Archive for September 2010

MAC Bad Fairy Giveaway Contest! CLOSED

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Outdoors, no flash. Rainy overcast day. 1x Essie First Base,
3x MAC Bad Fairy

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been sick (still am, horrible fever). But I do have a treat for you! On my way to the doctor's office, I stopped at Nordstrom and picked up two bottles of MAC Bad Fairy, from the new Villainous Villains collection that hit stores today (was online on Tuesday). Now, this polish is already sold out online, and there's been some buzz online about it so it seems to be rather popular!
The other two nail lacquers in this collection, Formidable! and Mean and Green are exact dupes of Orly Galaxy Girl and Space Cadet, respectively. I was eager to get Bad Fairy because I loved Space Cadet and Galaxy girl so much, (the foil like duochrome is quite stunning) and that seemed to be the unique one in the bunch.
Bad Fairy is a magenta/orange duochrome, very sparkly. The closer you get to a light source, the more orange it appears, a rather lovely effect.
My brush is kinda wonky though, there's one hair going in a completely weird directly, and the other hairs aren't as tightly bound as I like. For a $13 polish (the first polish I've paid over $10 for), I'm rather annoyed.
I apologize that my pics aren't that great today, I let my cuticles go to crap since I've been sick.

Indoors, close to light source. Told you my cuticles went to hell!

Here's the best part, I bought one for me and one for you, one lucky reader!

Contest Rules:
One lucky reader will receive a brand new MAC Bad Fairy lacquer.
This contest is open to all readers, even international ones, ages 18 and over.
To enter, all you have to do is be a follower on Google Friend Connect and leave a comment on this post with your email address in the space provided (won't be shared, I'll only contact you if you win) and answer one question:

Of the four Disney villains featured in MAC's Villainous Villain collection, which one is your favorite? Or do you prefer a villain that isn't featured?

I myself wish that Jafar from Aladdin was featured, he always looked like he rimmed his eyes with kohl!
For an additional entry you can:
- Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following: "RT @MUWithdrawal- Enter to win MAC Bad Fairy Polish! http://bit.ly/d8XZ8K " Leave me a link to your tweet!

This contest ends October 22nd, 10 PM EST. If after 3 days, the winner doesn't email me back, I'll redo the drawing (via Random.org).

Good luck!

Color Club Untamed Luxury Collection: Nothing But Truffle

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

1x Essie First Base, 2x Nothing But Truffle

This is a pretty simple polish, a dark brown shimmer. When the light hits it right, if you're very careful you can see a slight variation in the shimmer, a little bit of golden hues and also a slight hint of magenta. (I swear, nobody stares more intently at polishes than me, I'm clearly obsessed with a lot of spare time on my hands).
A very neat, chic color whose name makes me suddenly hungry for Godiva truffles.

Do you like brown polishes? Or do you prefer brights on your finger tips?

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

Review: Sigma Indian Girl Eyeshadow

Sunday, September 26, 2010

I saw this shadow on AllCosmeticsWholesale a long time ago, always curious about it but never bit the bullet and ordered it. Much to my dismay, it went out of stock and I -think- Sigma, the company that makes it, stopped making cosmetics and stuck to brushes.
Well of course, once it was discontinued and hard to find, it became my obsession to track down this dark sparkly taupe. Unexpectedly, a kind MUAer went out of her way to procure one and gift it to me. Ahh, the kindness of strangers!

Swatched outdoors, dying sunlight. No flash.

So here I have it, Indian Girl. The pigmentation is excellent, and the quality is really nice. It's not super finely milled, but definitely not chunky either. It's not super frosty, more of a darker, very sparkly taupe with a silver sheen. It's darker than say, Cargo Yukon but less purple than Ulta Twilight.
I must say that I really like this taupe, though it has very little purple tones, it's quite flattering. I've worn it for a few days now and it definitely lasts, though the shimmer may be a little more subdued by the end of an 16 hour day.

So the bad news is that this shadow will be hard to get a hold of... but the good news is that I'm impressed with the quality of Sigma shadows and will try to get my hands on more! Oh wait, is that really good news? I hear my wallet crying in the background.

Product was gifted to me.

Color Club Untamed Luxury Collection: Positively Posh

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Outdoors, no flash, indirect lighting. 1x Essie First Base
3x Positively Posh

Ah, taupe polish- you complicated being. You have so many variations and I must say that I love Color Club's take on you.
Positively Posh is a darker, cooler taupe creme. Indoors, there's a tinge of purple but I found that under natural light it looked more chocolatey. I do declare, this color does make my hands look so neat and elegant looking, I think it has magical properties.

These pictures were taken with two coats, but I think that next time I'll do three, just for complete creme opacity. Very smooth application, decent wear time.

I ordered this online from 8ty8beauty.com for $2.49- it's one of my best polish buys, I'm thinking. Two perfectly manicured thumbs up for Color Club!

Outdoors, flash

Ok, so what do you think? Do you like this color? Or are taupes not your thing?

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

Color Club Untamed Luxury Collection

Friday, September 24, 2010

I totally did this out of order- I really meant to introduce the collection first before showing swatches, but ended up showing you some of the polishes first- whoops.
Now, Color Club is one of my favorite brands for nail polish because they are Big 3 (Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP) free, they have a wide array of colors with great application and wear and to top it all off, they're priced at the extremely low end of the price spectrum (usually about $2.50-3.50 each, depending on your retailer). What's not to love?
I really liked their fall seasons' collection, Untamed Luxury. Er, actually Untamed Luxury comprises of TWO sets, the Indulgence Collection and the Diamond Collection. Indulgence Collection has the non-glitters while the Diamond Collection has the glitters.

Indulgence Collection:


	Pretty in Platinum, Wild Orchid, Positively Posh, Soft As Cashmere, Nothing But Truffle, Jewel Of A Girl, Ready to Royal

Diamond Collection:

De-Luxe-Icious, Miss Hautee, Red Velvet, Untamed Luxury,
Resort to Red, Snakeskin, Covered in Diamonds

I like that there's a wide array of finishes and shades- from the must have greige of this season to a pearly grey shade, to glitter shades and a very unique opalescent glitter shard-filled jelly top coat. Though I didn't buy the whole collection, I did get many of the colors and will finish reviewing all of them individually soon!

What did you think about this collection?

Images and information provided by Color Club.

EOTD: Violet and Lime

Thursday, September 23, 2010

I realized that I haven't posted any EOTD pictures of any looks that I did with the Avon quads that Lipglossjunkee gave me for my birthday. *hangs head* I'm a bad, bad blogger! Anyways, here it is.
Brows: Maybelline Define A Brow
Eyes: UDPP, MAC Blacktrack, Kiss Me Heroine Long+Curl, Avon Electric Purple Quad

My internet is being weird again so I'm keeping this short, hope to post again soon!

Color Club Untamed Luxury Collection: Snakeskin

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Outdoors, no flash direct sunlight. 1x Orly Top2Bottom,
2x Snakeskin

Here's another polish from Color Club's fall collection! This one is called Snakeskin. It's a dark frost, metallic grey-green with gold shimmer bits. It's interesting and unique but I didn't find it flattering on my fingers. The consistency is nice, as it the application- just one of those polishes that isn't "me". I admit, I mainly purchased it because of the name- I have an eyeshadow from Rock & Republic also called 'Snakeskin' and I loved it so much, I automatically assumed I'd like this totally unrelated nail lacquer as well. Silly me.

Item featured was purchased by me, for my own use.

EOTD: Green and Tan

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Quick and sloppy EOTD.
Brows: Maybelline Define-A-Brow
Eyes: Rock & Republic Veil shadow, L'oreal HiP shadow stick in Authentic, Cargo St. Tropez. MAC Blacktrack and Kiss Me Heroine Long + Curl Mascara
I had forgotten about the green HiP shadow stick thing, and decided to bust it out. Turns out, it doesn't blend all that well, but next time I'm just going to use it as a base and see how well that works.

Have you pulled out any makeup product recently that you'd completely forgotten about?

Color Club Untamed Luxury Collection: Red Velvet

Monday, September 20, 2010

Lucky you, two posts from me in one night!
Color Club's fall collection is right on target this year- they've got the trendy greige and taupe lacquers, as well as complex frosts, glittery delights and of course a flaked jelly polish. But let's take it slow- one polish at a time!
First up, Red Velvet.
Red Velvet is a pretty simple black with fine red glitters. A classic, hard to mess up combination. I did three layers, and it did dry to a rather gritty finish, unfortunately. But nothing a coat of Seche Vite can't fix.

I took pictures outside, but it was getting pretty dark so I used flash. Color Club's polishes go for about $2.49 on sites like 8ty8Beauty or Head2ToeBeauty, and about $3.50 if you find it at beauty supply stores.

So, does this polish remind you of any other black with red glitters?

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

EOTD: My Favorite False Lashes

Sometimes I like to put on false lashes for school, for a trip to the grocery store or even when I'm home alone doing laundry. Point being, I like to indulge myself by putting doing over the top lashes for no apparent reason. Lately, my favorite pair has been Beautee Sense's 'Tigress' (215) style lashes. They're kind of scary looking in the package, like they'd be only ever appropriate if your name is Cher, but I actually feel rather comfortable with them on.

They've got kind of staggered clusters, perhaps that's why it's not super over the top (just mildly to medium over the top). I'm not sure if this brand is carried nationwide, but I got them at my local beauty shop for $2.99.
I used:
UDPP, Rock & Republic Fatalistic shadow, R&R Tempting shadow, MAC Blacktrack fluidline and NARS Abyssinia shadow. Maybelline Define-A-Brow for the brow. Kiss Me Heroine Make Long + Curl for lower lashes.

Product featured was purchased by me, for my own use.

Rock & Republic All Nighter Contrived Blush + FOTD

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Another happy installment of posts about Rock & Republic! Today I'll be talking about All Nighter, a very bright and exciting blush. Look at it, does it scare you with how orange it is?
All Nighter is so very vibrant, a red-orange with a slight hint of pink, I guess you could say that it's a very dark and intense coral if you wanted to. It has a bit of gold sheen peeking through as well.

The thing I love about this blush is that it's so incredibly pigmented, you only need the lightest swipe with your brush to get enough for both cheeks. That's why I usually use a duo fiber brush like a MAC 188 to avoid getting too much- it's easy to over do and look like a clown! But don't let that scare you, the buffing this bright color in carefully results in a gorgeous flush.
I also like that this blush lasts all day on me, I sometimes have a problem with blushes melting off my face (especially now that I've been working with blow dryers, my face gets really hot and oily at school).

Kinda hard to see the gold sheen here, but it's there!

In short, I think this may be one of my favorite R&R blushes, just because I love that they made such an intense shade so wearable!
Onto the FOTD:

See, not super scary- right? I do admit that it does bring out the olive in my skin, so perhaps I'll save it for bright sunny days when I look less green.
Face: MUFE HD, R&R Pressed Powder, R&R All Nighter
Lips: Nivea Kiss of Shimmer balm
Eyes: UDPP, LORAC Snake Charmer Palette (lots of warm browns and light tawny golds), MAC Blacktrack, Maybelline the Falsies mascara

So, what do you think of this color? Do you own any bright scary blushes that you're kind of afraid of?

Brucci Rainbow Reflections Taupe Rainbow

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Indoors, 2x Taupe Rainbow over 1x Essie First Base

I found this polish in the clearance bin at a local beauty shop, what a neat find! It's a frosty old gold in a bit of duochromey- purpley base. Hard to describe, a picture is worth a thousand words!

The formula is really nice, it self leveled like a dream which is impressive for a frost which usually emphasizes my ridges. The only downside is that I don't think Brucci (correct me if I'm wrong) is not big-3 free.
Oh well, I picked it up for about a $1.47 or something like that. I think I'm gonna see what interesting frankens I can come up with using it.

Outdoors, direct sunlight, no flash

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

Requests! (Also a Request for you, My Readers)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Hey there, I just wanted to say that I've noticed all you new followers and wanted to say thanks for reading!
Now, I did want to let you all know that I'm up for suggestions and requests! Want more posts on skincare? More posts about obscure makeup? Want to see swatches of certain polishes (that I own) over other polishes (that I own or am likely to buy)? Pictures of my pets? Ok, I'll indulge the last one, kinda.
<-- That wolfy grin belongs to my dog Kuma's papa. Funny thing is, Kuma does the exact thing when you have him roll over, that devilishly handsome grin runs in the family.
Now, I have something to beg of you, my dear reader. I have a passion for holographic nail polishes, I really do. However I know there's polishes out there that I can't get my hands on. If you find a fantastic holo polish that I might be interested in (new or used, that's how much I love holos) and want to help me out by selling it to me, please shoot me an email with an description (condition it's in, color, brand, etc) and an estimate, including shipping costs to my email (mimi@makeupwithdrawal.com). I'm especially interested in brands that can't be found in the US!
Thanks again for reading!
Love,
Mimi

Hallelujah, What a Holo: Nfu Oh 61 Review

Thursday, September 16, 2010

1x Nfu Oh Aqua Base, 2x #61

(Sorry I haven't blogged in a couple days, my internet is on the fritz and it keeps disconnecting. I'll try to post when I can!)

A while ago, I was recommended Nfu Oh's holographic polishes by the Nail Board on MakeupAlley. However, before I get distracted by the shiny holo, I want to talk about the etailer that I bought it from- FabulouStreet.com. It honestly gives me great joy when I encounter truly excellent customer service. When I first checked the site, the Nfu Oh Aqua base (essential, the Nail Board assured me) was out of stock. I emailed FabulouStreet asking to be notified when it was in stock. Not only did Jocelyn (the owner) let me know when it was, the whole exchange was courteous (something I feel is dying in the age of internet sales and automated email responses) but the site offers free shipping and it was shipped out promptly. I got it within one business day (two USPS shipping days). What does that equal? A truly happy customer who would really recommend this to any reader interested in Nfu Oh polishes.

Ok, now I'll gush about the polish itself. I'll be reviewing the Aqua Base separately, later on.

Nfu Oh #61 is spectacular. I've never seen anything so awesome and holographic, truly. As you can see from my many pictures (I really delighted in taking pictures of this polish).
Indoors, it looks like a silver with a touch of baby blue. This polish is so holo-y that you can even see quite a bit of the rainbow-y goodness indoors!

In short this polish deserves double rainbow status (hehe, double rainbow! What does this mean?!) because it's so stunning. However it's definitely for the brave at heart- it's so flashy that the average person might be frightened of it, perhaps even find it tacky (that makes me sad). Another note- you NEED the Nfu Oh Aqua Base and I'll tell you why in another post!

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

LORAC Silver Screen Palette

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Last year, Ulta had a exclusive LORAC palette for the holiday season. I somehow missed it, since I wasn't really into LORAC back then. It was priced at $30 and contained eight eyeshadows, two blushes, a lip gloss and a double ended brush.
I managed to procure (rather, my friend Mae managed to) it last week at the discounted price of only $15. Happiness is mine! I was so excited to get it just because of the many products it contains.
This palette is housed in a soft, kinda slinky silver faux croc skin case with a pretty decent sized mirror on the back of the cover. There's four warm shadows and four shadows that are cooler. None of them are named, so I'll label them and describe them numerically.

I took the swatch pictures after school and the sun was kinda setting. Sorry if they look a little yellow/olive :(

1 is a kinda sheer nude frost (nearly invisible on my arm)
2 is a warm golden shimmer
3 is a rusty shimmer
4 is a dark bark brown with copper and other dimensional sparkle
5 is a white base with sparkle bits
6 is a mauvey purple shimmer
7 is a taupe, brown with silver sparkle
8 is a blue-black with silver sparkle
A is a bright dolly pink blush
B is a soft rose blush
And the gloss is a thicker, very pigmented bright rose.

Now, there is a downside. Everything in this palette is shimmery- everything. I wish they had thrown in a few mattes for variety, especially since LORAC does mattes quite well. Also, I feel like the powder products are a bit drier, much like the most recent Private Affair palette (did you miss it? I reviewed it for KarlaSugar, click here to read!) and not as creamy as the colors in the Sephora Multiplatinum, Croc, Snake Charmer, Pink Python etc palettes. I also noticed that the colors with bases and added sparkle (like 5 and 8) tended to separate really easy, it wasn't easy to apply them and maintain the sparkle.
Still, the blushes and gloss are pretty nice and surprisingly so is the brush. Usually I just toss brushes that come with palettes away because they're so crummy, but I actually like this one. The bristles are soft but firm enough to work with and the cut is fairly decent- in a pinch you could definitely do a few different eye looks with it.
Overall, not a bad palette (especially not for the price) but this palette doesn't exactly showcase the quality that LORAC products can provide.

Boscia Lavender Blotting Linens

Monday, September 13, 2010

So a while ago, someone tweeted about Boscia doing a promotion deal- 'Like' them on Facebook and they would send you a free packet of their Lavender Blotting Linens. I'm a sucker for free stuff, so of course I did it, and I thought I'd do a quick write up about them.

I've used the Boscia Green Tea Blotting Linens before and liked them. They did exactly what they're supposed to do- absorb oil off your face without messing up your makeup. The lavender ones worked similarly well, thin transparent sheets that are mineral oil free (surprisingly, some oil absorbing sheets have oil!). In fact, I really couldn't tell the difference between the green tea variety and the lavender ones other than the scent difference.

stock image from
CVS.com

Now, I really don't mind spending money on quality products but for some reason, I hate buying blotting sheets. I mean, why buy blotting sheets when you can cut up those paper toilet seat covers? To me, they work just as well and are free if you grab a few from the ladies' room the next time you're there (and if using something from a restroom grosses you out, you can always buy a back of 5 seat covers from Target or CVS for like a dollar or two) and I really don't mind that they're not scented or look pretty like decorative handmade paper.
Anyways, Sephora carries the Boscia line and the Lavender Blotting Linens retail for $10.

Product was given to me as a part of a free Facebook promotion from Boscia.

First Day of School NOTD!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

So I don't know if I've mentioned it but I finally enrolled in cosmetology school! I start tomorrow and I really can't wait. This course is geared more towards hair styling and cutting than makeup or nails but I'm hoping it'll provide me with a strong formal background. And I need all the help I can get in hair, something that's not my strong point!
Anyways, back to my nails. There's a uniform at Empire, and it's all white for beginning students. White school button up shirt, and white pants of your choice. Boring. Bland. If I'm gonna look like a marshmallow, I'll be damned if I don't spice my nails and makeup. So this is a franken I made from seasonal glitter I found at Walgreens and Essence clear polish. It's made by Fantasy Makers (Wet'n'Wild) and it's wonderful stuff! It's finer in particle size than Wet'n'Wild Kaleidescope but bigger than Cover Girl City Lights' holo glitter.
What makes me sad is that this picture doesn't reveal how spectacularly bling-y it is, maybe I'll take some pictures outside tomorrow!

NOTD: Milani Dot Com

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Essie First Base x1, Milani Dot Com x3

I've been sick for the last few days, so no posts about cosmetics or FOTDs :( Buuuuuut... I do have a treat for you! My friend Mae sent me this awesome Milani polish, that I immediately had to try on because it looked so cool in the bottle. Dot Com is this amazing dark purplish color with coppery-goldish- and other subtle flecks of shimmer, it really is a great color. I also really like Milani's polishes, I find that they have consistently good quality for a drugstore polish.
Whoa! This almost looks like the layering job I did with my polishes two days ago, only the shimmer isn't on top, it's integrated into the polish and not duo-chrome looking.

Thanks Mae for this great polish!

NOTD: Purpley-Copper Duochrome? Yeah, You Heard Me

Thursday, September 9, 2010

So I've posted in the past about Color Club's Wild and Willing (read about it here) and how awesome of a layering polish it is. Well today I've layered it over another awesome color, L.A. Girl Rockstar's Groupie polish which is a purple fine glitter in a purple gel. Have I showed you this before? No? Well I promise I'll get pictures of it by itself at some point.
Anyways, here's Wild and Willing over two coats of Groupie.

Kinda weird, right? It just looks like copper and purple shimmer mixed together, kinda bleh. The camera isn't able to capture how pretty is without blurring.
Here's a blurred one that gives you a better idea of how it looks.

Awesome! It gives off this purple/copper duochrome look which is really dynamic and complex. Even Mr.MakeupWithdrawal commented on the copper reflection.
It's a fantastical combination, I say!

Rock & Republic Lawsuit Eyeshadow (and FOTD)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

If you look at the reflection, you can see the brown base.

I love this Rock & Republic shadow so much, I figure that it deserves its own post.

This one is really exceptional, a dark forest green/bark brown duochrome. I love, love, love duochrome shadows- the shift in color is fascinating to me! What sets this one apart from other brown/green duochromes, like MAC Club, Urban Decay Lounge or Too Faced Label Whore is the quality. No fallout because the shadow is so well formulated, it really is a joy to blend and apply.

I used to own Club (but it died, sad story, I'll have to tell you it sometime), and I can tell you that the shadow itself is harder, and not as creamy as Lawsuit.

I love that Lawsuit's green is really rich and vibrant, especially over a black base, as you can see. The brown is also much cooler than Label Whore (which can get kinda of reddish, and has a bit of glitter as well). And isn't it cool how it looks purplish over a white base?

Rock & Republic shadows are usually $28, but I got mine for 50% off during a sale! It's worth its weight in gold, it's definitely one of my top 5 shadows.

And here's a FOTD with it!

I like how my face is partly shadowed. Photo-taking fail.

Face: MUFE HD, NARS concealer in Ginger/Custard, R&R Foreplay blush, L'oreal Magic Perfecting base

Lips: Becca Giselle

Eyes: UDPP, e.l.f. Black creme liner as base, R&R Lawsuit, NARS Bali, NARS Bellissima duo (left side), Prestige Total Intensity Deepest black, false lashes.

Products mentioned were purchased by me, for my own use.

Review: Seche Base- Ridge Filling Base Coat

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

stock image from seche.com

Ok, let's rewind real quick. So far I've reviewed the Seche Vite Top Coat and the Seche Clear Base Coat. I really loved the former, was meh about the latter and now- I can finally talk about how I hate Seche Base.
I picked this up at CVS when they were having their beauty sale because it had a 50% off sticker on it. I figured, $3 and change wasn't to bad at all for something that would provide me an even nail surface.
Boy was I wrong! First off, it adds about 40 minutes to my manicure because even the thinnest layer of this milky fluid takes about five minutes to dry by itself. It also makes each consequent layer of polish take about 10 minutes to dry. This irritates me greatly, as the painting my nails is to make myself happy by using pretty colors and designs to adorn my nails, not to be a trial of patience.
There's no real way to by pass this extra time because if I don't let each layer dry completely, it remains in that soft, easily dented, smudgy wet stage- even with a fast dry top coat like Seche Vite (actually, especially with a fast dry top coat, I feel like the wet layers get trapped underneath).
Now, back to the name itself. 'Ridge Filling Base Coat' kind of implies that it has ridge filling properties, no? Er, I didn't experience any ridge filling, what so ever. No, in fact- a clear $.99 Essence polish made for a better nail smoothing coat than this did. Kinda outrageous, right?
The only think I liked about this base coat at all was the slight pearly shimmer in it. But considering that it's a base coat, it means almost absolutely nothing.
So, save your money. Get something better, there's way better base coats out there, this isn't worth the discounted $3.50 I paid for it. (at some point I'll review my SpaRitual and Essie base coats).
What do you think?

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

NOTD: Green with White Fishbones

Monday, September 6, 2010

This is the first design I did with my Bundle Monster plates. Actually, I don't know what it is but Wet'n'Wild French Creme (white) didn't stamp very well with this design, I think because it's rather small. Or maybe the etching is too shallow, beats me. Anyways, it took a lot of tries to get this one done, and it's a bit patchy.

On the bright side, I found out that China Glaze Entourage (the base green) doesn't stain through Essie Protein Base, so I can use it again! Stamped with BM04.

EOTD: Soft, Work Friendly Violet

Saturday, September 4, 2010

This is a really toned down, neutral violet look. Really fast and easy to do. It's so muted that it almost doesn't even look purple anymore! Look, I have grey contacts in. They turn sort of blue on me, but I'll tell you more about them soon in a separate post.
Brows: Maybelline Define-A-Brow in Dark Brown

Eyes: UDPP, NARS PoP Palette; Violetta, Demon Lover, Abyssinia, Nepal, Maybelline The Falsies Mascara, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline.

Adios, until next post!

-Mimi

Everything You Need to Know About Konad (Pt. 2: Tutorial)

Friday, September 3, 2010

Ok, so this is the second half of my Konad/nail stamping posts, the part that actually tells you what the heck to do.
I'm assuming that you've read Part 1 and have all the supplies, so I'm not going to familiarize you with descriptions of the tools. Any of the images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Konad Tutorial

Step 1: Apply your base coat, and your base color as you would regularly. After that, apply a top coat to seal in your color. This is a pretty important step, especially if you're new to stamping because chances are, you might mess up the first attempt at stamping and will want to remove the messed up image. The top coat allows you to take a q-tip or cotton pad and whisk away the image without disturbing your base color, and making you start over from scratch.

Step 2: Make sure the lacquer on your nails are COMPLETELY dry. I'm serious. A semi dry nail can smudge quite badly as you stamp the image onto them. It's better to wait a few extra minutes for your polish to dry than it is to rush and smudge them later, and having to redo that nail. Also, if you'd like to avoid having to clean up your cuticles, apply Vaseline or a cuticle oil to them, being careful not to get any on the nail itself.

Step 3: Make sure the plate is clean (wipe it down with your remover if needed) and apply your stamping polish to roughly the first 1/2 of your design. You don't need to cover the whole design because the act of scraping, which follows- pushes the excess polish into the gaps.

Step 4: Holding the scraper at an angle (not 90 degrees, angle it at 45 instead), carefully scrape across the image. Don't worry if the image is a little streaky, that usually doesn't pick up when you stamp.

Step 5: Quickly stamp the image onto your stamper, using even pressure. You want to work quickly because you don't want the polish to dry out, the image will not transfer well if it does.

Step 6: Line up the side of the image with the side of your nail. You want to stamp the image from side to side, rather than from tip to cuticle, it'll help align your image better. Press the stamper onto your nail in a slight rolling motion across the surface (as opposed to just stamping it really hard onto your nail).

Step 7: Inspect the image, if it's not to your liking, you can quickly wipe it off with nail polish remover (gently) and start over. If not, clean off your stamper, scraper and plate by wiping them down with remover. Repeat steps 3 to 7 for every nail.

Step 8: Now clean up, removing any extra polish that got on your cuticles. Finish up with a clear top coat. Voila! Finished!

Pre-cleanup!

So, was that comprehensive enough?
I love, love nail stamping because it allows me to get clean, precise designs onto my nails when I'm too lazy to hand paint them on. You can get great semi sheer images that are intricate and really cool looking. Try mixing matte and glossy polishes, as well as holographic ones. You can also layer designs for even more unique nails!

Have any questions? Or comments? Or tips for those who are new to it? How about favorite plates and polishes combos?