*Nothing to Disclose*

     Today I'm going to share with you my first attempt at double stamping. This is a look that I've seen people do numerous times and have always wanted to try. The thing that held me back was my inability to place images on my nail in the positions that I wanted. Well, the invention of the clear stamper changed all that and I decided to give this look a try. For those of you who are in the same situation, I highly recommend checking out the clear stamper options out there, to see which one would be the best fit for you. I am currently loving the Monocle stamper from Bundle Monster. It has a larger stamping surface than the original clear jelly stamper and is shorter. I like that because it's easier than staring down the skinny tube. And after writing those last few sentences, I've come up with the idea of showing and comparing those stampers so look out for that in the coming new year. 

      For this look, I started with a base of Orly Terracotta, a vibrant coral polish. Using Red Angel plate RA-116 I stamped my leaves with Sally Hansen Green with Envy.

     From the same Red Angle plate, I went in and added roses with Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow. It didn't create quite as much contrast as I was hoping for, but I do like the feel it created. There was just something about the rich coral color that screamed tropical oasis to me, and I was in the mood to wear something fun on my nails. The muted tone of the stamping helped it keep this from heading in the wild tropical vacation direction and stick with the private island getaway I wanted.

     I hope you enjoyed today's look, let me know what you think in the comments. As always thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

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      Happy Friday to everyone! I'm finally back with another look for the 40 Great Nail Art Ideas Challenge. This week is 3 shades of green! How appropriate with yesterday being St. Patricks Day. Hmmm that was some clever planning by The Crumpet huh. Or do you think it was just the luck of the Irish?

     Now if you're new here you might be wondering what the 40 Great Nail Art Ideas Challenge is all about. So first of all welcome, I'm so glad you're here! And secondly, here's a little bit about what this challenge actually is. This challenge is set up a bit differently than most. For starters there is the option to do weekly manicures with one week dedicated to themes, and one to colors. Or you can do every other week and stick with themes only or colors only. For the color portion of the challenge each person is also assigned a pattern. The end result is 40 different looks all done in the same colors. As most of you know I opted to do the color challenge and you can see my previous looks using Teal, Orange, Purple and Green, Black and White, Grey, Glitter toppers, Pale Blue , 3 shades of Purple and Turquoise.  Whew we've done a lot of looks so far! Now for today's manicure.

    My "pattern" for today was an accent nail. I know not really a pattern but it is a nail art look so it still fits the theme. And is a really easy look to pull off! After thinking way too hard about what I wanted to do for my manicure I decided on the seran wrap technique.

      If you have ever done this technique you know it makes a mess. And there's nothing worse than cleaning up green nail polish from your skin right? Well blue and red polish are right up there too I guess.  I used my new bottle of Simply Peel latex barrier from My Bliss Kiss to keep the mess at bay and was very happy with the results. Plus it makes your skin sparkly when it dries and who doesnt like to sparkle?

*Nothing to Disclose*

     It's time once again for the monthly link up presented by the Facebook group Hobby Polish Bloggers. This months theme is fall colors.  I don't know about you but I absolutely love fall colors. The colder temperatures and the fact that winter is approaching I can do without, but the trees look so pretty. I look forward to the changing leaves, especially since we have a tree in our yard that naturally does a gradient of red, orange, yellow and green. Add to that they form an almost perfect ball shape and you can't help but marvel at its beauty.  I knew right away I wanted to incorporate my love for this tree and the changing leaves in my manicure. 

*Nothing to Disclose*

      Happy Friday, hooray we made it to the weekend! As of 3:20 this afternoon my kids will be officially on spring break. We have decided to take an impromptu vacation and head north to colder weather. I know I must be crazy right? Because this is so last minute I'm not sure if I will have posts ready for my blog and may miss my Monday and Wednesday posts. Fingers crossed I can get them done tomorrow. I just wanted to give you all a heads up about that.

     Now for today's polish, I have Intelligence, Integrity & Courage from The Giver Collection by China Glaze. I still have not read the book or watched the movie but I love the colors from this collection. I wonder if I can find the movie on Netflix? I'll have to check on that. But for now let's take a look at the polish. You might recognize it from my previous post on the Black Rhinestones from Born Pretty Store.


     Intelligence, Integrity & Courage is a medium grey creme with a slight blue undertone. The formula on this one was a bit tricky. The first coat applied streaky but self leveled as it dried. This can make for an interesting application process since you could be tempted to go over the nail multiple times causing bald spots to appear. Just be patient and let those streaks settle and you'll be left with a smooth finish.  Shown here is 2 coats plus top coat.



    The pigmentation is really dense and you could possibly get away with 1 thick coat for full opacity but I recommend applying two regular coats to avoid frustration. Because of the opacity I got with my first coat I figured this would make for a good stamping polish and I was right!


     I love the combination of yellow and grey together. I used Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow from the X-treme line on my accent nail and Red Angel plate RA-113. As you can see both polishes stamped really well.  I don't know if I love the design I chose but it is interesting. It reminds me of googly eyes. Which is fun and creeps me out at the same time. I know I might be crazy but I mentioned that at the beginning of this post so you had fair warning.  Well that's all I have for now, I've got some packing to do and a few other posts to write. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

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      Today I have for you the second part of the Ellagee Stained Glass collection. Don't worry if you missed Part 1 you can catch up here. For this post I have Milk Glass, Ruby Glass and Cobalt Glass to share with you.

     First up is Milk Glass. A very shiny slightly creamy transparent polish that is perfectly named.

   
     Just look at how soft and squishy it looks on the nail. Of course, I had to do some stamping between layers again.


     I stamped with Red Angel plate RA-116 and Sally Hansen Color Foil Rose Copper. I really like the way this turned out but I think the image was a little too big for this to look right. Shown here is 4 coats of Milk Glass

     Next I have Ruby Glass. A shiny transparent hot pink jelly polish. Don't let the hot pink part scare you away though. After 2 coats Ruby glass started to deepen to a nice rich berry color.

   
     The application was again smooth and easy. Here I have Ruby Glass shown with 2 coats alone.


     For the stamping here I used Knoad stamping white and Red Angel plate RA-111. This image fit nicer on my nail than the first. I have a feeling that if Id placed them a little closer together it would look like a shadow. Shown here is 3 coats of Ruby Glass.

     And last but not least we have my favorite of these three. Cobalt Glass is a shiny transparent blue that darkens with each coat.

     So pretty. I'm glad I waited to swatch this one last because then I could continue to wear it. And it looks even better with some stamping set between layers.

 
     Again I used Knoad stamping white but this plate is Red Angel plate RA-109. Shown here is 4 coats of Cobalt Glass without top coat.

     So there you have it 3 more polishes from the Stained Glass collection by Ellagee. There are still a few more polishes in this collection and I look forward to sharing those with you a little further down the road. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!


    *Nothing to Disclose*