Frankfurt.

Now that I'm wearing it, I can't believe I let this stunning blue be an untried for so long. It has such a deep richness and vibrancy to it, somehow. It's Herôme W.I.C.'s 'Frankfurt 120'. I can fairly safely say it has instantly become my favourite dark blue.

Still, lovely as it is on its own I wanted to add a little something extra. This little design is from Konad plate m15 and the colour is actually a nail art striper by Max called 'Grey Galaxy'. As you can probably see by the slightly awkward placement, I'm out of practice with stamping. This was the second attempt. Yikes.

Back to the 'Falls.

A part two to my other Gravity Falls nails. This being my non-dominant hand, so I tend to wimp out and not bother with quite such detailed things. I have pretty steady hands, but alas, I am not full-on ambidextrous.

I wanted something simple based on the colour scheme of the logo (well, the greens) so I went for sponging. I used a slightly 'bluer' side of the green family than the logo because, to be quite honest, no other reason than that they were still standing around on my desk.
They are, in order from lightest to darkest -
Hema - Long Lasting 82
Essence - 54 Trust in Fashion
Essence - 03 Back to Paradise

Underrated.

Though I usually prefer to paint my own designs or get them through other techniques, I do enjoy the occasional stamping adventure. One of the things I really like in stamping is a pattern that covers a full nail. I don't get the chance to try that very often, because I generally like my nails to be longer than the plates will allow for. I trimmed my claws a fair bit the other day, so I hoped they would be short enough to allow this to work!
The plate is BM21, in case you struggle reading upside-down.

Not.. entirely a success.
I love the colour combination of blue and brown, and I think it's a vastly underrated one. It has been some time since I used it, so it was about time to give it another go in a different styling. Miss Sporty's '455' is my go-to brown and I was already previously aware that it carries a matte finish well, so that was an easy decision. I originally had a different blue in mind, but it looked very dark when stamped on so I switched that for a MAX (Action's own brand, I believe?) Nail Art Polish called 'Blue Galaxy'.

In real life the look is a lot more subtle as here I obviously tried to photograph it in its most visible state. As you can see the stamping didn't go all that well. Since I'm not too experienced a stamper, I struggle with placement and end up not getting part of the design on. Oops. I don't mind too much, though. It's not that apparent unless you're on top of my hands.

For my thumb, which is too broad and still too long to fit the full-nail design on, I went for a small detail. It came from one of Essence's stampy plates.
I had meant to center it more, but like I mentioned, my stamping-aim is not that great.

Long Time No Stamp.

I'm starved for title inspiration, is it obvious?

Recently added another Catrice polish to my collection, which stood out to me both for it's silly, pun-riddled name '46 Berry Potter & Plumbledore', and its interesting turquoise shimmer.

First I sponged it over '200 From Dusk to Dawn', but the difference in purples wasn't as big as I thought it would be, resulting in mostly a shimmery tip.

Using YSL '141 - White Gold', I wanted to add some details.. but really, none of it turned out the way I had planned it in my head.

I had only meant to stamp one nail per hand, but because the silver stripes didn't turn out as crisp as I wanted them (curse you, tape!) I stamped all my nails to try and cover it up a little.
I used a full-nail stamp from a BM21 plate, buuuut.. my nails are too long. I stubbornly tried it anyway and had to try and fill in the excess space with more stamping and it's all just a bit messy.
Despite it being a far cry from what I had originally wanted to do, I don't seem to dislike it, either.

Product Review - Stamping (+ Discount!)

Hey guys. I was approached by KKCenterHk to review a few of their nail art products, so here's the first of two!
(And scroll down for a discount coupon code!)
Fair warning; quite a picture-heavy post.

I was quite excited about this because I haven't really done much nail stamping in a while. I've gone a bit rusty when it comes to technique.
Anywho -
The products here are;
SPPMB37 stamping plate.
≫ Product page
JR1055 Scraper and stamp set.
≫ Product page
As you can see, both products are neatly and individually packaged.

When I opened up the stamp and scraper bag, this happened. Yeah. But it plopped right back into position so no real problem there.

Removing the plastic, as you do..

Now for the proper product review - I'm really pleased with the stamping plate. The shapes are neatly done and the polish filled the ridges well.

I must admit I had a little bit of trouble with the scraper, but with my own stamping set I have the same issue. I'm generally inclined to use an old student pass I had lying around, and will admit to having resorted back to that after one go - I don't like wasting my Konad stamping polishes if I don't have to. The scraper supplied is all plastic, no metal, so the plate is at no risk of being damaged from use.
I just can't apply the pressure to those things evenly or something, so student pass it is for me.

As you can see, the image transfers to the nails pretty much as well as is generally expected. I see no difference in quality from my Konad or Essence stamp plates, so I'm satisfied!

Couldn't resist stamping another image while I was at it. Don't you love this cute little skull guy? I think he's adorable.

Upon first contact, I've browsed the KKCenterHk website, and they really have a very large collection of (very affordable) stamping plates. It was so hard to choose one for review. Definitely check it out, there's bound to be something for everyone.

Keep your eye out for the next review!

KKCenterHk sent me these products purely for the purpose of review, I have not received any special compensation for doing so, and the opinions stated are entirely my own.

Gone for green.

I realised I never even uploaded the picture I have as my icon! So, here it is. OPI's 'Greenwich-Village', stamped with a white Konad polish from an Essence stampy plate.. Originally done in May, 2011. Really a very lovely shade of green, but it does take an ungodly amount of coats to cover properly.