really good at.

I got started with an amazing spread of stamping products and accessories from Bundle Monster, from stamping polishes to plates and stamper heads, they had me covered!

You can use my code SIMPLY for 10% off all products from their online store!

And yes, I know my nail design makes no sense. Just watch to find out what the f**k happened. :D

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW ↓!

Welcome back Mad Men and all that's orange and blue

Mad Men is back on the air for its seventh and final season (nooooo!) and if you're like me then sometimes you get lost in the plot when dizzying 1960's imagery and patterns fill the screen. Couches, pillows, draperies, blouses, so many funky patterns and colours.... drool.

I didn't have any one particular piece of inspiration in mind, but I was going through my stamping plates - which I have little experience with - and I saw one that was reminiscient of some of the patterns you'd see on the show (er, in the 1960's - but how would I know I wasn't even born yet). I decided to go with a white, royal blue and bright orange colour scheme as they remind me of one of Joan's sexy blue dresses, her orange, blue and white geometric dress, and the iconic orange couch seen in the ad agency.

Work appropriate mani Monday: Rose gold glitter gradient

This "work appropriate" mani is debatable. It started off perfectly appropriate with a nude pink base and a sheer slightly-detectable delicate stamping layer... but then my addiction to sparkly got the best of me and along came a glitter gradient. BUT in rose gold, so I'll meet the work appropriate world half way.

In other words, this mani is work appropriate if one or more of the following apply:
   a) you like being the obnoxious one at work;
   b) you work in a glitter factory;
   c) you're the boss lady;
   d) you're so confident in your awesome nails that nothin' else matters, girl!

To execute the glitter gradient I only applied the glitter with a make-up sponge, in a couple of steps starting with the least amount of pressure to transfer just a bit of glitter over towards the middle of the nail. I find using a make-up sponge to do the whole gradient - as opposed to some ladies who use the actual polish brush to apply the glitter - actually gives you more control and lets you amp up the glitter saturation level really easily when and where you want to. Tip: Use the end of a triangular make-up sponge for more localized control.

Work (in)appropriate mani Monday: Let's get lacy

Oh hey there office slew nails... I mean boss lady nails. I decided to turn the weekly work appropriate mani tradition into something a litle more risque this week because I'm feeling spicy, obviously.

Transparent/translucent/sheer polish has recently become somewhat of a thing. OPI launched their Sheer Tints line in early 2014 that consists of four transluscent polishes you can use to layer as jellies or use alone for a see-through look - All Lacquered Up has some good swatches and reviews.

Now OPI did not introduce a black, grey, or otherwise neutral-hued sheer polish. Nail bloggers have been using indie polishes like Loaded Lacquer's 'Toasted marshmallow' or mixing their own polish by adding 10-20 drops of black polish into a bottle of clear polish or topcoat (see Nailstorming's tutorial for example). I reckon OPI or another major nail polish brand will catch on soon and put out their own once they realize how big this is going to get.

The first time I saw the sheer black polish look was when Badgirl Nails on IG paired it with nude accents and some black dots. Then Just1nail on IG stripped off the nude and kept things black and glossy. Jamylyn Nails on IG used sheer black as a cityscape backdrop and it was very a-la-nighttime-in-NYC. Nailstorming on IG also revealed a simple matte black dotticure with a sheer black background. All these racy ladies, I just had to join in!

Now, to the good stuff (pic heavy, but hey, I just can't get enough of that lacy business):

I lost my stamping cherry in a bed of black lace

That's right, I stamped for the first time last night. I had actually bought the Pueen Love Elements stamping plates set over a month ago, but I quickly gave up out of frustration when I first got them because for whatever reason the stupid images wouldn't even transfer onto the stamper. I was (and still am) convinced that the particular plate I had tried was too shallowlly etched and so no polish was being picked up. I found myself with more patience to try it again last night and pulled out a different plate from the set and BAM it actually transferred! Amazed.

Originally I just wanted to see what OPI's new silver chrome polish from the Gwen Stefani collection looked like and I was so impressed! Here's a couple shots of that alone first: