Friday, January 30, 2015

TDWP Good Tidings!

Hello Dahlings!
 
In December, my polish boss Tami,
sent me 2 of her new Ultra Chameleon Chrome Flakie Holos
(Shattered Rainbows & Essence) for swatching & review purposes
& I fell head over heels in polish lust with them!
 
When she opened da pre-order on Jan 2nd,
I bought full sizes of both along with the 3rd UCC Flakie Holo
& all of da FB group only LE mylar flakies.
 
Today I have da 3rd Ultra Chameleon Chrome Flakie Holo for you!
 
 HOLY FREAKIN GUACOMOLE PEOPLE!!!
Good Tidings is a silver chrome holo
with uber bits of color shifting metallic flakies
that freaked my camera out & has kept me mesmerized all week!
 
 Da line up ~ The Devil Wears Polish Good Tidings,
Republic Nail purple & silver gitds I got at Ross.
 
 This is 2 eye bedazzling coats of Good Tidings!
The formula is Tami's usual perfection
& as of today, (5 days on) I have NO tip wear.
 
 I used da 2 RN gitds with Bunny Nails Holiday Plate HD - B
& my uber wonderful Creative Shop Stamper.
 
 Da silver doesn't show well against da silver of Good Tiding,
but da purple does okay.
It doesn't matter cuz I used them to do this...
 
 They glow much better IRL, but you get the idea.
 
I didn't link TDWP web store in this post cuz Tami is currently revamping
her shop & there isn't a link to send you to right now.
If you'd like to stay up to date on da shop opening info,
up coming polish releases & teaser pics, as well as be able to order
her polishes when da shop reopens, you have to join
I know this seems like a hassle, but every time da store is open
to da general public Tami's has to deal with ass holes.
Selling thru da group seems to filter these peeps out
which is a good thing cuz Tami works too damn hard
creating these beautiful polishes to be dis'd by idiots
looking to fuss over toopid shit or rip her off.
I swatch for TDWP & promote Tami's polish
cuz I love both da product & da maker!
 
I will let you know when the shop reopens.
 
>^. .^<
 
 Meowmy? Paw won't share whatever dat is in his paw.
 
 I for realz thinks I'd like a taste.
 
Why you no shares wif me?
 
Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Can you add gitd to your regular manis?

Hello Dahlings!
 
Today I have a comp post that was sort of requested by Jen's Nail Files.
Jen regularly asks peeps to show her what's on their nails
& I often have gitd polish on in some form.
She has expressed several times
that she'd like to wear more gitd polish,
but isn't into glitter all that much.
She has a point, many gitd indie polishes have glitter in them.
Many are jellies too & can need white undies to get max glow factor.
 
What about using gitd as undies or a topper instead?
Hmmm...things to ponder & ponder I did
before sending my polish where my pondering lead me...
 
(this post is like uber long, so go potty
& grab a beverage before you start, k?) 
 
 This is the end result of my putzing.
Sinful Color gitd is the best of the bunch,
but let me 'splain how I figured this out.
 
 Da gitd line up ~ Sally Girl U Glow Girl,
Fright Night Claw Polish I'm Here For The Boos!,
Wet N' Wild Fantasy Makers Go With The Glow,
pumpkin bottle Glow Nail Color
& Sinful Colors Glow In The Dark
 
These polishes are your basic milky pale yellowish white gitds
available during October in stores everywhere in da US.  
 
 I started with one coat of my franken base,
to divide my nails in half length wise.
I painted one coat of each polish
on da left side of each nail as follows:
 
pinky ~ Sally Girl
ring ~ FN Claw Polish
middle ~ WnW Fantasy Makers
index ~ pumpkin
thumb ~ Sinful Colors
 
These polishes are your basic milky pale yellowish white gitds
available during October in stores everywhere in da US. 
 
 Ok, so the Sally Girl & pumpkin need a 2nd coat,
but the others are glowing well without white unders,
especially da Sinful Colors.
 
 I then added 2 coats of Crazy Sister Design Why So Glum thermal polish
so I could show you how well the gitds showed under & over
both light & dark polishes without having to do multiple manis.
Da pic above is WSG when cold...
 
 ...and when warm.
It also has a light holo rainbow
that doesn't show in my powder room lighting.
 
 The gitds show thru, especially the Sinful Colors!
I think using a gitd for undies will work best
under medium to light colored jelly base polishes
like holos & low density glitters.
It may work under darker jellies,
but the glow may not be as bright as you might prefer.
 
Onto part 2 of this lil experiment...
 
See the odd lighter lines on my pinky, ring & middle nails
just below the demarcation line on each nail? 
I remasked using the stencils without adding fdtc.
BIG MISTAKE!
So unless you're willing to wait hours (like overnight)
for your base color to totally cure
& be able to handle stencils without lifting the polish
USE FAST DRY TOP COAT
BEFORE DOING NAIL ART!!!
If I can't be a good example, I'll settle for being a horrible warning.
 
I dabbed a bit of WSG into the grooves & applied Orly's fdtc.
I then remasked my nails again & added one coat of each gitd
on the other side of the same nails as before.
The gitds definitely silvered the base color!
 
 The effect with the layered thermal & gitds
did have a color blocked look that was rather nifty.
 
 I heated my hand up with hot water & this was the result.
The top layer gitd showed better than the undies (duh!)
but most of the undies were still showing their glow.
GITD polish can lose its glow over time
& I think this may have happened to da Sally Girl mini
& da Fantasy Makers cuz they used to glow much better than this.
Sadness. Maybe I can franken them into something useful?
 
 Da non-gitd line up ~ CSD Why So Glum,
 
 I used CICI & SISI plate 19 & my Creative Stamper.
 
 I wanted a bit more rainbow than WSG offered,
so I added a coat of My Private Rainbow.
I then stamped over it all.
Above is da cold version...
 
 ...and this is da warm.
Notice how da stamped design goes in different directions?
I could say I did this as an artistic statement
or maybe I just wasn't paying attention when I stamped,
but really, it's what I have to do
to make most full nail stamping designs fit my long nails.
I know there are plates with larger full nail images
as well as collage style images & I have quite a few.
I also have quite a few plates with 'normal' size FN images
that don't quite fit my nails,
so I decided to find alternative ways to use them.
Stamping them on the diagonal
is one way to fit too short designs on longer nails.
 
 Hey!
Black light really shows where I missed in my clean up, don't it?
 
 Okay, so adding a holo topper & stamping blocked
some of the light from getting to da gitds.
They still glowed pretty well IRL.
 
Final decree?
Yes, you can wear gitds under regular jelly based polishes
with out messing up the color or finish of those polishes.
SO GO GET YOUR GLOW ON!
 
Did this answer your question, Jen?
I have a color glow clear topper post planed for the near future!
 
>^. .^<
 
Meowmy loves my gitd peepers best!
 
Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky
 

Monday, January 26, 2015

2fer Post! ~ CNT 52 week PnM Fishbraid/Non Giltter Topper plus HPB Presents New to Me!

Hello Dahlings!
 
Wow! That title is a mouthful for sure.
Sorry, I don't usually double up themes in one post,
however, as I was looking over my challenge notes
I noticed that da Hobby Polish Blogger's monthly challenge
of showing a new to me brand, technique &/or trend
was due this weekend & I hadn't done da mani I had planned for it.
Blerg.
 
Da good news is that I had gotten my Tarts mani
of a fishbraid &/or a non-glitter topper done
& I had used a new to me brand.
It's an accidental success, but I'll take it!
 
 This is my fishbraid with non-glitter topper mani
using Crazy Sister Designs thermal polishes.
Da topper is from Down The Bayou Lacquer,
which seems to be on hiatus at da mo.
 
plus DTBL Glow Holo Topper Blue
 
 This pic shows da cold colors.
GD & PP are both matte crèmes & MM is a jelly.
I only needed one coat of da mattes for each pass,
but da jelly needed 2.
All were on da thinner side, but very workable & dried quickly.
 
 Da warm colors are so very pretty together!
 
 So da GHTB was supposed to be a gitd holo topper.
To get this pic I had to heat my hand up so da lighter colors showed
& then it only glowed over Mermaid Mist, da lightest color.
It glowed better IRL, but not by much.
Gitd can loose their glow over time
& this one had also thickened up quite a bit as well.
I added both thinner & clear polish
to get it back to a workable consistency.
At least I had da rainbows & thermal color shifts to enjoy!
 
Lookee...RAINBOWS!!!
Angie packed my order in this
MOST EXCELLENT holographic mylar bag!!!
Her location is maybe 50 miles from my house,
so it's a local company for me. Please go show her some love!
 
>^. .^<
 
Meowmy won't let me play with her claw pretties.
Harumph, I'se gonna pout!
 
Thanks for stopping by
& please go show both da Tarts & da HPBs some love today!
~ Inky


Friday, January 23, 2015

Yeah, I Love My Polish! ~ feat. Jaded Old Glory

Hello Dahlings!
 
Yeah, it's pretty obvious that I love my polish!
Holos, thermals, & gitds are my favs
& now that I have da Creative Stamper
I can finally do a reasonable job of stamping on mah nails.
 
So to celebrate my love of lacquer for no particular occasion,
I did this...
 
 It has all of my fav thingies in one mani!!!

 I started with 3 coats of Jaded Nail Co. Old Glory
I probably could have gotten away with 2 coats of this 3 color thermal,
but it dried rather fast & started changing colors as it dried,
so dippy me kept thinking I was getting patchiness
when it was just shifting colors.

 When cold...
Nice bubble you got there Inky!
 
  
...and warm.
Da violet red comes out to play when da polish is shifting.

 I then stamped using Color Club Beyond & plate BP - 29
from Born Pretty Store & my Creative Stamper.

 Here it is in warm mode so you can see everything.

I totally spaced that Old Glory is also a gitd
& added a coat of Violetta Popper Topper.
So I got an uber dose of gitd goodness!
I sealed it all in with a coat of Seche Vite as usual.

>^. .^<

 What dis?

I wants dis!
Get your paw off my Krispy Crème donut
you cat faced food thief!
 
Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Does It Stamp? Revamp ~ Black & White Cremes

Hello Dahlings!
 
Once upon a time, in a land so 2013, 
 did a series of Sunday posts called
You may want to read this post so you can learn
how to figure out which polishes you may already own
that can be used for stamping & how to test them.
 
Back in those days, I went thru my stash & tested a bazillion polishes
to find da ones that could be used for nail art stamping.
While I did group them by color,
I also went thru da rainbow a few times,
so there wasn't anything like a compiled list you could use
when looking for a specific color.
 
I can't promise this revamp of that series will be all that easier to use,
but at least my stamping has improved!
 
 Left hand ~ (no top coat)
 
Pinky ~ Konad Black & Princess White
Da Nads are da original stamping polishes.
Both basically stamp very well
& I'm using them for da baseline on this hand.
 
Ring ~ Finger Paints Black Expressionism & Paper Mache
I think these 2 are as good as da Nads & a better value to boot!
 
Middle ~ Orly Liquid Vinyl & Dayglow
Both stamped a bit sheer, giving them a faded look.
Dayglow does have a blue sheen to it that is fun.
 
Index ~ China Glaze Liquid Leather & White On White
These 2 stamped better than da Orlys, but not as opaque as da FPs.
I know some peeps swear by this brand,
but my experience with it is hit & miss.
 
Thumb ~ Nina Ultra Pro Black & French White
On par with da CGs & cheaper.
 
Konad can be found at many web stores that sell da plates.
Da other are all available at Sally Beauty Supply.
 
 Right hand ~ (no top coat)
 
Pinky ~ Mentality Black & White
(aka Black Opaque & White Opaque)
These are part of Metality's Stamping Polishes line
and are very good stamping polishes!
Da white has a pearly metallic finish & both are very opaque.
I'm using them as da base line for this hand.
 
Ring ~ Sally Hansen Night Fright & OMGhost
Both of these were part of da 2014 Halloween release.
Both stamp well
& I've heard that da regular Insta-Dri line black & white stamp well too.
Methinks these 2 may just be relabeled Black to Black & a retired white,
but I haven't tested da other black or white...yet.
 
Middle ~ KleanColor Black & White
Meh. Both look faded & had trouble showing details.
 
Index ~ Ruby Kisses HD Pitch Black Darkness & Whiter Than White
These 2 have better detail than da KCs but also look a bit faded.
 
Thumb ~ Scandal Modern Black & French White
These did better than KC or RK, but not as well as SH.
 
Mentality & KleanColor are available online.
Kleancolor can also be found in some independent
ethnic beauty supply stores along with Ruby Kisses.
 
I found Scandal in a local Korean cosmetic shop.
I could not find an online supplier in the US,
so count yourself lucky if you have a store near you that carries it.
 
 Da left line up ~ Konad, Finger Paints, Orly, China Glaze & Nina Ultra Pro
 
 Da right line up ~ Mentality, Sally Hansen, Kleancolor, Ruby Kisses & Scandal.
 
 
All of da black polishes did a good to tolerable job of it,
but some of them may not show up as well on lighter colors.
 
Da whites are more iffy as most of them tend to be a bit sheer
& that can ruin your stamping. 
 
We all know da Nads are good to stamp with,
but rather pricy at $4.50US for a 5ml mini & $9US for da 12ml Princess line.
 
My recommendations:
 
I highly recommend da Mentalities
& they're a good value at $6.25US for 15ml.
 
If you don't want to order online...
 
Finger Paints are $4.99US with a Sally's membership
or $5.50ish without da membership.
Da membership is only $5 & you get a $5 off your next purchase coupon
plus you get to pay da lesser listed price on everything.
 
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri requires no membership to buy
& are available in pretty much every drug store
everywhere in da US for around $4-$5.
Wally World (Walmart) has them for $4, Ulta has them for $5
 
 My undies are one coat of Wet N' Wild Red Red.
I had a smidge of nail line if da light hit it just right,
but for undies & nail art (including stamping)
this is a good inexpensive option for $1.
 
 I used Pueen 74 & my Creative Stamper to test these polishes.
 
Do y'all want me to do more of these posts?
Do you want to see a particular color or finish of polish?
I can't promise one every week, but maybe every other week
or at least one each month.
 
Talk to me my dahling peeps!
 
>^. .^<
 
Ciri is just weird some days, but he's always cute.
 
Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky