Aloha! Tropical Sunset Manicure!

Y'all know how much I love my tropical manicures. I was stuck for ideas (hence the lack of posts this week), and decided to to a gradient manicure, and see if inspiration struck. Reminded of a tropical sunset, I added some palm trees and fimo cane fruit, and the Totally Tropical manicure 2.0 was born:

 

I started out with a base of Bloom Flamingo Sands, and used a piece of sponge to apply China Glaze Papaya Punch to about 3/4 of the way down the nail. once this was dry, I then repeated this on the tips using Miss Sporty Taxi. Because yellows are generally sheerer than most other coloured polishes, I sponged the yellow tips twice, for a brighter fade. This Sponging/Gradient technique works best when the colours are close in shade and tone, as it creates a neat, even fade.

I then added the black palm trees and "Aloha" using Konad Plate M29 and Konad Black Special Polish, and used MUA shade 2 to add a little, silouetted desert island at the base of each one. I used Claire's Black Nail Art Pen to freehand in the little birds.

I'm going to take this opportunity to review the Fimo Canes that I was recently sent by BundleMonster (well known for their affordable nail art supplies), because the fruity appliqués you can see on the ring finger came as part of a pack they sent me.

Fimo Cane is rubbish if you get it wrong, and great if you get it right - it can be a bit tricky to master. All Fimo Canes come as little sticks that have a picture all the way through the core (like seaside rock!), and you then slice it very thinly, with a craft knife, to be left with a little Fimo picture that can be stuck onto the nail with clear polish or nail glue.

If they are sliced thinly enough, you can use a couple of coats of Seche Vite and have the Fimo completely flat and smooth to the nail, but some prefer to slice it a bit thicker and simply "perch" them on. I really liked the Bundle Monster Fimo Canes, and are definitely of better quality than the ones I purchased off eBay. I find the designs are generally clearer, nicer and more usable than some of the very odd ones that come in the eBay packs! (evil, teddy bear Frankenstein anyone?...No, didn't think so.) All in all, I got on with these Fimo canes very well, and would definitely recommend them! :)

One of the packs offered by bundlemonster, which you can also buy from Amazon.com

I added slices of the Lemon, Watermelon and Kiwi to my Tropical Design! :)

Thanks guyyys, let me know what you think! I will also be announcing the winner of my Apothica Giftcard giveaway very soon :) Sorry for my absence, I'm back on the ball!

x

Totally Tropical

Hi everyone!
In the spirit of craving summer SO BADLY, I decided to try out my newest Konad plate M29, and stamp a design I had been wanting to try for a while. Unfortunately, I only managed a quick flash shot of this, as I headed down in the morning to do the washing up, and a) broke a nail on the light switch, and b) managed to chip it all - washing up is kryptonite for manicures!

photo with flash - sorry it's the only one!

I started with a base of Topshop Green Room, and Bloom Flamingo sands II (both my absolute favourite polishes for the summer). I bought a couple of other Topshop polishes, and they are quickly beginning to rival my, previously unfaltering, love for Barry M! The formula is great and the colour selection is so different - I hope to do a review this week!

I added yellow ovals to the nail in Miss Sporty Taxi! and stamped the pineapple image from Konad M29, very carefully, over the top of these using Konad Black Special Polish/Konad Green Special Polish (for the leaves).

For the accent nail, I sponged 17 Orange Soda and Miss Sporty Taxi! over the top of Flamingo Sands II, then stamped the hibiscus image three times using Konad Special Polish in White and Red, as well as mixing my own pastel blue from Barry M Cobalt Blue and Konad White Special Polish (to see how click here). I stamped the "Aloha!" image in Konad Black Special Polish. I then added a coat of Seche Vite after the stamping had ten minutes to dry properly, so as not to smear the image.

I absolutely love this design - especially how the accent nail and the rest of the fingers do not match each other AT ALL in colour - I'm loving the colour clash trend this summer haha! My favourite mani in a while - I only wish I could've kept it on longer! I'm eager to try some variations on the accent nail design, the sponging is really subtle, which gives a cool effect.

Let me know what you think!

xxx

I Won! Contest Prize!

Does anyone remember me entering That's So Fresh's Spring Manicure contest? Well....I won! Wooo hooooooo! I found out a while back, but wanted to have received my prize before letting you all know!

I entered with this freehand Manicure, created before I got any tools, so the whole thing is done with a toothpick and nail art pens: -

 

You can see the whole post on this, HERE.

So I won! How exciting! I was absolutely over the moon when I heard, that was the end of Uni work for the day! 

The prize was a $50 coupon for www.wowsocool.com, a great online supplier of Konad and Nail Art products.Unfortunately, because I live over here in the UK, I had to pay $10 shipping - which I used part of my coupon for, as I'm not exactly minted right now! If you're in the USA or Canada it is free shipping over $20, however. I didn't mind, as it still left me $40 to spend on some stamping stuff :D Here is what I received, it took about 2 weeks to arrive, and was well packaged - no spillages!

Read about these nails tomorrow :D

I picked a selection of Konad Special Polishes for stamping, a yellow because it's difficult to get a regular yellow polish that's opaque enough for stamping, a black because it's an essential, and green and red because they're primary colours and bound to come in handy! I didn't go for any pastels because I can mix them myself (see how HERE).
I also selected M57, beacause I'm curious to test out stamping leopard prints vs. freehanding them. I know you will get a fishnet design on the new set of Bundle Monster plates due to be released, but I wanted it :D and the little flowers are sweet. I bought M29 because, let's face it, who DOESN'T want a pineapple on their nails? Exactly.
All in all, I'm thrilled to have won, because it's given me the opportunity to own some proper stamping equipment, instead of making do with what cheapo stuff I can find in the shops (God, Cinderella much?). Very excited to be trying it all out soon - a MASSIVE thank you to April at That So Fresh! Check out her blog if you havent already, her nails are amaaaziingngng.

xxx