Mani Monday... The Darkest Kiss always requires a Thank You..

*Gift, Purchased, Affiliate Link*

Hello Lovelies,

   I am back with another Mani Monday post after forever. During the holidays, quite honestly EVERYTHING was crazy. Then after the holidays not only did my kids get the flu but they also shared that horrible plague with me as well. So needless to say that my nails were horribly neglected and quite frankly they looked like shit.  I know I should hang my head in shame over that fact but I just recently started doing my nails again which is horribly sad and I wanted to get back into the swing of posting manis and beauty posts since I have been doing nothing but reviews. So this is the first of many new Mani Monday posts and if you follow me on Instagram you would have actually seen my poor attempt to film trying to capture the holo. However I did manage to capture hints of it here and there on film. 

I used the following polishes for this mani
Opi Base Coat
Gothic Gala Lacquer Darkest Kiss
Pure Ice Superstar (for stamping on the thumb and the ring finger)
Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate BP-12 (use discount code KLH10 to save some money)
Gothic Gala Lacquer Thank You Flake Top Coat
Vapid Lacquer's Fast Drying Top Coat.

   I hope that you enjoyed this Mani Monday installment and until next time lovelies!

Mani Monday..Gradients and Drunken Stamping...

*Purchased*

   Hello Lovelies,
       I am back again with another Mani Monday installment. I debated whether or not to post this mani since I am really MEH about it.

Yup, this is my exact face while I am writing this blog post.

     Originally I had this awesome idea of doing a red to black gradient and then stamping this rose stamp over it to give it an epic rose look.

I could visualize the awesomeness...

   The gradient came out better than I imagined so I was super excited to stamp over this cause I knew that this was going to be gorgeous. However I was yet again betrayed by my stamper. It just refused to pick up ANY of the black stamping polish whatsoever.

WHY?? WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?!?!?!

   But I was determined to have this rose stamp on my nails when I should have listened to my stamper which was trying to tell me to leave it be in order and just rock the gradient. BUT, no,  I was a dumb ass.

Yes, yes I am. I should have left the gradient alone.

   The white is pretty however it wasn't the feel or the look that I was going for. So here my mani is all its' meh glory.

Those patterns SHOULD have been roses but now the obscure the gradient. 

I used the following polishes for this mani (and don't hold it against them cause they are all gorgeous)
Opi Natural Strengthening Base Coat
Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar
Vapid Lacquers Vampires Don't Sparkle
Sinful Colors Oil Slick
Pure Ice Superstar

  So the lesson learned is that if my stamper won't pick the black and you have an awesome gradient. LEAVE THE SHIT ALONE DREADFUL. Do NOT IMPROVISE.  While Vampires Don't Sparkle is not available on Vapid Lacquers site you might be able to contact the owner and see if you can get a custom. But you will see it on the next nail post cause I have to do it justice.

Mani Monday:When Stars Fell During the South Haven Sunset with a hint of Drunk Stamping

Hello Lovelies,
    I am back and feeling much better for this weekly installment of Mani Monday and of course some MOAR drunk stamping. It has been far to long since I last attempted to stamp and I wanted to do something today that made me bust out the stamper.

Stamping makes me feel fabulous and sassy!

  Surprisingly enough, my stamping wasn't as bad as I thought that it would be and the  Gothic Gala Laquer's Stamping polish in Antique Gold over Carpe Noctem Cosmetic's South Haven was a nice and subtle look which you could get away with in a conservative work place.

I was glowing with delight that my stamper didn't betray me.

 I wanted to do something fall/winter inspired without using the traditional colors and stamps without being too traditional. But just take a look and tell me what you think!

Sadly, my nails broke the day before I did this mani, Isn't it always the case?

I was trying to capture the duo chrome effect of South Haven Sunset

Apparently it is still going to take a while for me to get this stamping thing down.

I used the following polishes for this look:

Opi Nail Strengthening Base Coat

Carpe Noctem Cosmetics South Haven Sunset

Gothic Gala Lacquers Antique Gold Stamping Polish

Vapid Lacquers Fast Drying Top Coat

Bundle Monster Stamping Plate BM-021

  While I know that the stamping isn't perfect and didn't cover the entire nail in the last photo I was pretty pleased with how this look turned out. I felt pretty damn fabulous.

Yup this is how I felt about my nails.

You can follow Carpe Noctem Cosmetics on Facebook, in the Facebook Fangroup and on Instagram. You can also follow Gothic Gala Lacquerson Facebook, in her Facebook Fangoup and on Instagram as well. And finally last but not least, you can also follow Vapid Lacquer on Facebook, in her Facebook Fangroup and also on Instagram. I hope that you liked today's installment of Mani Monday (with a hint of drunk stamping) and tell me what is your current favorite mani color for the season?

Mani Monday: Moar Drunk Stamping! Revenge of the Stamper....

*purchased*
Hello Lovelies!
    Welcome back to another installment of Mani Monday! Today I am featuring a lovely polish from Literary Lacquers, Lake of Shining Waters. Due to being drunk from my stamping success last week I decided to go ahead and stamp again. Because with one success there has to be another right??

Cause one success equals an automatic success right?

  I love Literary Lacquers Lake of Shining Waters is a gorgeous teal linear holographic polish so of course white would pop fantastically against it. So I painted my nails with Lake of Shining Waters and I was like...

This polish totally looked AMAZING.

  And then I had the dilemma that I wanted to stamp on top of this polish..

Technically, it wasn't repainting my nails but the stamper was steadily giving me shots of courage.. 

    So, I finally decided to go ahead a stamp on top of this polish I was drunk with stamping courage so with tears in my eyes I took up the stamper with a mission to make this polish look fabulous.

I was both nervous and drunk with stamping anticipation...

    Then I picked up the stamper and then the stamper betrayed me...

My stamper totally acted like this towards me. 

   While this polish is truly amazing, my stamping is not. While it is a learning curve....

Just look at the polish and not focus on my craptacular stamping...

  You will also have to forgive the crappy indoor lighting. It has been raining for two days straight so I don't have any awesome natural light to capture the beautiful holo effect.

I used :

Nail Trek II

Lake of Shining Waters from Literary Lacquers (2 coats)

White Stamping Polish from the BornPrettyStore (used KLH10 for a discount)

Bundle Monster Plate 212

Get Your Shine On! Fast Drying Top Coat from Vapid Laquer   

While this isn't as bad as some of my other stamping attempts I really wished that I had put the stamper down and left this polish alone cause it is simply beautiful. You can purchase Lake of Shining Waters from Literary Lacquers on Etsy.  You can also follow her on Facebook and Instagram as well. She is also having a 2 year anniversary giveaway that you still have time for to enter! Quick! Head over to Literary Lacquer's Facebook and enter!I hope that you enjoyed this installment of Mani Monday (and my drunk stamping) and until next time lovelies!

                                     

Don't judge a polish from my bad stamping job go check it out for yourself

Quick NOTD: Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey with Lucky 13 Lacquer

*purchased*
Hello lovelies!
   I am back with a quick Nail of the Day while I usually share nail photos for Mani Monday I wanted to share the EPIC level of wear of this gorgeous polish.  Before this obsession, I would walk around with the saddest little remnants of polish hanging on my finger for dear life and not have care in the world.  Usually I have polishes chip within a day or two of wear even with a top coat and a base coat. I could walk around with gloves on and still get a chip. And then this happens...

Yup since my nail polish obsession started this is me.

Quickly followed by this emotion...

I JUST FINISHED PAINTING! SERIOUSLY?!?!

  So when I find a polish that can with stand my epic level mutant skill of chipping polish I am impressed...

Yup, see all that debris? It is chipped polish.

So behold this gorgeous gem from Lucky 13 Lacquer! Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey polish has lasted 5 days on my mutant polish chipping fingers. Yes, I just said 5 DAYS which is damn near a miracle for me. So I had to take a photo of it today, day 5, to share with you. Behold...

Take a look at THIS on day 5!

I am just beyond impressed. The Doctor would be proud.

    I was trying to save this polish until I got my Doctor Who stamping plates and attempt to stamp something Timey Wimey on it but I had to share this amazing polish that is STILL on my nails!

Behold the epic stay on POWER!

 If you want to pick up this polish from Lucky 13 Lacquer you can do so here. And don't forget to show them some love on Facebook and the Facebook Fan Group!  Until next time lovelies!

Mani Monday: Sailor Mercury Transformation Mani and MOAR Drunk Stamping!

*Purchased*
Hello again lovelies!
    Welcome back to another installment of Mani Monday! Today I am featuring TWO polishes from Carpe Noctem Cosmetics (well technically one is a polish and the other could be considers a glitter/holo topper but none the less there are TWO) and yes I was overwhelmed with the need to attempt to stamp my nails again so this is a part two of Drunk Stamping as well!  Since I am so excited over the new reboot of Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon Crystal for those of you who aren't Moonies) I wanted to do something sparkly and girlie!

Seriously, look at this? I will fully admit I screamed like a fan girl over this shit.

    While I was brave enough (or drunk enough of polish fumes) to do a Sailor Moon themed nail, I figured that a starry night sky would be like easing into the realm of nail creativity . I pulled out my indie polishes that I haven't shared and decided upon these two awesome gems from Carpe Noctem Cosmetics, Winter Solstice and Holo Hex which were part of my Grab Bag. Winter Solstice was a lovely pale metallic blue holo and paired with the glittery Holo Hex Top coat which is simply nothing but pure sparkles in a bottle reminds me of Sailor Mercury's gorgeous transformation from the Classic Sailor Moon.

   So after my first adventure down the spiraling addictive path of drunk stamping I decided to attempt this again to give my nails the even more sparkly transformation feel. So again I busted out my stamping plates and stamping polish! The white polish was thick that it was just a glob on the plate when I first attempted to stamp. But I was determined to have some stars on my nails in the name of Sailor Mercury and all the Sailor Scouts!

I was going to add stars to my nails if it killed me!

   So I remembered the mention of adding some nail polish remover/acetone to the polish to thin it out and it worked like a dream! I was victorious and the smell of victory INSTANTLY went to my head.

Yup, the fumes went to my head and I thought that I was invincible!

   Surprisingly enough, I did manage to stamp stars on my nails though they weren't the best nor the most pronounced but I did it and I managed to make it look like a kid did the stamping other than a toddler and I even stopped myself before fully becoming drunk with stamping power and ruining the whole polish look. Just take a gander...

Check out that light blue metallic holo from Winter Solstice.

Once can never have enough HOLO! So add the awesome Holo Hex glitter polish

   
 So since I did manage to save the look from my drunk stamping rampage I would have to say that this adventure in drunk stamping is a WIN!

And if Picard says so it must be True!

   While the polishes are currently not up in the Carpe Noctem Cosmetics Etsy you can be bold and brave and pick up a Grab Bag and possibly score the two polishes I have right here. Or if you didn't want to take your chance you can always pick up the custom polish option and get your own. You can also follow Carpe Noctem Cosmetics on Facebook and their fan group for sneak peeks of upcoming releases.  And just in case you wanted to pick up the plate or the polish to create your own awesome Mercury Transformation Mani I used the Bundle Monster plate BM 14 and the white stamping polish from the Born Pretty Store (use code KLH10 for 10% off your total order). So I hope that you enjoyed this portion of Mani Monday and until next time lovelies!

Nail Art of the Day: Adventures in Drunk Nail Stamping..

*Purchased*
Hello Lovelies!
   Welcome to a new series for my blog! As some of my regular followers may know that I have ventured into the world of indie polish and it has rekindled my nail polish obsession (which is a very dangerous thing). So of course like any curious polish newbie, I just thought that blogging about nail polish would be simple. Yeah, that lasted all about 10 seconds after looking at some amazing polish blogs. I quickly learned that....

Yup quickly looked at my mani and realized this..

  Because while these polish artists who could quickly polish their fingers on Youtube and not look like a four year old did them, I could not. I looked like a rabid squirrel with a drug problem painted my nails (my right hand in particular since I am right handed. #thestruggleisreal )So I am now trying to master the art (and it is an art, never doubt that) of the clean up with a brush and acetone around my cuticles which still look like foamy squirrel did my mani but with clean up I am trying to hide that fact. So apparently while attempting to master the clean up the fumes went to my head and I was enchanted or should I say bewitched the the art of nail stamping. They made it look so easy on Youtube! EVEN I could do that...

So I dug out my bundle monster plates, stamping polish and konad stamper determined to make beautiful art on my new polish...Because if it can be mastered on YouTube I can master it too..

So I painted my nails and awesome shade called Hel ,based off the ancient Norse Goddess, from Gothic Gala Lacquers (which is sadly discontinued but she does offer a custom polish option which I am sure that you could request it). It was a creamy pale pink with flecked with black and red glitter. It is a matte polish so I topped it with Seche in order to give it the shine that I wanted. So I was feeling like a boss! I did my first stamp and it stuck to my stamper and I felt invincible! I was going to have amazing stamped nails!

But like in any battle the tides can quickly change..So I was originally going to just do my accent nails and be done with it. The first one came out nice, not perfect but that was understandable since this was my real "first" time attempting stamping. I even did my dreaded "right" hand and it turned out okay. They were pretty but not perfect but it was a learning curve.

See the placement isn't too bad and pops against the polish

Then apparently I got drunk with the power of the stamp and decided to STAMP ALL THE NAILS!  So if I did two really well then with practice all the the rest of my nails will be AMAZING! YEA RIGHT!

Notice the wonky stamping quality... I must have been drunk!

So, the moral of this experience is to not only practice but don't get too cocky and drunk with the power of the stamp. I am sure that there will be more Drunk Stamping Adventures I will be sure to document my struggles through it. Until next time lovelies!