Cici & Sisi Tribal Nail Art feat Liquid Sky Lacquer

Hey varnished vixens,

Today's nail art is another example of when things just line up.  As in I have this great idea...I wonder how it will turn out...what if I add this and then bam I arrive at something more perfect than I envisioned.  I'm also a firm believer in the power of imagination so when I thought I want to do something tribal with Liquid Sky Lacquer solo this is what happened.  Some of you may recall this tribal pattern from the nail art I did using Lumina Lacquer here.  This mani is an expansion and exaggeration of that concept because I became obsessed with the tribal pattern.

Mani-louge
Basecoat: CND Stickey/ Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat
Base: Liquid Sky Lacquer Baby Chick and Fuscia Illusion

Tribal: Wet N Wild Ticked Pink, Liquid Sky Lacquer Baby Bunny, Bonita Salon Blue Steel, China Glaze Metropollen-tini, Zoya Thandie

Stamping polish: Mundo de Unas #2

Stamping plate: Cici & Sisi 01

I love my Liquid Sky Lacquer polishes!  When I discovered this brand I felt like I'd hit a gold mine.  All lovely thermals and holographic beauties not to mention the gorgeous glitter bombs.  I just took one look at Baby Chick from the spring collection last year and knew nothing bad could possibly come out of it and then added Fuschia Illusion for drama lol.  The other thing about today's mani is that I realized I have totally neglected my Cici & Sisi plates after reviewing them.  I broke out Jumbo Set 1 and this tribal today to rectify that!
 

So what do you think? Everything lined up magically!  I really didn't want to take this mani off, but for some reason the minute I finish my nail art and take pics I'm already on to plotting the next grand adventure.  Anyone else like that? If you are interested you can find Liquid Sky Lacquer polishes here.  You can find the Cici & Cici plates here. Thanks so much for reading and see you next post...

Lumina Lacquer Farplane Spring Gradient

Hey lacqueristas,

 It's been a while since I've fallen in love with a new indie brand these days, and to be honest this indie brand isn't entirely new to me it's more or less just new to the blog.  I'm talking about Lumina Lacquer.  Essentially I love this brand in it's entirely for Tatiana's utterly glorious utterly unique glitterbombs! They are amazing and currently unlike any others I've seen to date.  I was lucky enough to get some of her recent pretties from the last restock and decided to take one out for a stroll today using one of my Cici & Sisi jumbo plates as an accent.

Mani-louge

Basecoat/Topcoat: Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter-A-Peel & Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Gradient: China Glaze Metro-pollen-tini and Liquid Sky Lacquer Baby Chick

Glitter topper: Lumina Lacquer Farplane

Stamping polish: Mundo de Unas #

Stamping plate: Cici and Sisi 01 Jumbo Set 1

Farplane is magnificent! Matte pastel, black and white triangles, circles, hearts, moons, and stars with micro matte white glitter.  It's hard to believe that you could find this many shapes in one bottle or that they would play so well together.  The gradient seen here is directly from the bottle with some placement.  Because of all the shapes you really need a thick topcoat to smooth everything out like Gelous.  For the accent nail the tribal played the minor role, but I think worked well over all.  In fact it worked so well I ended up doing a repeat which I post tomorrow or tonight.



In any case I hope you liked today's mani.  It's been a bit hectic over here since the giveaway started, but I'm just gonna be plugging on with my art and such.  You can find Lumina Lacquer polishes here on her Big Cartel though I'm unclear on when she is restocking.  Stay tuned as well for a few reviews and updates for the Loja BBF plates!  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post...

Favorite Things 1K Giveaway!

Felicitations my varnished vixens,

I have some exciting news for you!  Over the last several months I decided to keep up with my blogging and nail art since it's always been the passion I return too. Some of you have stuck with me through the long haul and others are just joining me for my wild and obsessive ride.  In a short period of time I've seen a dramatic increase in the number of people following my blog, Facebook, and Instagram account.  In fact I finally reached the milestone of 1000 followers on Instagram and over 500 on my Facebook page not to mention the surge I've seen here on the blog!

I know these are pretty small numbers compared to other bloggers, but I'm thrilled even if it's 1 person following me if you like my content and I can inspire you to create!  These days I get so many hits, but in all honesty if it weren't for the occasional comment here and there I probably would have stopped blogging ages ago.  You have no idea how one kind word or even a passing statement makes me happy and keeps me coming back to my craft. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to show my appreciation by holding a giveaway of a few things I can't live without.  Although if you read this blog regularly then you know there are a lot of things I feel I can't live without, but I definitely wanted to giveaway some that I use with regularity.  So let's get to the prizes!

The plates and polishes were just listed from my stash for illustrative purposes.  You will be able to make your own selection for those items noted as such.

From my generous sponsors:

1.  Winner's choice of 3 fabulous polishes by Liquid Sky Lacquer.  Yasssss! Indeed you know when there is a holo or thermal manicure around these parts usually the phenomenal polish creating all the bling is something from Carolyn of Liquid Sky Lacquer.  Her polishes make my mouth water.  So why not yours?

2. Cuticle Oil from PolishTBH.  Sweet nectar of the gods! I spoke about this before when I did swatches for Chrissy.  Her product is amazing!  It has changed my nail health tremendously and kept my cuticles looking fabulous through the long cold winter swatch after swatch after swatch.  I use it everyday and can't live without this stuff! I have decided you shouldn't either ;)

3. Messy Mansion Nail Art Stamping Plates - winners choice of 3.  Yes yes y'all!  Julia was the first interviewee for my Plates I Love series and also a constant inspiration.  Her plates rest firmly in a position of absolutely adored in my heart and mind.  And frankly some of the most successful nail art I've created has been linked with these beautiful plates. Take the opportunity and create some beautiful nail art of your own!

4. MyOnline Shop Jr Nail Art Stamping Plates - winners choice of 3.  I know these prizes are getting sickening aren't they? You know I raved like a lunatic when these plates released, and now you have the chance to scoop 3 out of 40 different plates of your own.  How awesome is that! I love these plates and I know you will too!

From me:

Orly's Spring 2014 Baked Collection. Yup.  If you've been watching recently you may have noticed I keep running back to this set for bright summer/spring nail art.  This might actually be my favorite release of the season!

OPI Sheer Tints in Blue and Purple - Mmmm kinda random, but I've heard so many great things about these polishes for creating nail art using the Leadlight technique I thought it would be a shame not to include a few in the giveaway!

 e.l.f Cosmetics Concealer Brush.  Honestly the start of a good manicure is clean lines.  This is my favorite brush to achieve flawless cleanup.  I hope you can say the same afterwards.

Rhinestones/studs.  Every mani needs a little bling and sparkle or as I like to call it a bit of frosting.  They make such a common appearance in my mani's it would be a crazy not to include them in my favorite things.

Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Topcoat.  Dries in 90 seconds flat, makes stamping a dream, and makes holo's look like hot hot FIRE! Clearly there is nothing to not love ;)

So after seeing all these gorgeous prizes clearly you want to enter right? Like yesterday! Ok all you have to do is fill out the rafflecopter below and for those that follow me on Instagram bonus points for reposting on your account.  This giveaway is international however any shipping above 10USD will have to be paid by the winner.  Thank you so much again for all the support and kindness and above all I hope you continue to stick with me and have fun with my little hobby! And of course good luck :) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One caveat I forgot to mention is that any plates or polishes you would like to receive must be in stock with my sponsors at the time of the contest closing.  I don't want to stress out any of these generous ladies and thank you for being understanding!   Please make sure to read the terms and conditions.

Hot Off The Stamping Press: MoYou London Rocktar Collection Expansion!

Hey stamperistas,

It's that time of the week again where MoYou London releases another set of plates for us to drool over!  This weeks release is from the Rockstar Collection which debuted sometime around January or December of last year.  I grabbed all of the plates included the ultrasuper duper limited edition plates.  This was also back when MoYou London was still a relatively new kid on the block.  These days as you know they have solidly established themselves and taken the stamping world by storm, and my wallet by hostage.

Here we go!

Club kids hit the floor lol.  I can see this plate being very popular.  Personally I just think it looks fun!

Oy I see repeats from a prior plate which annoys me slightly.  I'm also annoyed by the fact the non repeats are so awesome.  Why why am I so constantly torn week after week when they do this?!?  I loev the graffiti and earbuds so I need this plate, but how I wish all the images were originals...

I adore this plate!  ADORE!  It reminds me of a bust of a famous musician that my friend keeps (he is also a musician) and whenever I see it it just makes me smile.  Yes I know totally random, but this plate also happens to be gorgeous :)

Love this one too as it reminds me so much of a very dear friend!  Also peep the chic with the afro belting out some tunes.  Love everything about this <3! As usual you can get these plates here on Friday morning for 4.99 Euro.  If you haven't already take advantage and save 10% using my discount code "Tamira10".  Don't forget to log in and happy stamping!  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post... 

Galaxy & Space MoYou London Nail Art

Hey lacqueristas,

I know you all can tell I am feeling my MoYou London plates right? Lol the last few mani's have almost all been from the brand.  I'm just getting a huge kick out of these plates especially as they lend themselves so well to all levels of advanced stamping. It makes my heart happy!  Today's nails are actually pretty simple and I also incorporated a new technique I've never tried before - galaxy nails.  Although it would probably be more accurate to say galaxy nail since I only did it with one accent.  However, I liked it so much I think I'll have to try it again.

Mani-louge:

Basecoat/Topcoat: CND Stickey / NYC Matte Me Crazy

Base color: Wet N' Wild Black Creme

Galaxy Nail: Wet N' Wild Teal Slowly and See, Orly Saturated, Orly Hot Tropics, Essie Lots of Luxe, L'Oreal A La Meringue

Stamping polish: Mundo de Unas #38

Stamping plate: MoYou London Sci Fi 05

You may recall when I initially posted about the Sci Fi Collection here that I wasn't as blown away as I wanted to be.  However during the second release things got a bit more interesting and that interest included the graphic chips and Matrix style images on plate 05.  Today's mani was so simple and yet clean that I'll have to try playing with this plate again soon!

The galaxy nail actually took the longest time.  I wasn't too sure how it would turn out but I'm pleased with the result.  I will say it was quite easy to overwhelm the base color if I sponged on too much accent color and so I had to backtrack on my sponging several times to get the right effect.  If any of my readers have advice on how to successfully create these nails please go ahead and leave comments below.

So what do you think? Too simple? I think overall I'm pleased with how this turned out. I'm also blown away by the opacity of these Mundo de Unas polishes.  They are literally all that I have been using to stamp with lately and they are totally awesome!  You can find Mundo de Unas polishes here and MoYou London plates here.  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post!

PolishTBH Diagon Alley Collection Part 2 Swatches & Nail Art

Hey lacqueristas,

I really wanted to bombard you guys with Easter nail art like I did for St. Patrick's Day, but honestly, I have been working all weekend on top of having a horrible cold. In short I have been fairly miserable and dead tired.  Lol not the stuff of holiday making.  However the good news is I have some swatches that I have been working on from the upcoming PolishTBH Diagon Alley 2Collection.  You may recall the Harry Potter themed nail art I did for her 1st Diagon Alley Collection.  Well Chrissy is at it again releasing another Harry Potter inspired collection.  And of course I had to create nail art to fit the theme.  So let's get right to it!
 

Stamping plates: Konad Charming Nails Plate, Apipila P.10 Stamping polish: Mundo de Unas #2 & #30 and Konad SP in Red and Yellow

 King's Cross is a pale pale blue crelly polish.  It's chocked full of red and green flakies as well as white, blue and irridescent holo glitter.  In short is lovely!  King's Cross is the train station where Harry gets his first exposure to magic meets muggle, and where he catches the Howart Express to school on platform 9 3/4.  Apparently this is a polish Chrissy had been envisioning for quite some time when she created the first collection and so here it is at last for all of us to enjoy. 

I had a hard time with this polish initially because as always I have the patience of a toddler.  If you don't want your coats to drag you have to wait a bit before applying the next layer.  It took me 4 coats to reach opacity, but as the layers stacked up the effect was brilliant.  I chose to keep my nail art fairly simple with these swatches so I didn't overwhelm the base.  And I think you'll find the art cute and somewhat instantly recognizable ;)  

Next up is Fainting Fancies.  A melon yellow and pink glitter topper packed into a gold shimmer base.  If you know your Harry Potter lore well you will recalled these treats were sold by George and Fred Weasley the twin trouble makers.  Essentially these were treats designed to make you pass out and then you could skip class.  It sounds like a horrible idea to me because with my luck I would strike my head on a piece of furniture on the way down, but the polish itself is glorious!  It took me by surprise out of the bottle swatching beautifully over a variety of colors.  Because of the shimmer this topper is highly transforming over any color.

Stamping plate: Lily Anna Plate 07, Stamping Polish: Mundo de Unas #2

Ultimately I chose to pair it with Sinful Colors Baby Blues (which ironically is lavender).  The accent nail was done using Orly Colorblast Tennis Ball Neon which matches the yellow matte glitter in Fainting Fancies perfectly.  This glitter is so perfect for spring.  I kept spinning the bottle to look at all the glitters dancing in the base.  Love this one!

 I hope you enjoyed this little peak into the Diagon Alley 2 Collection from PolishTBH.  Do you have a favorite of the two?  Personally, Fainting Fancies stole my heart!  The preorder for this collection started Friday.  I'm not entirely certain if the code is still active, but if you use birthday you will receive an additional 10% off your order.  Isn't Chrissy so awesome!  You can find PolishTBH polishes here on Big Cartel.  I also have some pretty exciting news coming up later in the week that will feature a little PolishTBH as well!  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post...

Zoya Naturels Nude Spring Nail Art

Hey lacqueristas,

I've been meaning to create the mani I'm sharing with you today for quite sometime.  Essentially as soon as the Zoya Naturels Collection came out I was done.  Nudes.  I love 'em! This is the first time in a while I had to have every color in a Zoya collection.  And of course I had to use all of them  to create some epic nude nail art.  I had a lot of trouble doing so until now when I found a way to let all the colors come out to play together using my Messy Mansion plates.  I hope you like what I came up with!

Mani-louge

Basecoat/Topcoat:  CND Stickey / Essie Matte About You

Base Colors: Zoya Brigette, Taylor, Normani, Rue, Chantal, and Odette

Stamping Polishes: Mundo de Unas #2, #7, and #23

Stamping plate: Messy Mansion MM07 & MM20

So as you can see I really went to town creating this look.  The base is all entirely Taylor which I believe is the lightest color of the six.  For the inner nails I used advanced stamping method and filled in the rose petals using all of the various colors.  For the surrounding nails I wanted to give the feel of a creeping garden and so I stamped on vines and leaves over a gradient that consisted of Taylor, Odette, and Rue.  Then I took everything and mattified it.

I am insanely pleased with how these came out.  I have no glossy pics because I knew from the start I wanted everything here to look matte, slightly aged, and rustic.  What more I even adore how the framing nails look.  The vines and leaves came out fabulously.  So thoughts?  I know this one isn't really very spring/summer but who the heck cares about that stuff anyway!  I'm just creating things I love.  You can find all the polishes I used today here and Messy Mansion plates can be found here. Thanks so much for reading and see you next post!

Hot Off The Stamping Press: MoYou London Mother Nature Collection Expansion!

Hey stampa-ristas,

It's another season where the forecast is is rain.  Luckily for us it's raining plates so we can celebrate to our hearts content! MoYou London is hard at work finding new jaw dropping ways to divest us of our sensibilities and in so doing our dollar bills for their nail art crack.  You all know I've loved the Mother Nature Collection from inception!.  So of course I'm thrilled to see an expansion on the concept and I'm just gonna dive right in!

Even the background on the banner is beautiful!

I really wish this plate had released in the fall.  So many beautiful leaves and I even see ginko leaves which I love!

Ok safari themes are really hip these days huh?  I've seen similar plates more and more frequently.  I believe one is on the Explorer Collection plates, another is on a Winstonia plate (from the singular square plates they released), and at least another is on the Dashica plates I talked about earlier.  This one is magnificent!  Entirely original and glorious.  It does look a little like the rhinoceros is having some bowel troubles though lol

Another plate that would have been great for fall.  You know harvest themes, clean skies, freshly reaped fields, and farmhouses.  Totally in love with the windmill, clouds, and silo!

Wow the butterflies and the dandelion heads are gorgeous! This plate is so beautiful!

This plate is just plain pretty.  Reminds me a lot of a similar plate from this collection with the couple kissing in the middle.  I do wish they'd chosen different flowers though than roses simply because I have a lot of plates with roses, but I like how they gave us different styles all in one plate for ease of access.

So here we are another release later in the MoYou-verse as I've taken to calling it! They have been releasing some insanely tempting plates over the last few weeks to the point I keep waiting to see what they are going to do next! Don't you agree?  Any favorites from this release ladies?  As usual these plates are live to the website today.  They retail for 4.99 Euro and are available on the MoYou London site.  Don't forget to use my code "Tamira10" to save 10% off your next purchase! Happy stamping and I'll see you next post...

Hot Off The Stamping Press: New Dashica Beauty Infinity Nail Art Plates!

Happy Thursday lacquer ladies,

I once again greet you with my age old obsession with all things stamping related.  My latest obsession features a brand I love a great deal, but doesn't get nearly enough play around these parts for the awesomeness they represent!  I speak of course of my Dashica Beauty plates and the recent infinity series which has released 25 new designs.   I actually already have a few of these plates from the initial release on the way to me via a international exchange, but since you haven't heard of these yet on my blog let me give you the T and show you the goods!  Be prepared however because your wallet just might explode!




Dashica Beauty is based in the Netherlands and is run by  the ultra considerate and sweet owner Shirley.  She makes some of the hottest plates I have ever seen!  I initially found this company after falling in love with their XL plates.  I ordered a few plus some stamping polishes, but didn't really fall in love until the release of the SdP plates.  Now I own a LOT of them plus the Dash Set 1 collection.  They are flawless and without compare because Shirley's designs feature not only iconic images, but themes that just make you drool and want more.  You can never stop ordering and you can never stop checking to see what she has come up with next.  I currently also have my eye on her XXL plates which are monstrous and would cost me an arm and a leg to ship stateside nevertheless they will be mine on day!



Ok let me stop for a minute.  Did you see that safari plate above?  Are you looking at plate 53 right now?  Insane insane insane!  So beautiful I'm dying.  Look at the Easter plate!  Shirley you better stop playing girl!

 

 I MUST HAVE THIS OWL PLATE! That is all.  Resume drooling!

 

Oy!  My poor wallet.  Vaudevillian themed plate!  Tigers and My Melody (nemesis of Kuromi my love)!  We live in such an epic time right now in terms of nail art designs!  But you see what I mean about Shirley's plates now right?  Nothing like them out there anywhere else!

 

Oh hello Chanel and co is that Marilyn Monroe hanging out with leopard print and Audrey in the background? Why yes it is and yes I will require your presence in my collection along with this awesome animal print plate featuring new prints that I don't own!

 

Something tropical and vacationy is always a must you know for all those seaside vacations I'm sacrificing to the nail art stamping gods! Lololol...



 Plate 64 is winning.  I can picture at least 10 different mani's from this one freaking plate!



Ok.  Stop.  My poor heart can't take the cute and awesomeness any longer! Spongbob, Tinkerbell, Donald Duck, and Minnie Mouse.  Will my life ever be the same after seeing these? 

Look at the stylized penguins - kawaii!!! Kermit and abstracts + another African safari theme = killer!

Poledancers!  Yaaaasssss! 60's abstracts!!! Yaaaasssss!!!!

 I must have this ocean themed plate! I must have all ocean themed plates.  That is all!

 

Just gimme all the plates!   Oy look the detailing on the last plate.  Crazy crazy miniscule details.  I LOVE this!  I swear this release was better than any I have seen in a long time.  So much win is here.  Are their any you feel like you can't live without?  These plates retail for 4.99 Euro.  They are available for preorder now.  The best part?  If you preorder now you can save 10% off.  Yup!  Shirley expects these plates to arrive sometime next week.   You can purchase them right here.  Happy stamping lacqueristas!  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post...