Guest Post: Rin's Nail Files!- OPI: DS Original + RA119

DS Original has been one of my big lemmings for so long, and thanks to Rin, you get to see it on the blog today :) Show her some love, thanks Rin!!

Hello all, I am so happy that Kristin asked me to guest blog for her again, I am Rin from rinsnailfiles.com. I have one of my favorite polishes to show you today, OPI DS Original, It's a purple hololicious beauty. I used 3 coats for full coverage, I then added a butterfly with Red Angel plate #119 using Konad white polish. I really love this polish!! Hope you guys like! Thank you Manicured Monkey for asking me to show off this beauty with your followers today =) 

Zoya: Meg with Myrta + RA119

Here's another stamping duo I came up with using two of the polishes from Zoya's Beach and Surf collections. The base color is Meg which is a dark avocado green foil (2 coats, no problems for opacity). I stamped using the Red Angel 119 plate to get a cute flower image and used Myrta which is that burnt orange foil. Meg also stamps well as it is really pigmented. I like this mani because it looks kind of retro, like 70s wallpaper or something equally as tacky. 

Sunday Challenge: Black and White

For this week's Sunday stamping challenge the theme was black and white. I knew I wanted to do something different, something I hadn't tried before. I've been sick all week and feel like this is a fail but the thought was there. I started off with a coat of Wet N Wild French White as a base for my Red Angel 112 image of scrolls and flowers. I stamped that using Konad special black polish because I needed lots of pigment. I then took Essie's Marshmellow and did a coat over the stamp. Here's where the fail came in... .I should have top coated the black *then* stamped because it smeared the image more than usual. The Red Angel plate is etched pretty deep as well so there is a lot of polish transfer to the nail. I want to revisit this mani again but try a top coat over the black so that it comes out less smudgy and Marshmellow can apply less streaky.
You can check out everyone else's Sunday challenge manis on my Pin Board. I update it throughout the day so check often!
Red Angel 112

Happy St. Patrick's Day Mani!

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone! I have a simple yet fun green mani for you today. I used a coat of Bettina Mojito with two coats of China Glaze He's Going In Circles (a green holo) over it. It was super hard to capture the holo so I blurred the picture a bit (blurred for your pleasure heh.). I then stamped with Red Angel 116 with the huge heart clover stamped in Wet N Wild Black Creme the dropped in green rhinestones to the middle of the clovers. I quite like this mani however it is not the one I am wearing for St. Patty's Day... more on that Monday :) Have a great day monkeys!

Bettina: Mojito + RA-116

With St. Patrick's Day a little over a week away, I thought I'd do a simple mani for you today. I started with two coats of Bettina Mojito, a dark grassy green creme. It applied easily and was very opaque. I used Wet N Wild White on my ring finger as an accent, two coats of that and I was good to stamp. I used Red Angel 116 and stamped the clover using Konad special white polish and on my accent finger I used Mojito to test out the stamping... not too bad, not perfect though. I took a Color Club art striper that had silver holo glitter and did a little design around the clovers. Overall an easy  mani for St. Patrick's Day and I got to play with another Bettina. :)

Stamping Sunday! Essie: Armed & Ready + RA103

Recently I got the beauty that is Essie Armed and Ready. I decided to use if for Stamping Sundays!  It is a murky brown with gray under tones with a shimmer of greenish gold. The shimmer is more apparent in the bottle but it's still there on the nail. I felt like it had been a while since I've used my Red Angel plates so I pulled out plate 103 (this week's theme was a plate that ended in 3). The geometric pattern is kind of cool. I used Milani Sailaway from their new 2012 polishes. It was flawless stamping! The effect was subtle and a bit hard to see but it was pretty cool when light hit the design.  Overall, not a bad mani, just another subtle one :)

China Glaze: QT

I have another holo for you today from the China Glaze OMG 2BHOT collection: QT. QT is a reddish pink linear holo. I used two coats for opacity, no top coat and stamped using Kleancolor Purple Metallic. I used Red Angel RA101 plate for my funky french tips.  I wore this mani for only two days but it was sunny those days so it was really great to look at.  The formula of QT was good, did not have drag and dried fast, I didn't even have to put SV on it before I stamped over it because it was already dry.  Win! As with all of the China Glaze holos, this has become hard to find as well.  It's great though and probably worth it if you love holo and pinks.  

My giveaway with Salon Effects added :)

Also, please vote for my mani over at Julep's NOTD contest!

Julep: Anne and RA114

Today I have Julep Anne for you. Anne is a lavender creme that dries semi matte. In the swatch photo, there is no top coat, you can see it looks rubbery. I used Kleancolors Metallic Red and Aqua to stamp using the Red Angel 114 plate's heart image.  I liked how the red stood out over the purple, the aqua didn't stand out as much but was a pretty accent finger.  I wore it a few days and the SV did well with it. I had minimal tip wear. I would totally use this design again with the red hearts over a different color for Valentine's Day. 

Don't forget my giveaway and that you can get extra entries by tweeting everyday, just put the link into rafflecopter. 

Linking up to Wrap it Up Wednesdays at The Kracked Kat

Nubar: Indigo Illusion + RA117

Nubar Indigo Illusion has been on my list for a while and I was glad to cross it off! I used two coats of this duochrome. It is like a green smokey teal and flashes pink/purple/green. I stamped it using Red Angel 117 because I loved the faces! I put a fimo bow on the girl and a fimo crown on the one next to her. It's like they are on a date! =^.^=   I wore this for about 3 days before I started picking off the fimos.  I wish I could leave them on longer but 3D art starts to bother me after a while getting caught when I do my hair and stuff. I like this mani though and would for sure stamp the faces again :) 

Current Giveaway! Don't forget you can tweet once a day, enter it into Rafflecopter for your extra entry!

NOPI: Diva Into the Pool and One Less Lonely Glitter

This mani lasted 3 days before I took it off (it was in pretty darn good condition too!). I used three coats of Nicole by OPI Diva Into the Pool which is a bright teal micro glitter. I had to do three coats because my tips are so bright, they were showing through.  I did about three passes of One Less Lonely Glitter as my accent finger. This polish is so pretty, a mega packed light purple of large and small pieces. It would be best layered over an opaque purple though because it is in a clear base. I then stamped with my Red Angel plates to make a funky geometric design. It was quite interesting to look at and stood out great against the teal background. Overall a win for this mani. 

Sally Hansen: Tyin' the Knot & RA 130

I have never done a half moon mani before, especially with stamping, so this is new to the blog.  I used two coats of Sally Hansen Tyin' the Knot; a frosty gunmetal taupe. The formula was great as most of my Sally Hansen experiences prove. I used Konad white polish to stamp using the Red Angel 110 plate. This was my first attempt at stamping a half moon mani.. it's harder than I thought it would be heh. Overall it's not a bad mani and it is visually interesting, just need to work on stamping the half moons straight :) 

News: Lex Cosmetics is sending a polish for the giveaway... but here's a clue on the color: it's new and not available yet... so give it a while, it's worth the wait :)