Gold and Brown Autumn Leaves Konad

Since we're leaving the summer season, I figure I might as well start getting my Fall on. Thus, this konad of autumn leaves! Seriously, it's been a looong time since I last konaded, so I was all like, "OMG I hope I still haz my konading skillz" when I did this. Fortunately it wasn't too bad at all, considering the last time I konaded was this holographic zebra stripes konad with GOSH Holographic, a few month's back.

For the base I used Nails Inc Belgravia. It's a nice brown shade with the slightest shimmer, and very chic and understated. You gotta love browns like these - some browns look like crap on me (pun totally intended), but this one doesn't. Look ma, no poopy hands! Just a very classic shade. I think I did have a previous NOTD up on my blog from waaay back when, and I loved it then and still love it now, so I guess it has stood the test of time.


For the leaves I used Orly Luxe and the konad plate I used was M77. It isn't strictly a falling-leaves kind of design (in fact, it kinda looks like palm leaves? more than anything else), I know, but I felt like when paired with the colour scheme, it worked for me.

I don't know about you, but a mani like this just makes me want to sing, "The falling leeaavessss, Drift by my windooooowww"! Wait, some of you don't know the song? Aw shucks...I can't be that old now, can I? *Crickets chirp*


Okay. Anyway, I guess I'd better end this post before I make myself sound any older than I already am. While this look doesn't really break any major boundaries, I still feel like its something I could wear for a discreet konad, since it's not too flashy.

Holographic Zebra Stripes Nail Art with GOSH Holographic

One of my favourite polishes of all time has to be GOSH Holographic. This was one of the first holographic polishes I ever got (before OPI had their DS line and even before China Glaze had their holos, I think), and it's still, in my opinion, anyway, one of the best. The last time I used this little baby was waaay back in 2009, where I raved about how GOSH Holographic was so awesome, so I thought I'd bring this little baby out for a spin!

Three years down the road, I'm still loving this polish! GOSH Holographic is a classic silver linear holo, and it's now discontinued (although rumour is that GOSH may be bringing it out again this Summer - I don't know, it's just a rumour I heard, and dates I've seen range from June to August). I was lucky to get mine from a Superdrug before it was discontinued, so I didn't have to pay ripoff eBay prices. In my last post I featured GOSH Holographic all by itself, so this time I decided to get fancy and do some konading.

I used Wet n Wild Black for the black zebra stripes, and the konad plate was M57 (although the M57 plate is so famous I bet some of you guys can recognize the plate from the pattern). For some reason, though, I really couldn't get the right lighting to take the photos (no direct sunlight), so I ended up having to make do with crappy indoor lighting. Sorry folks. My original GOSH Holographic post probably has better pictures, I'm ashamed to admit.



Anyway, GOSH Holographic can be tricky to apply, but I generally use 2 - 3 coats for this, letting each layer (base coat as well as each individual layer of polish) dry fully before applying the next layer. I think this is key to not having GOSH Holographic clump up on your fingernails. I've read blog reviews expressing lots of frustration at the lipstick, and I feel a lot of the frustration is due to not letting each coat dry fully. My old GOSH Holographic post also went into some detail on how to apply this pollish, so I won't belabour the details, but suffice it to say - let each coat dry fully before applying the next coat, and you'll get a great holographic finish. Some bloggers advocating using the GOSH base coat to make this apply better, but for me, either way, it doesn't make a difference, as other base coats work well as long as they're left to dry fully before applying the polish.



Like all holos, this chipped on me fast - think the next 1-2 days. Holos never last on me, which is a pity, because I really love them. Anyway, this is a gorgeous little colour that is just so worth it. I know my photos suck, but I hope you get the idea of the sheer awesomeness of this polish. I really hope GOSH brings this colour out again, so more of us can have it!

Girly Punk Valentine's Day Nails: Neon Pink and Black Roses

Nothing says girly punk like hot pink and black. And nothing says romance like roses. So when I decided to do Valentine's Day manicure, I decided to combine these two aspects, although I'm not very girly, punky, or romantic. I keep seeing all these sterotypical reds, pale pinks, and sheers coming out near Valentine's Day, and I keep thinking - why shouldn't I do something different?

So here you are: neon pink, black, and roses. The horror!



To be honest, I didn't quite like my nails when I first wore them. I thought they were ugly (and I'm sure some of my readers will think they ARE ugly), but for some reason they grew on me, and I can't quite figure out why either. Maybe I got used to the ugliness. Or maybe the hot pink colour matched my funky Valentine's Day eye look. LOL. But it did grow on me, and yes, I was walking around with blinding hot pink nails with OTT rose designs. Yeeha!



For the neon pink base, I used Eyeko Punk Polish for Neon Nails, which is a one-coater if you're careful. Like other Eyeko polishes I've used before, the consistency is a little on the thick side, so if you prefer a thinner polish consistency, one or two drops of thinner would be more than sufficient. Oh, and this polish is NEON. Like eyeball searing, highlighter pink kind of neon. I know it doesn't look like it in the photos, but that's because I just couldn't capture the blinding neon-ness of it on camera.

For the black roses, I used my favourite konading black of all time, Wet n Wild Black. It's dirt cheap (if you don't count the cost of shipping it outside of the USA), easily available, and opaque in one coat. Perfect for konading!

The konad plate used was M65. I figured I could get away with such an OTT rose design only around Valentine's Day!



So this isn't your traditional Valentine's Day sweetheart manicure. But I have those too! If this is making you puke, feel free to try some other sweetheart, Valentine-appropriate posts: there's one with girly chic, a feminine pastel purple that's holo to boot, a nude with a touch of flowers, and the near classic jewel pinky-purple holo. Probably more traditionally Valentine Day-ish than this sad excuse to wear hot pink, LOL!

I'm not much of a romantic, and I really couldn't care less for Valentine's Day. But I figured, since it was the occasion for it, why not go all out in dressing up my nails? It's the perfect reason to get away with whatever I want!

(Eyeko product sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

China Glaze For Audrey + Konad Fishnet = Awesome Nails!

It rarely happens, but I actually managed to wear un-boring nails to work for one entire week! It was during the Christmas season, so I didn't have any client meetings, and both my bosses were on leave for the holidays. So a thought popped into my head - since I wasn't going to be doing much work that required me to look professional, why shouldn't I jazz up my nails? Thus, I promptly combined China Glaze For Audrey with the awesome fishnet/lace print on my nails.

China Glaze has a few colours that are famous, and For Audrey is one of them. It's purportedly named after Audrey Hepburn for her role in Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the colour was apparently created to be the same shade of blue-green as a Tiffany's box. Now is that cool or what? I know most people who are more colour-shy won't see turquoise as a colour is classic, or for that matter, classy. But if you think about it, what can be more classy than a Tiffany's box? And if a Tiffany's box is classy, why shouldn't we wear that gorgeous colour on our nails?

So behold, my awesome manicure the colour of a Tiffany's box! It's absolutely gorgeous, and in some lights it looks more blue, but in others it looks more green. I can't quite decide whether it's more of a blue or a green.



Oh, right, I have to admit, that mani was made slightly awesome by the fact that I smudged the konad design on my ring finger after having painstakingly stamped it on. But it doesn't make it any less stunning, doesn't it? Right? *Awkward silence*

Alright, yes, I was a klutz with the konad. I used my all-time favourite (and oh-so-cheap) black nail polish for the fishnet/lace print, Wet n' Wild Black. And the design came from one of my favorite konad plates of all time, M57. Back then when konading was a new thing, the M57 plate was so hard to get hold of, because every nail polish fanatic wanted one, and it was perpetually out of stock.



After applying China Glaze For Audrey, I can definitely see why it's a classic. This colour was trouble-free in it's application - in fact, it virtually applied itself. It was fully opaque in two coats, although I suspect if you do thicker coats, you could get away with one. And it didn't streak at all. I enjoyed painting on this colour. Wet n' Wild Black, which was used for this konad to imprint the lace/fishnet pattern, is one of the fan favourites of nail polish addicts for konading. It's cheap, it's black, and it works well with the konad stamp and plate set. What's not to like?

Lasting power was about average - it lasted about 4 days on me before the first chip appeared, which was pretty usual. I don't have any complaints about the lasting power of China Glaze polishes in general. Some brands have trouble staying on my nails (ahem, Zoya and Barielle, I'm looking at you!), but China Glaze isn't one of them.



I don't know about you, but I was in love with my nails for the time I wore it. Everyone I met commented on my nails, from fellow colleagues to sales staff I would encounter on the way hhome from work. It actually pained me to remove the colour when the holiday season was over and work started picking up again at the office. Of course I had to take it off and replace it with a more sensible, work-appropriate colour. But at least I got to have funky nails for awhile!