Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you're all having/had a wonderful day and shared it with lovely family and friends. It was raining and somewhat cool here, which put me in the very best of moods, because the usual oppressive heat and sun are not my friends!

I thought I'd share my Christmas mani with you. I thought, right up until yesterday, that I would be doing a China Glaze Frosty/Party Hearty/OPI Funny Bunny combo (link to pic here) but at the last minute I decided to go with something different:

Pics are clickable, as always, so you can see the sparkly detail! This is two coats of Cherry Love by Rescue Beauty Lounge topped with one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust and then Seche Vite top coat. The accent finger is one coat of BYS Matte White stamped with the holly stamp from plate BM12 and topped with a little heart gem (which someone I know will call a 'heartmonte' - ha ha) that I got from my lovely friends C and M in a package for my birthday this year (thanks my darlings :)).

As usual, the photos do not do it justice. It is so sparkly and colourful in real life. Very cute.

MCB

Christmas Konad

I went to a Christmas par-tay the other night, and so I decided to get into the spirit of things with a Christmas mani! I was kind of going for a candy cane look with an accent nail:

I kind of like it, but I think the accent nail doesn't really tie in with the other nails - its like 3 nails from one manicure and a random nail thrown in! Maybe if I'd used a white creme on the accent nail instead of a shimmery polish it might have tied in a bit better...

Anyway, this is one coat of OPI's Ali's Big Break for the red base, and 2 coats of China Glaze Frosty for the ring finger. The one coat of red wouldn't have been sufficient for a normal mani (I'd go with 2 coats) but I knew I'd be using a full nail stamp which would hide the minor imperfections, so I stuck with one.

I then stamped with my BundleMonster stamps - BM20 in Konad Special White Polish for the stripes and BM14 in Konad Green for the holly. I then dotted on the little red berries on the accent finger with a dotting tool and Ali's Big Break.

The only problem with the BundleMonster plates is that their full nail stamps are so damn tiny! You can see on the pics above that they only just cover my middle finger, and I'm glad I don't include my thumbs in the photo cos I tried to join up the stamp across them to make it fit and it was a hot mess :) But for the price, you can't complain really!

What kinds of Christmas manis have you guys been coming up with?

MCB

Zoya Gaia

Today I've got a polish for you from the amazing Zoya. I only recently started purchasing Zoyas, and I have no idea why I waited so long - every single one that I try is gorgeous!

Here is Gaia:

Gaia is a gorgeous soft white with a luminous gold microshimmer. Its stunning. This is two coats with one coat of Seche Vite on top.

And then I went and ruined it by doing this:

Ew. Konad fail. Looking back on it, pretty much any other colour would have worked except this. Oops.

Lesson learned - if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it :)

MCB.

China Glaze Holiday Collection 2010

China Glaze are fantabulous. They consistently release interesting, high quality polishes with on-trend colours and unique finishes. And this year's holiday collection is no different.

Of the 16 (!) shades released this year, I decided to pick up 3 little beauties...still resisting the temptation to add to this number...

First up, Sugar Plums:

This one has sparse holo glitter suspended in a burgundy red creme base. This one is really pretty, but I found that the base was a bit dense for the glitters, and as a result some of the glitter was covered up by the base resulting in less visible holo glitter + weird lumpy bits. But its not as bad as it sounds, and it definitely looks better in real life than in the pics, which emphasise the lumpiness. I still like this polish and I'm glad I bought it!

Next up, Frosty:

A gorgeous sparkly white with silvery white microshimmer. I love this colour - I adore whites on my nails, and this one has a kind of softness to it so it doesn't end up looking like White-Out. Sparkly, snowy, icy goodness. Perfect for pretending it isn't going to be 40 degrees celsius on Christmas Day here in Oz. Ew. This is 2 coats with Seche Vite on top. LOVE!!

Lastly I picked up Party Hearty. This one is kind of weird on its own, and is best for layering, so here it is layered over Frosty:

This one is so much fun! Small green glitter and larger red hex glitter suspended in a clear base. This is two coats, so I think you'd have to layer it pretty thick to get it opaque. Its just perfect for making any mani look Christmassy! Very unique in my collection as well.

I got the idea of layering a sheer white polish OVER Party Hearty from the amazing Polish Hoarder Disorder blog. Here is the above combo (2 coats Frosty, 2 coats Party Hearty) with one coat of OPI's Funny Bunny layered over the top:

I love this look - all soft candy sweetness and muted Christmas spirit. I think this just might be my actual Christmas day mani this year...but we'll see. So many choices!!

MCB

Konad Time

Hi All,

I've got another quick Konad design here - only one pic because that's all it needs. Sometimes the simplest designs and colours work really well, particularly after lots of fancy, sparkly, bright polishes.

Here is my latest 'palate cleanser':

One coat of BYS Black Satin on all fingers except my ring finger, stamped with Konad Special White Polish and a Bundle Monster Pattern from BM20. Ring finger is BYS Matte White stamped with Konad Special Black. I'm itching to bling it up a bit with a sparkly top coat like China Glaze Fairy Dust or something...but I'm resisting for now.

MCB