NOTD: Gothic Lolita

I did these nails while thinking about some effective ways to use rhinestones & pearls. I can't say I'm fond of this manicure, but I decided to post it anyway.
As base colors I used black creme polish and a pink franken. I decorated the nails using black and clear rhinestones, pink bullion beads, clear heart-shaped rhinestones and white half pearls. I stamped the thumb with the ribbon image from plate m59 in black.


Thumb:


I wanted to name this manicure "Hime Gyaru Inspired", but since there is lots of black involved, I called it "Gothic Lolita" instead. A real Gothic Lolita would probably ROFL at this manicure =D

Bu manikürü, inci ve taş gibi süslemeleri nasıl etkin bir biçimde kullanabileceğimi düşünürken yaptım. Yaptığım şeye çok bayıldığımı söyleyemem, ama yine de fikir olsun diye yayınlıyorum.
Baz olarak siyah oje ve kendi yaptığım açık pembe ojeyi kullandım. Tırnakları siyah ve şeffaf taşlarla, pembe boncuklarla, kalp şeklinde taşlarla ve beyaz yarım incilerle dekore ettim. Baş parmağıma m59 diskindeki kurdeleyi siyah ile damgaladım.
Bu maniküre önce "Hime Gyaru" adını koyacaktım, ama bol bol siyah kullanıldığı için "Gothic Lolita" demeyi uygun gördüm. Büyük ihtimalle gerçek Gotik Lolitalar görse gülerler, onlara çok basit gelir bu =)

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NOTD: Whimsical

Today's mani was inspired by this one. She has done a lovely combination with nude, pink and salmon. I made my own version, using Golden Rose Paris #32 (index), Golden Rose Care & Strong #182 (thumb & pinky), Essie Van D'Go (ring) and China Glaze Spellbound (middle). I used the same colors on my right hand, too, only in different order. Left thumbnail was stamped in white using the ribbon design from m59. Left ring and right middle nails were stamped in white using the polka dot design from bm19.



Thumb detail:


Not exactly "all pink". There is silver and orange and lilac and peach, but the cremes all lean towards pink (Van D'Go is actually pink in the bottle, only turns peach after applying topcoat) and I think that they look nice together.

Bugünün manikürü için buradan esinlendim. Benim versiyonumda, soldan sağa Golden Rose Care & Strong #182, Essie Van D'Go, China Glaze Spellbound ve Golden Rose Paris #32 var. Başparmağımdaki desen m59 diskinden, yüzük parmağımdaki ise bm19 diskinden. Sağ elimde de aynı renkleri sırayı değiştirerek kullandım.
Renklerin hiçbiri tam olarak pembe olmasa bile, hepsi pembeye dönük renkler. Mesela lila aslında pembeye dönük, Van D'Go ise zaten şişede pembe iken, cila sürünce şeftali rengine dönüşüyor. Bence birarada güzel duruyorlar =)

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DIY Lightbox, Some pictures from my stash & Last of my Valentine Manicures

Hi guys =) Here are the pictures of my Do-It-Yourself lightbox, "Crappier", and some pictures taken with it.





I played with some different camera settings and lamp positions, and I think it gets the job done. The setup was very easy, I bought a 27 watt Daylight lamp, which is 1500 lumens (The output looks like 140 watt) and used it with a adjustable table lamp. I extracted parts from the sides and from the top of the cardboard box, and covered the windows with sheets of paper. I covered the background with paper aswell and I was done. The whole setup took me about 30 minutes.

Now, here are some pictures of my storage, because some people wanted to see it =)
My plastic drawer:

In the topmost drawer are my individual konad items and some nail care stuff.

Then there are some random OPI, China Glaze, Illamasqua, Sally Hansen, P2 polishes.

Bottom drawer, entirely China Glaze.

Some polishes that didn't fit in anywhere:

Two boxes of local brand polishes & frankens:

Finally, here is my Valentine's Day manicure. It's P2 Gorgeous, stamped with China Glaze Devotion and hearts from m59. Pictures were taken inside the lightbox =)))



The next manicure is going to be one of my favorites! Stay tuned! =)
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NOTD: Valentine's Inspired

Today I have 2 manicures to show you. They were actually meant for the Valentine's Day, but I don't think they will last =) The first one is China Glaze Strawberry Fields. I did some konad on it too, which I hated immediately, so this is the only picture I'm going to show you. This is 4 coats, because I had visible nail line. Strawberry Fields is an odd polish. Everyone says it looks better on everyone else. So do I =) I like the pictures better than the real life version!


Then I have this manicure, which is a remake of Nail Junkie's manicure, but not as beautiful. I realized that she stamped the hearts seperately, which is a better idea, because I was in a hurry and I had a hard time aligning them, trying not to smudge. The smaller side of the stamper works better on me. Plus, hers looks much cuter =)
I used a very stark white creme for this, and applied it very carefully. Then I went over it with a coat of sheer white, which is a good idea, because it smooths the surface and makes white more even and glossy. Then I stamped using m59 and special polish in red.


I think I've become addicted to cleaning cuticles with a brush. It's fun, relaxing, and helps me to achieve nicer looking cuticles!
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NOTD: Love-Me Nails

This is my first attempt at Valentine's Day Mani =) It's kinda lame, I know =D Overly girly, even for me!
I used 4 coats of a sheer white polish, which looks pink on the nails in a strange way. OO - kay. Then I used plates m59 and m56, and my frankens which can be seen here and here for the stamping. I freehanded the alternating french tips.




What do you think about my french tips? I hate using m19, it's far worse than the other french tip plates. I never seem to get it right! Are they OK this way or do you reckon I should learn to use it? =)
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A few recent NOTD's

Hello everyone! Sorry for the absence, it has been such a hectic week for me... Thank God, everything will be over on the 27th. Phew! That's the bad thing about being a last minute person =)
Anyway, today I'm going to show you the nails from the past week. First: sunshine yellow jelly polish from Clarie's & konad m53:




This was 5 coats!!! I loved this one, but sadly it was not fully dry for a few hours, and I managed to nick it at the cuticles, which I hate. Tips can be covered, but cuticles not =(

Then I have the coral/pink pastel polish, layered with China Glaze Pure Torture. I looooove Pure Torture, so happy I got it. I can layer one coat over any red, and it turns this gorgeous, bright, saucy red I love, and can't find anywhere!!!


A layered konad using m74. I don't know what was going on in my mind, I was sleepless for 32 hours that day =D


Then I did a full mani with China Glaze Glam:


Glam is sooo bumpy, and runny, I like it but I wasn't very careful with the application, so it didn't stay very long.

Finally, my current mani, inspired by the sudden snowstorm outside. I used the magnificent purple glitter polish I recently discovered, plate m59 and my latest silver polish find:

Don't forget to take a look at Lacquer Link Love for 01/22/2010 over at Polishswatches!

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NOTD: Another Bow Mani

Maybe you have realized, I love Butterflies. And bows. Bows are some of my favorite images, especially those huge ones on m59. Unfortunately it's almost impossible to have them show up as a whole, my nails are too narrow for them. But I don't care! By the way, I'm getting better and better at completing the missing parts of the images =) But I can only do that with konad polishes at the moment, because with other polishes, I'd have to work at the speed of light =)))
This is a regular red creme polish, layered with one coat of China Glaze Pure Torture, to make it warm and saucy. I love bright, warm reds, so vintage and glamorous! I still need the perfect red, and although it's a cool one, Bangin' from the RBL spring collection seems to be just the perfect red for me. I'll try to get my hands on it, for sure =)
Anyway, I layered the manicure with one coat of Inglot 202 and stamped with m59 and special polish in white. The result:



One day I'll be able to fit all those bows on my nails! Hear my oath!!! =D
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NOTD: Starry Winter Night

Edit: I've passed the 50 followers mark this week, thanks to anyone who takes time and reads my blog =) I truly appreciate your fellowship!

It seems I couldn't keep my word =) I tried to mattify the Khrome manicure yesterday, which turned out to be a big no-no. Mattified Khrome looked dirty and unappealing on me, so I took it off. Today, I put on a local blue jelly polish with tiny silver and blue glitter. It reminds me of Essie's Starry Starry Night, only less black-ish and with smaller glitter. In my opinion, this one could be a nice substitute. I personally like this polish very much, it's very unique for my country's standards, but unfortunately this one is discontinued and I could only grab two bottles =/
Afterwards, I stamped snowflakes on the nails using plate m59 and konad special polish in medium blue with a purplish pearl, whose name I don't know. I would say "sky pearl", but on the pictures, sky pearl looks more visible on darker colors, and mine is quite subtle. After stamping, I did matte french tips with China Glaze Matte Magic, and the ring fingers are matte with glossy tips. Ring fingers also have teardrop shaped rhinestones.



With Flash:

I hope you enjoy this mani as much as I do =) It reminds me of a very cold and dark winter night =)
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NOTD: Meteor Shower Mattified

This is one of the rare times where I didn't love a China Glaze polish as much as I expected. When I first saw pictures of Meteor Shower, I wanted it so badly that it literally hurt. (lol =) But it's much thicker than I expected, and looks kinda lumpy on the nail. Maybe I applied badly, it's nighttime here and maybe I could have applied it thinner and more even. Of course I love the color and the glitters, and would never toss it aside like I did with China Glaze Tantalize Me (ew!), it's actually a lovely polish. Finally I decided to mattify it to make it even. I used China Glaze Matte Magic and I like the result, my nails look like sparkly dark blue stones.


It felt kinda lonely, and I stamped it using plate m59 and China Glaze Metallic Muse. Does anyone have tips on how to stamp the ribbon images well? They are kinda too big for my fingernails. The only option seems like stamping them diagonally, but that woud be when I have them longer.


Not too horrible. This is without another topcoat, the khromes look even better without one.
After yesterdays manicure brainstorming, I'm out of all ideas. I open my drawer and just stare at polishes, unable to decide what to wear. I love other people's manicures and wanna copy some, is it considered as idea theft? =)
Btw, please vote on my poll regarding watermarks. Thanks =)
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