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!

How do you remove your polish?

So... just a question for anybody/everybody out there!

I don't swatch a lot. I find that polishes (especially highly pigmented polishes) get everywhere when I attempt to remove them, even when I've taken great pains not to get them on my cuticles in the first place. Because of this I am typically turned off of swatching. For those of you who love to swatch, how do you keep your cuticles so clean and your hands from staining as you move between polishes?

Tips, tricks etc. welcome!

Raspberries and other tasty treats... China Glaze Heli-Yum

Heli-Yum was one of the many fantastic cremes to launch as part of China Glaze's wonderful summer 2010 collection, Up and Away. Of the collection, I currently own only three shades - Grape Pop, Light as Air and this little bit of aforementioned raspberry wonderfulness - though I am sure I will collect them all eventually. Although I bought it much earlier in the year, I've waited months and months for just the right time to debut this shade. (What can I say? I'm neither a trend-follower, nor trend setter. :P) It is a decadently rich, berry pink that makes me think of jams, jellies and fresh summer fruit and it looks amazing when paired with a decent top-coat such as Seche Vite. Right now I'm wearing it on both my hands and feet and I'm loving how playful it makes me feel. :) Two coats was enough to bring me to bottle colour but I added a third just for the heck of it.

I am currently indulging in some of my other favourite pastimes including digging in the dirt (literally...as I've been planting/replanting around my condo) and counting down to StarCraft II which came out on the 27th. (In true nerd fashion, I lined up for the midnight sale and scored a bonus hat as a result.) :P I have no doubt that between gardening and gaming my nails will be looking shabby for a while. LOL

Oh and because I mentioned 'other tasty treats', here's one of my favourites... Jon Bon Jovi. :) I was in the fourth row at their concert last week and the most amazing lady that was seated next to me was kind enough to send me a ton of her pictures. This one is courtesy of her. Bon Jovi=greatest band in the world (I say this with little to no bias ;)) and it's great to see they have such wonderful fans! :)

Til next time!
-mKat

Mini vacation/Ulta Haul

A couple of months ago, just before I headed to the US for an academic conference, one of our lovely readers suggested an Ulta polish when she heard of my desire to find "the perfect green".  Unfortunately, my conference happened to be nowhere near an Ulta (pity since they don't exist in Canada) so I didn't have an opportunity to grab it when I last visited the States.

Last week however, I returned to the States to enjoy sunny (very sunny!) Chicago. It was a whirlwind trip - I really went just to see the Shedd Aquarium - and was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had.  If you are from Chicago, your city is amazing.  I feel privileged just being able to visit.  (And if you don't already love Shedd and everything it has to offer, go now and enjoy it!)  I also had an opportunity to check out some of the other museums in the city and I know I've gotta repeat this trip because there are just so many things to see and do.

Oh! And the bonus? An Ulta was within a stone's throw of my hotel.  Imagine my luck that Ulta was also  having a polish sale!  $2 a bottle... I hope it is as good as you guys say!  :) (Sorry for the crappy photos... I took them while at the hotel... the bf was sleeping, it was dark...the lighting sucked... but I was excited.) :P

Wicked

Plum Perfect

Tutu True

Celebutante

Devious

Moody Blues

Blue Streak

Limelight

Sun-sational

Little Black Dress

Wild Night

Alter Ego

Jaded

Femme Fatale

Material Girl

In with the old: China Glaze - Frostbite

I don't have nearly as many polishes as some of my fellow bloggers (partially because I am OCD and I stick to one or two brands to keep my collection in line and partially because I am cheap and don't part easily with my money...LOL). In spite of this, I do have quite a number of polishes that I haven't yet worn and I do my best with every mani/pedi to integrate a new colour for sake of interest. There are some colours however that I *always* want to come back to and often have to force myself away from when coordinating a given manicure. Imagine my delight when my bf selected one of my favourites to be today's look!

China Glaze's Frostbite is an electric blue.  Quite possibly it is my favourite shade of blue - ever. And not just for a polish. For EVERYTHING.  If I could dye my hair this colour, I totally would.  Not really an easy task given that my hair is almost black. (Imagine hair this colour on skin in MAC's NC43 range.) Ridiculous, right? 

More like ridiculously awesome. :P

The downside to Frostbite is that, in my opinion, the formula sucks. I don't know if it's the bottle I have or whatever batch Frostbite is associated with in general but it's drippy and thin and typically takes three thick coats to make me happy.  You can probably see where I made the coats a little too thick and suffered some indents in my not-yet-dry polish.  Oh well. Still an awesome colour and one that makes me instantly happy. It is definitely one of the more appropriately named polishes in my book, too. :)

Anyway, completely unrelated to the above, I went on a "safari" adventure thing today as part of my bf's family reunion of sorts.... Here's a pic of the elephants a-swimmin'!

All for now, folks!  Happy weekend to you!

-mKat

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

E-mail subs are working again!

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Thanks guys. :)

E-Mail Subscriptions

Hi everyone:

Please be advised that we are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our e-mail subscriptions (this does not apply to feed readers or followers).  We will let you know as soon as this issue has been resolved. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

- Team PoP!

Back in business!

All right so it looks as though we made it through the edits without too many catastrophes! :)

Please let us know what you think of the updated look, whether it's easier to navigate and/or what additional features you might like to see. We'll be tinkering with things in the coming weeks but as this design is for you, our readers, we'd really appreciate some feedback.  The primary goal was to de-clutter our main page (would you believe that a bunch of polish hoarders are all minimalists?!) while still keeping everything of interest within easy access.

Some new features of note:

• Our "sales" have been integrated into the site via the Sales link above. All of our sales have been tagged as such to make them easier for you to access. Sales in this category will be updated periodically and you now have the opportunity to subscribe specifically to our sales so you can get the latest updates on whatever we've got for sale or swap.
  
  
• We now have a fully functional "contact" page designed to make it easier for you to get in touch with us. Write to the blog generally if you want to sing our praises (haha) or write to a specific contributor if you've got comments or questions about a favourite look - it's up to you!
  
  
• Archives are now easier than ever to access.  Writing a blog with a handful of other academics makes it readily apparent that we all have different ways of organizing our thoughts. Some of us prefer to search a blog by date, some by label and some want to search by name. If you've got a favourite blogger here - not that we're advocating favouritism! ;) - then please make use of our new "Archive by Contributor" feature to find older posts of interest.
  
  
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In the meantime, if you haven't already, please follow us on Twitter! :)

And Happy Canada Day!  
(I'll save the G20 politics for another day.)

New Layout, New Design, Same Level of Excitement!

Hey everyone!

I feel as though I haven't been here forever (and really, I haven't).  I just wanted to drop in to mention that my fellow PoP bloggers and I are very excited about unveiling our new layout tomorrow, just a couple of weeks shy of our one year anniversary! 

There are tons of great things happening here at PoP. We are so very thankful for our fans who have helped make this place great and have really driven our efforts to improve the site. We hope you enjoy the changes as much as we do - constructive comments welcome - and we hope you'll keep coming back for more!

The new look launches on July 1st (Happy Canada Day! to all of our Canadian friends).  Please be aware that there may be site disruptions during this time... I'll do my best not to have things down for too long! ;)

See you soon!

QuikPic: Nfu-Oh 60

Hey all...

I'm a little out of sorts right now. I don't know how many of you have felt like this / do feel like this during grad school but I'm somewhere in between tears and dropping out. Blah.

Anyway...

I have managed to wrap up my coursework (frustrated determination/anxiety got me through it) and while I am not in the mood for nail art at the moment, I thought I'd swatch some of my new polishes. I must apologize in advance for the quality of the photo (cell phone, shot indoors at a window) and the state of my hands. I finally tried the acetone trick since my fellow PoP bloggers always have such great cuticles. I don't think I did too badly for my first time but acetone really does dry out my hands...and it's very pronounced on darker skin.

I swatched Nfu-Oh over several different things.
Pinky - 4 coats
Ring - 2 coats (over 2 coats Rimmel Black Satin 399)
Middle - 3 coats
Index - 2 coats (over 2 coats China Glaze IX)
Thumb 2 coats (over 2 coats China Glaze Wagon Trail)

In the pictures (and IRL) I don't really see much difference between fingers. I will try swatching over brighter colors to see if the effects change. Nfu-Oh is an absolutely gorgeous flakie though....a beautiful, fall inspired transition between greens, golds and coppers (at some angles maybe even blues and teals) suspended in a glassy black-brown

Chat soon.

-mKat

QuikPic: Color Club Chelsea Girl

I haven't done my nails in months. Months!

When I get busy with school all else goes by the wayside until I look like a defeated sasquatch. Slowly my makeup use starts to decline... and I'm no longer making sure my brows look good... Eventually, it's a good day if I brush my hair. :P (I am only partially kidding.)

Anyway, I have to admire the other girls for keeping up with their manis no matter how busy they are. I have never been in the practice of doing a daily NoTD (something that might change with my discovery of Seche Vite), in part because I typically like to take a while to do nail art, and I don't often wear a plain nail color. But after a month of bare hands and being bored... I figured something was better than nothing. And oh what a something I picked!

This is a really quick shot (with my phone's camera) of Color Club's Chelsea Girl, my first "full" Color Club polish and, I think, the first polish I want a backup of. There's something incredibly sophisticated about cremes, in my opinion, even bright (neon) blue cremes such as this. I cannot even explain how happy this color makes me...but my fingers and toes now feel divine. Perhaps it will inspire some work out of me. :P

In reality I think this color leans a bit more cerulean than is seen in the picture. But it was a quick shot without me changing any settings on my phone so I'll live with it. Application was streak free in three coats, but I did a fourth for extra measure. As with many neons it dries a bit matte but looks gorgeous with a topcoat (I chose Seche Vite) and sort of exhibits what I consider to be jelly-like qualities.

Anyway... I'm in love. Chelsea Girl and I are running away together. With a couple of fimo decals along for the ride. :)

P.S. My nails haven't been this short in forever. But I had a few really bad breaks (geocaching+logs+long nails=bloody hands) so... yeah. Rocking the short nails for a bit. Liking it though. :)

A really quick haul post...

Hey guys...

I haven't really been around in a while (though I do try to comment when I can) and aside from yesterday's "unrelated to polish" question, I don't feel I've been participating enough to call myself a blogger. I really, really can't wait til the semester is done (not simply because I would like to have time to blog again)... I feel I am well and truly sick of this year. :P

Anyway I just wanted to post a quick haul. The ladies of this blog (as well as several of our readers) have encouraged me to branch out from my usual China Glaze and so I have, as you'll see below. But there will always be room for my beloved China Glaze. :P

Pics courtesy of my Google Nexus One. (Yes, I have become "that" girl.) :s

OPI Shrek Minis

(What's With the Cattitude?; Fiercely Fiona; Rumple's Wigglin' and Who The Shrek Are You?)

Since Flinty has been awesome enough to provide you with some great swatches, (and inspire me to pick this up!) I won't have to do the honors. My only regret is that I didn't grab "Ogre The Top Blue". Still, I own no full bottles of OPI - yet. (And I'm not sure that I will if I can't buy it at a discount!) I couldn't pass up that green though. "Oh Em Gee!"

A plethora of Color Club blues. This explains why I am still on the hunt for the perfect green... all I buy is blue. :P

I happened, unknowingly, to throw in ChG's Towel Boy Toy during this haul and was surprised upon opening the package by how close these colors are in-bottle. Fellow blogger Nihrida has a great comparison of this and CC's Pure Energy, if you're interested.

 (Chelsea Girl; Emerald Depths; Sexy Siren; Pure Energy and Factory Girl)

Staples! (Well, Revvvolution is, anyway.)

I can never get over how awesome Revvvolution is in pictures. EVERYBODY who has ever posted a shot of this polish has made me want to try it.  It's more complex than gunmetal, I think. I liken it to tv static...just before the girl from The Ring crawls through my screen.

(Jackie Oh!; Revvvolution and Ultra Violet)

See you guys soon - I hope!

Upcoming: Fabuloustreet/Nfu Oh haul; some oldies but goodies (courtesy of the folks at China Glaze) and new nail art. :)

A question unrelated to polish...

Hey everyone...

Hope to be done with this stupid semester soon... :S

Quick question for those of you who are/were in grad school or routinely do research... What do you use (if anything) to organize your citation info? Opinions on software, hardware, filing cabinets etc. welcome!

Thanks in advance for input!

If you could attend any concert, what would it be?

Still on my list of bands to see...Aerosmith.

(I'd also love to see Disturbed!)

What do you want to know?

China Glaze - Light Grapes

I had initially planned to swatch some China Glaze blues but at the last minute decided to do a KOTD instead.  It's a little messy around the cuticles. I haven't got the skill the other ladies have for avoiding their cuticles and I typically take pictures a day after a mani so the polish has had a chance to come away from my skin. No time for such luxuries today though!

I am still trying to figure out what I think of Light as Air. I don't know whether it's because I was trying to do this mani hastily (or not) but I found the application to be a bit fussy. It was lovely and opaque in two coats but the polish dragged a bit as though it were drying quickly during the application process.  On another note, while I am not a fan of pastels on myself I bought this precisely for the purposes of doing Konadicures and I think it turned out well. I am not sure I could pull this shade off (nor am I sure I'd try to) on its own though. Still, it does make a beautiful base. And Grape Pop stamps surprisingly well!

---

As an aside, one of my students noticed my nails last week. It took me by surprise initially since she attended my office hours to talk about the course (obviously)... But she was so enthusiastic about my Konadicure I had to explain it to her. She left a Konad convert (and actually sent me a follow-up email) so I told her about Kathleen over at OCNailart. I guess this nail polish "thing" of mine can't stay hidden forever! Then again...maybe it should!

---

Base colour: China Glaze - Light as Air
Stamp: China Glaze - Grape Pop; China Glaze - Avalanche
Plate - Konad m57, m54
Topcoat: Seche Vite

Anyway, as I'm sure most of you are aware, the semester is drawing to a close. I have final papers to write, comps lists to compile, tons of assignments and final exams to grade...and a conference to get ready for in just under 3 weeks. Suffice it to say I'm freaking out a little. (Mainly over the conference because public speaking scares me to no end...and it's been a really, really emotionally trying semester as a result.) With all that in mind, I'd like to wish everyone in school a great end of term...and everyone in general a Happy Easter.

As I'll be quite busy in the next little while I probably won't be back in earnest until mid-May. But you'll likely see me stick my head in to say hello and/or find me rambling about something or the other on my personal blog (http://edgeof-in-sanity.blogspot.com/).  (Until then you've got awesome ladies with more interesting polish taste than I have to entertain you.) :)

Have a great April!


Oh...and here's a peek at my new polish storage:

-mKat

What I'm wearing: My "Light Grapes" mani. :)
What I'm waiting on: A textbook for one of my classes; Richard Walker - The Conquest of Bread
What I'm lemming: I think I've finally picked a phone - Google's Nexus One. Amusingly...it doesn't have a keyboard - see: convo.

Konad plate storage

I've been on the lookout for a storage solution for Konad plates for ages. It occurred to me (or perhaps to me via my bf) that the holders used to store mini-DVRs for old camcorders would be perfect for plates.  Unfortunately, tracking these down proved to be more difficult than we expected.

For a while I stored my plates in a square jewelry box with a clear lid. I left them in their plastic sleeves so they wouldn't rub against one another (though Konad's backing protects them from scratches), and piled them in numerical order into the box.  It was a decent/attractive enough solution but it meant laying my plates out every time I wanted to do a Konadicure. Not particularly efficient. And definitely not logical now that my plate collection has expanded well beyond eight.

So... on the weekend, while picking up some household essentials, I came across an inexpensive ($2) photo album. With room for thirty-six 4x6 inch photos, I now have room for at least as many plates; more if I store two per sleeve.  As it is an album I can easily flip through it without having to pull my plates out individually, and it stores neatly on a shelf or in a drawer.  I've inserted business cards from my Konad/Fauxnad suppliers into the inside front cover and will likely replace the beach scene with something "cute and Konadish" when time permits.

It isn't perfect but I think it will do for now. 

-mKat

For Kitty's viewing "pleasure"...

I am so embarrassed by this mani St. Pat's Hot Mess I wasn't going to post it. But Kitty asked... so here it is.

I tried to do this way too quickly so this was the result of too many layers of polish followed by too many layers of Seche Vite (don't ask). I think Tree Hugger might be the first ChG polish I have to complain about...but I'll give it a fair run at a later date.

Base colour: China Glaze - Tree Hugger
Stamp: China Glaze - Wagon Trail
Plate - Konad m25
Flakies - NfuOh 38
Topcoat: Seche Vite/Essie MAY

-mKat

(School is wearing me out.)

China Glaze: Taking Ruby Pumps On a Stroll (Pic Heavy)

With all the raves for ChG's Ruby Pumps, I knew I had to have it. From the moment it arrived on my doorstep I was itching to wear it. I don't often do reds - I find they're a bit dated and they make people look old (kind of my opinion on red lipstick, to be honest). But this polish... this polish... does red right. I wore the plain mani (two coats) for a day and a half and couldn't stop staring at my hands while I did the most inane things (like shop for groceries).  I'm pretty sure my bf is sick of me going on about the sparkles.

Full sunlight

Look at the sparkles!

Of course, this red was just begging for Konad. I mean, it looks gorgeous on its own, but I couldn't wait to set off the sparkles against a deep, creme black.

Base colour: China Glaze - Ruby Pumps
Black: Rimmel - 399 Black Satin (one of the richest blacks I've ever seen, I'm ashamed to say I had to forgo China Glaze's Liquid Leather in lieu of this...)
Stamp: Konad SP - Black Pearl; China Glaze - Poetic
Plate - Chez Delaney A02
Topcoat: Konad clear topcoat (over black stamp); Seche Vite (over everything)

This may be my favourite Konad thus far. Unfortunately, Ruby Pumps is pretty damned hard to photograph as it is (what with all the shimmer and the fact that red pigment is terribly unforgiving)... The addition of topcoat made it close to impossible to catch the detail, especially Poetic over Black Satin.  Oh well. I did my best for you...hence the reason there are way too many photos! :P

BTW, I have to give credit to China Glaze's Orange Cuticle Oil. I bought a bottle during my last Trans Design haul. The only cuticle oil I own (Organix) came as part of a set and is $20 on its own. I figured if ChG could do the job for less than four bucks, it was worth it.  And it SO IS.  I think I'm addicted to the stuff. It smells awesome (I wear Satsuma from the Body Shop and I'm a fan of all things citrus)... and it moisturizes really, really well. I have incredibly dry hands (which tend to look ashy, especially in winter). And I've got dyshidrosis on my  hands, which is exacerbated by the dryness.  I find the oil really soothing.

The oil is so great I've been absently manicuring my bf when we watch TV. (He's enjoying it...and sometimes requests it...but I'm not supposed to tell his hockey team.) ;)

 

-mKat

Konad vs Fauxnad (and a brief e-tailer review)

Hey everyone:

I thought a little comparison between Konad and Fauxnad plates might be helpful for those of you who are just getting into stamping nail art. At very least it should give you an idea of the range of options available for stamping.  (If you're already aware of this or not interested in nail art stuff, feel free to skip this post and check out some awesome entries from my fellow PoP bloggers!) :)

Currently I own twenty-six nail art plates, sixteen of which are "official" Konad plates, and fifteen of which were purchased from Kathleen at OCNailart. The initial plate which led to my foray in blogging was purchased from a kiosk at a local mall that specialized in nail art.

My remaining (Fauxnad) plates were recently purchased from French e-tailer Véronique at chez-Delaney.  To my knowledge chez-Delaney offers no discount codes, but their shipping is decent.

Both Kathleen and Véronique are extremely helpful and in many cases they respond to email inquiries quite quickly.  Orders (shipped standard) are quick to arrive (I was really surprised at how quickly my shipment arrived from France) and both of them are happy to help sort out any errors you may have with your order.  (I've updated my OCNailart orders at the last second with no problem at all and I've had an incorrect plate listed on my chez-Delaney order which Véronique attended to immediately.) My recent acquisitions were the third and first time I had purchased from OCNailart and chez-Delaney respectively and in all cases I have been quite satisfied.


So what's the difference between Konad and Fauxnad, you ask?  Well, there are a couple of different things so let's begin at the top.

Quality of the plate(s)
Konad images are etched onto stainless steel discs with a finished (filed) edge and a paper backing.  To the touch, these plates are solid, with a decent amount of weight behind them.  By contrast, fauxnad plates are pressed using a lighter (seemingly flimsier material), are often unfinished, with a rough edge (not as sharp as a lid removed with a can opener, but along those lines), and do not possess a paper back.  This might be bothersome to some.  For me it isn't much of an issue, but I would advise against leaving younger children unsupervised with unfinished fauxnad plates.

A comparison of Fauxnad (top) and Konad (bottom) full images.
Fauxnad measures 16x20mm and some full Fauxnad designs are even larger while Konad measures approximately 13X17mm, typical of most full nail Konad images.

 Quality of the image(s)
There has been some debate as to the quality of images available on Fauxnad plates.  Fauxnad plates offer a wide range of images to choose from (and in many cases provide a replica of an original Konad image.)  One of the great things about many Fauxnad plates is that their plates come with mirror images which is especially great for doing stamping on both hands when you want your image to face in the same direction i.e. always toward the thumbs.  However, if you look closely enough (not that anybody ever will) you'll find that some of these mirrored images are slightly off which suggests an inattention to detail.

Some people have also complained that certain fauxnad plates have not been etched as deep as Konad plates.  I have had alternating trouble picking up images from both Konad and fauxnad plates respectively (sometimes due to the polish I use, sometimes due to my stamping technique) so I'm not totally convinced that the quality of the etchings on a fauxnad plate is necessarily worse.  (This may be something I get back to later.)

L-R: Fauxnad H22, Konad m51

Size of plates and "full sized" images
While many fauxnad plates come in the same size as Konad plates (just over 5.5cm), fauxnad also offers you larger plates (7cm in diameter) and in my opinion, if you were going to invest in fauxnad, these would be the ones to get.  In contrast with Konad, these larger plates offer larger "full sized" nail images which are great for easily covering the entire nail (especially if one has longer nails) and minimizes the need for double-stamping. From a design point, I find these full sized images are also a lot more interesting than many of the full sized images that Konad has to offer. But that's totally personal preference.  All in all, I think mixing up one's collection is the best way go go.

Price Breakdown

OC Nail Art

• plates cost $6.99 each
• free worldwide shipping (over $40 US, $20 domestic)

Chez-Delaney

• "small" plates (same size as Konad) cost 2.90€ (approximately $3.95 US, depending on exchange rate of course)
• large plates (7cm) are 3.90€ (approximately $5.30 US) 
• "A series" plates (7cm) are 4.10€ (approx. $5.50 US)
• 1-7 plates (any size) shipped for 3.50€ (priority to Europe)
• 1-7 plates (any size) shipped for 5.00€ (approx $6.80US priority International); 8th plate would be an additional  5.00€ (up to 14th etc.) - shipped in padded mailer
• thus far, no discount code available

Feel free to check out my earlier haul post for shots of Fauxnad plates from Chez-Delaney.

-mKat

P.S. If anyone was following my blog and has had recent difficulty with the feed, here's the link again: http://edgeof-in-sanity.blogspot.com/

Cheers!