Stamping Plate D08

Good morning, Dear Reader!

On Friday I showed you some celebrity picture patterns from one of the D-Series plates, D09, and today I have a celebrity mani using plate D08.  D08 also has lots of choices, but there was one so perfectly absurd it designed this mani for me - Woody Allen.  Any time nail art comes up conversationally for the rest of my life, I'd like to be able to volunteer, "I own and have used a Woody Allen nail art stamp."  Now I can.

I figured this one should have more of a pop art feel, so I used a patterned French tip and Woody Allen in white over Color Club Gimme A Grape Big Kiss, the purple neon from Wicked Sweet.  Here it is.

Woody Allen Manicure using Stamping Plate D08

I have no idea why I love this so much or why I'm so thrilled with the mere notion of a Woody Allen manicure, but I'm happy for both.

That's it for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club The Lime Starts Here & Konad m60

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This is the last picture I had saved up, and it's a manicure for several days this week, Color Club The Lime Starts Here with the plaid pattern from Konad plate m60 in white.

The Lime Starts Here is the neon green from th Wicked Sweet Collection, and this is your fair warning that the picture will make your retinas sting.  It needed several coats to be opaque, I either four or five, but that seems typical of good neon greens to me.  I'm sure that using white under it would reduce that.  The fragrance of it is very pleasant, more like a good margarita mix than straight lime - it's identifiable as lime and has a nice citrus scent to it, but it's not sharp or that overly artificial lime Jell-O smell.

Color Club The Lime Starts Here Nail Polish, 4-5 Coats

I gave The Lime Starts Here a bit of time to dry, then stamped it with Konad White Special Polish and the pattern from m60.

Color Club The Lime Starts Here with Konad m60

Although I really liked this one, the real reason I wore it for several days was that I ripped off my pinky nail, the whole free edge and lots of layers about halfway down the nail bed.  The good news is that the manicure didn't chip, and I decided that another chop just wasn't in me and I made a sculpted soak-off gel tip on it last evening.  This is the first time I had the luxury of sculpting a tip using my right hand, so it was about a thousand times easier than before.  I thought I had it as good as it would get, but the down side to clear builder gel is that it's really hard to see tiny detail.  I can just thin it out a little with a bit more shaping, but I'll have to reseal it once it's good, so the pictures I have for tomorrow will include my big fake tip pre-refinement.

That's what I know this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Plate XL B

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I had a great big fail stamping a pattern from XL B for today, which completely proved wrong my recent statement that I find the quality of engraving is equivalent between Chez Delaney and Konad plates.  Konad never fails me!

I took pictures, but promptly did a do-over on the manicure because it was really bad.  For the second I also went with a pattern from XL B, but the second one I chose was composed of thicker lines, from which I generally have a much easier time getting a clean stamp.  The messy one had thin lines, and the few stamps with didn't have extra polish all over have bald spots, and since the stamping was in black over China Glaze Shocking  Pink, it looked pretty shabby.

Plate XL B over China Glaze Shocking Pink Nail Polish

My ring and pinky nails have bald spots in the middle of the filled in sections, and the others, which I didn't scrape as hard to avoid that, have the extra Konad polish.  It looked gross enough to annoy me, so off it came.

The next attempt was Color Club Wicked Sweet with white Konad polish, and I love how it turned out.  A cashier at a place I often go asked about it this morning and admired the manicure, but there was a huge line behind me and she's usually really slow without a distraction (perfectly nice lady, she just doesn't mind having twenty people glaring at her while she makes small talk), and she asked about it using an "or" where neither option was correct (is that A or B?).  That meant my answer would require an explanation, and since I didn't want to lie I just muttered unintelligibly to get out of explaining Konad with the line of people hating me.  That often works surprisingly well, by the way, and it did this morning.  Here's the manicure that's nice enough to make a line of people wait for small talk.

Plate XL B over Color Club Wicked Sweet Nail Polish

Much better!  I love the polish, the stamp, and it's all the better since it smells really nice.

That's what I know today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club Get Your Lem-on

Good morning, Dear Reader!

There's nothing quite like ten solid hours of sleep, is there?  You get to benefit from my fabulous sleep in that it's more likely I'll keep my thoughts generally focused!

Last night I changed my manicure to Color Club Get Your Lem-on, the yellow from Wicked Sweet.  It's a very nice highlighter yellow shimmer and the polish was easy to control, but it did take five coats to be opaque.  I'm sure a white base could reduce that number, but when I'm trying it out the first time and want to tell you how many coats it takes to be opaque, I just use the color.  There's still no sunlight, or hope for it, so I used artificial light for the picture.

Color Club Get Your Lem-on Nail Polish, Five Coats

Although I love this polish. I think it's just okay on me - it's not horrible, but not flattering either.  Neon yellow is such a fun color that I wear it anyhow.  I like it best on very dark brown skin though - to my eye neon yellow just pops off of dark hands, and it makes the skin tone look really cool.  For me, since I want a little more than "not bad," I'll probably add Konad to it today.

Get Your Lem-on has a great fragrance.  It smells like someone's making a pitcher of Country Time Lemonade from the can of powder (I'm assuming those still exist) while another person is zesting a lemon nearby.  I've been sniffing this one a lot!  Again, the scent is not too strong, and I do have to have my hands near my face to smell it.

That's just about it for this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club Always Get My Man-darin

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I completely changed my nail polish last night - the last one just had too much tip wear after two days of lots of typing.  I so enjoyed wearing one from the Wicked Sweet Collection that I used another, although color selection is getting tough - my options that I haven't shown you were the green (lime), yellow (lemon), or orange.  Obviously, I went with the orange since I'll be at work, and that's called Always Get My Man-darin.  That's a super Suzi name for a Color Club, but Suzi on a good day (not the day Iris I Was Thinner was named...).

Truthfully, the plan for today's manicure had been to do medium green with a yellow, green, and red striped accent nail with that Bundle Monster pot leaf pattern right in the middle of it just I so could make a post entitled "It's 420!", but that had to go by the wayside when I returned to an office.  I acknowledge that would have been completely inappropriate for anyone, particularly a woman my age, but it would have been funny enough to me to do it (clearly, I'd thoroughly planned it out!).

Since that was off the table, I was content with my Always Get My Man-darin choice.  It's a vivid yellowish orange shimmer, a very unique color.  I used two coats of a tinted base (two coats in my desperate attempt to keep my unstained nails that way), but the Color Club still took about seventy billion coats.  Not really seventy billion, but it was either six or seven, I lost count, so we'll say six.  I think that's why there aren't more neon shimmers, but I happily used this many coats of a few of the Color Club Poptastic [I meant Electro Candy - I'm sorry] shades, so although I wasn't thrilled, I wasn't horrified.

I waited a few minutes between each of the coats of polish and finished it with Diamont (I'm still working on a 16 oz bottle I got before the formula was changed and changed back to the original a la New Coke).  I'm not sure of dry time, as I'm writing this last night about an hour after applying all that polish.  It's dry enough to do things, but I have no intention of scurrying off to wash my hair when I finish writing this.  I'm just hoping for no sheet marks!  Like the others in this release, the polish was very easy to control, so it doesn't look odd (to me) despite all the coats.

Color Club Always Get My Man-darin Nail Polish, Six Coats

I really like the color and I'm smitten with the shimmer in this, which is like the shimmer in the Poptastic colors [edit: throughout this post, I said Poptastic when I meant Electro Candy.  I'm really sorry if I confused you!  Fact is, I was and am confused because I'm exhausted, but an email exchange with a reader made me double check when I got home... Please forgive weary ol' me!].  Since it came out, Poptastic [again, I meant Electro Candy here] has been my favorite neon collection overall, but the addition of nice smells to the Wicked Sweet polishes may just put them in the lead.  They're incredibly fun!

As for the fragrance of this one, it's as subtle as the others, where I have to sniff it to really catch it.  It smells like the kitchen after making fresh orange juice out of really good oranges - kind of sweet, but there's also a nice orange peel smell to it that keeps it from being too sweet.  I was a little apprehensive about this one because I was afraid it would have that overly sweet artificial orange smell (which makes my stomach turn even if it's not too heavy), but this is very pleasant.

We'll see how this holds up.  I'd like to add some Konad to it just because I'm a Konadin' fool, but I think the color stands on its own just fine.  I'm also not willing to either stay up until 3:00 am waiting for this to dry enough to stamp or get up at 5:00 am to do it then in order to have pictures for this post.  I ♥ sleep far more than nails!

So that's just about all I know.  I notice in proof reading that today's post is just loaded with informational links.  I have no idea what's up with that, but what the heck, I'm leaving them... Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club Gimme A Grape Big Kiss

Good morning, Dear Reader!

On Sunday afternoon, I changed my nail polish to Color Club Gimme A Grape Big Kiss from the Wicked Sweet Collection, the scented neons for Summer 2011.  It's not really a true neon, more of a vivid purple creme.  The polish was easy to control and it applied well, but required three thin coats to be entirely opaque.  That's not terribly out of the ordinary for such a bright shade or for a scented polish, so the extra coat didn't throw me off.  I finished it with top coat, and it's a really striking polish.

Color Club Gimme A Grape Big Kiss Nail Polish, Three Coats

For this particular shade, I would have been willing to do three coats of color at the outset.  When the fact that it smells like grape Bubble Yum bubble gum is tossed into the equation, I'm willing to do three coats and my little heart goes pitter-patter while I do.  As I write this (which was last night, I wrote it ahead of time so I could sleep in a little longer today), it's about an hour after I added a refresher top coat to it, and it still smells of grape Bubble Yum when I sniff it, about as much as it did yesterday. The fragrance is pleasant but not overpowering at all - I really do have to specifically sniff it to catch the scent (and my sniffer is better than ever after a week of not smoking!).  If the often sickly sweet fragrance (odor?) of the Revlon Scents of Summer fruity polishes put you off of scented polishes, the Wicked Sweet Collection might just sway you back and make you love them.  Personally, I generally liked the Revlons, but I do recall that when settling in to sleep with my hands close to my face, that coconut one was somewhat sickening, but I had no such problem last night.

I'm really happy with the color, and a young-ish lady coworker enthusiastically complimented it, so I'm glad that I've worn it plain for a bit.  At the same time, it's screaming at me to Konad it, so I'll likely do that tomorrow evening if it lasts another day without chips.

That's just about all there is to tell you, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club Yum Gum & Hello Kitty Decals

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have another of Color Club's Wicked Sweet Collection, Yum Gum.  It's a neon light-ish pink creme, and it smells like bubble gum.  It applied well, covering in two coats, but the scent is initially a little unnerving.  You know that kind of off plastic smell the really cheap individually wrapped bubble gum has?  When it first goes on and is wet, Yum Gum smells just like that.  I almost took it off right away, but was glad I didn't as it dried because that weird plastic smell diminished and it really just smelled like bubble gum.  Here's Yum Gum with a base and a top in the sun.

Color Club Yum Gum Nail Polish, Two Coats

I just could't get the neon to show up in a picture after trying a million different light sources, so I went with the picture that on my monitor is closest to the color on my nails.  Neons can be maddeningly frustrating to take a picture of!

You can tell from the title I didn't stop there.  I'd gotten some of the Sephora Hello Kitty nail decals, but I hadn't used them because they made me a little angry - they're just one small sheet of tiny decals for $5, and I felt ripped off.  I figured it was time to get over it and use them, and when I did I was so impressed with their quality that I got over their price.  The adhesive is just right (it sticks well and doesn't come off the decals, but doesn't hold with a death grip), they're extremely thin and flexible so they lay perfectly flat easily, and I didn't have a single problem with the rhinestone ones (while rhinestone decals often lose stones).  I loaded up my left ring nails with decals, then sealed it with Poshe.

Sephora Hello Kitty Nail over Color Club Yum Gum Nail Polish

And a closer look...

Sephora Hello Kitty Nail Decals, Close Up View

My thinking is that if I'm going to be a ten year old girl and wear bubble gum scented neon light pink nail polish, the least I can do is be consistent and load it up with Hello Kitty decals.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Color Club Raspberry Rush

Good morning, Dear Reader!

The sun is shining on a beautiful warm Spring day and I'm wearing scented neon raspberry nail polish.  Does life get better than this?  I don't think so.  The first Spring days of every year bring me back to being a kid all dressed for school in my hideous plaid uniform, reveling in the fresh air and playing jump rope in the driveway until my dad came out to drive us off to school on his way to work.  A scented neon raspberry nail polish sort of completes that whole mood very well.

Today's manicure is Color Club Raspberry Rush from the Wicked Sweet Collection, and it's also a very good one.  It has that artificial raspberry fragrance, but it's light and not terribly sweet, so I don't think most people would find it offensive at all.  Those Revlon Fruitful Temptations from a couple of years back could be a little much after several hours, but the two Color Club scented neons I've tried have had about half of that intensity of fragrance and nowhere near as sweet.  Raspberry Rush is a neon raspberry that's halfway between a creme and a jelly, almost entirely opaque in three coats, and it was easy to apply.

Color Club Raspberry Rush Nail Polish, Three Coats

I was out grocery shopping really early this morning and stopped to pick up a cup of coffee on the way home, and at both places this polish received compliments, which is always fun.  I didn't want to make the women who noticed it terribly jealous by telling them that in addition to being fabulous looking it smells like raspberries, too, so I didn't mention it.  Ha!

That's just about all that I can think of to tell you this morning, so I'll be off to go about the rest of my day while discreetly sniffing my nails when no one's looking.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

Color Club Wicked Sweet Nail Polish

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After yesterday's swatchfest, I was surprised that I was up for changing polish this morning, but I was.  I really wanted to try out on of the Color Club Wicked Sweet colors, so I looked through them and the one I was most curious about was Wicked Sweet (the color - when the collection and color have the same name, I always have to think to specify!).  I really wanted to see how the coverage was, how the shimmer translated to the nail, and of course, exactly what the smell of Wicked Sweet would be.

Wicked Sweet applied well, but the polish is somewhat thin.  After the first coat, it looks like it'll take a zillion coats to be opaque, then the second coat makes it completely opaque.  Color Club's keeping me on my toes!  Although the shimmer is relatively understated in the bottle, on the nail Wicked Sweet glows.  Here's two coats in sunlight (I apologize for the wacky angles here).

Color Club Wicked Sweet Nail Polish, Two Coats

I think it's absolutely gorgeous.  As for the fragrance, this is probably the most subtly scented polish I've used.  It does smell a lot like Juicy fruit gum, but like Juicy Fruit had about half the sugar, and I had to sniff within a few inches of my nails to catch it.  This one's definitely not so scented that it would offend.

I thought a little white Konad would perk this up well.  I wanted the polka dot pattern, but I ran into a dotting tool before the Konad plate, had a lazy moment, and used the dotting tool.  It's not bad, but I prefer the perfectly uniformly shaped and spaced dots that I get with Konad.

Color Club Wicked Sweet Nail Polish with Dots

That's my nice smelling manicure for the day.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

Color Club Wicked Sweet Scented Collection

Hello again, Dear Reader!

I just got two of Color Club's new collections, and I have bottle pictures of Wicked Sweet, the scented neons, for you.  These, I'll wear rather than swatch, since there are usually questions regarding the strength and longevity of the fragrance in scented nail polishes.

I took the bottle pics because the sun's out and these are really far prettier than I'd hoped, so I thought you might like to see them right away.  Here we go!

The namesake of the collection is Wicked Sweet, a neon blue shimmer.  I sniffed it to find out what Color Club characterizes as a wicked sweet scent, and it smells a lot like Juicy Fruit (but in the bottle, the nail polish smell is strong, so it's hard to pinpoint).

Color Club Wicked Sweet Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

Raspberry Rush is a great neon raspberry creme.

Color Club Raspberry Rush Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

Get Your Lem-on (great name!!!) is a highlighter yellow shimmer.

Color Club Get Your Lem-on Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection 

Yum Gum is a bright bubblegum pink creme.

Color Club Yum Gum Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

Always Get My Man-darin is a bright yellow orange shimmer.

Color Club Always Get My Man-darin Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

Gimme A Grape Big Kiss (another favorite name!) is a neon purple creme.

Color Club Gimme A Grape Big Kiss Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

The seventh and last is The Lime Starts Here, a unique neon lime green.

Color Club The Lime Starts Here Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

That's that!  You know I love neons and scented nail polish, so I'll be wearing these this week for sure.  However, I also have the Color Club Starry Temptress Collection right here, so I'm going to run off and swatch those.  I'll get those posted for you soon, supposing the sunlight holds out.

Until then, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!