Konad m85 & m84

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Last night I realized I simply wasn't up for scrape-y edges of my failed Sweet Tart-an manicure poking me, so I changed it and called that one an expensive waste.

This week is a big one because it's the last week of the semester before finals.  Yes, semester and finals - after the professional ethics debacle last spring, I decided I needed to get some letters after my name to prevent that in the future and started grad school full time in August.  I have a nightmarish project to muscle through this week to keep my A in the only class where there's a question mark about an A, and a fun mani seemed like a much better choice than an annoying one that's constantly poking me for that.

My ultimate "I'm in no mood..." color is Essie Punchy Pink, and I applied three coats last night.  I was horrified to discover that the remaining polish in the bottle is right at the bottom "e," so maybe two manicures left.  Still, I recalled driving on the highway to face my ex's ridiculous lawsuit against me two years ago, with him being a lawyer represented by a lawyer and me showing up alone hoping for the best, having a truck driver playing aggression games on the highway at about 6:00 a.m., halfway through the drive, and just how truly satisfying it was to flip him off with an Punchy Pink and black Konad mani.  That sealed the deal no matter how precious the remaining drops are, and I stamped it in Konad Black Pearl this morning.

On my tips, I used the interconnected rings pattern from Konad plate m85, which is a full nail pattern, but being open it lends itself to use as a tip pattern.  That went on all nails, and on my my left ring finger I added the lips pattern from Konad plate m85, sort of a nice little póg mo thóin touch.  The result is a bright fun manicure that makes me giggle, so it fits the bill perfectly.  Protect your retinas, because here's Punchy Pink.

Konad m85 with m84 over Essie Punchy Pink Nail Polish

In person, it's brighter - Punchy Pink is the single most retina-searing neon pink I've ever used, and that's one of the reasons I love it.

I'm off to dig into my last nightmarish project for the semester, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

I have a job!

I started a new job this week as a retail assistant in HMV. For my first day, I painted my nails to match the uniform and I thought I'd do a quick post to show you! 

From a conversation I had on Twitter, I gather that HMV definitely exists in Singapore, Canada and obviously here in the UK, but there are no stores in the USA so apologies if you don't recognise the imagery!

I used A-England Lancelot* as a base. For the lettering and logo, I used white acrylic paint and Nails Inc Shoreditch. The lettering was all done with a dotting tool. My pinky is a stamp from Bundle Monster plate BM225 using Sally Hansen Chrome Anemone.

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Wet n Wild Diamond in the Rough

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

It seemed than an especially blingtastic mani was in order today, and that called for a Wet n Wild Color Icon nail polish.  I picked up three of them weeks and weeks ago, and today I'm wearing Diamond in the Rough, the charcoal one that's loaded up with tiny silver regular and holo hex glitter.  The hex glitter in Diamond in the Rough throws off more bright colors than any other I have, it's really cool.

Because I wanted to make the removal a little easier since I have a coat of soak off gel on, I started with a foundation of two coats of Illamasqua Boosh, their black creme.  I let each coat dry for a few minutes, then added one coat of Wet n Wild Diamond in the Rough.  I was prepared to part with two coats from the little 0.34 oz bottle, but the glitter in it is very dense and one was all I needed for layering.  I added a coat of Essie Good to Go to dry it, and I'm really impressed with the top coat.  It really dries polish fast without shrinking it and the brush doesn't pick up and color at all, which is ideal.   It's still a new one for me, so I'll continue to mention anything noteworthy about it as I try it for various things.

Despite the fact that its glitter is fine, Diamond in the Rough was surprisingly gritty after drying.  I did the manicure last night, added one additional coat of top coat to even it out before bed, and needed a third this morning.  It's still not glassy smooth, but it's smooth enough that it isn't annoying and looks shiny.  I took pictures maybe 12 hours or so after applying it in natural light.  The one I chose here is not the clearest of them, but the most accurate in terms of what Diamond in the Rough really looks like.

Wet n Wild Diamond in the Rough Nail Polish, One Coat over Black

See the bright colors reflected off the hex glitter in the center of the bottle?  That's the most accurate representation of what it really looks like - the reflected colors are very vivid, and shift from color to color as I move my hands.  I got a WTF??? look from a guy next to me in traffic at a light today as I was playing with it (I'm sure the look was about the idiot fascinated that she could move her hand rather than the polish!), and it's not even especially sunny today.  Here's a closer look at the glitter so you can see how I could get lost for a moment having fun with it.

Wet n Wild Diamond in the Rough Nail Polish, Closer Look at One Coat

Even though the density of one coat points to Diamond in the Rough only requiring 2-3 coats for opaque coverage, it's pretty likely I'll be using it for layering to savor my precious 0.34 oz of it.

The six-day Zoya Feel break from glitters and dramatic colors made Diamond in the Rough over black far more fun to wear than it otherwise would have been, so I'm glad for the timing.  It's something I'll have to remember when nothing seems to be much fun to wear no matter how fabulous it is - that's a hint that a change to neutrals for a bit is in order.

That's Diamond in the Rough, my return to fabulous sparkly things, and the update for today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

A-England Lancelot Swatch

Two coats of A-England Lancelot* with a top coat of NYC Expert Last.

You can buy The Mythicals Collection from a-england.co.uk with free worldwide shipping.

A-England on Twitter

A-England on Facebook

Review coming tomorrow!

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Orly Androgynie

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I have a cool polish with a weirdo name to show you, Orly Androgynie.  It's the only one I went for from this collection, and it's a pretty good one.  It's a black base with lots of different glitter in it, and in two coats it was opaque but still let the glitter show through.  I like it, but in normal, non-picture lighting, the glitter doesn't show quite as well as I'd like.  It does make for a good picture though!

I applied it last night, two coats over a base topped off with Tout de Suite to dry it, but it was lumpier than I cared for this morning, so I added a coat of Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine to it and that helped quite a bit.  It's still not glassy smooth, but my choices were to add more top coat or make a post, and I figured the longer I wait to post the more likely it is to get messed up, so this is as good as it gets.  There's no sunlight today, so artifically lit pictures are all I have.  Here is the manicure.

Orly Androgynie Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here's a close look at part of a nail to see the glitter.

Orly Androgynie Nail Polish, Closer Look at Glitter

The glitter does show indoors, just not quite as much of it shows as in the pictures.  Looking down at my hands, I see the tiny sparkle bits and the colored hex glitter shows, but the hex glitter doesn't sparkle like in the picture.  It's still a good polish and a pretty unique one at that, so it still get a well-manicured thumbs up from me.

That's Orly Androgynie and the update for today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Day 25: Inspired by Fashion

I'll be honest here - I'm not a very fashion conscious person. I'm not trying to sound conceited but I may come across like that anyway, but I believe personal style > fashion. So the first thing I did for researching today's nails was to Google 'Fashion'!
After a bit of searching, I stumbled upon Michael Kors' website and fell in love with the simplicity and elegance of his dress designs. I quickly chose this dress as my inspiration.

Thankfully, Rie and Cris know a bit more than me about fashion. Head over to see their couture creations today.

I used W7 Black as a base colour then slicked on GOSH top coat and placed on the bullion before it dried.
I used a top coat of NYC to seal it all in.



This dress is so classic yet the studs give it that rock-chick rebel vibe. I love it! I feel like such a bad-ass wearing studded nails! I'll be wearing my biker boots and leather jacket today.



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Day 23: Inspired by a Movie (V For Vendetta Nail Art)

Some of you may remember back to September when I did 'Just Like The Movies' week? Well, I pretty much used up every idea I've ever had for movie manicures! A friend suggested I use a 'V For Vendetta' theme and I immediately jumped on that concept.

In case anyone hasn't seen the movie, I won't give away too many details but it's loosely based on the events leading up to what is now known as Guy Fawkes Night (November 5th 1605 wiki). I don't know how well the story is known in the U.S. but it's a part of British history that every kid is taught about in school. Everyone I know that's seen the movie really likes it, so if you haven't seen it yet - you should!

Don't forget to check out Cristina and Rie's Movie Manicures too!

Thumb to Pinky:  'V', Rose, Fireworks, V himself, Government insignia





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Halloween Nail Art!

I wasn't originally planning to do any Halloween nails but I had a Twitter request so of course, I had to oblige!

I used Miss Sporty Orange and Rimmel Black Satin as my base colours.

The stamps are from Bundle Monster plates BM224 and BM223 and I used white acrylic paint to freehand the skeleton.

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Jack O'Lantern Nails

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

It was time for a color change, so today I did another Halloween manicure since I might not have a chance to change it tomorrow.  Since I haven't done the obligatory black and orange combination yet, I figured I'd do that today with the jack o'lantern pattern from nail stamping plate D03, one of the two Halloween D-Series plates.

I wanted a bright orange, and for that I chose Zoya Paz.  It took three coats, and I thought I'd extend the theme and cut the stamping by 60% by alternating nails between Paz and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out, the two coat black creme that was nearest Paz when I was gathering supplies for this manicure.  After allowing the base colors to dry, I stamped Paz with the Jack O'Lantern face in Konad Black Pearl.  I'd planned on stamping some additional Halloween patterns on the black, but after placing the first one on my pinky I thought the better of it and removed the stamp (this is the rare occasion when the decision that less is more was made at the front end of a manicure...).  I sealed the stamping and shined up the manicure with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine and called it finished. Here are my Jack O'Lantern nails.

Jack O'Lantern Nails with Stamping Plate D03

This is probably my favorite of this year's Halloween manicures.  It really doesn't leave open any questions about what the intent is!

That's another Halloween manicure and all I have for today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Numbskull

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm racing the calendar to get in Halloween manicures, so today I have another set of Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips to show you today, this one named Numbskull.  They're the cartoon-y black skull and crossbones pattern in black over white from this year's Halloween Salon Effects.

I didn't use anything under them, and they were way easier to apply.  I have two repairs, on the first two applied, because I was a little too aggressive in stretching them over my tips.  I slowed down a bit and the rest turned out just fine.  The hardest part of applying this set was due to the pattern being slightly on the diagonal, which made visually lining them up straight a little tough.  I've typically centered them at the cuticle to apply the nail polish strips, but after a few of these I found it easier to get one side edge of a nail lined up the whole length and then press them down across.  Then all that was left was filing the overhanging edge off of each as I went, and when they were all applied I sealed them with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine.  Here is my Numbskull manicure.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Numbskull

You can see the repair on my index finger's nail here, but it's such a tiny bit I tacked on that it doesn't really show on my hands.  I pretty much love this manicure!  I'm wearing it out to lunch today, and depending on what the weekend holds, I might add a coat of Wet n Wild glow in the dark top coat to it.  Seeing a band is an option, and if I go with that, I believe making this glow will be mandatory.

For the record, there was no trouble with the Ghoulie Girl strips that made me remove them, it's the race to fit in Halloween manis that prompted the change.

That is my Numbskull Salon Effects manicure, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

D-Series Halloween Nails

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

A good while back I'd mentioned the D-Series plates that I got from Chez Delaney, the ones that were sold only as a complete set due to some of them not working 100%.  Truthfully, I have yet to run into a stamp that doesn't work, and the same was true today when I broke out the two Halloween-themed plates from the series.

I took pictures of the plates so you can see all of the patterns.  They're nice and big - some are too big for my nails even now, which is pretty uncommon amongst available patterns.  Of course, I didn't have the good sense to take pictures of the plates before I used them, so they have a little cloudy acetone residue from post-stamping cleaning, which is done when I'm sick of messing with stuff and just want to be finished.  This is plate D03 and D04.

Halloween Nail Stamping Plate D03

Halloween Nail Stamping Plate D04

I wanted to use the spooky-font "Trick or Treat," but there's no angle at which I can fit anywhere near the whole thing on any nail.  There are plenty of others to choose from though, so I'll show you what I did.  This isn't intended to be the most fabulous manicure ever, it's more to sample the patterns and show you the size and quality of engraving.

The base color I used was two coats of Barielle Coalest Day of the Year, a good basic charcoal shimmer.  It's a two-coater with a respectable drying time, so it seemed like a good choice.  I wanted to stamp the patterns in White Konad Princess Polish just because it's reliable and one with which I'm familiar to knock out a variable in terms of how well the stamps worked, and Coalest Day of the Year seemed to offer good contrast without being as stark as a black creme.  I gave that a few minutes to dry with Tout de Suite then just went at it with the multistamper and sealed the stamps with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine.  Here's my amusing Halloween manicure.

Halloween-Themed Nail Art Manicure

The sunlight obscures some of the pattern on my pinky - it's the funny witch at about nine o'clock on plate D03.  Every one of the patterns worked well, even the spider web ones (which are always tough) and the scary skull (the ones with a great deal of solid engraved space are also tough).  I like it - it's silly and fun without being too immediately attention grabbing, with attention grabbing on a stamp-sampling manicure being the very reason I didn't use and orange base and stamp in black.

That's my Halloween-themed manicure and the update for today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Deborah Lippmann Forget You

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I changed my polish to Deborah Lippmann Forget You, the black jelly with multicolored glitter from the Get This Party Started set.  It is, in a word, incredible, and it's these gems that make be keep suffering through the Lippmanns that make me sad.

The black base of Forget You is perfect - two coats made it totally opaque but it still shows the glitter beautifully.  The glitter is like that in Happy Birthday, and such happy colors in  a black base is a great contrast.  I think it's different that Happy Birthday over black because the glitter in the first coat kind of peeks out through the base, which you'll see in the close picture of the glitter.

For the manicure, I used base coat, two coats of Forget You, and SpaRitual Tout de Suite because it was handy, but it's thinner that would be ideal for a glitter.  I might add another coat of top coat to make it perfectly smooth, but I think most people would find it to be smooth enough with just the one coat of top coat.  After it had a little time to dry, I took pictures, so here's Forget You on a cloudy day.

Deborah Lippmann Forget You Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here's a closer look at the glitter on part of one nail.

Deborah Lippmann Forget You Nail Polish, Close Up of Glitter

I think this is awesome. Happy Birthday always reminded me of a clown holding a bunch of colored balloons for some reason, so Forget You seems more like this guy:

Evil Clown!

It's like a happy polish with a macabre sense of humor, so I love it.  That's Forget You and just about all I have to tell you about today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!




All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Vampy Half-Moon manicure... but not as you know it

A few days ago, an idea struck for a half moon manicure but I couldn't find the stickers I use for them anywhere. I spent more than an hour searching my room top to bottom for the dastardly things to no avail!

I found myself in an 'odds and ends' kind of shop yesterday and remembered just as I was leaving that I needed some of these and I found a packet of about 500 stickers for 60p. Such a bargain!

The stickers in question are THESE hole reinforcers. I cut them in half and used them to mark off the half moon shape at the base of my nail but instead of painting a new colour over the top, I used a stamp.

Konad Plate: M64
Base Colour: W7 - Black Cherry
Konad Colour: Collection 2000 - Moonlight Shine
Top Coat of NYC

On Monday, Cris @ Let Them Have Polish, Rie @ Nails and Noms and I will be starting the 31 Day Challenge (click here for details). We decided to do it together so that we won't be tempted to stray from the strict 'post every day' rule! I think it will be fun but also challenging to go back to posting daily after relaxing my blogging schedule since the new year. I can't wait to start and I'm hopefully my enthusiasm won't dwindle too quickly!


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GOSH Metallic Purple with Konad M60

This idea looked much nicer in my head. It's not that I don't like this mani, I just thought it would come out a bit more striking. I think I had a more 'open' pattern in mind but I couldn't find one in my pile of stamping plates or come up with a freehand one in my brain.

Konad Plate: M60
Base Colour: Rimmel - Black Satin
Konad Colour: GOSH Metallic Purple
Black rinestones from eBay
Top Coat of NYC

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Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic

Good morning, Dear Reader!

When I got home last night I changed my nail color to one of the Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers, Black Magic, which I'd shown you bottle pics of but not swatches when I got them.  It's a black that's loaded up with very fine glitters, and it turned out to be quite nice.

The tombstone cap wasn't a problem to use as a brush handle, but the brush itself falls short of ideal.  It's long and kind of floppy, and mine had some wacky stray hairs.  My experience of Wet n Wild is that the quality of the products is generally good, particularly for the price, and that the quality of the packaging is what keeps the cost as low as it is, so I wasn't horrified to discover that the brush wasn't great.

I applied base coat, two coats of Black Magic, which was enough for even and opaque coverage, and a coat of Poshe.  The brush only interfered with one nail, my middle left, where the edge of the polish along the cuticle is imperfect, but not enough of a problem to actually do something about it.  This morning, after it dried nicely, I took pictures of it in the sun.  Here is Wet n Wild Black Magic.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here's a closer look at the glitter.

Glitter in Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish

I absolutely love this polish - it's really fun to wear.  Out of bright light, it's clear that there's glitter in it, and then in bright light it's really sparkly and cool.  I was definitely worth the $2-$3 I spent on it.

That is what I know about Wet n Wild Fantasy Maker Black Magic, my manicure for the day, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

♪♫ Memories of times and the places that were there

I can't believe it's Friday already! This week has flown by so quickly.

You might have noticed a few changes around here recently. I put up a new banner a little while ago and my pictures have also taken a turn for the better if I do say so myself!

I've been wanting a great lamp with a white fluorescent bulb for a long time after Cris gave me some advice about lighting. They can be a bit pricey but I was lucky enough to find one in the house. It's been sat on the same side table for months and I've gotten so used to seeing it that I just forgot it was there.

I was sat in the lounge one day when I caught a glimpse of it and just had one of those moments where something clicked in my brain and I realised it was exactly what I'd been wanting for weeks!

I also changed my watermark and have started stamping it in to the middle of the pictures because I've seen a few of my pictures online with the watermark cropped out and no credit given which is so annoying (and illegal). So, I have to put it in a place where it can't be cropped without slicing up the picture, but I'm trying to keep it as unobtrusive as possible and I hope you guys don't mind too much.

I started out using scotch tape to mark off the black sections at the side but it ruined the mani underneath so I just whipped out a striping brush and freehanded the a line then filled it in after. It's obviously not as crisp a line as you would get using scotch tape but it saves a lot of time and hassle.

Plate: Bundle Monster BM223

Base Colour: Cult Nails - Cruisin' Nude
Stamp Colour: W7 - Black
Top Coat of NYC




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Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I thought I'd try out Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, which seems to be Revlon's take on Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance, a black jelly base with fuchsia hex and regular glitter.  In the bottle, the black base of Facets of Fuchsia looked less pigmented than that of Bad Romance (which fell shy of opaque at two coats), so I decided to layer it over a black creme.  My thought was that drying issues would be inevitable with 4+ coats, and I wanted to make this one work.

I started with a base coat, using up what I have on hand, which was NailTek II (so my nails should be orange from the formaldehyde in it in short order).  I let that dry for a minute or two, then applied one coat of Revlon Lunar, the black creme released with a few glitters not too long ago, which is even and almost opaque at one coat.  After giving that a bit of drying time, I applied two thin coats of Facets of Fuchsia, giving each a few minutes to set before moving on to the next.  The glitter's surface was pretty pebbly at this point, so I added one coat of clear polish then one of Seche Vite (my thickest top coat) to even it out.  It's dry and very glassy smooth now, so the hassles involved in ensuring drying issues didn't appear seem to have been worth it.  There's no sunlight today, so this is Facets of Fuchsia in indoor lighting (mixed fluorescent and light bulb).

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia Nail Polish, Two Coats over Black

The consequence of the less pigmented base of Facets of Fuchsia versus Bad Romance is that the glitter shows through it more clearly.  The Lippmann seems to have more glitter, but a third coat of Facets of Fuchsia would even the score, and since this cost me less than $3 versus the $18-$20 for the Lippmann (I didn't look it up to see which it was since my point's the same either way), for me Facets of Fuchsia would be the winner in a showdown against Bad Romance.

That's what I know about Revlon Facets of Fuchsia and I don't have a heck of a lot else to tell you about today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.