The Digit-al Dozen Does Metal Week: "Steeling" a Mani from a Friend!

Day 4 of Metals Week for The Digit-al Dozen. Today I attempted to re-create a mani by Missy over at Gnarly Gnails! (turns out hers is a re-creation too!)

Started out with Catrice Steel My Soul (see what I did there? Steel.....metal....). I then attempted the tape mani portion (and failed big time!). I used Catrice Steel My Heart (another one, steel.....metal.... get it?) and followed with L'Oreal Owl's Night. I sealed it with Poshe Top Coat. I don't believe I did this mani of Missy's justice. But really, can anyone recreate one of her great masterpieces successfully? 

In this one you can see more of the contrast (lack thereof?) of Owl's Night (brown/gold on tips) and Steel My Heart (darker purple in the middle).

The tape mani has won again. Grrr! Curse you tape manis! I'll get you next time!

Don't forget to check out the other ladies and their post for Day 4!

An InLinkz Link-up

Untried Polish Challenge: Warm

Another day of the Untried Polish Challenge. Today is a warm polish. Well, I chose 4 warm polishes! Woot! :) I actually really love how this warm skittle turned out!

I used three coats of each polish: (l-r) OPI Pink Friday (OPI Nicki Minaj Collection),OPI A-Rose From the Dead and OPI Hi Pumpkin (from the OPI So So Skullicious mini collection), and L'Oreal Tweet Me (clearance from Ulta!). As you can see, Tweet Me is still pretty sheer, but I am loving the flakies! :)

My nails are really nubbins right now, they just keep breaking, not loving the summer heat! :(

So I decided to add some flowers to the skittle! I got these flower stickers from a giveaway that I won! I used HK Girl Top Coat to seal them on!

Owl Week: Geeky Owl

Day 4 of Owl Week in celebration of my birthday week! I love doing this type of owl mani! Super easy and very fun!

I used reinforcements to create the non-polised space. The body of the owl is L'Oreal Owl's Night, so are his belly spots. The belly is Orly Nite Owl. The geeky glasses are China Glaze Def Defying. I used KleanColor Metallic Mango for his beak, Wet N' Wild Black Creme and Milani White on the Spot for his eyes.

Stay tuned for my Indie Month post in a few hours. :)

Owl Week: Tutorial - Make Your Own Decals with Stamping!

Day 3 of Owl Week in celebration of my birthday week! Today I tried a new technique stamping and creating my own decals!
 
**edit** just thought I would let you know (because for some reason I forgot to mention this in the post. Note to self, don't write blog posts while having a migraine!). You can also find a fabulous tutorial on this over at Messy Mansions -- Stamper Decals. Her's is for a basic one stamped image on a stamper but the same concept! :)

I used L'Oreal Owl's Night (two coats) as my base. I stamped using Konad White and an Essence plate that was sent to me from across the pond! The accent colors on the owls are: China Glaze Def Defying, Essie Jamaica Me Crazy, and Essence Bella. I also used HK Girl top coat.

 

Ok, so here starts my step-by-step on how to make your own decals by stamping! First apply a good coat of clear polish onto a page protector (also heard wax paper can work. Just need something that the polish won't stick to!). I used HK Girl top coat, allow to completely dry.

Stamp your image onto the dried clear polish. Be careful as too much pressure can bring up the clear polish off the page protector (personal experience!).

Apply accent colors (to make sad crying owls! hahaha!). I used China Glaze Def Defying, Essie Jamaica Me Crazy, and Essence Bella. Allow to completely dry.

Trim away the excess clear polish, unless your nail is that big! Please pay no attention to the naked thumb nail. I was in the middle of trying different techniques while letting the different polishes in this tutorial dry! Yep, I'm weird. :)

Place on your nails and apply top coat to adhere them! If your base polish is still a bit tacky it will help to keep them in place, but don't press too hard on the decals as it might squish your base polish. Add these remove easily because after all they are just polish! Voila! Easy multi-colored stamped nail decals!

Stay tuned for my Indie Month post in a few hours!

Owl Week: Nail Decals

Day 2 of Owl Week in celebration of my birthday week!

I used two coats of L'Oreal Owl's Night on my index and pinkie fingers with two coats of Orly Nite Owl on middle and ring fingers. I love the color and shimmers of these two polishes! I used my owl nail decals I got from ebay. Also used HK Girl top coat.

I'm a little bit upset that these nail decals weren't clear and that the background still shows up. But they were cheap so I can't be too upset right? But I still like them and thought them totally appropriate! Especially sense the owl is the same owl I use for my Wednesday's Reads image! (barring the color changes and added glasses that I did!)

Stay tuned for my Indie Month post in a few hours!

January and February's Haul and a ton of Catrice!

First off, these have my old watermark. I edited these awhile back, sorry! :)

Today's post is my January Haul! And I am so excited for these pretties here! Catrice! Yes! I so wish these were available here in the US. You have already seen some of these being used in my posts. But I thought I would show you the whole haul! :)

 I got these from Jewli over at Fanning the Fumes. Thank you Jewli! So, at the top we have a polish that isn't Catrice but Essence Aquarius. Then we have Catrice No Snow Petrol, Big City Life San Francisco. On the bottom we have: Catrice Greys Kelly, Put Lavender on Agenda, Purpleized, Steel My Heart, How I Matt Your Mother, and Steel My Soul.

Oops! This little guy was forgotten and came later in the mail. See! Not all of them were purple and teal! :) This is Catrice ACid/DC

Up next is the rest of my haul!

Here we have China Glaze Angel Wings and Glistening Snow. Thank you Sally's clearance sale! Woot!

The minis of the OPI So So Skullicious. Hi Pumpkin, A-Rose from the Dead, Mourning Glory, and Candlelight. Nothing too special about these I just liked some of the colors and the packaging is fun! Got this from Ulta.

Here we have OPI Thanks a Windmillon. This was not on sale but I had a coupon and saw so many swatches lately of it that I knew I needed it! Then we have OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Debbie over at The Crumpet swears by this polish, so I got it for clearance at Ulta! :) Next we have a cute little Orly Velvet Rope. He was clearance at Sallys and just too cute to pass up!

This is China Glaze Def Defying and Recycle. I got these from my beauty supply store I go to! Cheaper prices rock! :)

Also from my beauty supply store some Sation polishes! Feliz Navi-Doll a grey shimmer! Shyest Shade, similar to China Glaze Snowglobe. And 3 Freedom, a light taupe.

Some amazing Indies! Pretty & Polished Steampunk. Needed it for the name and the colors! Gorgeous! Next to it is Hit Polish Like, Gag Me With Glitter. I won this little gorgeous guy because I won the naming contest! Yep I named this one! To me it looked like all the colors of the '80s so valley speak was a must! Like, gag me with glitter! :)

 

I finally got the new Cheeky set that came out last year!

And finally a part of my Christmas present from my sister! Nailz Craze NC03 plate! It took awhile to get here with some paypal issues but Natalie (the owner and creator) was very awesome and understanding! Fabulous customer service! I love this plate and can't wait to use it! :)

So that was just January. Up next is February!

These are all from Ulta Clearance! L'Oreal Tweet Me, look at those flakies and shimmer! Next we have OPI Get In The Expresso Lane and Essie Little Brown Dress. I am told these are great for stamping! Finally we have OPI Don't Touch My Tutu. 

Sally Hansen Lickety-Split Lime, Sally Hansen Gone Grey, and Revlon Iconic. More stamping polishes! And then a beautiful Essence Oh My Glitter!

Some Indies? Yes please! I came across this lovely polish Beyond the Goblin City by The Lady Varnishes. I had to get it because it's based on The Labyrinth! Next to is Glimmer by Erica Cherry Blossom and Elixir Lacquer Double D-Struction.

Back shot off:  Beyond the Goblin City by The Lady Varnishes, Glimmer by Erica Cherry Blossom, and Elixir Lacquer Double D-Struction.

Here is Slick Lacquer A Wink and a Nod. Gorgeous!

Dandy Nails! Here we have Chilled Down, Bound to Fall, and Like Disco Lemonade. Like Disco Lemonade I got in a swap from Elizabeth from NailPolish Is My Crack.

Side shots of  Dandy Nails: Chilled Down, Bound to Fall, and Like Disco Lemonade.

Some new Sation polishes! Oh My Oceania and Ego-Friendly.

China Glaze Budding Romance, Snap My Dragon, and Joy.

OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons and Unfor-Greta-Bly Blue.

I also got this China Glaze for super duper cheap but I don't know it's name!

Here is a swatch of it. What the heck? It's like textured. Did someone franken it at the supply store? I have no idea? Do any of you?

Nail decals from RLR Creations Nail Art.

A butt-load  of owl decals! I got these from ebay!

Whew! That's it! Now to catalog and put them all away! :)

Doctor "Hoo" Nails

So I decided to enter a contest on Instagram. Well, I almost had to because the theme for the contest was Owls! Woot woot! It was hosted by Manicure Mommy. And this was the mani I entered! Doctor "Hoo" nails! :) He is wearing a fez and bow tie like the 11th Doctor! Oh and please excuse the nail wear on the Doctor, I forgot to take a picture of this with my normal camera right after I did it! I was so intent on getting my phone camera to work for Instagram!

Here are the owls as they started out. I used L'Oreal Owl's Night for his body and spots with Orly Nite Owl for his belly. Are you seeing a theme in the polishes I chose? I kind of had to use those colors, right? His eyes are Essie Good as Gold and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme. His itty bitty beak is Klean Color Metallic Mango.

Another quick shot of the owls. I just loved how they turned out! :)

For his bow tie and fez I mixed Zoya Sooki and Catrice Lost in Mud. I then outlined it using a Black Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen.

This was my first nail art contest to enter and I was one of five finalists! Sadly I didn't win (I came in tied for second, I believe, and now I am third for votes) but I had a lot of fun doing it!

Well, since I am not actually up-to-date with my Doctor Who (I'm only on season 4!) I will leave you so I can go do some more fantastic watching of some wibbly wobbly timey wimey...stuff! :)

Dupes? L'Oreal Brit Invasion, L'Oreal Owl's Night, and IsaDora Bronze Patina

Look at them all lined up in a row, L'Oreal Brit Invasion, L'Oreal Owl's Night, and IsaDora Bronze Patina, making you think they are the same. Are they? Aren't they? What about in real life and not a computer screen? Why oh why with all the questions? >_<

I thought I would try this comparison because when I was searching for swatches of L'Oreal's Brit Invasion some images showed up looking a ton like the other polish Owl's Night. Hmmmm, said I, I will end this a do a comparison dupe post! Great idea, said I, but don't forget a beautiful polish that was sent to you across the great big blue ocean that is also similar. 

Well, here it goes!

One coat of each polish. Left to right is: L'Oreal Brit Invasion, L'Oreal Owl's Night, IsaDora Bronze Patina, and L'Oreal Brit Invasion again. One coat and kinda streaky for our wonderful Brit Invasion. And well, hello there totally different base color. Yep. L'Oreal Brit Invasion is NOT a dupe for either L'Oreal Owl's Night or IsaDora Bronze Patina. Brit Invasion is more of a taupey purplely base while Owl's Night is a brown as with Bronze Patina. And check out Owl's Night and Bronze Patina, identical? Sisters? Cousins? Hmmmmm...... must investigate this further.

Well hello gorgeous! Such a fun skittle or maybe an M&M? Hahaha! Ah, polish humor! ;) This is now two coats of each polish. Left to right again: L'Oreal Brit Invasion, L'Oreal Owl's Night, IsaDora Bronze Patina, and L'Oreal Brit Invasion again. Brit Invasion is still totally different from the other two. All are shimmers, with Owl's Night being a chunky shimmer than the other two. But look how alike Owl's Night (middle finger) and Bronze Patina (ringer finger) are! Pretty dang close!

A straight on shot shows how much of a chunky shimmer L'Oreal's Owl's Night (middle finger) is than the rest. Also, Owl's Night seems to turn a bit green in some lights while Bronze Patina takes on more reds and purples almost.

As you can tell, you are safe to buy L'Oreal Brit Invasion if you already have L'Oreal Owl's Night or IsaDora Bronze Patina or vice versa. However, do you need both Owl's Night and Bronze Patina? Well, that would depend on what type of polish fiend you are. :) I would say that they are close enough to take the place of the other but they are not identical. They will satisfy the craving! :)

But also take into account IsaDora's brush, I mean look at this:

Yep. Could also polish my whole nail in one swoop! :) Wide brush indeed!

Both L'Oreal's Owl's Night and IsaDora's Bronze Patina were great to apply only a bit of splotchy in one coat while L'Oreal's Brit Invasion was more splotchy.

Well, what do you think? Which is your favorite? Do you own any? Or all?