Final 30 Days of Blue Mani: Water Marble Stripe (or Does this mani make my nails look fat?)

Few words today since I'm still feeling quite tired, even though I'm slowly improving. I did this mani a good 4 days ago when I was feeling inspired to try out some water marble stripes, and although it doesn't look as bad in person, I wasn't all that happy. I used a Milani White, and it kept blending with the blue (China Glaze First Mate), and my hands just weren't steady enough to really get clean lines. Damned albuterol! I also added the stars on the second day, which made my top coat bubble and pool around them. I think they're a bit too tall to really cover with top coat and keep them clean looking.

I think this mani made my nails look a bit wide, don't you? Sorry for the crappy pics, I didn't have much patience for photography that day. I also didn't bother shaping my nails before working on this mani. Man, sick people are damned lazy, right? ;)

Fun, but I really wish I had attempted this when I wasn't so sick. Next time I'll know to stick with my usual white, and to go slow. I like my lines a bit strighter, and when they aren't they tend to throw me off visually and I can't tell if my nail is shaped weird, or if the lines make them look that way. Not fun for someone with OCD, lemme tell ya!

Thus ends the 30 days of nothing but blue, which was fun and a cause so dear to me. Thnks to everyone that read our story, shared it, and spread some awareness. I am so touched that so many people commented, emailed and posted. You guys rock. And of course a special thanks to Megan for creating this 30 day campaign. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dying to wear a different color though! ;) Let's hope my body cooperates and lets me stay awake to change my polish tonight. I don't get much rest, which is one of the reasons I'm not kicking this virus very fast, so my body has been just shutting down at night lately. And since I really want to feel better, I haven't been fighting it.

Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

butter LONDON Wallis and new Mash 2012 plates

I've been dying to wear this color for months now! It's been gathering dust on my shelves since I was saving it for a time when I could wear it for a few days. Since the challenge is over, I just couldn't wait any longer. I know you guys have seen this a thousand times, but here is butter LONDON "Wallis".

I apologize for the lighting; it's been overcast and snowing on and off here and there was no natural light at all yesterday. Wallis ended up in the lightbox, and no matter how I shoot it, the lightbox is never the same as sunlight.

 And one with flash to show how how the gold shines:

I LOVE this color! The olive/gold combination is pure awesomsauce. I'm not sure about how it looks with my skin tone, but it's amazing enough that I don't care much! This was 2 smooth-as-silk coats and SV to top it off.  I adore butter LONDON's formula, and Wallis did not disappoint.  But.....being me...I wasn't satisfied with wearing it alone, so I decided to try out my brand new MASH stamping plates. I received these on Thursday and I was so excited to try them out. I have to tell you guys, I'm a little disappointed. As you can see in the pics, my images are smeared on the left side of my nails - not from my top coat, but because the etching is so deep that it holds a TON of polish. My right hand came out much better since I picked up the image with my stamp, then waited about 20 seconds before stamping my nails. It didn't matter how much I scraped, the only thing that left a clear image was to allow the image to dry a bit on the stamp. Also, the  full nail images are tiny. They barely cover my middle fingernail, and leave a good third of my thumbnails uncovered. If I want to use these when my length is back, Im going to have to learn how to combine 2 stampings to look like one on the nail. The single images are awesome though. And the french tip stamps are small enough to actually use. My bundle monster french tip images take up half my nail, so I never use them. These I may actually try. Anyway, onto the pics of my smeared fauxnadicure!

What a smeary mess! At least I know that these plates give me some extra time before stamping the nail. I plan on trying the again this week to see if I can make the smaller full nail images cover my nails a bit more.

I should be back to posting more often now. I was sick yesterday so I took the day off (I managed to do a mani, and that was about all I could muster!), but I miss blogging every day so I'll be here often. Now it's off to swatch one of my newer polishes and turn it into a mani. :)

Happy polishing!
-Kimber