Adventures in Stamping - Tone on tone

Afternoon polish lovers!

It's Sunday and that means it's Adventures in Stamping time. This weeks theme was tone on tone, so we had to create a mani using different tones of the same colour. I chose green, and used Sinful Colors Kissy as the base (lovely, greeny blue jelly base with green and gold flakies) and stamped with Color Club Perfect Mol-ten, a green foil. The stamp I used was Cheeky CH10 to give it a sort of under the sea/mermaid/fish scales look. I love the result. I was going to try something to fancy it up, with some glequins or loose glitter, but I left it plain.

Here's a swatch of Kissy on it's own. It really is lovely. It's of the same ilk as OPI Catch Me In Your Net, Zoya Charla or the UK Dupe Accessorize Mermaid, so if you have any of those you probably don't need this one. On the other hand, if you don't have any of those, this one is cheaper ;) Also, these kind of polishes have a tendency to stain, so be careful there. I hope I've avoided this by using a sheer nude underneath but we shall see when I take it off later! I will report back...

Actually for once I'm pretty pleased with these swatches, I do think they give a true representation on the polish. Now if only I could figure out a way to bottle the early morning sunshine for all of my photos...

Hx

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Frankenduping...sorta

When I first saw Deborah Lipmann Glitter in the Air I wasn't that impressed. The glitter was sparse, it was sheer and I just wasn't all that keen. But then Revlon starts duping them like a Chinese sweat shop and my interest is perked... I still don't rate the DL but Revlon's version, Whimsical, I want. Have Revlon released it here in the UK? Have you ever seen me in a bikini? The answer to both of these is no. And apparently Whimsical is getting hard to find in the US too. So I thought I'd cut out the middle man and have a go at making Whimsical myself! I wasn't entirely successful, but what I managed is still pretty... I used around a third of a bottle of a pretty glitter I got in Claires - round/hex pink, blue and red glitter and smaller silver glitter in a clear base. I poured about a third of the bottle into an old topcoat bottle and added a glug of a cheap clear polish, then a few drops of Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream and some white. Here's 3 coats of the result:

I also made a pink version, kind of a cross between Revlon Starry Pink (another one they didn't bring to the UK...grrr) and Lipmann's Candy Shop:

Now while I LOVE my Whimsical franken (which I have named Capricious) I still want a real Whimsical. Time to replace Facets of Fuchsia on your concessions PLEASE Revlon!

Have you ever tried to dupe a polish?

Hx

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NOTD - Autumn leaves

Hi!

I'm going to try to make this quick, since I was meant to be in bed half an hour ago!

I picked up one of Boots 17's new Autumn polishes in Fury, because I loved the colour. It's similar to Chanel Peridot but not a dupe. Anyway, for some reason the 17 Fast Finish polishes don't play nice with me and 2 coats were bubble city and looked awful. I took it off after a day and chucked Fury in my polish drawer in disgust. But I couldn't help thinking what a nice autumn colour it is, and then I looked through my stamping plates and thought this up. This time I used one coat of Fury and although it wasn't qite opaque it didn't bubble as badly. There were a few bubbles but it wasn't as bad as the first time. I used 2True Fast Dry shade 8 and Maybelline Orange Couture to stamp the leaf pattern from BM04. The 2true polish stamped really well, but the Maybelline wasn't as opaque, just giving a subtle effect.

I'm quite annoyed that Fury doesn't like me. It's a really pretty almost duochrome true gold that leans slightly coppery and greeny at times. Maybe I'll add some thinner to it and see if that helps.

Have you ever had a problem with 17 Fast Finish polishes? Peacock didn't play nice with me either. The Lasting Fix and Supreme Shine polishes are fine, but the Fast Finish polishes are much prettier colours. Any suggestions?

Hx

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NOTD - Accessorize Aztec - Orly Space Cadet Dupe

Hello

Today I have to show you Accessorize Aztec, which apparently is a dupe for Orly Space Cadet (As Pink Spice was a dupe for MAC Bad Fairy - any other Accessorize dupes?). I'm not particularly mad over dupes - I like a polish for it's colour, not the fact that it's trying to look for something else. But I had admired Space Cadet on other blogs so when I heard it had a dupe I picked it up. Like I needed an excuse...

Aztec is multichrome particles (not glitter - not sparkly enough, but small 'bits' if that makes sense) suspended in a sheer teal base. At different angles you can see green, gold, bronzey-rose and purple, so very purdy! I tried to capture it as best I could on a non-sunny (read monsoon downpours and thunderstorms) British summer day.

I initially did 2 coats of this polish, but had to add another the morning after I did it as it was patch city. It is a tricky one to apply as the very sheer base dries quickly so it can drag if you're not quick enough, and is patchy as a result. But three coats was fine for me. It's a teeny bit gritty, which top coat would solve. But I didn't use any and it still lasted 2 days on me with just a little tipwear. With top coat it would have been even better. 2 days on me is good for any polish!

No, I haven't become a hand-model for tabasco! I submitted this picture into Liquid jelly's FFAN (Friday Food and Nails) post, for a bit of fun! Every week she is going to posting a collection of people's nails showcased with food, so take a look at this weeks pics here, and here's info on how to submit an entry for next week.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I've got a pretty stamping mani to show you tomorrow :)

Hx

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NOTD - MUA Shade 13 + Barry M Silver Cascade

Hello!

Well, I haven't broken my hand (much to my OH's delight, he wont have to take over household stuff for much longer), I've bruised and stretched the ligaments, apparently. All I know is that it hurts. A lot. Seriously, don't have kids.

Anyway, I managed to paint my nails Friday night, and tried out MUA. MUA is a brand available exclusively at Superdrug and all of their main range products are £1. What do you get for a quid these days? Well, in this case you get a fab quality product. I have a couple of eyeshadows from the range and they are quickly becoming staples, and this polish is a thing of beauty. They also have a Pro-range slowly launching in Superdrug, including crackle polish, but more of that later ;)

For this mani I used 3 coats of MUA shade 13 and added an accent nail of 2 coats of Barry M Silver Cascade (which apparently is a very close sister to O.P.I Mad As A Hatter), I could have gotten away with 2 coats of the MUA but it was such a dream to apply I carried on and with my claw-hand I just wanted to make sure it was perfect. I honestly could not fault this polish! Brush: good. Formula: good. Colour: goooood! Topped with a quick coat of NYC, and Seche for the glitter because it's gritty and I was good to go.

Please excuse the swollen sausage fingers and claw hand. I can't hold a polish bottle well enough for pics, so here's a bottle shot first.

Small but perfectly formed...

Don't underestimate the claw...

How pretty is this colour?

Then since it survived my trip to A&E with no sign of chipping/tipwear I mattefied it and made it look all satiny. All together now - ooooh!

You know when they show repeats of the Christmas episodes of The Simpsons in June Yeah...

So what do you think? Have you tried MUA? Will you be hunting down their pro range? I went into Superdrug yesterday to look for it, but there wasn't a display anywhere and it was only when I was at the till that I spotted a teeny rack of MUA Pro nail polish. I asked the assistant if there was any more of the range anywhere and she said not yet. On closer inspection I realised the polishes were exactly what I was looking for - their crackles! I grabbed the purple, (trying not to dribble) and paid for it with glee! I was desperate for purple crackle ever sinve Models Own announced they were releasing one, but sorry Models Own, you just weren't quick (or cheap) enough! I did a quick tester and it's fab! Look out for a post on it coming soon, just have to decide what to layer it over. I'm thinking silver or gold...any suggestions?

Hx

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NOTD - Accessorize Pink Spice - pic heavy!

One of my finds from yesterday. I love this polish and think it is amazeballs, despite a few flaws...

Pictures first though:

I tried to show the yummy duo-chrominess but when I went outside to take the pics the sun went behind a big cloud *shakes fist*. I also took a little "nails in motion" video then I thought it might look a bit dumb, but if you'd like to see it let me know in the comments and I'll think about it lol. I hope you can see it, it goes from pink to purple to red to bronzey orange.

Now the bad bits. 3 coats and still some patchiness, although that may well be me. But I know it's also in part due to the brush, thin and short and very annoying to hold because of the round top. And I chipped the thumb making toast this morning. Yes, making toast.

It's meant to be a dupe for MAC Bad Fairy if that interests anyone. To me, it's crying out for some kind of nail art, possibly a stamp. But as it's already chipped I might Ruffian it later...

Hx

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