My Wicked-Awesome Nail Art Kit

After looking at so many cool photos of nail art, I decided it's time I put together a collection of supplies to play around with.  And I did so for under $20!  I'm going to tell you how.

First, you have to decide what you want?  What kind of nail art do you like to see?  What's your skill level?  I really fell in love with the Konad stamping sets about 2 years ago, but honestly, I stink when it comes to using them.  This is frustrating since SO many people use them and they look great.  I don't know if I don't have the patience or if I simply don't have the knack for it.  And while I would like to invest in some of the awesome, HUGE plates I've seen, it's just not worth it for me.

I knew I wanted to get some brushes.  Since I tend to complain about a lot about some of the cheapie brushes that come in the lids of some nail polishes, it seemed like a logical choice.  I also picked up some striping brushes.  That seems like something I can do.  I've been coveting the dotting tools that have the acrylic handles with swirly colors in them.

I decided I wanted to get some striping tapes.  I don't know that I'll actually use them for striping, but I like the idea of using them to make patterns, paint over and peel off.   But that didn't stop me from getting them in almost 20 colors!

Then I began to think of other things to stick on nails.  The options are endless.  There's glitter, teeny steel balls, dried flowers, rhinestones, fimo slices, stickers, stencils, you name it!  Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for sparkly, so glitter and rhinestones?  Yes, please!  I also picked up some wheels with dried flowers, teeny steel balls (like you see in the "caviar" photos), rhinestones, pearls and some adorable pearl bows!  The glitter I got is AWESOME!  I got two sets.  One has fine glitter, the other one has large, hex glitter.

One thing I learned while shopping on eBay is that there are a LOT of companies that sell these things!  All are from China.  I got MANY items for under $1, including shipping!  I think the most expensive thing I got was the wheel with the pearly bows.  BUT definitely keep an eye on the things on your watch list or in your cart.  I had a couple of sets of glitter go from $1.40 to $25.00 overnight!  Fortunately, it only takes one search to find more listings!

Here are just a couple of photos.  I'm on vacation at the moment, but when I get back home, I will add a photoblog of the rest of my stash!!

Nostalgic Nail Lacquers

There has been a lot of buzz about artisan nail polishes for some time now! Some people call them indie, but since they are hand-blended and do vary, I prefer the word artisan.

I managed to snag a couple of new polishes from Nostalgic Nail Lacquers. I have been wanting to try some matte glitter polishes and I found a couple I really liked from their "Clueless"-inspired collection. I got "Rollin' With The Homies" and "Way Harsh."

RWTH has a clear base with white and blue matte glitter. It applies easily and the glitter distribution is pretty good. I found two coats to be sufficient for good coverage. I played with the color over some sparkly blues, cream colors and even a matte polish. I like the idea of mixing up textures, finishes and colors.

WH has a clear base, with really fine pink and black, matte glitter. This polish took a little more work to get an even distribution of glitter, but it's pretty!  I really love the mix of it and the turquoise nail polish.  Reminds me of the '50s formica countertops.

Both of these polishes dry down to a matte finish.  I had to use a couple of layers of Seche Vite to get a good smooth shine.  

These polishes are fun and creative.  There are not a lot of companies that make polishes with matte glitter.  I have seen quite a few artisans start a business, then get overwhelmed by the high demand for such products, thus creating the need for a hiatus.  It's a shame because once polishes like these do go on sale, they usually get bought up right away!

As for Nostalgic Nail Lacquers, I would definitely use more of their polishes.  The shipping was fast, the items were packed well.  Everything went off without a hitch and you can't beat that!

MUA Love Hearts Nails

This review looked like it was going to be a "gimme."  I love MUA products from the UK.  I love Love Hearts candy, also from the UK.  And I LOVE nail polish.  I ordered 3 of the Love Hearts colors and they are really pretty!  I got "I Want U", which is an orange.  "U & I" is a lovely buttercup color.  And "Love U 24/7" is a medium purple.  All of these colors are creams.

The first thing I couldn't help but notice was that the brushes are not the best.

As you can see, the purple and orange brushes are spread out with strays coming off the side.  The yellow one has an uneven slant to it.  In any event, all of the brushes are very course, which made for not optimal application.  As you can see, with two coats, there are very visible lines in the polish left by the brush.  Once I saw this, my review of this product was over.

And just to show this is NOT an isolated case, I bought a glitter crackle polish by MUA while I was in England.

Part of me hopes this is just a fluke, part of me wants to demand replacement polishes.  These brushes are unacceptable.  I love the colors, but I doubt I'll use them.  And I have to remember that these only cost 1 pound,, about $1.60 or so.  So I suppose I have to remind myself that you get what you pay for.  I just expected more from MUA since I like their other products so much.  

I Don't Usually Like Flakes...

Of course, I mean flaky people!

Recently, I've seen blogs and heard my girlfriends rave about Nubar nail polishes.  I've wanted to try them and I keep them in my watch list on eBay.  I covet the "Gems" and the "Sparkle" collections...you know me and glittery things.  Then a friend of mine posted about this color called "Opulent Pearl."  It's a flaky nail polish, meaning it has sparkly flecks in it that are not uniform in shape.  Think of how an opal looks.  And flakies come in all colors.  It can get confusing because you may think you're getting a blue one, only to find that the flecks are purple in a clear blue base.  Or a peach one, only to find the flecks are green.  This one is unique because it is in a subtle, white frosty base and reflects red, green, blue and purple.  It really is quite lovely and looks very much like an opal.

I decided since Opulent Pearl seemed to be such a great color, with such a great effect, that it should be what I picked up first.  No major investment in a whole collection of colors, just one pretty multipurpose polish.

I find that this polish looks best in extremes.  I like the naked nail the best and the dark color overlay second.  The reason why I don't really love it over darker colors is that the base polish is a white pearl.  It's not as subtle as I thought it would be.  Once you start layering, it creates a haze over the other color, which means you have to paint it well if you don't want darker colored edges peeking out.

Because of the milky haze that the Nubar polish has, I decided to search for more flakies.  I really like the ones that have ALL the colors, like an opal.  Although, the ones with fewer colors do look great when they are enhancing similar colors.

I already had the NYX polish on hand, although I hadn't tried it out yet and I had just picked up the Finger Paints, so I decided to paint my nails black and start comparing.

Once I had these side-by-side, the Nubar polish quickly became my least favorite.  The translucent base was simply not what I was looking for.  The NYX was nice.  But my goodness!  Look at the Finger Paints!!  My nail looks like a gemstone!  They each had 3 coats of flakies and the Finger Paints had way more depth and fire.  It was exactly what I was looking for.

I am thinking I may try out some of the Speciallita flakies next.  Which ones do you like best?