Cephalopodian

Sinful Colors Pink

2011-05-01T18:37:00.001-05:00

Sinful Colors Pink
Originally uploaded by OctoGirlie

Via Flickr:
A neon pink neon!

Two coats, outdoor lighting, no flash no topcoat.

And... Done!

2011-04-28T19:28:00.000-05:00

I am FINALLY done swatching my current collection. I have 68 polishes! O_O

Now that everything is swatched, I'm going to switch to a more traditional review-type blog. I've been playing with the Konad plates, so expect some manis soon!

Arrival and Reviews

2011-04-23T23:28:00.000-05:00

I got my Konad plates today! /happy dance

I got M3 and S10. The package arrived in a plain brown box (which, in my excitement, is now a shredded plain brown box) from Singapore. (I honestly thought this was from someone else as I have an acquaintance in Singapore.)

Everything was neatly and individually packaged- my two plates, the scraper, and the double-ended stamper. I had expected the plates to be at least an inch larger in diameter; I don't know why as larger plates would be kind of unwieldy.

Of course I would get all this the day after I took off a particularly staining coat of OPI's Russian Navy Matte (which was after I took off Wet N Wild's Fast Dry Teal of Fortune) so my fingertips and nail beds look rather corpse-like at the moment. I did a couple of tests, and there is a technique for rolling the stamper onto your nails so that the design doesn't looks smooshed. I've found that the metallics/glitters/etc don't stamp well (the effects get lost in translation, so to speak) and that some of the images are just too small to see unless you're staring right at it. I'm sure my short short nails don't help, either.

I had purchased the Kiss Nail Artist Paint and Stencil Kit kind of on a whim, hoping that the stencils inside would hold me over until my Konad plates arrived. I tried two stencils right away- a butterfly and stars, and tried freehanding some stripes:

What a disappointment. The "stencils" are actually little stickers, and they rip when you take them off. Some of the images themselves are a little too detailed for such small designs- as you can see my butterfly looks more like Antarctica. The "paint" can be tricky to work with; the brush is long and very tapered, the formula is thin (yet opaque) and runny. A complete waste of money.

Sonia Kashuk Tauped

2011-04-22T07:04:00.001-05:00

Sonia Kashuk Tauped
Originally uploaded by OctoGirlie

Sonia Kashuk's Tauped is a wonderful clay brown that applies easily.

Sally Hansen HD DVD

2011-04-16T20:55:00.002-05:00

Sally Hansen HD DVD
Originally uploaded by OctoGirlie

I bought this the same day I bought the Sinful Colors Let Me Go, and I was much more pleased with this polish. The blue/purple is much more evident, thanks to the gorgeous shimmer.

Two coats, natural light, no flash, no topcoat.

Adventures in Swatching

2011-04-10T21:22:00.003-05:00

Got a bit of swatching done today- all but two of my greens are done now:

China Glaze: Jolly Holly

Confetti: My Favorite Martian

Finger Paints: Guggen I'm Lime

Finger Paints: Sketch N Etch

Nicole by OPI: Fell From the Tree

ORLY: Green With Envy

Sally Hansen: Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear: Ivy League

Sinful Colors: Innocent

Sinful Colors: Irish Green

Sinful Colors: San Francisco

Sinful Colors: Show Me the Way

I'm going to have to reshoot ORLY's "It's Not Rocket Science"; I had cotton ball fuzzies on one of my fingers and didn't know it. I also need to shoot China Glaze's Re-Fresh Mint, and I'll be all done with my greens!

Day Off

2011-04-07T16:25:00.002-05:00

Today was my day off and I was determined to sit down and swatch like no one's business. I got about four done, then I laid down "for a few minutes." Next thing I know it's three hours later. grr.

I'm currently in the process of revamping my "master list" of polishes, which is why there are so few posts here. But I promise to be back soon! In the meantime, you can visit my Nail Flickr.

Blue Sea

2011-04-02T23:36:00.002-05:00

Blue Sea
Originally uploaded by OctoGirlie

Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in Blue Me Away with Cina Pro Under the Sea 3D nail decals.

Nail Tools

2011-04-02T17:35:00.002-05:00

Nail Tools
Originally uploaded by OctoGirlie

The tools of my hobby. ^_^

Nails: Konad Stamper

2011-04-01T19:49:00.001-05:00

Just ordered my first Konad stamper and plates! I'm so excited!