OPI Just Spotted the Lizard and final PhD seminar nails (stamping)

It's my birthday today (yay, kinda - a side effect of turning 25 in this country is that you get kicked off your parents' medical insurance, so I've spent the last few days manically running around getting fillings... hurray). Since I'm posting my birthday nails on my own blog, I thought I'd post the mani I wore for my final PhD seminar (and really, it's more appropriate here!). In my department, PhD students don't do a thesis defense - instead, we have a (presumably) low-pressure hour-long seminar where we present all our work. But since all the academics in your area turn up, it's still freaking nerve-wracking! Mine was last week, and this was my mani:

OPI Just Spotted the Lizard with a BM206 pattern stamped on top in ulta3 Black Satin. Of course, I did them a while before I actually had my seminar, and I was so stressed out beforehand that I had no time to refresh it, so it was tipwear country.

This is JStL by itself:

Pretty blue-green/gold duochrome! Not super duochromey, but still very stylish and interesting... but since I just got a bunch of Ozotics, I don't know if it's enough for me anymore! Will my hunger for multichromes ever end????

(Also, if you were planning to enter, my Pedi-Sox/foot treatment/duochrome pigment giveaway is still open!)

Milani Blue Lightening

I am sucker for shimmers and a sucker for blurple polishes. A SUCKER, I SAY.

Milani Blue Lightening with Konad Stamping using China Glaze Passion

I have at least three of these blurple shimmers (OPI DS Magic, Color Club Total Mystery, etc.) and this one is the clear winner when it comes to actually semi-translating the purple that is evident in the bottle (I'm looking at YOU, DS Magic). Also, it had terrific coverage in two coats!

As for the Konad, I'm giving the China Glaze Romantique a whirl as stamping polishes. Passion is gold in the bottle, but definitely reads more as silver on the nail which wasn't what I was hoping for. Has anyone out there in blogland had good luck with these polishes for stamping?

Happy polishing!

Orly Emberstone

I'm not going to lie, this wasn't my first choice when the Orly Mineral Fx collection came out, but what can I say... you put something on clearance (thank you, Sally's) and I am ALL OVER IT.

Orly Emberstone with Black Konad Special Polish and Bundle Monster Plate

I have to say, though, I really liked this polish. It definitely smoldered like embers due to its red-orange hue and the shimmer was great. I loved this Bundle Monster design as well as it looked both "flamey" and "flowery."

A winner, I'd say!

Happy polishing!

Orly Bubbly Bombshell

Well, hello, lovely glittery princess! Orly Bubbly Bombshell, would you like some konad black flowers? I think you would.

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Orly Bubbly Bombshell with konad black special polish

I love this Orly polish, even though it took three coats for opacity and then showed tip wear after 24 hours. I mean, it's just so... pretty. The little microglitter just picks up every bit of light and throws it all over the place. I'm not so sure how I feel about the black flowers, but you know about the konad bug, right? Once it bites, it is UNRELENTING.

Happy polishing!

*tapping on the mic*

*tap tap*

Hello, Polish or Perish! Remember moi? Long golden locks, a small waist, a lovely singing voice and the demeanor and cuticles of an angel? No? No one? Okay, that was all a lie. No matter.

Anyway, yes, it's been forever thanks to a shifting of priorities in many areas of my life (other than buying massive amounts of polish, *ahem*) but for now, I am back, just maybe in a little lesser capacity than before The posts might be a little shorter, but I'm going to try and make them a little more frequent, so I hope that sits well with all of you. For what it's worth, I've missed all of you, both Polish or Perish team members and all of you lovely readers!

I do have some good news, though! I'm hoping to jump back in not only with new colors, but a new love for konad nail art that I am slowly but surely trying to improve upon. Here's a nice little something-something I threw together last night, I hope you like it.

SH Pacific Blue with konad special white polish and the bundle monster plate BM20

Do you see that nice little claw I made for you? Do you see how it looks like I am fashionably modeling my manicure yet it also covers up my jacked-up middle finger nail? Yeah, let's just leave it at that.

Anyway, good to be bac, friends! Happy polishing!

The last of the fall manis... (China Glaze Naughty and Nice)

Naughty and Nice is, rather appropriately, a featured polish in China Glaze's "new" holiday 2010 collection. It's been talked about everywhere on a number of blogs so I need not belabour its application or wearability but I will mention a few small things. In my limited polish experience it's a lovely dark creme that requires three coats to bring it to opacity. Lazily, I applied only two (thick, to avoid streaking) which gave this polish a glassy, jelly-like quality. In the right light, this polish is a deep (very deep) wine colour. In dim light, it appears almost black, but I think this is a sophisticated, albeit standard, look for fall. They didn't reinvent the wheel with this one but a rich, wine creme suits me just fine come October/November. Not sure it'll stick around in time for Christmas, though. I'm sure by then I'll want something sparkly!

For today's Konadicure I've paired it with a mix of China Glaze's Passion (Romantique) and Peace on Earth (Holiday 2010). Both show up remarkably well but the complexity of Peace on Earth doesn't really come through here. It looks almost as gold as Passion. Alternatively, Naughty and Nice would pair really well with China Glaze's Poetic (Romantique) which runs slightly more pink.

Hope you guys enjoy!

This is Classy Bear. I've had my Christmas decorations up since the beginning of November and somewhere along the way Classy Bear was given a bow tie, a scarf and a new top hat. (He was also given a name.) :P Classy Bear was kind enough to be the background for these photos and tips his (at the moment, invisible) hat to you!

It snowed on Hallowe'en...

So... this is a little late but although I haven't been around in a while I have still been doing manis and taking pics from time to time.  For Hallowe'en this year (yes, it's a HUGE deal to me: :P) I rocked out cybergoth style with a touch of a snowflake motif. Because my "costume" (such as it was) was electric blue and black I figured I should have a mani just as awesome. Now it's just in time for the holidays!

The extra touch of awesome comes from the fact that it's also Louboutin mani inspired so there's electric blue under the nail too.

China Glaze - Liquid Leather (base)
China Glaze - Frostbite (stamp, under tip)
China Glaze - Awaken (snowflake stamp)
Konad - Silver (snowflake stamp)
Konad - m59 (snowflake)
Konad - m70 (graffiti)

Hope you guys like it!

-mKat

Quick announcement: new coupon for OCNailArt!

Kathleen, the proprietor of OCNailArt, has kindly given Polish or Perish their own coupon code! Get a FREE Konad image plate of your choice with purchases of $30 or more! Just add the plate you want to your order and enter the code POLISHORPERISH: the price of the plate will be deducted at checkout.

As always, shipping is free on orders of $20 or more in the US and Canada. For all other countries, shipping is free on orders over $40.

KotD: China Glaze Golds and Teal...with Glitter!

Hey guys!  I haven't had the pleasure of posting my nails in a while... Life gets so crazy busy sometimes it feels as though there isn't time to breathe.  Ah well. Such is life, I guess. I'm slowly checking off projects from my giant list of "stuff to do"... hopefully I'll get some schoolwork done in there, too. ;)

Here's a gold and teal look put together using different polishes from a handful of China Glaze collections. I paired Passion (Romantique) with Custom Kicks from the last summer's Kicks collection. Custom Kicks wears nicely on its own but the gold shimmer that comes out in this polish makes it a wonderful compliment to any gold. Just for fun (because I thought it might be easier than striping tape) I used Cleopatra (Glitter) to trim the edge of my french tip. Turned out okay but could've been a bit neater, IMO. (Click to expand for detail.)

Hope to be back soon with some more nail art. In the meantime, hope you guys are having a great summer.

Base: China Glaze Custom Kicks
Tip: China Glaze Passion
Trim: China Glaze Cleopatra
Stamp: China Glaze Custom Kicks & Passion; Konad Plate m51

Quick cellphone pic!

Cheers!
- mKat

What I'm wearing: ChG: Custom Kicks, Passion & Cleopatra (hands); ChG Japanese Koi (feet)...so neon..so awesome. :P
What I'm waiting on: Bon Jovi concert!  :D

Even more stash pics: fauxnads that resemble real Konads

It's the day of my poster! 2-3pm today. And after that... I AM FREE!! (Sort of.) I'm at least free to enjoy the rest of my time in Boston. And I am so looking forward to that.

Today I have even more nail stamp plate stash photos.... we're about halfway through my stash at this point.

These I got from eBay about a year ago: a seller whose name I no longer remember was selling a bunch of the typical GCOCL-like fauxnads but he or she also had a bunch of dead-on Konad dupes, so I scooped them up. They work fine and are the exact same patterns, if not as deeply etched and on a lighter-feeling disk.

Fauxnad B09 (compare to Konad M3)

Plastic still hasn't been taken off the plate. Wasn't excited about this one but figured I'd have some use for basic hearts and stars sometime.

Fauxnad B16 (compare to Konad M8)

Umbrella! Dunno what that little spray of whatever with the dots at the end is but I like it.

Fauxnad B17 (compare to Konad M20)

Plastic still on. I forgot that I wanted to use the little cluster of cherry blossoms (or whatever blossoms) for Chinese New Year earlier this year. Love the gingko leaves.

Fauxnad B29 (compare to Konad M38)

Grapes on a vine and a wine glass. Perfect. Perfect for what? Who knows.

Fauxnad B33 (compare to Konad M37)

Grapes! I like some of the garlands on this one too.

Fauxnad B36 (compare to Konad M39)

Really don't know why I got this one...

Fauxnad B56 (compared to Konad M44)

I'm so bad at placing French tips that I haven't even bothered trying any of these.

Fauxnad B57 (compare to Konad M45)

I tried the polka dots. That's where I learned I couldn't Konad a french tip straight to save my life.

Fauxnad B65 (compared to Konad M51)

I dunno what it is: I love swirls. When I doodle, I doodle swirls much like the ones one this plate.

Here's an odd one:

Fauxnad M24 (...compare to Konad M24)

It's the same number and everything but I got it off of eBay and it doesn't have the paper backing that real Konad plates have. It also photographed differently than any other plate I have: I can't describe it that well, it's like it diffused light differently. It was hard to get a pic that showed the designs clearly.

And finally, the one plate I got from this particular seller that wasn't a Konad dupe:

Fauxnad B61

Why did I get it? Snowflakes. :)

And I'm not even on the BundleMonster plates yet... I should at least take the plastic off and pretend like I use these plates to justify how many I have.

More stash pics: Konad plates

My collection of real Konad plates. They are much more used than most of my other plates because some of them were my first stamping plates and spent a lot of time experimenting with them.

Konad M9

Love the belt pattern and I've used it on my SO's big toes. :)

Konad M19

I don't think I've ever used this plate at all. I guess I should try it sometime.

Konad M21

I'm also really fond of the splotches on this plate. It's also one that I've used on my SO before.

Konad M35

I can never get that little fairy in the center to pick up right with my stamper. :P I don't see why I got this plate to begin with either.

Konad M56

This one is still in its wrapper. Love the leaf and swirls but haven't been inspired to use them yet...

Konad M59

I got these for the snowflakes. I've seen great designs with the bows but I think my fingers are too small for them. :(

Konad M60

None of these designs actually have ended up looking good on me... but I love them!

Konad M63

One of my favorite plates. The swirl design in the bottom right looks good on everyone, imo.

Konad M64

I like the abstract broken design on the bottom right a lot but I haven't been able to get it to look good on me.

Konad M65

Another favorite plate. Love everything except for that weird floral garland.

Konad M69

Still unopened...

Konad M73

I think the flowers and vines in the bottom left are so pretty but I seem to be prone to smudging this particular design.

Konad M74

Really wanted to like this one two of the designs I liked best on this plate (top right and bottom left) ended up looking not so hot on my nails. Maybe it's because I'm not that great at Konad.

Konad M77

Got it for the feathers. Only reason.

Konad M78

Everyone can rock that semi-marble pattern on the bottom right. Except me. Fact.

Konad M79

Clouds, dots... how could you lose? (Still in wrapping though...)

Believe it or not, I have a bunch more including some fauxnads from eBay that are exact dupes of Konad plates, a couple I got off of etsy and 21 BundleMonster plates. Stay tuned. :)

Stash photos: some Fauxnad plates

My collection of nail stamping plates is sad. Sad in that I have a ton but I rarely use them. That's how you know I have a "problem" (as opposed to a "hobby").

I wanted document my collection so I'll be devoting a couple of posts to this throughout the next couple of weeks: today, I have GCOCL plates and my lone Hot Topic fauxnad plate. (I also have some weird flower-shaped ones, some exact-dupe Fauxnads, a bunch from BundleMonster and, of course, real Konad plates... but those will have to wait for another day.)

Let's start out with my Hot Topic plate. I LOVE this plate and have it thanks to Evil Angel @ Black Nail Polish and Lip Gloss.

I love the skull-and-crossbones. And the stars, for that matter. But especially love the skull.

GCOCL A01

This one is unused and still has the protective plastic cover on. I bought a lot of the GCOCL plates in an eBay lot so a lot of these plates only have one or two designs I like. In this case, I really only like the flower surrounded by the four dots on each side at 7 o'clock (next to the dot of nail polish, which is there to indicate which one I should use first when I get around to using this plate).

GCOCL A02

Another unused plate! I keep on meaning to use it because I think the Hello Kitty stamp is hilarious. It's the reason I bought this lot of GCOCL plates! Just for the Hello Kitty. I even specially requested it when I got it off of eBay. I do like the grapes too, though.

GCOCL B01

Kind of an ugly, pointless plate for me. I may get use out of some of the flowers (and the vine at 8 o'clock) but... eh. I keep thinking maybe one day, I might want a mermaid on my nails...

GCOCL B02

One of my first Fauxnad plates... one that's actually used! Love the feet, cherries, frog and the rose. Haven't used the feet yet though. Saving that for a pedicure...

GCOCL C01

Hmm, that vine at 10 o'clock looks a lot like the vine in B01. I like these for the mirror-reflected flowers. For times when I need symmetry.

GCOCL C02

The dog's cute but I can't see ever using it really.

GCOCL D01

Another vaguely pointless plate for me. I guess I kind of like the flowers on this one (especially the rose at 8 o'clock and the simple pattern at 4 o'clock) but I'm kind of meh on this one... and though some people can pull off designs with the actual word "love" in them, I'm not one of those people.

GCOCL D02

I never understood the center pattern. It's not big enough to be a full-nail design and just looks strange. Any ideas on what that's supposed to be? I do like the two top flower patterns a lot though.

GCOCL E01

The middle pattern could be pretty on a single nail but I'd want to do two different colors for it -- and I am far from mastering stamping just one color even. The palm tree is so kitschy, I almost like it.

GCOCL E02

Obviously unused but has a few designs that I'd really like for semi-frenches (like two at the bottom -- I think those could look cute placed on the top of the nail).

GCOCL F01

This is sort of as generic as fauxnad plates go but I love this one. Sort of the quintessential girly flower plate for me. Really simple designs for the most part but I like them.

GCOCL F02

Seriously, the heck is that center stamp?? Vines? I'd swap or sell this plate in a minute except that I LOVE the shooting stars at 2 o'clock. I think it's adorable and have used it several times.

GCOCL K06

It's weird to me that I've used this plate. I don't actually like any of the designs on it. Must've been one I bought early on...

GCOCL K05

This is a plate I can see actually getting a bit of use out of. The lady bug is beyond cute (and the SO and I have a thing about ladybugs), the stars in the center would look wonderful in holo... dunno that I'd ever use the dolphin or scorpion though.

I wish I could choose which designs could go on which plate. I feel like for so many of these plates, I only like, at most, three designs. It seems like such a waste to keep a whole plate just for a single design, no?