I Got A Pro Mani!

Hello Dahlings!

 

I like to get a monthly pedi & face waxing. (Nobody told me I'd look like a mini Schnauzer if I didn't do something about da facial hair when I got older!) I've used a few different salons over da years, but my loyalty is to da quality of service rather than da salon or da person providing these services. Da one I used most for many years did an ok job on da spa pedis, but I didn't like how they did da waxing. (My skin is very sensitive & can turn very red as well as explode with acne after a waxing.) I started going to a new place last year & while I liked how they did da waxing, their pedis were just ok & then just recently they changed their schedule. So now they're closed on da one day a week most convenient for me & Mr Inky. I don't drive. Mr Inky is great about taking me where I want & need to go and he was great about helping me to think of where other mani/pedi salons are in our area. We have a bazillion of them, but of course thinking of where they are actually located was leaving us both stumped. Mr Inky uses Yelp all da time to help him find good restaurants. (He likes food!) So I asked if Yelp offered reveiws of other types of businesses. They do! We pulled into a parking lot & he whipped out his phone. In a few minutes later he'd found a listing for Posh Nail Spa  They have 16 reviews...all gave 5 stars! We headed there asap. I got a lovely spa pedi & had no lil snags to file off when I got home. I got my doggy face waxed & Michelle asked me something no other person about to do my waxing ever had: Do you have problems with either the wax or lotion used after waxing? I told her about my persnickety skin & she made sure da wax was cooled a bit before she applied it & she didn't use lotion after she was done, just aloe vera. I use aloe vera on my skin all da time cuz it helps heal da out breaks & doesn't make me break out worse, like most comercial skin care products do. I've tested many, many products in da last 30+ years that were for 'sensitive' skin & many that were also non-comodemetic. Almost all of them made my skin worse.

Michelle did such a great job that my face didn't explode! This makes me a happy Inky!

 

I also got a mani, just to see how well they did. Long before I started doing nail art on my self, let alone blogging, I was uber picky about my manis & generally I do a better job on my nails than I've experienced in any salon or spa. Considering how picky I am, I give Posh Nail Spa a B+ on my mani! Amy (Michelle's mom) & I chatted about life while she did my hands. I very much enjoyed myself!

Wanna see my pro-mani?

 

Da line up: China Glaze 2 Nite. The had it on their polish rack

& I knew this was da one that I wanted on both my hands & feet!

 

Look at all that holo goodness! I think 2 Nite was part of China Glaze's last holo collection? I wish da 2013 collection had this much rainbow yumminess. Amy did such a good job that I left this on for FOUR days! I rarely go that long without doing my nails & I didn't even do any nail art over it. LOL I was going to, but I broke a nail & had to remove da polish to repair it. More about that on Friday.

 

HA! This was supposed to be a Monday Quickie post.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky  

 

Does It Stamp? ~ Pinks!

Hello Dahlings!

 

I is one pooped Inky today! I do a workshop for one of my club ladies every year & yesterday was da day. We had lots of fun, but as many of da guests aren't peeps I see other than at this one event, I have to stay on my Inky toes to keep up with them

& answer a bazzillion questions.

 

As tired as I is, I did not forget about today's Does It Stamp? So here we go...

 

Dark Pinks ~ Sephora by OPI Henna Thing is Possible, Zoya Tana & Piggy Polish Fierce

 

L.A. Colors Electrified, Ruby Kisses Pink Blinged Out, Sally Hansen Gleaming

& Sally Hansen Byte

 

Orly Gorgeous, Ruby Kisses Pink Goddess, Ruby Kisses Disco Diva & Nubar Prize

 

Neons ~ Orly Vida Loca, Ruby Kisses Pink Flamingo, China Glaze Love's a Beach,

Orly Va Va Voom & China Glaze Shocking Pink

 

Brown (Dusty) Pinks ~ Ruby Kisses Twinkling Mauve, China Glaze Awakening,

Orly Rose Radiance & Nubar Gem

 

Orange Pinks (aka coral) ~ Orly Berry Blast, Sally Hansen Wavelength

& Ruby Kisses Carribean Island (this is da bottle spelling)

 

Light Pinks ~ Nubar Essence, Color Club Miss Bliss & Color Club Halo-graphic

 

Orly Sterling Silver Rose & Orly Decades of Dysfunction

 

Next week: blacks, grays & whites!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

 

 

 

 

Dealing with my wait problem & lessons learned

Hello Dahlings!

 

As I promished yesterday, today's mani is about lessons learned. I wanted to do something like THIS by my Mistress of Nail Art, the fantabulous Mimi from Mimi Manicures for da stamp camp I had last Saturday. Alas, my desire to try something new ended up hoisting me on my on petard.

 

Da Friday night line up: China Glaze Dandy Lyon Around

& several permanent markers that had passed testing.

 

This is 2 coats of Dandy Lyon Around. Mimi loves it & didn't report any trouble when using it. While it is very pretty with it's subtle glass fleck, my bottle was rather thick & prone to pulling patches. I'll have to add thinner & see if that helps to smooth it out next time. I added a coat of Seche Vite after taking this pic.

 

This is what happened to my left hand when I added SV after doodling with da markers. I waited about 15 minutes after da last color was added & it was close to 1/2 an hour after doing the blue lines. Those didn't smear, but da rest did. Note to self: wait at least 1/2 an hour after these using pens to apply top coat.

 

This is my right hand with da doodles intact. I decided to not top coat da rest of my nails to see how da markers held up without it. They're permanent markers, so one would think they'd last at least a lil while...right? Nope! Da cuticle oil I applied right after this pic started to fade da blue lines around  da edges within da hour & by Saturday night all the un top coated nail designs had pretty much rubbed off. Granted, I worked on Saturday & that means getting all inky & sticky with glue stick thus haveing to wash my hands a lot so as to not leave finger prints on my peeps projects. (not leaving finger prints is da main reason my skin gets SO dry when I work, I can't lube until I'm all done & da paper just sucks da moisture from my skin)

 

Da lesson in all this is to NOT give in to your wait problem

& give da ink time to cure before adding top coat cuz without tc

your doodles will not last long enuf to be worth da effort.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

More Does It Stamp! on Sunday!!!

~ Inky

 

 

 

Weird Wednesday ~ Transparent Permanent Pens!

Hello Dahlings!

 

Yes, I know I'm rather late posting this week's Weird Wednesday, but with stamp camp last Saturday & a camp style workshop this Saturday...life has been a wee bit hectic. Even with all da chaos of real life intruding on my polish fantasies, I do have more arts pen results for you.

 

This is all da pens I tested this time. I used Sharpie Pens, Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Permanent Markers & Identi-Pens (also permanent).

 

 

 

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze White On White then a coat of SV. These pens are all translucent & won't show well on colored polish. I'm going to use my left index finger (da blue one in da top pic) for show & tell. On da left side of da nail is da Sharpie permanent marker, in da middle is da Identi-pen & on da right is da Sharpie pen.

 

Da Sharpie pens have a black & silver barrel with a sinuous line of da color to show what's inside. They are great for coloring on paper & are supposed to be both bleed & water resistant. They don't work for nails. Da ink beads up, takes forever to dry & fades out when Seche Vite is added.

 

Da Identi-pens have a silver barrel with da caps on both ends showing da color. They are dual tipped. I used da fine tip for this, the other end has a bullet tip. Da fine tip is a nylon ball point & da ink flows out nicely. It faded a lil bit under da SV, but da colors stayed true. They worked well enuf that I'll use them on my nails again. Da downside of these pens is they only come in sets & have a limited number of colors to play with: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black & brown.

 

Da Sharpie Ultra Fine markers also draw on polish & come in a much wider array of colors available in both sets & as singles. I found I had to be more careful using these due to the blunt tip cuz it can tear da base color. They held up okay under SV, tho' color shifting happened with some of da colors.

 

Notes to self: Wait a few minutes between base color layers for da polish to get really dry & then wait about 15 minutes after applying top coat so that it dries completely or risk denting & tearing da base color.

 

Also, wait at least 1/2 an hour after applying da last color of marker before adding tc. Fading, dispersing, smearing & changes to da marker color are all possible. (see tomorrow's post for pics of what happens when my wait problem gets da best of me lol)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

Convention Nails Test Mani ~ mini fail

Hello Dahlings!

 

Da Stampin' Up! Annual Conventions is just 3 months away & I'm starting to ponder what I want on my nails for da week I'm in SLC. (I know what I'm doing with my hair already.) It's da 25th anniversary of da company & I've worked for them as an independent demo for 10 yrs this summer. (my SU b-day is da week after convention) So I want my nails to stand out, ya' know? I know I want a neon pink, purple & blue gradient plus rhinestone gems spelling out da company name on my fingers & '25' on my big toes which will also have da gradient with a skittle of da colors on my lil toes. I will do a UV gel sandwich to help my mani last da week. Da pondering & testing is to find da perfect polishes to use.

 

Da line up: China Glaze Love's A Beach, Gothic Lolita & Splish Splash

plus Nubar Black Polka Dot

 

This is ONE coat of Love's A Beach! It's a contender for my SUcon mani.

Not surprising cuz it's opaque enuf to stamp with too.

 

Alas, Splish Splash is not opaque. It would not sponge on with da other colors & I had to dab it on with da brush after wiping most of da polish off. It's pretty,

but will likey need undies if I wear it as a base color.

Gothic Lolita is another option for my SUcon mani for it's opacity

& it also works for stamping.

 

Nope! I can't leave well enuf alone. I added a coat of Black Polka Dot & then a coat of Seche Vite. I had to go fishing for da polka dots, but I like da effect of da fine black glitter enuf to not care much.

 

I want to test a few other neons between now & then, so you'll be seeing more neon grandients in da next couple of months.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

 

Does It Stamp? ~ Violets!

Hello Dahlings!

 

This week we'll be looking at what violet polishes I have that can be stamped with!

 

A word about color names. I was an art design major in college 25 years ago & have worked in various art & design related jobs since then. I learned the color one gets from combining red & blue is called Violet. A violet that leans more towards red is often labeled purple rather than red-violet & a violet that leans towards blue is usually labeled blue-violet. I did some web searches today to support this long ago learned info for this post & was reminded of something important: life is subjective & so is color! Depending on the type of site I was on (art vs. design vs. science) several of the color wheels I found listed purple as the result of combining red & blue. My lil old inky brain says this is wrong, but a generation has passed since I 1st learned color theory & obviously some things have changed or at least shifted a bit. I can live with this, but you'll just have to deal with my using the terms I'm most comfy with when talking about color on my blog.

On to da polish...

 

Blue Violets: Sephora by OPI Here's Lilac-ing At You Kid, Finger Paints Grape Gumball, Revlon Not So Blueberry (scented)

 

Sinful Colors Let's Talk, Sally Hansen Cyber, Sally Hansen DVD, Color Club Eternal Beauty

 

China Glaze Avalanche, Sephora by OPI I Don't Bite, Nubar Erratic Purple

 

Ruby Kisses, Mystic Aurora, Vidanail (color name unknown), Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud

 

Red Violets: Sally Hansen Flair & Kleancolor Metallic Purple

 

Orly Close Your Eyes, Kleancolor Metallic Fuchsia, Nicole by OPI Back In My Gloria Days, China Glaze No Plain Jane

 

Sally Hansen Purple Diamond, China Glaze Gothic Lolita, Nubar Treasure, Orly Satin Royalty (now that's an OLD Orly bottle LOL)

 

Elf Royal Purple, Ruby Kisses Magenta, China Glaze Flying Dragon, Ruby Kisses Electric Purple

 

 

Sweet Color (name unknown), Color Club Cloud 9, OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender, Sally Hansen Lavender Marquis

 

Dang! Do I maybe, possibly have too many violet polishes? Nah!

 

Next week: da pinks!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not What I Had In Mind

Hello Dahlings!

 

Today's show & Tell was done last Friday & I wasn't happy with it. What I have on my nails right now is for next week's Weird Wednesday, so you get this lesson on what not to do to.

 

Da line up (aka victims of a bad idea): Sephora by OPI 212 Sephora

& China Glaze Cracked Medallion

 

At 1st glance 212 Sephora looks like a dark coppery brown glitter in a black jelly base...Nope! This puppy is chock full of hidden treasure in da form of flakies

& a subtle rainbow of glitter?

 

Look at all da sparkles!

 

Alas, I just couldn't leave well enuf alone. My thought had been to have da glittery goodness peeking thru da cracks & while they sorta did, too much of 212 Sephora got covered up by da Cracked Medallion. Not a complete fail, but not what I had in mind.

Live & learn!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

P.S. Stay tuned for another installment of Does It Stamp? on Sunday

& more pen testing on Weird Wednesday. I have a stamp camp tomorrow

& a workshop next Saturday, but I hope to keep posting inspite of da insanity!

 

 

Weird Wednesdays ~ Gold Pens

Hello Dahlings!

 

Today's adventure into da weird is about testing gold art pens to see which ones can be used to draw on your nails & can handle top coat. I'm learning a lot thru these tests! Particularly, there are 3 factors to test for:

 

1) Will da pen or marker write on nail polish? If it's labeled 'permanent', 'writes on almost any surface' or 'water proof' its worth testing, but if its not labeled

with any of these, it still might be worth testing.

Translucent & opaque pens can potentially work, so test them both.

 

2) If it writes on my nails, will it dry? Wet ink is more likely to smear when you add top coat, so ink that dries in a few minutes is good, right? Maybe. I've had dry ink smear when top coat hits it & I've had wet ink take top coat without smearing. Go figure!

Testing is the only way to know for sure.

 

3) Can this ink have top coat applied & not smear or disappear? If an ink passes #1 & #2, it still has to pass #3 or it flunks. Granted you can go without top coat on your nails, but your mani may not last more than a day or so.

I use Seche Vite almost exclusively (I even use it to cure my polish before I add matte top coat), so if an ink can't handle SV, I won't use it for nail art.

 

Here we go!

 

Da line up: polish ~ Sally Hansen Burgundy Orchid; gold pens from da top ~ Sharpie Extra Fine tip oil based Gold, Extra Fine Deco Color Liquid Gold (also oil based), SRX Metallic Color duo tip in gold, Stanford Uniball Gel Impact 1.0 tip in gold, no name cheap gel pen. All 5 are opaque & show true on any color background.

 

This is 2 coats of Burgundy Orchid. It's from Sally Hansen's retired Nail Prism line, but it can still be found on da interwebby. It's a yummy burgundy to blue duo chrome. I love it cuz most duos close to this one are more of a plum or purple base with a blue shift. This one is definately dark red shifting to blue thru da purple zone.

 

See?

 

Da results: all 5 pens tested did write on polish, however, they diverged after that.

Thumb ~ Sharpie oil based did dry, but smeared when SV was applied.

Index ~ Deco Color also dried, but completely dissolved under SV.

Middle ~ SRX dried & held up to SV, but these pens, while oqaque, look kind of faded...like they aren't quite opaque enuf. More testing is needed with da other colors.

Ring ~ Uniball not only dried fast, it didn't smear or dissolve!

no name ~ this one didn't dry at all! I waited like 5 minutes for all the inks to dry, but each time I touched this one to check, gold came off. I even wiped it all off with my finger at one point, but decided to put it back on to see how badly it would smear under SV. What do you know? Even tho da ink was still totally wet when I applied da SV,

it didn't smear! Go figure! LOL

 

Da winner is: Stanford Uniball Gel Impact 1.0! They also make silver, black & white pens in this line. I found mine in a 2 pack with da silver at Office Depot for about $5.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

 

 

 

 

Dark Rainbow

Hello Dahlings!

 

Time for a Monday quickie!

 

Da line up: China Glaze Glitter All The Way, L.A. Colors Art Deco Gold Glitter, China Glaze Liquid Leather & Orly Matte Top Coat

 

I started with 1 coat of Liquid Leather undies (sounds kinky LOL) & added 2 coats of Glitter All the Way. I could have gotten away with 3 coats of GATW & no undies, but I didn't want any nail bed to show thru...I wanted  this to be DARK. I added a French Tip of Liquid Leather using da bottle brush & then a thinnish line of da gold glitter using my skinny striper cuz da L.A. Colors nail art brushes kinda suck. There wasn't anything 'wrong' with this one (i.e. wild hairs) but they tend to be on da too thick side for nail art. I topped with a coat of Seche Vite.

 

For da most part I've found that buying nail art polish in da skinny bottles is a waste of money cuz more often than not da brushes are bad & they're too thick for using as a regular polish, tho I've found some can be used for stamping. Most regular polishes can be used for nail art if they aren't too runny &/or sheer. All you need is a striper &/or small detail brush & palette of some sort to hold a lil puddle of da polish. I use a pad of sticky notes. I can fit quite a few drops of polish per page over time & when da page is full I just peal it off, chuck it & start on da next page. I get them from my mom. She's a nurse & da drug reps leave piles of free sticky note pads with da company logo on them when they visit. If you don't have a source of free sticky notes you can  buy them & you can also use a piece of aluminum foil, wax paper, a plastic lid or a small piece of glass. The glass can be cleaned with acetone, the others are disposable.

 

I pondered whether I wanted to matte this or not...

Ta Da! Da matte tc made da most difference on da black French Tips, but it does make

da individual glitters stand out too. I really resisted da trend to mattify glitter polishes

& now I don't know why I waited so long. LOL

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

P.S. This is my 100th nail art related post! My 1 year nail art blog-a-versary is coming up in June & me thinks a BIG give-a-way is on da horizon!!!

Does It Stamp? ~ Green, Teal, Aqua & Blue

Hello Dahlings!

 

This week's installment of Does It Stamp? showcases the greens, teals, aqua/turquoises & blues in my collection that I tested & found they worked for stamping. I had lots & lots of good polishes in this group, so sit back & enjoy da show!

 

Greens: China Glaze Agro, Finger Paints Be-Leaf It or Not, Pure Ice First Time

& Color Club Kismet

 

China Glaze Unpredictable, Kleancolor Metallic Green

& China Glaze I'm With The Life Guard

 

Color Club Ho Ho Holly (scented), Revlon Emerald City

& Ruby Kisses Millionaire Green

 

Teals: China Glaze Deviantly Daring, Sally Hansen Resolution

& Revlon Ocean Breeze (scented)

 

Sally Hansen Pretty Pixel, Finger Paints Choco Mint & Color Club Angel Kiss

 

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise (I bought this one after I tested da others.)

 

Aqua/Turquoise: Kleancolor Metallic Aqua, Orly It's Up To Blue & Sally Hansen Flash

 

Orly Sweet Peacock, Color Club Over The Moon & Scandal Marine Blue

 

Blues: China Glaze Want My Bawdy, Kleancolor Metallic Sapphire

& Wet N' Wild Fergie Blue Eyed Soul

 

Sally Hansen Blu, China Glaze Splish Splash & Color Club Gift of Color (scented)

 

Last, but not least this week...Gumballs '63 Corvette & Color Club Blue Heaven

 

Next week: Violets & Purples. Boy oh boy, do I have a lot of them! LOL

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky