Konad m84 ~ New Plate!

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I got an email from Jessica at WowSoCool last week telling me that there were two new Konad plates in, m84 and m85, as well as a new "multi stamper," and she sent them to me to review.  I'm always excited when there are new Konad plates, and I was especially happy for these because I just haven't done any nail stamping in a while.  I have a lot going on these days, and the times I've been inspired to Konad, I've simply run out of steam trying to pick which design to use in what color, so being limited to two was doing me a big favor!

I picked plate m84 first because it has lip prints.  Here's the stock image of the plate:

Konad Plate m84

I figured a pattern in addition to the lip prints would be good, so I went with the stars in the middle.  To get back to BCA pinks, I started out with a manicure of Eyeko Punk Polish, the two-coat hot pink, and black and white Konad Special Polish for the stamping.  I used the new multi-stamper for this manicure, and I really liked it.  This is the stock image of it.

Konad Multi Stamper in Stand

The picture shows two pieces, the stamper in its stand.  The top is the regular stamper, the side an angled metal scraper, and fit into the stand is the small Konad stamper, like on the double-sided one.  The first two stamps I did with it were a little awkward because I'm right-handed and have always scraped the plate right to left (toward me) to look at what I'm doing while I'm doing it, but the whole scraper is a little big to look around and moving it that way wasn't easy.  Then I tried scraping left to right, and it was the easiest thing ever - all it took to scrape the pattern perfectly was a little twist of the wrist, that's it.

What I liked best was that after scraping, I used the same tool to stamp.  One reason that appealed to me is that after applying thousands of Konad stamps because I love them, I still associate the process with picking things up and putting them down eighty bazillion times at breakneck speed.  This cut out the part where I quickly look for a place to put down the polish-covered scraper, find where I left the stamper and grab it, and pick up the pattern from the plate while racing the drying Konad polish.  Simplifying the process also cuts out a few seconds between painting the plate and picking up the stamp, which is helpful.  Whenever someone emails me saying she can't get Konad to work and asks for tips, the first thing I always mention is that you have to work at the speed of light, literally as fast as you possible can, and nine times out of ten I get a reply telling me that was it.

I know none of that is life and death stuff, and that's probably why it's useful.  Since Konad (and nail polish, for that matter) are entirely optional, keeping them as easy as they can be makes it likely that more people can use them well, and Konad is such a high payoff for very little effort that making the window where problems come up even shorter is a big help, so I'm a fan.  The speed came in handy with the stars, which I did in Konad White, since tiny shallow patterns dry ridiculously fast and are sometimes hard for me to stamp before they dry, but it worked here.  I added the lip print in black for an accent nail.  My pinky's stars are imperfect because I was too lazy to look for the Konad polish, used Misa Heaven White, was reminded of why I prefer Konad polish, got up to find the white one, and stamped over it.

Konad m84 over Eyeko Punk Polish

I like it because it's fun and a little silly.  That's why I love lip prints so much, they're so cartoonishly funny to me.  They always make me think of a friend of mine who died of brain cancer in 2004, and older guy of about 70 from a small town around here who worked a blue collar job in agriculture his whole life (one of those friendships where nothing matched but personalities).  He was the funniest person ever - he'd go between saying the most concise, deepest observations imaginable (always preceded by "Kid" when talking to me, since that's what he called me), saying and doing things for the sole purpose of annoying others, and flirting with all the younger women.  He didn't flirt in a gross lecherous way, he had a wonderful wife he'd been married to forever and absolutely adored, he just liked to flirt.  One evening after a gathering he came up to me and the two other women I was with and started his flirting, and he kept teasing me about my bright red lipstick.  I finally just I put my arm around his shoulders, stood on my toes, and planted a big red lip print on his cheek.  We had a good laugh and I took out a Kleenex and mirror so he could take it off, but he was having fun showing off that he got a kiss, and wore it home to show to his wife (who, knowing him best, also thought it was funny).  Ever since then, lip prints remind me of Larry and make me smile.

That covers a lot!  Now you know about Konad plate m84, the multi-stamper, and you've heard my lip print story!  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!




All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

RockStar energy drink mani!!

Hallo ladies,



I have a fun mani for you today :)On Saturday I was watching a movie drinking a RockStar energy drink and all of a sudden I had a light bulb moment. LMAO







But before I get to my mani I wanted to wish my bestie "Shannon" a Happy and fun Birthday <3 I hope you have a wonderful day and that you get everything your heart asks for. I wish I was there to celebrate your birthday with you.



Ok enough of the mushy stuff :)and onto my kick a@@ mani :D



For this mani I used black from a brand called Basic (2 coats), China Glaze Happy Go Lucky (2 coats) and the same for the Konading.





















So what do you think?



Thanks for looking,

Kesha

New Konad plates coming soon!!

Hallo ladies,



I hope your having a good weekend so far. As for me my weekend has been pretty good :) yesterday was my 7th year wedding Anniversary <3 we had a good time, of course I was spoiled hubby is so sweet to me.



Ok now onto the 2 new Konad plates coming out soon, you can starting getting them at the end of September.







So what do you think about them? I so want to get my hands on them :)



Thanks for reading,

Kesha

P2 Trouble / P2 Pink it up!

Hallo ladies,



I has the sad :( my France trip is dimming by the min...... BOOOOOOOO :( I hope it will still work out!!



Ok I have 2 beautiful color's that I think go great together!! P2 Trouble is a lime green and P2 Pink it up! is a bright pink. I wanted to do something bright and summery since theres been very little sun here :( I used 2 coats of Trouble then I wanted to try one of my faux plates (I'm loving this design) for the design I used Pink it up! Check out that combo, they sure pop!!















I tried a new top coat and as you can see a bit of the design smeared :( either I did not wait long enough for Pink it up to dry or this top coat SUCKS!!!! I'll have to use it again to be sure.



So what do you think about this mani?



Thanks for looking,

Kesha

FingerPaints To-teally Chic & Konad m63

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I went with another from the FingerPaints Fall Fashionista Collection, To-teally Chic.  It the teal creme, as the name implies, and I used two coats for perfectly smooth, opaque, shiny goodness.  After it had dried, I stamped it with the ribbon-y pattern from Konad plate m63 in Konad White Pearl Special Polish.

My stamping fell a little short of my usual standards, I think because of the humidity.  Everything through picking up the stamp was business as usual, but applying the stamp, the polish stuck to the stamper and only about half of it transferred to my nails with the other half staying on the stamp.  Some polishes have done that before, but White Pearl never has and it's a color (and particular bottle of that color ) which gets plenty of use, so it seems like it has to be an outside factor.  Since I was left with light image on the stamper after applying, rather than double stamp to cover the small edge that was left bare, I just applied leftover bits from the stamper to fill it in.  Some came off, some stayed stuck, but I was able to finish the mani that way.

FingerPaints To-teally Chic Nail Polish with Konad Plate m63

See?  Not great, but not awful.  If I'd managed to make super clean stamps, in which case I would have done a careful double-stamp to fill in rather than a half-assed job of using stamper leftovers, this one could have been really striking, I think.  I'll have to give it another shot after either the weather lightens up a bit or I figure out a workaround.

That's today's near miss of a manicure, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Konad Sky Pearl Special Polish & m63

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I did a manicure that came to mind the other day when I came across my Konad Sky Pearl Special Polish, and it turned out really well.  Not perfect, but I like it well enough that I don't especially care that it's imperfect.

I started out with Orly Frolic, the lovely two coat purple creme, which I thought would look really cool with Sky Pearl stamped over it.  For the pattern to stamp, I used the swirly one from Konad plate m63 that looks a lot like water marbling.  Since I liked how it was coming out off the bat, I used a coat of Konad top coat to prevent any smudges prior to finishing it off with Poshe.  Here's Orly Frolic with m63 in Konad Sky Pearl in the sun.

Konad Sky Pearl Special Polish over Orly Frolic with Konad Plate m63

You can see the the pearl finish in the Special Polish is very subtle - this is in sunlight, and the shimmer doesn't really show otherwise.  What I like about the Konad Pearl polishes (Black, White, Sky, Violet, ...) is that they don't seem to smudge anywhere near as easily as the cremes and they make exceptionally crisp stamps.

That's all for today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Konad Olive Green Princess Polish

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I like my Sally Hansen Creamy Olive manicure so much that I just added to it today, and I used plate XL A with Konad Olive Green Princess Polish to do it.  My stamping job wasn't perfect, nor was my cleanup (I erred on the side of removing too much), but I figured I'd give you a look at Konad Olive Green just the same because it's a great Fall shade and seems to lend itself to stamping over a lot of the Fall cremes.

Here, I stamped using the regular Konad stamper (I keep meaning to break out the XL one for another try, but never remember until I'm tidying up a spot that the regular stamper missed) and Konad Olive Green Special Polish, then sealed the stamping with Konad Top Coat and then a coat of Poshe to dry it.  Here's the finished manicure in the sun, and my pinky nail is the best one to really show stamping.

Konad Olive Green Princess Polish over Sally Hansen Creamy Olive Nail Polish

The places where stamps overlapped and the over-cleaned spots show up clearly here in a blown-up picture, but just walking around it looks fine.  Frankly, these are the ones that drive me nuts because the picture shows a pretty jacked up manicure while it looks cool when I look at my hands, which is why I suggest using the pinky, the only one with a completely clean stamp, to evaluate how the polish and stamp really look when properly executed.

I like the two colors together quite a bit, but I think the pattern is a little too small and busy for this particular combination.  I recently broke out quite a few Konad polishes that have been out of rotation for a while, so that might just bring about more Konad manicures in the coming weeks.

That's my olive green manicure and just about all I have to tell you about this morning, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

SpaRitual Knowledge Is Power & Konad m56

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have another bright one for today, this time SpaRitual Knowledge Is Power, the neon pink, with two patterns from Konad plate m56.  It's about as girly as it gets.

SpaRitual Knowledge Is Power & Konad m56

That's just about all for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Zoya Jo & Konad m34

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I'm wearing Zoya Jo, the lovely blue shimmer from Zoya's Twist Collection from a while back.  It's what I think of as a jeans color, and it's loaded up with a sparkly shimmer.  For the manicure, I used Nubar Foundation as a base, two coats of color, and finished it with Nubar Diamont.  Jo applied quite well (although as there was some discussion of yesterday, I have to work more carefully with the relatively small brush), and it's one of those where while applying the first coat, I think "This will need at least three coats..." but then the second makes everything nice and evenly opaque. It dried well with this combination, although I know that Zoya strongly recommends their Color Lock system, which I've never used in its entirety, to ensure that everything works out nicely.

I decided to Konad an accent nail again today just because I'm digging the Konad kick for cheerful manis, but I didn't want to mask the shimmer of Jo because that's my favorite thing about this polish.  Also, on the lazy front, it takes about thirty seconds to do one stamp and about ten more to top coat one nail to seal the stamp, so it's pretty tempting to go that route - I think it's a great payoff for minimal effort.  I used the Virgo design from plate m34 in Konad White Pearl for the stamping.  Here's the finished manicure under artificial light (Spring storms mean the sun's nowhere to be found).

Zoya Jo Nail Polish, Two Coats, with Konad m34

You might notice there's no way to leave comments today (on any post), or even read them for that matter.  Comments are back for now...  That's because the commenting service I use is having tech issues.  It's on the agenda to switch to another that comes highly recommended, but because of the way the current one was installed by the service, a lot of coding will be required to remove it.  Due to the constant tech issue and general lack of interest in customer satisfaction, I don't exactly trust the current service to strip out the code for me.  Since Blogger now offers a zillion times more drag and drop features than it did a couple of years ago when I was coding workarounds for things I wanted (and learning html that way, so coding many of them poorly), I'm leaning toward just completely redoing the whole blog rather than stripping out what I want removed.  There won't be giant changes since I'll never want a loud background or music playing or that kind of thing, and I'm limited with page layout since I use humongo pictures, it would be more a matter of tidying up the things that are either now offered by Blogger as pre-written elements I'd be content with or the things that make me cringe when I see them and know how I'd address them differently today.  I just thought I'd mention that's been moving toward the front of my brain lately, but today's complete lack of comments anywhere pretty much solidified it.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Honeydew & Konad m60

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd do a "real" blog post today in addition to the Zoya Touch Collection pre-sale announcement, so I figured I'd show you the manicure I'm wearing today.  It's Sally Hansen Salon (the now discontinued square bottle) Honeydew with just a little bit of white Konad.

Honeydew is an all-time favorite of mine and it's perfect for Spring.  I've been delving into my train case of most precious polishes lately, and that's where this one belongs.  The polish is a two-coater, and it applies beautifully.  Here it is by itself in the sun.

Sally Hansen Honeydew Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added a little flower pattern from Konad plate m60 in Konad White Pearl Special Polish to my ring finger for an accent nail.

Sally Hansen Honeydew Nail Polish with Konad m60 in White Pearl

It's very Spring-y and happy, so I like it.  That's just about all there is to tell you today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club The Lime Starts Here & Konad m60

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This is the last picture I had saved up, and it's a manicure for several days this week, Color Club The Lime Starts Here with the plaid pattern from Konad plate m60 in white.

The Lime Starts Here is the neon green from th Wicked Sweet Collection, and this is your fair warning that the picture will make your retinas sting.  It needed several coats to be opaque, I either four or five, but that seems typical of good neon greens to me.  I'm sure that using white under it would reduce that.  The fragrance of it is very pleasant, more like a good margarita mix than straight lime - it's identifiable as lime and has a nice citrus scent to it, but it's not sharp or that overly artificial lime Jell-O smell.

Color Club The Lime Starts Here Nail Polish, 4-5 Coats

I gave The Lime Starts Here a bit of time to dry, then stamped it with Konad White Special Polish and the pattern from m60.

Color Club The Lime Starts Here with Konad m60

Although I really liked this one, the real reason I wore it for several days was that I ripped off my pinky nail, the whole free edge and lots of layers about halfway down the nail bed.  The good news is that the manicure didn't chip, and I decided that another chop just wasn't in me and I made a sculpted soak-off gel tip on it last evening.  This is the first time I had the luxury of sculpting a tip using my right hand, so it was about a thousand times easier than before.  I thought I had it as good as it would get, but the down side to clear builder gel is that it's really hard to see tiny detail.  I can just thin it out a little with a bit more shaping, but I'll have to reseal it once it's good, so the pictures I have for tomorrow will include my big fake tip pre-refinement.

That's what I know this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Baby Sprout & Konad m83

Good morning, Dear Reader!

My Konading streak continues today with Nubar Baby Sprout, the green one from Nubar's Spring Garden Collection.  It's a very delicate barely-green with just a hint of shimmer, just enough to keep it from looking like pastel chalk.  I think I used two coats here (I'm a couple days behind on showing you pictures).

Nubar Baby Sprout Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added the fern pattern from Konad plate m83 in Konad Green Special Polish to it.

Nubar Baby Sprout with Konad m83

Again, it's a little loud after stamping, but this one was fun to wear.  That's just about all there is to tell you today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

SpaRitual Reveal Yourself & Konad m83

Good morning, Dear Reader!

The Stay Chipper Through Festive Manicures Campaign continues with the one I have for you today, SpaRitual Reveal Yourself with two of the patterns from Konad plate m83 stamped on it.  Reveal Yourself is the pale pink from SpaRitual's Truth Collection, which took three coats here (not too bad for a shade this pale), and I stamped the hearts-on-stems pattern on it with Konad Psyche Pink, then decided to perch the vixen kitty pattern atop a heart in Konad Black Special Polish on an accent nail.

SpaRitual Reveal Yourself Nail Polish with Konad m83

It's hard to get too mopey when the kitty's winking at me...

That's just about all there is today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Blue Hydrangea & Konad m60

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have Nubar Blue Hydrangea to show you, one from their Spring Garden Collection.  It's a very light blue with just a hint of shimmer.  It went on well, and I think I used two coats (the pictures are from a couple of days ago so I don't remember with certainty).

Nubar Blue Hydrangea Nail Polish, Two Coats

I stamped it with the argyle pattern from Konad plate m60 using Konad Blue Special Polish.

Nubar Blue Hydrangea with Konad m60

I like it.  That's just about all there it today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

SpaRitual Enlightened Soul & Konad m74

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Yesterday I wanted something happy and sunny, so I wore SpaRitual Enlightened Soul with the diagonal flower pattern from Konad plate m74 stamped on it in Konad white.  Enlightened Soul is a yellow creme I showed you a while back, and I used three coats for this manicure.  It turned out pretty well.

SpaRitual Enlightened Soul Nail Polish with Konad m74

I needed something sunny because looking for work is taking quite a toll, and I've finally hit the point of having to selling off some things I really don't want to get rid of, and that bums me out.  This will be the only mention of it here because I'm going to just auction off what I need to on Ebay, and since I don't want anyone to feel duped by later finding out they bought something from me, I changed my user name there to the_nailphile.  I often get emails from readers when my pictures are stolen and used there, usually with an uncomfortable "I don't know if this is your auction..." as an opener, and I have no plans to use blog pictures there for anything, but I wanted to let you know that's me.  Nothing's listed there yet because I didn't want someone to place a bid and be uncomfortable with it later, but I ask that if you have questions, comments, problems, concerns, etc., about anything there please feel free to contact me through their private message system, as I'm not willing to let that necessity to take over the comments here.  That's the last you'll hear about any of it on this blog.

That's it for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time,love and nail polish to you!

Lots o' Konad

Good morning, Dear Reader!

A mid-morning post and the reappearance of the temporary ads can only mean one thing, right?  I'll explain Seinfeld style: I started the new job, yadda yadda yadda, now the job hunt resumes.  The up side is that although I'm horrified that at my age naivete is still so problematic, in this day I get to do absolutely nothing that my Creator has explicitly asked me not to do and my conscience won't have to cringe even once, so all is well.

I still got up at workday time and did a few things that I wanted to accomplish, then I got to Konad the heck out of my sparkly off-white manicure.  I found that the light rose fragrance of the Anna Sui 001 polish markedly diminished by the end of the first day of wear, and it's gone now.  Frankly, I don't even know which plates I used here and already put them away.  The only thing I distinctly noticed while stamping and chatting on the phone was that the only stamp that's messed up, my pinky nail's ladybug, is from a Bundle Monster plate.  I can never get a perfect stamp from a Bundle Monster plate, only Konad and Chez Delaney are reliable for me.  I made a happy manicure for today...

Lots of Konad Stamping :)

See what a difference there is between the one Bundle Monster stamp and the Konad used for all others?  I used Konad polish for all stamps, and the ladybug's red is Konad Princess Cool Red, the same as the rose, so the polish isn't a variable, only the plate used is. That's a fair representation of the results I get overall.

I also have a tangential topic that I'd really like to get your thoughts on if you'd care to weigh in.  Every time I've broken a nail in the last year or so, my beloved tells me to only "cut the others just partway because the short one will want to grow faster to catch up."  The first few times, I thought he was kidding and laughed, but in the last week when he said that (when I was lamenting doing some evening out this weekend), I threatened to post his theory to get more input on it, which prompted a defense of the theory.  Now I'm not so sure he's kidding.  This is a logical man, a systems analyst with a degree in math, harboring the notion that nails have the capacity for self awareness and assessment of others as well as the ability to take action to influence a desired change in that state of affairs.  Do you buy it, and if not, is there anything that could make you cosign that theory?  You know I'm not huge on discussion topics, but every one of my brain cells screams "Nooo!" in reply to both questions, so I need some assurance that there either is or isn't information I don't currently possess that would change my answer...

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Just like last time, I give you my sincere apology for the necessity of the extra Google ad and my assurance that I'll take it down as soon as possible - I'd be tickled pink if I can this week.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Konad m83: Konad Returns

Good morning, Dear Reader!

As I hunted down some supplies to add a bit of Konad to OPI Big Hair... Big Nails, I realized that this has probably been the longest stretch that I've gone without stamping since I first tried it out, and for no good reason!  I'm glad a stop has been put to that bleak period.

I settled on Konad plate m83, using a full nail pattern with Konad White Pearl Special Polish.  I thought I'd done a really good job and I like how it looks, but as I went through pictures I discovered that I made tiny smudges over all the stamping in applying the top coat.  The good news is that it doesn't look smudged at all in real life, the bad news is that you're sitting at home looking at a picture I took, not standing here looking at the manicure in person, so I have no way to show you how it really looks.  The best I can do is say that it looks like the picture only without smudges.

Konad m83 in White Pearl over OPI Big Hair... Big Nails

I like it quite a bit, but anything I use this particular pattern for will simply be a substitute for the manicure I want to use it for until I finally get the one I picture out of my head.  My mom had some flamboyant taste in home decor in the '70's and '80's, and if I were to double-stamp this pattern on very long nails in gold over a burgundy base, it would really look a lot like the early '80's dining room wall paper I associate with that.  For some reason, that makes me really want to do it, even though double-stamping this pattern seems like it would be a bear.  For now, white on orange on short nails is the best I can do, so I'm enjoying it just the same.

My coffee is now ready and waiting for me, and the details of this manicure are just about all I know with certainty at this hour without any coffee running through my veins, so I should wrap it up here and get started on caffeinating myself.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze He's going in circles!

Hallo ladies,

Today I have a holo for ya :) which one you ask??? it's CG He's going in circles. What can I say about this babe other then it's a beauty, the application was wonderful only toke 2 coats no bald spots what so ever. When this babe hits light it's like BAM look here I am :D LOL







After wearing it for a few days I desided to put some design over it to prolong the mani





So what do you think?

Thanks for looking.
Kesha

P2 Flamboyant with konading

Hallo ladies,

Well it's finally Friday that means weekend time :D WOO-HOO!!!! Last night while watching TV I felt like trying out some of my new P2 polishes I'd gotten plus I also wanted to do a mani that screamed look at me LOL. So I came up with P2 Flamboyant it's a bright pink, wonderful for the summer after I used 2 coats I started looking at my new stamping plates I'd gotten that day and the wheels in my head started turning :) no I'm not crazy LMAO

Well I think it came out great! Take a look for yourself.

Here's what P2 Flamboyant looks like.



For this mani I used

P2 Flamboyant 2 coats
Black stamping polish for the design
Stamping plate H12








So what do you think?

Thanks
Kesha