31 Day Challenge, Day 25: Inspired by Fashion

 

I have so many firsts for you today! Up there, you see my first Butter London polish, which is also the first polish ever I ordered online and my first piece of Royal Nail Mail. I have to tell you, I  really regret my purchase.. because this polish is so perfect, all I want to do now is order all the Butter London polishes!
For fashion day, I'm showing you All Hail the Queen, stamped with different gold tones. The dress that inspired me is of course a McQueen dress that I've had in my inspiration folder since it came out for spring 2012. If I ever had a fortune to spend on a dress, I would hunt this piece down and wear it day and night, all day every day, no f*cks given. You can see it here. 

China Glaze Señorita Bonita and lots of stamping

Here's a manicure I'm not sure about. This is China Glaze Señorita Bonita stamped with a sh*tload of images. 

I think layered stamping is super fun, but I'm not seeing much of it online. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places? Seeing how the different images interact with each other and then depth you can create with layering is really fascinating to me. 

It does look kind of random from afar, sometimes, but to me it's like a pattern on fabric or a painting where you can discover a thousand new things if you look close enough. 

Señorita Bonita itself is a really rich purple with little orange flecks in it. I stamped mostly with metallic and also some holo polishes. I think using different finishes gives the whole nail more dimension. 

Here are all the polishes and stamping plates I used for this mani. The placements of the stamps differ from nail to nail, but the colors and images are the same. 

The one thing I had a problem with in this mani was the Konad White stamping polish. I used it for the last stamp (the little flowers scattered on top) and the top coat I used (inm Out the Door) smudged the image on most of my nails. 

Sometimes I really want to spend some time with my nail stuff, and layering stamps is the perfect opportunity for that. 

NYC Sidewalkers & Kiko Steel Grey Gradient (Grey-dient?)

Grey is one of those colors that always works, in my opinion. It can make a statement without being harsh, it can look sophisticated and cozy at the same time, it's interesting on it's own and also makes a great backdrop for other colors to pop. 

Sadly, grey is a minority in my stash. Overpowered by all different shades of red and behind blue, green and even yellow, there was one lonely bottle of grey polish in my drawers. Until I brought home Steel Grey by Kiko. The two came together and formed a magnificent manicure, ready to take over the world.. I mean, my nails.

Here is a swatch of my base color, NYC Sidewalkers:

It's a light to medium grey, that might have lean a little blue in some lighting or next to some colors.  The formula was flawfree, if I'd had a steadier hand that day, I might have gotten away with only one coat. But since I'm a shaky mess and also a creature of habit - this is two coats plus topcoat under artificial light. 

Then I got out Kiko Steel Grey and sponged it about half way up my nail. I also added a little flower from the Koad m50 plate on my ring finger. It was hiding most of the time, but I liked when I got a glimpse of it.

I really like the gradient from rich rainbow sparkles to a calm cream, and also that Steel Grey is darker than Sidewalkers. It made the whole mani more interesting when I wasn't out in the sun. Now I might have to do this with all the Kiko holos, can't wait for a nude holo gradient!

*** In other news, my cuticles have a hard time getting used to swatching an switching polish often and clean ups with pure acetone. Until now I've used whatever kind of cream I had on hand (haha!) to use on my hands, but I think I have to invest in a real heavy duty hand cream. Just know that I'm aware of the sad state of my cuticles and on looking to find a solution.

Red Roses

I love stamping my nails. It's what has really gotten me into nail art again. A couple of months ago, my great future mother in law gifted me a Konad stamping kit with stamper, scraper, two image plates and three Konad stamping polishes, along with one Bundle Monster plate that she added. 

When I want some easy nail art, I just grab my stamping kit and go to town on my nails. Here I used Essie Topless & Barefoot as a base, stamped an image from the Konad m76 plate in black, and filled out the flowers with a red jelly I frankened. The topcoat I used was inm Out the Door.

The Essence Matte Black stamping polish I used shows through the red jelly, so I wasn't very concerned with my application. I just used a dotting tool for the red.