Stamping Success with MASH 26-50 Plates

If you follow Polish off the Bottle on Facebook and Twitter, then you know that I have been super pumped about getting started with nail stamping.  Well, my MASH 26-50 Plates arrived last week along with my Konad double ended stamper, and I have been having a ball!  It's a much easier process than I thought it would be, and there is so much variety you can do with your manicure.  I feel like I'm an all-star nail artist now thanks to nail stamping.

So my first attempt wasn't perfect, but I wanted to try a small design instead of a full pattern first just to get used to the application process.  Here's a pic from my first nail stamp manicure attempt:

Shot of the Day: Celebrating with China Glaze (Champagne Bubbles) and Gold Glitter

Well, I found out this week that I passed my comprehensive exams for my graduate program so I am celebrating the fact that I will have my master's degree in just three weeks!  I wanted to make my nails fit my mood, so I thought China Glaze's Champage Bubbles would be a perfect base for a sparkling celebration mani!

The gradient isn't perfect, but it sure does shine!  I used a base coat of OPI Nail Envy, then I used China Glaze Angel Wings as my first glitter layer toward the tips.  Angel Wings is a gold/green fine glitter with slightly holographic undertones. My second coat was Color Club's Gold Glitter, which is a slightly chunkier glitter that is very pigmented, and it has an amazing application.  It's very smooth and offers pretty full coverage.

The final coat I used for this glitter gradient look was Nicole by OPI's Kissed at Midnight.  It is a part of the Selena Gomez collection and it's one of my new favorite glitters.  The application is comparable to Essie's Luxeffects glitters.  It has a clear base with various sizes of gold round glitter, which are plentiful and easy to apply with the brush.  I seriously love this glitter and I will definitely be buying more glitters from the Selena Gomez collection!  It isn't goopy and thick like most highly pigmented glitters, and I think it added the perfect touch to my champagne celebration nails!

I used Seche Vite as my top coat.  I love this top coat with glitters because it makes your nails smooth to the touch, not grainy or bumpy, which happens a lot with glitters.  Anyway, I think it's time to get this party started.  I'll begin by mixing a pitcher of Sangria!

Shot of the Day: Jesse's Girl Carolina Beach

As you know, I'm a little obsessed with neon polishes these days, and I love this bright color from Jesse's Girl Polishes.  This brand of polishes is a bit difficult to find in my neck of the woods, so I only have 2 colors, but I really love them both.  This color is called Carolina Beach and it is super duper bright!  I used three coats to get this effect, and while the application is a bit challenging as the the polish is very quick-drying and has a matte effect, it's totally worth the extra bit of effort.

Sorry for the poor quality of this photo, but you get the idea.  And in the sunlight, Carolina Beach is splashy and neon. This is a great color for spring/summer!  It wavers between a peachy-coral and a bright orangey-pink.

I also want to mention that Jesse's Girl polish stays on a loooong time.  Like I said, I only have two of their polishes, but both colors lasted on my toes for about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks with no chips.  Both times I have used OPI Nail Envy as a base coat and Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top coat.

Shot of the Day: Scales Nails! Sally Hansen (Butterscotch) and Revlon (Posh)

I'm still waiting for my Konad stamper to come in the mail ( I have received my MASH 26-50 plates), but I felt like I couldn't wait for a little animal pattern.  So sans stamper, I made my own version of scales nails! I call them scales nails because they remind me of lizards, snakes, and dinosaurs.  But, before I applied the "scales" with my dotting tools, I took a quick photo so I could provide a swatch of Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure polish in Butterscotch:

I love love love this color and I will definitely be purchasing more Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes in the future.  I did two coats out of habit, but honestly, it looked just as good with one.  It's very pigmented so I'm expecting a bit of staining, but still, this is one of my new favorite polishes.  It has a very creamy application, dries smoothly, and shines brightly.  I used Butterscotch over a coat of OPI Nail Envy.  I seriously cannot wait to try it out as a stamping polish.  It's thick and pigmented and not a quick dry so I'm thinking it might be perfect.

 And here it is under more natural lighting.  I took this picture in my living room when the afternoon sun was shining in, and it doesn't look streaky or uneven at all.  Most of my mistakes show up best in natural light and either I've gotten really really good overnight or this polish is incredible.  Maybe both.

So anyway, next I dotted on Revlon's Posh in a downward/upward alternating gradient pattern using 3 different sized dotting tools.

So up close it kind of just looks like a dot gradient, which it is, but from a little further away it gives the impression of scales....at least to me.

See what I mean?  Kinda scaly/lizard-z/dinosaur-y, huh?

So I know I've mentioned this before, but I adore Revlon polishes, and Posh is no exception.  It applied just as well as the Butterscotch, just with a thinner texture, which makes it a perfect dotting polish!

I topped it all off with a layer of Seche Vite and voila! My scales nails mani is complete! What do you think?

All products used today (minus the dotting tools).

I think I foresee leopard print nails in the future...

Recently I had a few friends over for drinks and I proudly wore this new glamorously fierce shirt:

That is my cherished Sangria Goblet I'm posing with. I never make Sangria without it.  And my friends give me a hard time for my love of animal prints, but c'mon? This shirt is amazing and I didn't spill a drop of delicious sangria on it.  Tonight's Sangria recipe included: a bottle of red wine (any blend will do but I prefer a Chianti or Pinot Noir), a few cups of Ginger Ale, a sliced orange, 2 squeezed limes, lemon juice, and a splash of grapefruit juice.  I like my sangrias more tart than sweet, but you can play with the ratios to find a flavor that suits you.

After this wild ensemble, there may be some animal print manis in my near future. Rawr.

Shot of the Day: Neon Mani with Nina Ultra Pro (Solar Flare)

Well, I've decided that I want to join the neon bandwagon.  I always thought my skin tone wouldn't be very conducive to neon colors, but then I kept seeing all these beautiful neon manicures and I had to try it.  After a trip to Sally's, I came home with these little babies.  

For my first neon mani, I went with the Nina Ultra Pro in Solar Flare. It's a super bright highlighter yellow that is pretty blinding.  This polish is not for those who want a subtle pop of color, but I freakin loved it!  I could not stop staring at my nails!

See?  It's crazy bright in the sunlight!  I used OPI Nail Envy as a base coat.  The first coat of Solar Flare was pretty thin and sheer, and it dried surprisingly matte.  The second coat was better, but I got the color I was looking for on the third coat.  Some people like to do neons over a white base, but I was just experimenting with this one, and I'd say a white base isn't necessary.  Finished with a coat of Seche Vite and the color shines even brighter. Wow!

Have you jumped on the neon bandwagon?  What neons do you love?

Shot of the Day: Revlon Zealous with Retro Dots

Zealous looks like a questionable color in the bottle, but I love the way it looks with two coats.  It's bright, summery, and cheerful!  The application is a bit thin at first , but I got pretty full coverage after 2 coats.  The color wavers between a yellow-green combo with gold shimmery undertones. I applied two coats of the Zealous over a coat of Orly Bonder.

Next I used my dotting tools to add a layer of gray dots (NYC Sidewalkers), over top of which I applied smaller white dots (Sally Hansen Hard to Get). Finally, I went back to the gray polish for the small dot overlay.  I topped it all off with a layer of Seche Vite.

I'm really loving this manicure. I call it my 70s Soda Pop Mani.  For affordable drugstore polishes, these are great choices.  And I'm also really impressed with how easy these dotting tools are to use!  I'm surprised by how fast I've gotten the hang of it.

Welcome!

As I mentioned in the About page, I'm here to blog about two of my favorite things - nail polish and cocktails.  I've been a book blogger for years, but I recently decided to join the nail blogging world and it's really exciting.  I'm not completely sure how I'm going to organize this site yet, but I will definitely be posting pictures of my manicures, which will include lots of glitter and polka dots by the way, as well as nail polish reviews and swatches.

 I'm a big fan of China Glaze, Essie, Kleancolor, OPI, Revlon, Orly, and Sinful Colors polishes, but I'll wear almost any drugstore brand if the color catches my eye.  I haven't delved into the realm of designer polishes yet, but I'm hoping my graduate school budget will allow for a few polish splurges here and there.  And just to start things off on the right hand, here are some sample photos of my most recent manicures.  In the future, I will improve my photography methods and post the base coat, polish names, etc.  Also, please be patient with my cuticles...Enjoy!