Fall Manicure - Nail Stamping Manicure - Gradient Manicure

 

 Today I'm going to tell you how I did this simple yet beautiful fall manicure.  I used the following polishes and stamping plate:

• Nail Polish:  Kleancolor Metallic Yellow
• Nail Polish:  OPI S-age is Just a Number
• Nail Polish:  China Glaze Jamaican Out
• Nail Polish:  Konad Special Polish Brown
• Bundle Monster Plate BM-H11 from the BM Holiday Set

The base for this manicure is a simple gradient.  I am not going to give a complete tutorial here on doing a gradient.  I might post one later but you can also search -- there are many tutorials available already.  Here is a link to a good tutorial on how to do a gradient.  For the gradient I used the Kleancolor Metallic Yellow for the base (one coat), then the second color was the OPI S-age is Just a Number, and the tip color was China Glaze Jamaican Out.

After that was done I did some cuticle cleanup and waited for everything to dry.  I then stamped my nails using the BM-H11 plate and my brown Konad stamping polish.  For my fingers I used the full nail leaf image and for my thumb I used the wheat image.  Finally, I used a dotting tool with the stamping polish to fill in the empty space on my thumb. 

Viola!  This manicure only took about an hour to do.  It was really fun, and had a lovely result that got rave reviews.

Want to see more manicure ideas from me?  Go ahead and follow me, and I'll be getting more of these posts up before you know it!  I always have something fun on my nails.  And please leave comments, I'd love to hear from you!

A Starry Night - Nail Stamping Gel Manicure

I have recently fallen in love with two things -- (1) gel manicures and (2) nail stamping.

I have NO artistic ability.  Zilch.  Nada.  None.  So when I discovered these things called nail image plates, I couldn't wait to try them so that I could fancy up my ordinary manicures.  

Using a gel system is another (future) blog post.  To get started with gel, I bought the SEPHORA by OPI SEPHORA by OPI gelshine At-Home Gel Colour System 1 which included absolutely everything I needed.

My manicure begins with a coat of SEPHORA by OPI gelshine™ Base Coat.  I actually found the main color for my manicure at Walmart for only $10.  I figured I give it a try, and I wound up loving it.  It wore perfectly and lasted the full 2+ weeks as it should have.  The color is SensatioNail Color Gel Polish Ocean Sparkle, and I have two coats of that color on.  I will not hesitate in the future to buy any gel color from that brand.  The top coat was SEPHORA by OPI gelshine™ Top Coat.  I will say that I would not trust the base and top coats to any brand but OPI.  This is because you want the best possible base and top coats to ensure the longevity of your manicure.

After I finished the manicure, I cleaned it up and proceeded to stamp.  I absolutely LOVE stamping over gel manicures, because you can use nail polish remover to take off all mistakes and it will not touch the manicure itself.  I would advise that you do put a topcoat on before stamping, however -- the first time I tried a stamping manicure I did not use a topcoat first, and I think the nail polish remover was harming the sheen of the color underneath.

The nail plates I used for stamping this manicure are from the  SHANY 2012 Nail Art Polish Stamp Manicure Image Plates collection.  When I decided I wanted to try stamping, I wanted an expensive set that was well reviewed.  This set met those requirements, and was about $12 for 25 image plates.  Each plate has many images on it, with a minimum of 5 per plate.  The only problem I had with this set was that the blue plastic was hard to remove.  I wound up putting on garden gloves to rub away at the edges of the plastic.  It took forever, but I only had to do it once.

When I first tried stamping, I sadly realized that none of my regular nail polishes worked well for stamping.  So I grudgingly ordered Konad Nail Art Stamping Polish - White, and was very pleased at how well it worked for stamping. I also ordered the Konad Nail Art Stamping Polish - Black, but the white showed up better than the black.  I have since found out that the white shows up on anything (except white, of course) but the black isn't usually as pretty as the white.  Therefore, if you only buy one Konad special polish, you should probably make it the white one.  There are other, non-Konad polishes that work for stamping.  One example is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Fast Dry Nail Color, Silver Sweep.

After I stamped the images onto my nails I let them fully dry.  I then put on another coat of the OPI gelshine topcoat, cured my nails, and viola!  One gorgeous manicure that lasted almost three weeks.  I eventually took it off because my nails had grown out too much at the cuticles.  The pictures stayed perfect for that entire time because they were underneath a gel polish topcoat.

This was only my second attempt at stamping, so I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  It's pretty foolproof if you use it over gel.  I would hesitate to use it over regular nail polish, because I did make many mistakes that I took off with nail polish remover.  Some people say that you can put a topcoat on over your regular polish, and this helps to minimize the damage to your manicure underneath.  So if you're stamping on regular polish, make sure you complete a full manicure with topcoat and let it dry before stamping it.

Enjoy!  I hope to post many more manicure pics in the future, although they will be weeks in between because the manicures last so long.  I also plan on writing a post about using gel polish. When I get the true hang of stamping, I'll probably post some tips and tricks.  So stay posted!

How to Unclog Your Temptu Air Pods (When Nothing Else Works)

 I love my Temptu system, but sometimes I cannot get an air pod unclogged to save me. I have returned probably 1/3 of the pods I have bought because they clogged up completely. The highlighter pods are especially bad at becoming clogged.

The Temptu site is about useless for information on how to unclog your pods. I have finally learned a trick that seems to work where all else has failed.  That tip has saved me from having to return my latest highlighter pod, so I hope it continues to work.

To unclog an air pod, try each of the following.  Only continue to the next tip if the one before it does not work.  Remember to shake well before trying your pod again.  The new trick I learned is #3.


Tip One 
This is the tip most Temptu owners already know.  Poke valve with poker provided in the air pod cap.  Make sure you are holding the pod vertically while you do this.  Shake well and try again.

Tip Two
You may or may not know this one.  Pump air into the pod by pulling up on the little plastic loop handle next to the air valve.  At first it may be hard to get it to lift, but it will give way.  Then pump it a few times while pressing it against your hand.  When this happens, some product might be released from the nozzle of the pod.  When you try this pod again, don't spray directly on your face, because if this works to unclog your pod, your pod will likely spray heavily and unevenly for a second or two.

Tip Three
If the first two tips don't do it, this one hopefully will.  Put your pod in your Temptu system and turn the system on.  Put the tip of the pod against the back of your hand and pull the trigger and hold for a second or two.  That's it!  Well, almost -- you will most likely have to repeat tip number two after doing this for it to finally work.

Update:  Tip number three worked initially for my highlighter pod, but it has since clogged in between each use.  I find the best thing to do is to repeat Tip #2 over and over again, until a good amount of product is coming out onto your hand while you pump.  Then, when you can get the pod to actually spray, use tip number three before you shut off your pod.  This has helped prevent the clogging a bit for me.  Time will tell if it helps to alleviate the problem.

Good luck, and let me know how it goes!  And if you have any additional tips, please share!