Mundo de Uñas stamping polishes

A couple months ago I joined the Facebook group Adventures in Stamping, where other nail stamping enthusiasts post pictures, tutorials, and stamping tips on a daily basis.  This is where I was introduced to the amazing stamping polishes by Mundo de Uñas.  Made in Mexico, these polishes are specifically made for nail stamping, and the polishes are extra thick and pigmented for best results.  These polishes are not to be used as regular nail polish, however, as the consistency is too thick.

After seeing hundreds of photos from women who use this product, I knew I had to give it a try.  If you stamp on a regular basis, then you know that only a fraction of nail polishes out there are suitable for stamping, and this creates limitations in color selection.  And most polishes (except for whites, metallics, and some bright cremes) do not stamp well over dark colors like black or navy.  Luckily, Mundo de Uñas has created a brilliant and affordable solution.  Her specialty stamping polishes are far superior to other stamping polishes, and there are tons of swatches out there to prove it.  Plus, with Mundo de Uñas you get a huge variety of color options and very reasonable shipping rates.  I ordered the following 8 polishes, and with the shipping it cost about 35 dollars.

For what these polishes accomplish, it is truly an amazing deal and I will be ordering more very soon!  To see the full color chart, visit the Mundo de Uñas Facebook page (linked above), and if you want to place an order you will need to do so through the Facebook page as well.

To test out my new polishes, I wanted to do something very bright, where the contrast would be difficult to achieve with regular polish.  And these are my very satisfying results:

Can you believe how bright this is??  I feel like my stamping options are limitless now!

For this look I used OPI's Toucan Do It If You Try and Mundo de Uñas stamping polishes in #39 (Avocado) and #27 (Neon Yellow)

So what do you think of my "flower power" mani?  Have you used Mundo de Uñas stamping polishes before?  You should!

Shot of the Day: 2013 Halloween Nails #2

In keeping with the Halloween spirit, I've been incorporating a lot of Halloween-themed nail art lately, so for the next couple of day I'll be posting pictures of those.  Here's from a day where I went a little stamp crazy...

If you can't see the designs clearly enough (sorry for the poor photo quality...I was having camera and lighting issues) the images include: A haunted house, a spider, a cloud of bats, "boo!," and two tombstones.  I added America Apparel's Glow in the Dark top coat, and it really enhanced the green and gave the polish more of a matte finish.

The kids at the library loved these when I went to work, by the way!  Of course, they didn't get to see the glow-in-the-dark effect, but still...I am loving getting to do all these Halloween manis.

Shot of the Day: Sinful Colors "High Strung" + Stamping

For this look  I used "High Strung" from Sinful Colors and stamped with China Glaze's "Liquid Leather," which is my favorite black stamping polish.

For the accent nails, I used "Clearly Spotted" from the Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots collection

Shot of the Day: Galaxy Nails

Hey y'all!  Hope you had a great weekend.  Now that my husband and I have finished moving into our new place, I have been seriously trying to restore my pitiful, chipped and broken nails.  Now that I've got them looking decent again, I thought I'd celebrate with one of my favorite looks - the galaxy mani.  Here's a picture taken in natural lighting:

For this look, I used Nina Ultra Pro's Purple Xing as a base color, which worked great because this particular shade includes fine-medium multi-color glitter which really adds to that "deep space" look.  Next, I used a cosmetic sponge to dab on the little galaxies.  I outlined each little nebula in white first, then added depth and color with layers of pink, yellow, and dark blue.

Next, I used Essie's Set in Stones to add the little "stars, and then I finished by adding a coat of Out the Door's Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat in Silver.  And by the way, this was my first time using this particular top coat, and let me just tell you how wonderful it is, especially for a look like this.  Just like Out the Door's other top coats, Northern Lights dries quickly and offers great nail protection, but it also adds a subtle holographic shimmer, which kind of gives a 3 dimensional impression.  I will definitely be purchasing Northern Lights in Gold.  Anyway, here's the galaxy look in darker lighting, which really seems to glow with this top coat:

And remember, this is what it looks like in a brighter setting:

Pretty amazing, huh?  I must say, I'm quite proud of myself for pulling this off so well.  I did take me nearly two hours, but I think it was worth it.  What do you think?

Shot of the Day: Giraffe Print Nails

It seems like China Glaze's Lemon Fizz has been a huge hit with nail enthusiasts this summer.  And as soon as I got a bottle of my own, I knew it would be the perfect base color for a giraffe print mani.  Here's 2 coats of Lemon Fizz:

And I was right!  It is the perfect base color for a Giraffe print:

Please excuse my bad cuticle day...But other than that, pretty nice, huh?

Shot of the Day: Forever 21 Neon Polish and Stamping

I recently went on a shipping trip and came home with two nail polish sets from Forever 21: The Red Carpet Kit and the Summer Lovin' Kit.  I love them both so much! I was really surprised by the quality, especially considering that these kits are only $6.80 apiece!!  Here's a couple of swatches of the Highlighter Yellow color from the Summer Lovin' Kit:

My friend Cameron is a local artist here in Knoxville, and he was quite interested in my new stamping plates, so he decided to decorate my nails for me.  Some of the designs are from stamps, others are free-hand.  Here are a few pics from our epic nail art session:

Pretty awesome, huh? We used all kinds of stamps so I couldn't keep track of the plates we used, but I believe they all came from my MASH 26-50 Stamps and my Winstonia Plates.

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: 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).

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.