Earth Week!

       So as many of you know, Earth Day is only in a few days. Lots of people don't care about Earth Day, but I love it, hence Earth Week! Last year, I did a green and blue theme, but with St. Patrick's Day like just happening and the blue theme that I did last week, that was like no. So instead, I'm going to do a week of colors inspired by some of the gorgeous but endangered life forms on our planet.
       To start, I chose to do one of  my most favorite animals in all of life, the snow leopard.

Ahh I love these thingies. God was totally wearing his sexy pants when he cooked them up. They live in the mountains of Asia, and don't like people. Sadly for them though, people are killing them for their gorgeous pelts and their habitats are being taken over by humans, who want to use the land for growing ugly and uninteresting animals like yaks and buffalo. Isn't that stupid? Like how is this:

better than this:

?!

Ugh, look at the yak's eyes. It even looks dumb.

Also, cat breeders? Please start coming up with a cat that resembles a miniature snow leopard. I swear, you'll make like a million dollars. Okay thanks. 

Anyway, here's the nail look I came up with:

I used two coats of Color Club Pretty in Platinum for the base, stamped/drew on the spots with Color Cub Where's the Soiree?, and filled in the spots with Sally Hansen Blue Me Away and a dotting tool (read:bobby pin). 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunligh, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Did it come out rather ooglay? Yeah. :(

Should I have taken more time with it? Yeah. :(

Is it sad that a simple leopard print mani came out so ooglay? Yeah. :(

Does it shame the snow leopard? Hell yeah. :(

But I tried.¯\(°_°)/¯

Thanks for reading, and have a great day! :D

Zoya Kimmy vs. Hard Candy Lava (Plus Konad)

      Okay, so in my post about Kimmy, I mentioned that it could possibly be a dupe of Hard Candy Lava. While procrastinating on life (*in Rajiv from Outsourced voice* because that's how I do it) I was able to get together a quick comparison of the two, so here it is:

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Kimmy, Lava, Kimmy, Lava

Natural light, no flash.

L-R: Kimmy, Lava, Kimmy, Lava

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Kimmy, Lava, Kimmy, Lava

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Lava, Kimmy

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Lava, Kimmy

    Okay, so they aren't dupes. Lava is more vibrant, warmer, and more orange than Kimmy, and the shimmer is more spherical and less distinct. But really, you only see a true difference in bright sunlight and certain levels of shade. Under florescent light, they look much much more similar. They also have similar formulas, with both reaching opacity in three coats.

    So I don't really think that a person would need both. If you did get both, you'd be able to justify it, but both are probably not necessary unless you have a thing for these types of colors.  As to which one is better,  idk. I suppose that depends on access and personal preference. I like them both the same. 

I also did some Konading on Kimmy. 

I used Color Club Revvvolution, with Plate M57.

Sunlight, no flash.

   It's not the most creative combo, and I don't even think I really liked it, but it was okay to wear for a day. Can't go wrong with leopard print. ^_^

NARS Mash + Konad

           With all the homework yesterday, there was no time to change my polish. Not that I really wanted to...I love Mash. But because I get bored easily plus I didn't want to cover up the color, I matte-ified Mash, and then did some konading on top with clear polish, a la Michèle from Lacquerized. 

This is NARS Mash, with one layer of Essie Matte About You. 

If you use this matte topcoat, do you ever notice that sometimes, these white speckles come on your nails after applying it? What the heck are those? 

I used Duri Rejuvacote to stamp the leopard print pattern from Konad m57.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      When it was fresh, I really liked this! It didn't look anywhere near as good as Michèle's did, but it still looked cool. The only sad thing is that it wasn't very visible, unless my hand was tilted in a certain way. And over the course of the day, as the matte topcoat became more satiny, the contrast between the shiny spots and the base wore off a little. Then it was really really hard to see the pattern. But at least the spots didn't rub off, like they did when I tried to konad on top of a matte-ified  China Glaze Atlantis.

    

    But that's all I have for today! Have a great night, guys! 

Psuedo-Franken + Konad

         Last night, I didn't take off my glitter monster...I had the acetone out and everything, but I was just not in the mood. So instead, I decided to spice it up with some Konad and call it a night. 

I used China Glaze Millenium to stamp on the Zebra print pattern from  Konad Plate M57. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Although part of me likes how this came out, part of me also thinks it's kind of tacky. I mean...glitter and zebra print? That reminds me of like...old men who wear velour leisure suits with the top unzipped to reveal abundant amounts of chest hair, Adidas, tons of gold jewelry, sunglasses all the damn time, and rock a combover / perm / perm with a combover. It just feels cheap and wrong to me...I should have chosen a different pattern, I think.  I'll be happy to see this go tonight.

That's all I have for tonight though! Yes... zee post is tres short, no?  ^_^

Have a great weekend guys! 

    

Brucci Typhoon Lagoon + Konad and a Haul!

            Okay, so I lied. If anything, I'm wearing more purple today than I was yesterday. But yesterday, I was le tired. Far too tired to remove nail polish and reapply it and then let it cure. So I decided to do some nail art over it, to keep it fresh. I based the design off the name of one of OPI's new colors, Catch Me In Your Net.

Sunlight, no flash.

Brucci Typhoon Lagoon is the base color, and I used Wet n Wild French White Creme to stamp the fishnet pattern from Konad (yes, real konad!! o_o) plate M57.

Sunlight, no flash.

Then, on my ring finger, I applied a purple fimo butterfly. It's supposed to be caught in the net. lmao.

Natural light, no flash.

Lastly, because I couldn't help myself, I put on one coat of Finger Paints Floatin' on a Cloud, and finished the whole thing with two coats of Poshe. The Floatin' on a Cloud is ten times more obvious in person.

    I'm suprisingly happy with this design. I fear fimo, because in the wrong hands, it can look tacky and gaudy. And yes...my hands are so so wrong. But I like how subtle this is. I think the key for me will be to just use it in moderation, and to cut the stuff as thin as possible. When my nails get longer, I'll probably use more, but for now, this is enough. 

 And I bought the fimo from i_fact, a Hong Kong seller. I paid $6 USD for 100 canes, which I think is a pretty good deal.

   Muahaha, but that is not the haul that I mentioned in the title. I was talking about some stuff that I bought from maytheps-au.com. I don't really have plans for all this stuff, but I'm sure something will come up. 

I've been dying to have a set of these, for when I need to soak off some hardcore glitter. They even have a little scraper on the inside of the liquid receptacles to help with removal. 

I also got a 12 piece set of nail art brushes. ^_^

A set of rhinestone picker uppers. I've used toothpicks, but I hate how the splinter and have to be thrown away. I also have a silicone one from Sally's, but when I try to press in the gems, they like...slide around and mess up the design. I hope these will let me put them in neatly and securely. And they'd be good for decals, which toothpicks and the silicone picker upper does nothing for.

Clear rhinestones, in 10 shapes: round, square, rectangle, teardrop, crescent, heart, star, flower, triangle, and oval.

Oval Rhinestones in 12 Colors, Round Rhinestones in 12 colors.

Gold and Silver Beads.

These things are seriously tiny. And they move in the package by themselves, so I think mine are haunted.

    Demon infested beads aside, I'm really happy with the service I received from this company. The products appear to be of a good quality...the rhinestones aren't the nasty dull kind, the brushes feel sturdy and aren't shedding, and the soakers have good rubber seals. They have scary fast shipping too. I ordered on June 15th, my order shipped out on the 17th, and I received it this afternoon. Considering the weekend and the fact that this stuff came from Hong Kong, that's really amazing. And best of all, the prices are really great. This stuff came out to $20 USD, which is inexpensive to me, considering what I got. 

   They also have an ebay store where the shipping is just as fast, and it's free. I think the ebay store is better for individual or smaller purchases, like if you want a few rhinestone wheels or some acrylic powder or something. But for bigger purchases, I think the storefront is far more convenient, because there's a cart and if you register, they keep track of your purchases. 

   Well, that's enough shameless promotion for today. I hope everyone has a great and relaxing evening! 

China Glaze Atlantis + Konad (Last Time, I Promise)

           Before I talk some MORE about Atlantis, I just wanted to spread the word about Nubar's Mother's Day Sale. I just got the email about it, and they are offering 20% off on orders of $30 or more. And of course, if you get up to $75 dollars worth of goodies after discounts, you get free shipping! I know I said no more haulage, but I may take them up on this offer. Mother's Day is coming, and Momma Chaos needs a gift. Watashi mo. I won't be buying up to $75 dollars worth of stuff, but I would like to try out the 10th Anniversary color, very creatively named Nubar 2010. I'm just going to pray that it's not the exact same thing as Opulent Pearl, because I'd be mad as hell!
            Anywho, I ended up konading over my matte Atlantis. Anything to avoid studying. I used the big cat print pattern on Konad plate M57. I like that pattern. I know people think it's tacky, but bleh upon them.

That one.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Indoors, with flash.

    I put another coat of Matte About You to act as a buffer in case of emergency, and then I used Wet n Wild Black Creme to stamp on the pattern. I didn't put on a topcoat, because I liked how the spots were shiny and the background was matte. It's not visible in the pictures, but it does lend a 3-D(ish) look to the mani. But the only sad thing was that by the time I got back here to post this, almost all the spots had rubbed off. Apparently, the topcoat is necessary to keep them on. Who would have thought it? 

   And even though I really did think it would be ugly, I like this. It's quite busy, with the glitter and the pattern and the matteness and the shininess, but something about it reminds me of sea turtles. I'm not sure why, because the pattern is not really like what turtles have on their backs. But it does, and I love sea turtles, so I love this too. 

    

NOTD: Milani 3D + Konad

    After I had a few hours with Milani 3D alone, I couldn't take it anymore. In the throes of dissatisfaction and boredom, I got my little envelope of Konad stuff. I need to find better storage for these thingies. But anyway, I got out my envelope, and started Konading it up. I decided to take advantage of the tawny gold and to create a cheetah-leopard-ish look. It's not cheetah because the spots have holes...and it's not leopard because the spots don't have brown in them. I'm very nitpicky about that...I hate when people call leopard print cheetah!! But I digress.

This is the plate (m57) and pattern that I used. 

I used Wet n Wild Black Creme to stamp this pattern on, and then used a thick layer of Poshe to seal the deal. Excuse the cotton strand. I didn't even realize it was there.

Natural light, no flash. 

Artificial light, with flash. I was trying to get some of the holoness to come out. :(

    Once I came to terms with the fact that this would never come out the way I wanted it to (black spots against a strong holographic gold) I decided to go ahead and matte-ify the whole thing. 

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. I used one coat of Essie Matte About You. 

Natural light, no flash.

      

    I'm glad I opted to go matte with this. I really love it so much more. And the matte-ness does something interesting to the little particles in the base polish. I think it shows more when the pictures are enlarged. Anyway, I had a good time with this! It was really easy to do this look, and although it isn't perfect and is super simple, I still like it and will wear it with pride. 

    See...if this was a lion mani, that would be best pun ever. Get it? Pride?! Ohohoho!! I'm putting that one in my back pocket to use in a lion-related situation. Because you never know when such a situation will arise. Lions are everywhere. And I'm rambling. And I have class soon. So I'm off!