31DC2013, Day 29: Inspired by the supernatural

I was determined to finish the 31 Day challenge from last year, but I see all these awesome manis on the net - and I quickly forget my actual goal ;).

C'mon, there are only three manis left and then I'm done with my first ever nail art challenge :) Here comes my supernatural mani:

Apparently a just cannot stop buying MoYou stamping plates, so it's high time I start using them!!! The base for this mani is a light blue gradient. Then I randomly sponged grey, beige and mud colored nail polishes to create the rocky bottom and stamped the cute mermaid and water plant patterns on top of it.
My top coat smeared a bit, but thank god I noticed it before ruining the design completely.

Base color: pale blue gradient with Formula X Infatuated and China Glaze Bahamian Escape, added spots of Picture Polish Whimsy around the stamped patterns
Rocks: sponged different grey polishes on top of each other
Waterp pants: pattern from the MoYou Sailor Collection 04, stamped with dark green Essence Deep Sea, Baby
Mermaid: pattern from MoYou Fairytale Collection 02 stamping plate with Konad black stamping polish Read More......

Nailz Craze and Essie "Meet the Parents"

I've bought the Nailz Craze NC03 stamping plate ages ago, but totally forgot about it. What a pity, just look at this cute swirly pattern:

This is the plate I used:

Initially I bought the plate because of the fair isle pattern on the right.  But after I received it, I also fell in love with the unique floral patterns and the cute Russian dolls. It's spring in Hamburg, so I decided to go for the floral design:

Essie's Meet the Parents, which was the base for my middle and ring fingers, is from the new Essie Wedding 2014 collection. The formula is quite sheer, a little streaky at first and needs three coats. But it's not that bad and the color is quite unique and absolutely beautiful - a muted, dusty light blue. I have a light to medium skin tone and still this cooler toned color looks good on me, right? I also saw this polish on a very dark skin and it looked awesome as well.

Base color: Essie Meet the Parents (bought on my trip to NY) and Essie Blue Rhapsody (index finger)
Stamping: Nailz Craze plate NL03, bought on Etsy, stamped with Essie Blue Rhapsody
Glitter: my pinkie is covered with Maxybelt Arena Plata - a sand glitter polish (bought for $2 during my trip to South America... What a deal, right?) Read More......

New York mani

My hubby and I have just returned from our trip to New York. What an incredible city!  We dreamed about going to NY for so long, I was giddy with anticipation before we left. And naturally I had to do a NY mani!

The skyline comes from the fantastic Bundle Monster plate BM-414. I was so excited, I couldn't stamp straight ;) The resulting image is more like New York fata morgana to be frank ;).
Mani done, I felt prepared to go:

Despite my "wavy" stamping I loved my nails. And it was a huge success in NY ("Oh, I love your nails!" and "Oh, this is New York! So cool!"). Who new that nails could be such a conversation starter! :D

Gradient: Mint Polish Tart, China Glaze Sugar High, CG Fade Into Hue, Essie Midnight Cami over one layer of no-name white
Stamping: BM-414 with A-England Camelot Read More......

Yeeey! Fing'rs decals from ChitChatNails!!!

It's hard to believe, but I won the Fing'rs Nail Tatoos Giveaway from Marta's blog ChitChatNails!!! Yeeey!!! I got the decals last week and had to use them for my mani:

Look at this, this or this post from ChitChatNails. Now you know where my inspiration comes from ;) Marta is the queen of skittlettes - this cool mix'n'match styles, where at least two nails are different from the others. My skittlette obsession started with her blog. If you're not a fan yet - check out her skittlette-tutorial and start following!

Base color:  P2 Sweet Like Sugar and OPI My Vampire Is Buff.
Glitter: Ligne D'Or Azúcar Canela - the best textured glitter I have. Bought for $1,50 during my holiday in South America.
Water decals: Fingr's Nail Tatoos

The rose colored P2 polish is a new addition to my collection - bought it in my local drugstore yesterday. The color is beautiful - slightly dusty rose with some soft shimmer. The formula however is a nightmare for me - thick, streaky, dries quick on the surface and doesn't level itself out much. I had to use tree careful coats to hide bold spots. If you do thin coats and usually manage to paint a nail without going twice over the same spot, you'd be fine with two coats.


Read More......