ABC Challenge: "Y" is for OPI You're Such A Budapest (and some nail art!)

Press Sample

*Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Hello again lovelies! It's time for the second to last ABC Challenge post. I have to admit, although sometimes it's really hard to work in a challenge mani, I'm bummed that we're almost done with this one. The good news is that all of us have banded together again to create a new challenge that we will be starting at the end of July. It's going to be EPIC!!! I won't give away the details, but let's just say it's really random and will definitely have it's challenges!

Today's challenge letter is "Y", and I really had no idea what to do with this one. I considered going with Yellow, but decided that I really wasn't in a  yellow mood. Then I came across You're Such A Budapest in my OPI stash, and bam! Inspiration!

Now we all know that I can't wear any polish on it's own unless it's a shimmer, holo, or glitter, so I grabbed Maybelline Color Show in Lavender Sparks (a lovely lavender holographic glitter bomb) and my Purple holographic Square studs from KKCenterHK and came up with this:

All photos are 2 coats of OPI You're Such A Budapest, 1 coat of Color Show Lavender Sparks, and KKCenterHK studs, with topcoat:

As much as I like how this turned out, I do wish that I had more length for this. The studs are a bit large for this design on my shorties (thankfully they're growing fast. Grow, shorties, grow!), but I still just love them!

Lavender Sparks is pretty gorg too, right? I love the color and the holo really sparkles - especially in sunlight. That glitter is blinding! I must wear her on her own sometime soon!

The Purple Holo Square studs are certainly awesome as well. I love the color, the sparkle, and the shape. They are simple to use, just dot some non quick dry topcoat where you want the stud to sit on your nail, place the stud, and topcoat. These lay flat on the nail, and stay secured even with just a single coat of my normal top coat. In fact, they lasted through my shower, the baby's bath, soem gardening, laundry, and cleaning. Not a single stud popped off (whereas my polish started chipping fairly quickly).  I really want to use these in another manicure soon.

You can find these awesome little studs at KKCenterHK.com, item number N.Nail0DRN656 or simply click here. These come in a ziploc style sealed package containing about 50 studs and sells for $4.73 per bag. These can be re-used as well - just remove, pop into some polish remover (I'd use non-acetone just in case), rinse off, and put away for later. If you haven't checked out KKCenterHk, you really should. They carry TONS of really awesome nail art supplies and polish for very low prices. They do ship for free worldwide, and shipping is very fast (maybe 10 days). You can also use code KimbersKorner to save 10% on your order!

Ya know, the more I stare at it, the more I really want to see Lavender Sparks on it's own...Hmmmmm....I may have to do that this weekend!

Dont forget to check out all my awesome Polish Sistah's and their Y inspired manicures!

An InLinkz Link-up

I shall return tomorrow with one more awesome Delushie from Delush Polish! I also have Fandom Cosmetics, Wingdust, Luscious Potion and more coming up!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber



*Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Press Sample

Studded Nails with Sally Hansen Sugar Coat in Lick-O-Rich!

Nothing to Disclose

*Product(s) Featured gifted to KLK. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Good morning lovelies! Happy Tuesday! I'll be spending my day working on some gardening, hanging out with the kids and the hubs at my mom's, and hopefully swatching some awesome Indies! First of all, I'd like to ask you to ignore my poor, battered hands. I was a naughty girl and didn't wear gloves while doing landscaping and I was tearing open packages with my bare hands and snagged a couple cuticles on the edges of the boxes so my hands are a bit grumpy. You would think I would learn, right? At least the scratch marks from my new rose bushes are on the back of my hands and you don't have to stare at those. Also, you'll be seeing my Cinderella hand for a bit since my left hand is all scratched up and my nails are shorter on that hand currently since that middle nail had the most damage and is uber short. I'm determined to wear gloves when working in the yard and garden now (even though I detest them since I cant stand my hands being too warm and I always end up with water and soil in them anyway) and I grabbed a letter opener for boxes since I can't seem to open a single one without scraping my cuticles on the rough edges. It's hard to be such a klutz, I tell ya!

I know I said I would have this posted yesterday, but I am quickly learning that my schedule is so insane at the moment that I really can't make any promises as to when I'll have things posted. I'll have a post up daily, I just have no idea when. Yesterday I ended up taking my lunch while she was having her chemo done and I stayed there most of the afternoon just yacking with her. After 38 years and a lot of butting heads and tension between us (I'll be honest - mom and I are both stubborn and I have always been a but of a wild child, which was not to her liking), I finally have the relationship with my mother that I have been longing for. Years of therapy couldn't help me let go of some of the stupid baggage that I held onto so tightly, and my mom does the same thing. Knowing that she has stage 4 incurable lung cancer changed a lot  but almost losing her a few weeks ago really jolted my brain. Life is too short to dwell on the past, and as parents we all make mistakes, and do things to protect our children that they will never really understand. It really sucks that it took this much to make me realize that, but I am thankful that I did get to that point.  Nowadays I see my mom every day as well as talk to her on the phone several times each day, and we have a blast together. It's incredibly awesome and I am cherishing every last moment.

But hey! Who wants to see some really cool polish?

I was recently given some of the new Sally Hansen Sugar Coat polishes (as well as 4 of the fuzzy coats). I love my friends! I had finally managed to hunt them down but with my bank card being stolen and bills to pay, money is tight. So she grabbed some for me, which made my day. I had a tough time deciding on which one to share first )and how to work all these in with all the Indie's I have to catch up on!), but in the end I decided to go with Lick-O-Rich, the little black dress of textured polishes.

I have to say that I wasn't sure about these babies since the texture is very different from the Milani textures and Zoya Pixie Dust, but I really loved wearing Lick-O-Rich. This one reminds me more of the Nails Inc. leather finish polishes, which is a-ok with me! However, as cool as this polish is, it need some Zazz (8 million bonus points and instant awesome status if you get *that* reference!), so I grabbed these awesome 3mm laser etched studs that I received from KKCenterHK and added a bit o' fun to this mani.

These studs are so cool! I love studs anyway, but these ones have actual etching in them. If you look closely you can see a criss-cross pattern etched into the tops, which I think is just ultra-cool. In fact, I loved this mani so much that I whined about taking it off. Oh, the woes of having too many polishes to share, right? ;)

This is 2 coats of Sally Hansen Sugar Coat in Lick-O-Rich, no top coat, with silver laser etched studs from KKCenterHK:

Love It! These silver studs really stood out - I like shiny things. Hehe!

Does this not remind you of the Nails Inc, Leather finish polish in Black?

The formula on this baby was a bit on the thick side, and got fairly goopy toward the second coat. Nothing a few drops of thinner couldn't handle, and it may have been due to the extreme heat out here. Application was a bit tricky until I added the thinner, then everything evened out nicely.

Check out the etching on those studs! Isn't that just awesome? It's very visible IRL as well, and I had alot of questions on where I got these from. Great twist on studs. These were actually easier to apply than my regular silver studs since the underside is concave and sinks into the polish nicely. Even without topcoat, these stayed in place right until removal. All I did was add the studs immediately after applying my final coat of polish and voila! Instant badass nails!

You can check out these studs (and all the awesome nail art supplies and polish) at KKCenterHK.com. These particular studs are item number N.NAIL-DRN671 or you can click here to go right to them. They come in a package of about 50 studs and sell for $5.28. They are re-usable as well, just pop them off, drop them into some acetone of polish remover for a few minutes, rinse off and they're ready to be used again. Don't forget to use code KimbersKorner at checkout to save 10% off your order. KKCenterHK ships worldwide and shipping is super fast. They've been getting a ton of new nail art stuff, so check it out!

Overall I'm actually really digging these Sugar Coat polishes at the moment and am itching to try the others in between my fabulous Indie babies. My only problem is which color to show next! What do you want to see? Pink, Purple, Green, or blue? Or I could use them in a gradient or some nail art. Let me know and I shall oblige!

I have an awesome new beauty from Catrice to share with you all later today (if all goes as planned. I make no guarantees  but it will be posted within the next 24 hours anyway!), and a challenge post tomorrow. Thursday I'll have some Wingdust awesomeness and hopefully more Nail Pattern Boldness goodness. Friday is Flakie Friday as usual and Saturday I'll have some killer photo-chromatic beauties from Live Life Polished, so stick around!

What do you think of the new Sally Hansen Sugar Coat polishes? Yay or Nay?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber




*Product(s) Featured gifted to KLK. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information**

Nothing to Disclose

A-England Lancelot and some studs!

Hello lovelies! I hope you're all enjoying your Tuesday afternoon. It's been a rough day around here, but it's getting much better. And, as a bonus, the cuticle that I managed to stab with a screwdriver while messing with my automatic seatbelt is healing fast! Hopefully it keeps going like this and stops looking like mincemeat soon!

I also wanted to mention that KLK has been mentioned in a new article at Inspa.com! Inspa is a pretty cool website with all sorts of nail art and nail care articles and health and beauty information. It's pretty cool to have one of my links used on a site that has featured bloggers like Chalkboard Nails! You can take a peek at the article here. If you click where it says " Perfect Polish" under the Classic heading, you'll see my post! Neat! 

Today I have another studded manicure to share with you all. I really wanted to do a little nail art last night, so I whipped out my silver studs I received from KKCenterHK. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do with them until about 30 seconds before I applied them - I just knew that I wanted to use them with one of my favorite vampies, A-England Lancelot.

A-England Lancelot is from The Mythicals Collection and is a deep, dark red that leans toward black. In most light it does look black, until you actually see black next to it. In sunlight it looks like a very dark Oxblood color. I love reds that are almost black, and Lancelot is absolute black-red perfection.

For this mani I started with The Knight Base Coat, then used 2 coats of Lancelot. I topped that off with a coat of Gelous, and added studs along the very tip of the nail. Once that was finished, I topped it all off with 2 coats of The Shield.

I do love this look. Still bold and sexy, yet not too in your face. And Lancelot! *Swoons* Adina has created the perfect near black polish. The formula is true A-England perfection and applicaton was simply dreamy. I always love applying A-England polish. I imagine it's kind of like when an artist finds their true medium.

The studs are a new item from KKCenterHK, and were so simple to use. I just dipped an orange stick into a little bit of Gelous, and placed them right onto the nail. I've used the studs you can buy at the drugstore before and they were not easy to place, and were very round and difficult to keep on the nail. These studs from KKCenterHK are much flatter, and don't have that weird sticky stuff on the bottom, which really makes them easy to place right where you want them. I didn't have any issues with the studs popping off either, which makes me incredibly happy. One of the reasons I haven't worn more studded manis was the penchant for my drugstore studs to pop of with the slightest pressure. Now that I have these, I'm definitely going to be rockin studs more often.

Another bonus with these is that they're easy to remove with plain old acetone. However, they don't melt - you can wipe them off and re-use them. Kind of an added bonus since they come in packs of around 60. I did this with the black studs that I wore awhile back, and they're in perfect condition and ready to use again. Definitely a "more bang for your buck" deal!

You can find these studs at KKCenterHK.com, item number NNAIL-DRN661, or by clicking here. They retail for $4.23 for about 60 studs, and come in a ton of shapes and colors. KKCenterHk ships free worldwide and you can use the code KimbersKorner at checkout to save 10% on your order! KKCenterHk has a TON of awesome nail art supplies, including these studs and the awesome Dragon full nail water decals that I showed you all awhile back!

A-England can be purchased through LLarowe and Ninja Polish. Due to the Royal Mail Fiasco, A-England cannot ship outside of the UK at the moment. I can't tell you how upset this makes me! Although I would be willing to pay for polish to be Fed-Exed to me, I don't know if that's a viable option for others. I hope Royal Mail pulls their heads out soon.

Are you into the studded look? How would you wear your studs?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

Studded Nails with Pure Ice Scream

Good Morning Lovelies! Happy Tuesday! It's going to be another busy day here at KLK - I have even more awesome new polishes to show you so I'll be working on some of those today.

This morning I have a manicure I wore a few days ago to share with you. I've been really missing nail art lately, so I decided to break out my old, neglected striping tape as well as my brand new studs that I received from KKCenterHK and play around a bit.

I started with Finger Paints Paper Mache as my base, then laid out my striping tape pattern and polished over that with Pure Ice Splash. Then I added some of the dark grey/black studs within the tape pattern and sealed it all with top coat.

I love the finished design, even though I had some issues with my striping tape. I bought my striping tape on E-Bay, and this particular roll was a bit wonky. The pieces of tape were never the same width, and when I went to remove them they broke into pieces even though the polish was still very wet. This left less than neat lines, which caused some smearing. Needless to say I'll be investing in some new striping tape ASAP!

The studs were incredibly easy to use, which I was very excited about since my other studs are from a drugstore brand and are a pain to use. The studs that I received from KKCenterHK are actual metal and are easy to pick up and place onto the nail. They are very smooth and rounded on top, with a flat bottom that has no glue or sticky padding. I love studded nail art and after trying these out I will definitely be ordering more shapes and colors!

All photos are 2 coats Paper Mache, 1 coat Pure Ice Scream:

Despite all the problems I had with my striping tape (not from KKCenterHK) , I really love this design. And I really love these studs!

You can find these studs by at KKCenterHK's website, item number NNAIL-DRN666, or by clicking here. These studs come in packages of 50 and retail for $4.73. KKCenterHK is now carrying all different sizes, shapes and colors of studs as well as thousands of different nail art accessories. They offer great pricing and free worldwide shipping, so check them out!  You can also save 10% off your entire order by using code KIMBERSKORNER at checkout.

What do you think of studded nails?

Stay tuned for some new Polish TBH this afternoon!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

Dragon Nails!

Good Morning Lovelies! Today is looking like another multiple post day!

Awhile back I was contacted by KKCenterHK Online Store to do some product reviews for them. One of the products that I was most interested in were their full nail water decals. I love water decals, and was curious to see if they would perform as well as regular polish appliques.  These decals come in a pack of 12 and are pre-shaped, so no need to cut - just soak in some water for a few seconds and apply.

I chose the black and white dragon image, and since I have a fairly deep C-Curve decided to wear some white undies to start. I'm actually very glad that I did since the water decals are slightly sheer and did not cover the sides of my nails entirely. However, that's really my only complaint, and it's barely a complaint. These decals blended with the base polish seamlessly and created a very cool look!

All photos are 2 coats of Finger Paints Paper Mache under the Dragon Water Decals and topped with a coat of A-England The Shield (this top coat is so shiny that I'm still having issues with glare! Wow!) Do not adjust your screens - these decals are pixelated images, so up close in macro mode they look a bit fuzzy, as you can see by the close-up photos vs. the standard shots. IRL, they are crisp and clear, until you get very very close, and then you can see the pixels a bit. Not an issue unless you tend to magnify your nails IRL. )

As you can see,  I wasn't kidding, the image is kind of pixelated in macro mode - this is because the image really is comprised of small pixels in the decal - , but IRL looks clean and crisp. The combination of the black dragon against the white is really stunning and I developed a serious problem with staring at my nails when I should've been doing other things.

Application:

These water decals are so simple to use! They come in a strip of 12 decals, in 3 different sizes: 2 thumbnails, 8 in between nail, and 2 pinky nail.  Just chose the closest size, cut the selected decal off the strip (no need to shape to your nail - these are shaped well and have some sheer excess on the sides for coverage), soak in a cup or bowl of water for about 5 seconds, slide the decal off the strip and apply to your nail. Once on the nail, I did have to do some adjusting, but I found a technique that worked well and took mere seconds. I laid the decal on my nail, held the strip just at the edge of the cuticle and pulled taught over the free edge. Then I took the sides of the decal and folded them in like a flap of wrapping paper, folded the center over the free edge and gently filed off the excess. Since I was wearing polish underneath and had wrapped my tips, I had no issue with filing off my nail, and the way I folded and wrapped the decal ensured I had no wrinkles in the decals as well. Add topcoat to protect your decals and voila! Easy Peasy! I'll admit it took a few tries to find the right technique, but once I found it I was finished with this mani in under 10 minutes. As a bonus, when you add your topcoat, the decal tends to melt down onto the nail even further, eliminating any stray wrinkles and any bits at the tip.

Since I loved how they looked, I decided to put these to the test. After doing a sinkful of dishes, cleaning half the kitchen, doing a loaf of laundry, bathing the baby, feeding to dog, emptying trash, diaper and outfit changes for the baby, My nightly cleansing and moisturizing routine, a bit of Xbox, watching Walking Dead, rummaging through 2 giant toy boxes searching for my keys, a full petsit, and countless handwashings, they still looked exactly as they did when I first applied them.  In fact, removing these made me a sad panda, and I'm currently sitting on KKCenterHK.com looking at more. :)

I am so impressed with these (and now that I have found a great way to apply them, even more impressed!) that I am going to order a few packages. I wasn't kidding when I said I was on the site ready to order! KKCenterHK has literally hundreds of designs in these full nail Water Decals - all of which are seriously cool. The dragon decals are item number ANE-1007, and retail for $8.00 USD. You can find this particular design here, or by visiting KKCenterHK Online Store.

Don't forget! You can save 10% off your order by using code KIMBERSKORNER at checkout! KKCenterHK ships worldwide, and has impressively fast shipping! Act fast, since this code is only valid until 1/31/13!

What do you think of these decals? Would you prefer a Full Nail Decal or Polish Appliques? (I vote for decals!)

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Decaling! (haha!)
-Kimber

**Items featured were provided by KKCenterHK for honest review. For more information please see Disclaimer/Legal Page**

NOTD: Essie Barefoot In Blue and stamping (plus KKCenterHK plate review)

Morning loves! Happy Tuesday!

Today I have a fun stamping mani to share with you all. Awhile back, KKCenterHK Online store sent me some products to review. One of those products was this cute stamping plate with several images that I really wanted to use in some fun manicures. This is the first image that caught my eye, and given the name of the polish,  thought it was a perfect fit!

I started with 2 coats of Essie Barefoot In Blue, a lovely light blue crelly that I received when Toms and Essie teamed up for A Day Without Shoes. Then I stamped the footprint image from KKCenterHk Plate MB46 using China Glaze First Mate and topped it all off with a coat of SV.

I dig this mani! Those little footprints are just too cute! And Barefoot In Blue is such a gorgeous blue.

This is the second image plate from KKCenterHK that I have used, and I have to say that these plates are awesome! The images are engraved well and the images transfer perfectly every time. I did have some smearing on my index finger, but that's from my topcoat. The quality of the plates is up there with Mash and Bundle Monster, and the images are unique and fun.  I'm certainly impressed with these image plates and for $5.05 they're a steal!

The image plates come sealed in a resusable ziploc-type bag and are covered with a clear, protective plastic. Each plate has from 5-7 designs and range from Full Nail to small delicate images. They do not have the paper backing though, so be careful when handling these.   This particular plate is Item  SPPMB46 and can be found here, or by clicking the image above. KKCenterHK has tons of nail art supplies at great prices and they ship worldwide. You can also save 10% on your order by using code "KimbersKorner" at checkout!

What do you think of these images? Would you rock footprints on your nails?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

**items shown were provided for review. Please ses disclaimer/legal page for more information**

Essence Date In The Moonlight stamped

Good Morning lovelies! So Sorry I was MIA yesterday, but I was exhausted after handling a client emergency on top of not sleeping very well. I did manage to actually shape my little nubbins though, which makes me happy. My nails grow very weird - as in they don't sit anywhere near straight in the nail bed and I have a crazy pronounced C Curve. When it comes to filing, I can't get under the corners while they are short, so I have to grow them a bit, then file them into shape. That means that I end up losing most of my new length, but it's worth it since when I do it this way, I can just let them grow with no fuss for a good 2 weeks or so. If I don't do it this way, then I end up having to mess with them almost constantly since they aren't really anywhere near shaped well. I detest filing so this works for me.

Today I have a fun little manicure I did last night to share with you all. Awhile back KKCenterHK Online Store sent me some glitter to try out, and I wanted to use them with some stamping. I chose Essence Date In The Moonlight, a deep dusty grey/blue with teal shimmer, as my base color. Then I grabbed Finger Paints Fall-ing For You and stamped the flower image from one of my Red Angle Plates. Then I grabbed my teal 3mm glitter from KKCenterHK and added a single glitter to the center of the flower. Normally I would've used a rhinestone for the center, but I wanted to see if these larger glitters would work as well. The outcome is pretty cute!

I love Date In The Moonlight. These new Colour and Go polishes are just as awesome as the originals. The bottle is different, and the brush is one of the wide, paddle brushes, but the polish itself has the same smooth formula. DITM is also highly pigmented, so steer clear of your cuticles and skin!

Fall-ing for you is an untried for me, but I love how it stamps. I've been looking for a good teal stamping polish, and this is perfect.

The KKCenterHK glitters were alot of fun to play with, and I love how vibrant the color is. These are large glitters at 3mm, but would make a great addition to a glitter mani of any kind. I love using them as little accents with stamping, or as a center for smaller glitter nail art. They come in a large pot, just like the smaller loose glitters, and retail for $7.85. This particular glitter is item number N.Nail-LB700-3mm, or you can click here to check them out. They carry lots of awesome loose glitters as well as awesome nail art supplies of all kinds (as well as those cool fuzzy Leopard stickers!). Don't forget to use code KimbersKorner at checkout to save 10% off your entire order.

What do you think of loose glitters with stamping?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

Silver and Pink Fuzzy Leopard Tips!

Hello again all! Another double post day for me!

Awhile back I received some nail art supplies from KKCenterHk to review. One of the items really stood out, since I hadn't seen anything like them before. I decided to play with them a few nights ago and I'm sharing them with you today!

These are actually fuzzy nail art stickers with a silver glitter base. They're very fuzzy to the touch and totally unique! I don't do french manis very often since they're just not me, but fuzzy hot pink leopard? That is pretty me. :)

I chose to pair these with a base of Essence Ice Princess, a foily metallic silver. I thought the hot pink and silver would blend nicely with it, however I think I could've gotten away with a sheer pink base. The silver foil makes it pretty in your face. Either way, it's still pretty funky and people were constantly asking to see my nails, and then pet the fuzzy tips!

These were easy to use, although a little long and narrow for my nails. I didn't have the patience to trim them, so I wore them as is, and they look kind of like a leopard half moon design. Still pretty cool!

Overall I had a lot of fun with these! They were easy to use - just peel off the sheet and apply to your nail. They can be trimmed if your nails are shorter (I will definitely trim these the next time I use them!), or you can use them to achieve a half moon look. DO NOT USE TOPCOAT! It will flatten down the fluffy leopard spots and create a gooey mess. Trust me on this one. They will stick on thwir own without it.  At first I was unsure that they would stay on without topcoat; the back of the stickers are not very sticky at all. I was surprised though, since they stayed on like they were glued! In fact, I could not peel these off at all!

 Removal was easy as well, just straight acetone and they melt away. I wore these for almost 2 days and they did not even lift. Pretty impressive! I'll admit it, after wearing these my doubts have been erased.

KKCenterHK has a bunch of these fluffy tip stickers in different colors and designs. These are a great way to amp up a mani, and they really are serious attention getters! You can find these on their website, Item # N.Nail-FUPSR02, or click on any of the pics in this post. You can also receive an additional 10% of your order by using code "KimbersKorner" (minus the quotes) at checkout. They also carry a ton of nail polish, stickers, water decals, glitters, and stamping supplies all with worldwide shipping. Check them out!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

**Items featured provided for review by KKCenterHK Online Store. Please see disclaimer/legal page for more information**