Halloween: Sugar Skulls!

If you follow me on Tumblr or Pinterest, you have already seen this mani, but... if you haven't, take a look. I was watching Cute Polish on You Tube and she did a sugar skull mani so this was inspired by her tutorial. She is so great with a dotting tool and makes it look easy. This was a bi of a challenge. I used OPI Alpine snow as the base for the skulls and a blue Essie for the base to my stamping with the Fun2 and Cheeky CH50 for the flower images. I used black polish but also black acrylic paint and it got a bit messy at that point. Overall though, it's cute enough and unique enough to draw attention when out and about.

#33DC - South America

Hi Monkeys! I'm taking part in the Crumpet's 33 day challenge on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; a new theme each day. Check it out and you can see everyone else's posts below. There's some great nail art happening!

For today the theme was South America. This one seemed kind of obvious for me- soccer! The World Cup 2014 will be held in Brazil, so I did some nail stamping and freehanding for it. The index finger is the Brazillian flag, then 2014 over the next two nails and soccer balls on my little finger. The colors are green and yellow- color of Brazil's Jerseys. I like it, just wish my stamping was more straight for the numbers. Don't forget to check out everyone else's manis.

Butter London: Blagger and CH 47 & 48

I've had this in my drafts for a long time now, I love Butter London Blagger; if it wasn't such a pain to get off it would be my favorite blue. I did two coats, the formula is great but almost always chips on me so I tried something different: I changed up my base and top coats. Essie Protein Base and Good To Go for my top coat made this mani last 4 days with no chips before I took it off (that's a long time for me ESPECIALLY with a Butter London). I used Cheeky plates 47 and 48 for the super hero images and lightning bolts and stamped using Sally Hansen Celeb City. Love a glitter polish stamped on a bright creme!

Essie: Mojito Madness + CH52

You have to love Mojito Madness from Essie; it's a soft grassy green that can transition from summer to fall and spring to summer. I used two coats, the formula was great like a normal creme would be. I then stamped using the new Cheeky plates CH52 using Essie Nothing Else Metals from their Mirrored collection.  Check out how great that stamps! I love purple and green but a metallic stamped over a creme is fantastic. Over all was a great mani, even without an accent finger :) 

*plates provided by cheeky*

Essie: Penny Talk + CH54

Today's Stamping Sunday was metals/metallics. I used Essie Penny talk from the new Mirrored collection. It's a faint bronze metallic that is so reflective it looks like liquid metal on your fingers. Given the polish name, it seemed appropriate to stamp dollar signs with the new (hopefully releasing soon) Cheeky plates using the dollar image from CH54. The trick to the Mirrored collection is to use either one thick coat or two thin coats and wait for your first coat to completely dry (if you don't you will get drag and will have to redo your mani).

Patriotic Mani Using Pure Ice: Crimson, Flash, French Kiss

 Hi Monkeys! I have a patriotic mani I did for you today using Pure Ice polishes. It's Olympic time so I thought this was quite appropriate!

This was the final look but I started with a coat of white polish followed by a coat each of Crimson (a shimmery medium red), French Kiss (the perfect American Blue) then last I added Pure Ice's white crackle: Flash as stripes.. then I realized I did it backwards as a flag but yet it's right if it's facing me... I love this mani and am sure to rock it as a full mani in the near future for the U.S. women's soccer team. I stamped the stars using Cheeky CH 4 from their first series. I didn't use tape for this mani, I just winged it and I must say, not too shabby if I do say so myself :) 

As far as formula with these polishes, they were fantastic, pictured is one coat over white and dry time was quick. I also like the fact that the crackle still cracked even though I had a coat of SV over the blue side so I could stamp faster; not all crackles are created the same :) Overall a fun mani and a great way to show support for the games! 

*pure ice polishes were provided for review*

Stamping Sunday!: Things I Love (CH40)

This week's Adventures in Stamping theme was "something you love". Clearly polish was a no-brainer. I took the opportunity to show you another Cheeky plate preview: CH 40. It is all about beauty and polish.  I messed up my index finger stamping so you get three stamped fingers today, sorry, it's that kinda day. I started off with Essie Trophy Wife; a great blue shimmer with green undertones. I stamped using Milani White on the Spot and the Cheeky CH40 plate. You can see the I <3 polish full image on my middle finger and the polish bottles, hearts and brushes on my ring finger. My little finger got a but smudged (remember these are pre-production plates) but it says "Nail Art" and it has cute hammers and nails. Cheeky has said that the plates will be released in approximately 6ish weeks as they are working on getting them perfect instead of questionable quality. You can follow them on Facebook and see status updates and plate previews.

Random question: Would you be interested in a write up of nail products I use like treatments and files etc?
The Giveaway!!!

*plate set sent for review/preview*

Cowboy Up Mani using CH34

This mani took on a mind of its own at some point. I started with two coats of China Glaze Kalahari Kiss which is a yellow tan/khaki creme (pretty straight forward). It looked rustic to me so I sponged Deborah Lippmann No More Drama on it (a dark brown with shimmery gold/copper throughout). It reminded me of worn leather at this stage so then I stamped the horse rider image from the new Cheeky CH34 plate using China Glaze Delight. Delight is a great polish to stamp with, it's metallic and a brown copper bombshell of a polish. I topped it off with SV. Since I didn't take pictures of it before the stamping, I inset a close up so you can see the background. What do you think? Kind of a unique one for me and the blog.
The Cheeky plates aren't out yet but you can follow them and me on Facebook to know when they release.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

*cheeky plate sent for review*

China Glaze: Man Hunt & Kalahari Kiss + CH35

It's been a while since I've water marbled so I wanted to try out something new with it. I did close lines instead of a traditional pattern using Man Hunt and Kalahari Kiss from the China Glaze On Safari collection. These two polishes marbled great and I really love the color combo together. I was going to do something safari themed on it but it just reminded me of a bowling lane so I used the new Cheeky CH35 plate and stamped the bowling image. You can see this one is etched a bit deep but I'm assured it's only because it's pre-production plates. What do you think? I kinda like it, feels retro bowling to me. 

Dont' forget to check out my giveaway which includes the new Bundle Monster plates!

*cheeky plate provided for review*

Cheeky: CH 46- space mani

So this is a quick mani I stamped over my Glitter Gal Soft Lady Beetle the other day... I went for the space theme using the new Cheeky plates: CH 46. I used three images from the plate: the moon and stars (LOVE this one!), space ships and a single large space ship (super cute!). I stamped using Milani White On The Spot (great alternative for more expensive Konad polish). I think I killed this one with too many top coats though because it later chipped then peeled. It may also have been from doing dishes and having my hands in water; we'll blame it on that.... no more dish washing :) haha. This plate didn't give me any problems how some of the non-finalized images are etched too deep etc, this one came out fine and it was super cool having the color shifting under the space images, overall, I really enjoyed this mani for the 12ish hours I had it on.

*Cheeky plate provided for review*

Black (matte) & NYX Delectable gradient with CH44

I have been wanting to do a black matte glitter gradient and well, this is what I came up with. I started with Wet N Wild Black Creme, and a random NYX pink glitter that had gold flecks in it then topped it using Essie Matte About You. I took Konad special white and stamped an image from the new Cheeky CH44 plate. I like that the flowers are matte but because they are pre-production plates, the images aren't as clear as they will be, but still it's pretty cool. I like it without the stamping and with so I'm a bit torn, but I do know I'd do a black and glitter gradient matte mani again. 

Finger Paints: To-Teally Hot & Movie In The Park with CH49

This mani was so much fun to do... I love pirates! I used To-Teally Hot is a perfect dusty teal creme that was opaque in two effortless coats (it's also quite shiny). I took Movie in the Park and did a pinky accent. As you can see, it's quite opaque on its own (that's one coat over To-Teally Hot). Movie In The Park is fuchsia and blue micro glitter in a clear base. I stamped using the new Cheeky CH49 plate which is all pirate themed and awesome! I like the pirate stamped skittles, its something different and new for me :)
I have a few plates from Cheeky that I have yet to do manis for you with so I'll get to those for you along with ones that they preview so you can see the new designs.

*products provided for review*

Finger Paints: Flip Flop Fuschia, Late Night Rendez-vous & CH54

Here's another mani using the Finger Paints from Summer 2012: Flip Flop Fuschia and Late Night Rendez-vouz.  FFF has a bit of a "rubbery" looking finish to it as you can see in the top picture with no top coat. The formula was fantastic and two coats was plenty for full opacity. I did an accent nail of Late Night Rendez-vouz which is a sparkly steel blue that is super opaque in two coats and again with great application/formula. I stamped using the Cheeky 54 with black and white Milani polishes. I like this design with the shoes and the little black dress... very cute indeed! You can check out Cheeky on Facebook to see when this collection comes out, and the Finger Paints are at Sally's and online and retail for $5.29 without a beauty card.

*Finger paints and cheeky plate provided for review*

Movie Mani: Cheeky 51

One of the new cheeky plates, CH 51, is movie themed. What better mani to do for summer, than a movie themed one! I used Essie No More Film with a random accent of a NYC (that I don't remember the name of nor can I find the polish now). I stamped using Skinfood..these all have numbers to them instead of names so it's a light blue glitter that is super dense and awesome. I love the fast forward/play/rewind image, it's awesome! The popcorn is really cool too. I used some chunky silver glitter to jazz it up and add some sparkly bling. Sorry I don't remember all the polishes I used but this mani kind of took over a life on its own with creativity. The images stamp well for being not finalized production plates. Keep an eye out on Cheeky's Facebook page for more previews!

*plates provided for review*

Nubar: Hot Fuschia + CH48

Another mani using the new Cheeky plates, CH48. I started with two easy coats of Nubar Hot Fuschia, a very neon pink. In the bottom picture there is no top coat, you can see it dries semi matte... looks rubbery. I stamped using Milani Black and Sally Hansen Celeb City (my fav silver glitter to stamp with). This is kind of like a girly super hero or comic book mani... the whole plate is themed around things you'd see in a comic book. The exclamation points were a little smeary because again, these are just beta plates and not the final ones. Check out Cheeky's facebook for more previews and as they're revealed I'll have manicures for you to see shortly after :)

Stamping Sunday!: Ending in 9- cheeky 39

Today's stamping Sunday was a choice: birthday or ending in 9 or a girly mani (coordinator's daughter is turning 9, Happy Birthday sweetie!). But ya, my mani is not exactly birthday or girly... I did black and white skittles then a coat of Ozotic 509 (silver holo) the stamped in Milani White on The Spot (over the black) and their Black (over White). It didn't turn out like I envisioned it because the Ozotic was much more opaque than I anticipated but it's still holo nonetheless. I blurred the pictures a bit so you could see the holo but it was much more apparent in real life. I think this image will be a fabulous one once fine tuned (like I said, they're still in testing stages) but it's super cute and I may retry this mani without the Ozotic to be more of an abstract look.

Summer Challenge: Jubilee Street Party (CH41)

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee (for those non UK'ers) is a celebration of the Queen taking the throne and this year is the 60th anniversary. The theme today was street parties, which apparently happen during this time (being an ignorant American, I have to believe what I read on the interwebz). I did one coat of Milani White on The Spot followed by two coats of Essie Pink A Boo. PAB is a super sheer pale pink shimmer that drives me nuts like Kim-Pletely in Love did- it's streaky and will never ever be opaque but the tone of it is great so I deal with it. I stamped hamburgers, fries and pizza using the new Cheeky plates CH41. Since these are prototypes, the images aren't fined tuned but I was reassured they will be. I used Milani Yellow Whiz, Chocolate Sprinkles and I think Teddy Brown (Milani is great to stamp with btw).
Be sure to check out Cheeky's page for more previews of the new plates and I'll have manis with the ones they've revealed already :)
Also, here's everyone else who participated in the Summer Challenge today:

Summer Challenge: Swimming Pool (using CH36)

There's a new challenge that was started and you'll see me participating throughout the summer months. You can check out everyone else's below :) Today's theme was "swimming pool" so I created this mani using the new Cheeky plates (you can see part of the new set HERE and follow them for more previews).  I started with a white base then one coat of Orly Skinny Dip which is a shimmery light baby blue, topped with a coat of Ozotic 506 for texture/sparkle and on my accent finger I did 2 coats of Nubar Hot Fuchsia which is a great neon. I stamped the sunglasses with it and the umbrellas using Milani Yellow Whiz and the suns using Milani White About Now. The flippers were stamped using Milani Black Magic. I really enjoyed creating this design for the challenge. I have another one for you tomorrow so stay tuned, but in the mean time, check out the rest of the swimming pool manis and follow Cheek on Facebook to see more plate previews!

Sinfulcolors: Cinderella and CH29

I'm not really sure I understand the hype of SinfulColors Cinderella. The polish itself is like a pale blue gray jelly with flecks of pink shimmer that looks pretty but the application in my experience was frustrating. I did two coats of Cinderella and it seemed like it took forever to dry, even with SV on top before I stamped. I used Cheeky plate 29 for stamping girly type images that reminded me of Cinderella the character (this I thought was cute). I forget what polish I used to stamp but it may have been Milani Black. 

Zoya: Wednesday + CH8 (Stamped with surf collection)

I really enjoy Zoya Wednesday from the summer zoya collection of Surf and Beach. I stamped over it using my Cheeky CH8 plate in a design I've never used before; it's like swirly/flower pedals/ something rather. I stamped using the Surf Collection, index and middle are Rory, ring is Zuza, pinky is Carly. I changed it up a bit because I wanted to see how Carly and Rory compared and they are pretty similar, just that Rory isn't quite as dark out of direct light. Zuza against Wednesday was super hard to photograph and while it showed up fine in person, it was still faint and would fall under the "subtle mani" category.