Happy (Belated!) Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians!  Unfortunately, I'm a little late in getting this post up as I spent most of Canada Day either in airports or flying home and didn't arrive home into the GTA until the evening on Canada Day.  I was in Las Vegas for a few days meeting up with some fellow nail fanatics!  More about our getaway will follow in other posts; you can also check out KarenD of Frazzle and Aniploish's post here!  The only nail plates I took with me were to do Canada Day nails for the trip home as I was flying home on Canada Day....but we were so busy out shopping for polishes and seeing the sights and shows.....aka having a great time!..... that I just couldn't fit time in to do my nails while I was away! So better late than never in doing my Canada Day nails so am sharing now!  While this pix isn't the finished mani, I thought it was a kinda cool in progress as it looks like the Canadian flag.

Started with a base of two coats of OPI Bride's Bouquet and Duri Taming of the Shrew; topped with SV.

Stamped the red maple leaf on middle nail with red Konad special polish using plate OB-M (I bought this plate specifically for this maple leaf image but was a little concerned it wouldn't fit as the images on the plate generally are on the large size; it's a tight fit but it did!)

Added accent of Girly Bits Canadian, eh? on thumb and pinky; topped with SV.

Stamped tips using white Konad special polish using Mash-26.

How everything looked together at this point.

While I was pretty happy with how this looked at this point, I thought I'd add a little more to it, so added the I Heart Canada using the I Heart image from plate Chez Animaux 01 and the Canada wording from fauxnad m56.  Also added more maple leaf french tip images from Mash-26 twice to fill in the ring finger.  Topped with SV to finish.

Another pix just because I like the look of these three nails together!

Hopefully you had a great Canada Day!  I didn't do any celebrating this year as I was in transit all day.  However, after my husband picked me up from the airport and drove me home, he took the kids to the local park where they watched an awesome fireworks display and my daughter seen Hedley performing.  At least the family was able to enjoy some festivities...I was simply too tired from my weekend away!

Hope you're having a great week....thanks for looking!

**Post edited to correct OM-B to OB-M!

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Unknown Canada, Chez Animaux 01, duri, Fauxnad, Girly Bits, Indie Polishes, Konad, layering, M56, MASH, Mash-26, OB-M, OPI, red, white

OPI Solitaire Stamped

This is the first mani I did with OPI Solitaire even though I've shown another mani using it earlier here.  I was a little disappointed as based upon the pix I had seen online, I expected it to be whiter and not have the little black grit glitter though it but even so, it's still a polish I've used quite a bit.

Started with a base of two coats of OPI Solitaire, no topcoat.

I had been reading good things about Mash black stamping polish so decided to use it for this mani, using Pueen 46 with an accent of Pueen 39.  (I've since done a comparison using black Mash versus Konad, which will be posted soon.)

Found this a little on the boring side so added random dots using red Konad special polish for a splash of colour.

I do hope a whiter liquid sand with more glitter (not the black grit kind, but like the glitter in OPI Get Your Number) is released eventually as I can think of so many different uses for it either as a base or in nail art. Until then, this one will have to do!

Thanks for looking!

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Unknown Fauxnad, Konad, Liquid Sands or similar, MASH, matte, OPI, Pueen39, Pueen46, white

Black Stamping Polish Comps over MPJ

*Warning.....long, wordy post with lots of pictures*

This is probably going to sound silly, but have you ever owned a polish, but were afraid to wear it?  This is how I felt about OPI My Private Jet.  Silly, eh?  I've had MPJ for a long time, but never wore it.  Then, not too long ago, I got to thinking why am I not wearing some of these htf polishes I own?  Why have them if not to wear and enjoy them?  But I know that my fear is that I'm afraid I'd spill or drop the bottle in the middle of my mani...which I've done before...more than once...then it would be gone.  Then the possibility of getting another bottle is slim to nil.  But it seemed a little silly having a bottle but never putting it on.  So as nervous as I was about putting  it on.....yes, I was nervous about it, no kidding....as well as worried about dropping or spilling it in the process....not too long ago, I took the plunge and decided to do a mani with MPJ; here's what I came up with.

There are a few different versions of MPJ out there; I too have a couple of them.  This is the original holo version; I happen to stumble upon it just as I was starting to get back into polishes after I discovered Konad a few years ago...problem was, I didn't even know it was a *special* polish.  I bought a bottle just because I liked the pretty rainbow in the bottle.   After joining Makeup Alley, I read about the much sought after MPJ holo version.  So I decided to take a closer look at my bottle, and sure enough, it looked like I had one.  Shortly thereafter, I went back to that polish store to see if I could snag a few more bottles for swapping to spread the MJP holo love around like I did when I stumbled upon a place that had oodles of bottles of Essie Ruby Slippers and the China Glaze OMG collex......but unfortunately, they were all gone.  I don't know if a nail fanatic stumbled across them, knew what they had and then sold them all on eBay...or if a bunch of polish noobs like me bought them just for the pretty rainbow in the bottle!   

Here's a whole bunch of pix of it....feel free to click on the pix for some better views.

The pix above is two coats all on its own; I didn't do a black base coat although I may do this next time ....to conserve the bottle!  Two coats makes it look more on the gray side versus charcoal/black; three really were needed to get it on the darker side.  The pix below is with three.

Wayyy too many pix of MPJ...trying to capture some decent pix more than anything!  As beautiful as this is, the holo is hard to capture...at least it was for me!  MPJ has a scatter holo versus a linear holo as seen in the Layla or Jade holos.

Speaking of Layla or Jade, I have the charcoal/black counterparts in their brands plus a few other brands because I do love holos....maybe some day, I'll have to do a comparison post.  I'm positive their versions will be much more holo-tacular...but none the less, I'm still happy I have this one in my stash. 

The pretty-rainbow-in-the-bottle pix.

It was tough to stamp on top of this beauty but there's there's not too many mani's that don't get some stamping on them.  I thought I'd do some black stamping...and while I was at it, sample some different stamping polishes that I had bought recently in my ongoing effort to see if anything stamps as well as Konad black...but without the dreaded cleanup issues.  So did a bit of comparison stamping.

The polishes used were FUN Charcoal (thumb and middle finger), Konad black (index and pinky) and Mash black (index).  All of these images are from plate XL Y.  I chose this plate because it looked like there were a variety of interesting designs that you could stamp on your nails, yet see the base polish underneath.   

The above pix is after SV added.  Looking at the above pix, you can't even tell which polish is Konad and which ones aren't.  Both the Mash and Fun polishes were dark and cleaned up well...the problem is, that with this mani, I didn't have too hard of a time doing the cleanup of the fingers using Konad either...but I know its not always like this.  Based upon past black comparisons like the one I did here, I'd have to use the black stamping polishes on a light base to see if truly they are Konad replacement worthy.  But if the above pix are any indication, I'm sure they will be!  As much as I love Konad black for stamping...the clean up issues are the only problem...I love the dark stamping of Konad but sometimes I just can't get it off my cuticles during the cleanup process afterwards!

Lastly, a pix taken outside a day or so later.  Hello holo!  So pretty!

And still way too many more pix as I can't seem just to pick one or two sometimes....!

Thanks for looking!

PS: I didn't drop or spill the bottle!  Makes all my fear and nervousness seem really silly now in retrospect! 

PSS: Fauxnad XL Y and FUN stamping polishes are available at My OnLine Shop and Fab Ur Nails; as is Mash via their estore.  All links can be found on the tab on my homepage 'Where I Get My Stuff.'

PSSS:  My next post will be a white stamping comparison post on a different holo base.   

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Unknown black, comparison post, Fauxnad, fauxnad XL Y, FUN stamping polish, Holographic, htf, Konad, MASH, OPI, XL Y

Turning Oopsie Daisies Strawberry Trifle into Strawberry Shortcake!

I just found out that Oopsie Daisies currently has 10% off with code HALLOWEENHARVEST over at Oopsie Daisies Etsy shop until September 25th!  This is one of the polishes, Oopsie Daisies Strawberry Trifle**, which is part of the Sweet Treats collection. 

The above pix is with one coat of Strawberry Trifle, no topcoat.  I adore the awesome red glitter peeking through the base polish! 

Below is Strawberry Trifle, two coats,  no topcoat.

Just before I added stamping, I did top the mani off with a coat of SV, as you can see below.  I think the next time I wear Strawberry Trifle,  I'll leave at one coat to see more of the awesome red glitter that peeks through the base. I was so in love with the glitter that I took a brush and removed a little of the base over a couple pieces so it would shine through, which is why a couple of the pieces seem more pronounced than in earlier pix.  I had though about taking a cotton swab dipped in acetone and doing a quick swipe so that the glitter would pop but ultimately decided not to only because I've never tried this method before and didn't want to ruin the polish!  Maybe next time though.  Or leave at once coat as it had great coverage and there was lots of glitter visible. 

I have to be honest with you, all I could think about was strawberries when I was doing my nails.  So it was a no brainer when I decided to do some stamping that I ended up using....strawberries, what else! This is what I came up with.

.

 I was surprised that in fact there are soooo many strawberry images available to use. 

The plates I decided to use were CH42 (thumb), W229 (Strawberry Shortcake and her pet), KD7 (ring finger) and Mash16 (large strawberry on index).  I also isolated one of the strawberries from the full nail image on CH42 and randomly stamped it on index, middle and pinky.  The pinky also has one of the images from Mash16. 

Konad red stamping polish was used.  And for some added colour interest, added random dots using Konad green stamping polish.

Topped with SV to finish.

Another pix.

I did my right hand a little differently and thought I'd share a couple pix of it as well.  The pix below is after stamping and dots.  I actually like how this hand turned out better than the left!

Topped with SV. 

I know this is a little cutesy (probably the understatement of the year!) but I was loving this mani!  In fact, I did my nails Sunday night and am still wearing it now as I finish up this post.  It's been wearing really well too.  Here's a pix that I took last night; you can see there's only minimal wear on a couple fingers right at tips even thought I bang away at a computer most of my day (and have been working 12-14 hour days all week!)  So I was really pleased with the wear of this polish. 

Oopsie Daisies also has three new polishes available, including Halloween Fall Harvest Duo, that look absolutely fantastic!  The two polishes in the duo are Mischief Night and Apple Picking, please go here to see them!

As mentioned in my last post, a winner had been picked from my impromptu giveaway.  There were 15 entries.

And as chosen by random.org....Marcia!  Congrats!

I've already emailed Dashica your three plate choices as part of my order, so I guess all you need to do now is send me an email with your mailing address for when they arrive I can send them your way!  And if you happen to have a wishlist of polish lemmings, I'll see what I can do about quashing a couple.  No promises, but I'll see what I can do! 

Thanks for looking!

**This polish was sent for review.  Please refer to my disclosure policy for further information.

Edited to correct image plate W229 was used, from W228 as originally posted.   

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Unknown CH42, Cheeky, Fauxnad, giveaway, glitter, Indie Polishes, KD7, Konad, MASH, Mash 16, Oopsie Daisies, pink, W229

Fall Nails featuring Oopsie Daisies Ganache

Those over at FB Adventures in Stamping will know that I was none too happy with the winner of this weeks challenge, Can't Wait for Fall.  Really, it was all in fun, but it was verrryyyyy hard to get into the spirit of doing a fall related mani when the weather here almost every day is beautiful, warm and sunny.  But when I received a package from Cathryn at Oopsie Daisies and one of the polishes was simply screaming fall, it got me in the more in the mood to do a fall mani for the challenge.  Here's what I came up with.

Started with a base of two coats of Zoya Dea.  This has no topcoat. Dea is slightly darker IRL.

Added one coat of Oopsie Daisies Ganache, topped with SV.

Ganache is beautiful!  Lots of glitter interest and perfect for layering either over your favourite brown or on it's own. Ganache is unique and unlike anything I have in my stash. And will be so perfect for more fall (and layering!) mani's!

Bottle shot. 

Stamped using FUN gold stamping polishing, with MASH 27.

This pix is more true to IRL colouring than pix above.  Ganache is a tinted jelly so it does darken Dea ever so slightly.

Decided to double stamp the accent finger.  Used same french tipped leaf pattern on Mash 27 to fill in remainder of accent finger.  Topped with SV.

The next morning, I took a couple of pix outside in sunlight; love how the gold sparkle shines through!.

All in all, considering I soooo didn't want to do  fall related challenge mani, I was happy with how this turned out.  I had said on the group that I would have to come up with something fabulous considering all the whining I did...not sure if it's *fabulous* ....but I was pleased how my ongoing layering-and-then-stamping-on-top-to-show-the-polish-layering-underneath turn out.   

Thanks so much to Cathryn of Oopsie Daisies ** for trusting me with your creations! Cathryn was also generous enough to send me a few more of her beautiful polishes, which I'll also be featuring in upcoming posts.

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend...thanks for looking!

**Polishes were received for review.  Please refer to my disclosure policy.

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Unknown brown, glitter, Indie Polishes, layering, MASH, Mash-27, Oopsie Daisies, zoya