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! 

Milani 3D

           Today, I'm wearing Milani 3D, the namesake of the of the 3D Holographic Collection.  Looking at this polish on my nails, it's ironic that this would be the one that they name it after. Here are my pitchas:

Close look at 3D. It's the same deal as the other two guys: tiny holographic scales/flakes in a colored base. In this case, the base is a nice gold. I don't know the difference between warm and cool gold, so I'll just leave it at gold. lmao!

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Shade, no flash.

This was the most holographic I could get this to look. Shade, with flash.

     The bad news is that I feel like this polish barely qualifies as holographic. There are particles that change color in the light, true, but this definitely pales in comparison to Hi-Res and Digital. No smooth holo at all, and barely any scattered. It was really disappointing. And it's why I thought it was ironic that they would name the collection after what I'm thinking has to be the least holographic polish in the bunch. 

   But 3D's saving grace is that it is a really lovely gold, and the particles add some nice interest. Additionally, the formula was easy, and the color was not hard to build up. All of these are three coats of color, with one layer of Poshe. I'll enjoy wearing this in the summer, especially when I get more color to my skin. I love gold with sun-darkened skin. But I'm still mad because I paid for a pretty gold holographic nail polish...not just a pretty gold one. So boo, Milani! 

  My final thoughts on this collection (or the part of it that I own) is that it is nice. 3D brings it down for me, but Digital and Hi-Res are beautiful colors and pick up the slack. If I was going to put them in order, from most loved to least, I'd say Hi-Res, Digital, and then 3D. Which funnily enough, was the order that they got posted in. 

NOTD: Milani Digital + Konad

           Technically, this should be NOTPFD (Nail of the Past Two Days) because that's how long I've been wearing this mani. It's Milani Digital, stamped with one of the designs from Konad plate M20, and then I put some rhinestone decals on it to finish up. I'm about to remove it, but before I do, I wanted to post some pictures to remember it by.

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

And this was my inspiration image. The end result wasn't like that, but it was what gave me the idea to do this particular design. 

This is how all my nails were supposed to look. I double-stamped the flowers onto the middle of my nail with Wet n Wild Black Creme. I tried to use Brucci Plain Black at first. It showed up, but was way too light. The Wet n Wild worked so much better. And please excuse the bald spot at the tip of my nail...it was the acetone. 

Sadly, the rest of my nails didn't come out as planned. I was trying to just get it done, so I ended up with more of a random floral pattern. And on my pinky, I got barely any pattern at all. Smh!

After I was done with that, I got bored. I had some rhinestone decals (I swear, I had them already!) so I decided to use those in the center of the flowers. There are some flowers that don't have rhinestone centers, but I needed to conserve, so I only put two stones on each finger.

I think this one shows the end result best. It's in sunlight, no flash.

This was just to show the holo effect.

     I sealed the whole thing over with two coats of Poshe, and that was the end of it! 

     Although I'm not fully happy with the stamping job that I did, it was nice enough to wear out. I figured that from a distance, no one would notice. And I was right! I actually got lots of compliments on this mani, especially when the holo-ness would come out. A girl in my class even accused me of wearing fake nails...she didn't believe that they were mine until she practically had her nose pressed against them. See boys and girls...that's what we call a certified hater. smh!

   Anywho, I'm probably going to keep this one in my back pocket to use again, once my konad skills are more honed and I can get the flowers on to my satisfaction. 

And that's all for today! ^_^

Best Giveaway Ever? I Think So.

    Omg, I forgot to put this in. Yes people..this may be the best giveaway ever!! It's being held by Magic Maid to celebrate her 400th follower and features some really fabuloso prizes!

I've been lemming half the polishes here and the rest look pretty legit, so I definitely entered. And so should you! Unless you don't like these....then you should not enter and then go get your head examined.


Here are the rules:

1. You must be a follower! Please tell me how you are following. Also, leave an email address in the comment so that I may contact you. Two points.

2. Tweet about the contest on Twitter. Tell me your twitter handle! One point.

3. Blog about the contest. Post a link to your blog entry in the comment. One point.

4.  Put me on your blogroll. Or, if I'm already on it, just let me know. One point.

Clicking her name will send you to the original post, where you can enter and maybe even win.  The contest runs until April 25, 2010. Good luck! ^_^

Milani Digital

           I don't have too much time today, so this one will be swift. I'm currently wearing Milani Digital, from the 3D Holographic Collection. I'm really proud of myself today because I applied my nail polish really neatly! All of these pictures were taken on the same day that I applied the polish, and before cleanup! ^____^

This is a close look at Digital. It's a holographic glitter in a slightly dusty rose-pink (although this picture looks more lilac-y) base. It has the same fish-scale thing going on that Hi-Res does. I think this picture shows more of the individual holographic scales/flakes, especially when it's enlarged.

Natural light, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash. I think this picture is truest to color. 

Sunlight, no flash. Holo goodness!! ^_^

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

    The formula for this was fine. It was just the same as Hi-Res. It dried smoothly, and matte, and I am anticipating an easy removal. Although I was putting off wearing this color because I didn't like it in the bottle, I'm glad that I finally tried it. In the bottle, it looks kind of blah. But on the nail, I found it really becoming and feminine. 

   And not related to this color, I'm really surprised at how much my nails have grown. I was just looking back at the post about Bling Dynasty, and I was really struck by the difference in length. I'm about halfway through my bottle of Barielle, so soon, I should be able to do an official comparison and then start on Duri. But I have noticed some staining on my nails. When I was pushing back my cuticles, I was horrified at how yellowed the exposed portion of my nail plate has become. I've started using peroxide so hopefully, that'll clear up. And in the future, I plan on putting another base coat on top of the Barielle, because it's obviously not protecting my nails so well. 

  And that's all for the moment!

NOTD: Milani Hi Res

            Happy Happy Easter to da world!!! Although I love Easter as much as the next person, I opted out of doing some kind of Easter thing. My Konading skills are not good enough just yet, and I didn't bring any pastels home with me. Plus, I am not too fond of them. So, I decided to do a light but cheerful mani with Milani Hi Res, from the 3D Holographic Collection. There are going to be a ton of pictures, because this is a celebration, but also because this color was so much fun to photograph.

Hi-Res is a holographic glitter in a pale lavender base. I've actually never seen a glitter like this...it's like each piece is a tiny little holographic scale. Like on a fish! Because of this, the holo has a peculiar effect of being smooth but broken up at the same time. And when you look in the shade, you see a ton of little flat, silvery bits. It's really beautiful.

   This is in natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, in the shade, no flash. This is how the base color looks when there's no real light to activate the holographicness.

Artificial light, with flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       The formula on this was very nice. It spread easily, and reached full opacity in three coats. These pictures were with four, because I just felt like putting another coat, but honestly, it would have been just fine in three. The polish dried perfectly smooth, if a little matte, and the removal is very easy. I use the Beauty Secret Acetone stuff and it comes right off like a regular polish. 

     

      While I would like it better if the base was a deeper purple (think Zoya Yasmeen-ish), I really like this polish. All the little plates give it a soft, delicate look, which makes it easier to wear than some of the smooth, in your face holos. And I think they also make it more special. I have two more colors from the 3D Holographic Collection, and one from the core collection that I plan on posting in the next few days, and that'll be it for the Milanis for a while.

I guess that's all....I hope everyone has a great Easter!

A Little Bit of Konad!

          Well, yesterday was a great day! I had an exam,which I think went really well. And then my Konad stuff came!! I don't have any pictures of the unboxing (technically the un-enveloping) but it was really exciting. I think there were fireworks are one point. And the experience with the vendor was very positive. Everything that I ordered was there and intact, and there was a cute little note on my invoice! It was like only two words, but whatever. A note is a note, and I appreciate it! So I definitely give ocnailart.com two thumbs up, and will be ordering more Konad stuff from them in the future.
        But anyway, I took out all the stuff, put my phone on silent, closed my doors, (because this was serious business) and started playing. Five hours later, my nails were buck naked. I did not end my little session with a pretty konadicure. At all. But I still had fun and I made a design that I thought was nice....I didn't wear it because I didn't like the base color, but here it is:

It's supposed to be a little girl standing in a field of flowers. I was trying to go for a nice, spring-y type of thing. These came from the S9 plate. 

I took it off, but I think I'm getting a good start with my Konading. I still need to work with it and my timing as far as stamping goes. And maybe finding some good polishes to use with it would help.