I dont know about all of you guys, but when it comes to nail art supplies, the options are overwhelming! The prices range from pennies to big bucks, and I never know which is better. That is why I have always stuck with ebay in the past choosing the options for pennies (ok, more like a few dollars). But they ship from China, take forever and are usually gone before I can ever reorder. I showed you all some cheap nail swatch stick options the other day (HERE), and today I thought I would show you some nail art items. All of these include the prices and that is the total price. Shipping included and ships from the USA. I ordered a few days ago and they shipped the following day!
So I know the place to find swatch sticks for reasonable prices can be difficult. And for those without paypal or those who do not want to go through ebay, it can be even harder. Well, here you all go. I much prefer the cream ones. Nails are not clear and I find I get a more realistic view on the cream ones. But here are links to both options. Free shipping and mails from the USA.
Yes, more new Essence stuff! I think these posts are going to be never ending over the next few days.
Fabulous foils! These nail foils bring cool graffiti styles straight to your nails in the most fashionable effects –holographic, metallic and glittering. And here’s how it works: apply the transfer solution on your nails and wait for 80-90 seconds. Separate a piece of the foil and press it onto your nail with the shiny side up. Remove the foil again and seal with a top coat –and you’re done! Repeat this step for each nail. Totally creative and unique! Transfer foils are available in a total of three versions.
essence nail art sparkle sand topcoat - Super sand style! This top coat with an innovative sand effect is a true must-have. Apply your favorite nail polish, leave to dry and then apply the sand top coat on top to give any color a fantastic, slightly matt 3D structure with subtle shimmer particles.
essence nail art shake me! I’m pretty top coat (european exlusive to Miller Stores) - Shake it! The name of this top coat says it all. Simply shake the bottle of shake me! i’mpretty top coat to mix the cool holographic glitter particles with the texture. Apply the top coat over any nail polish for an extra portion of bling.
What? You need MORE essence new stuff? OK! Since you asked!
New effects! With the effect nails, you can conjure-up exciting three-dimensional textures on your nails. From August onwards, glitter in neon colors and unique pearls that glow in the dark guarantee ultimate eye-catching nail styles! The small tubs with a practical sieve make application really simple. Sprinkle the effect nails on still moist nail polish and that’s it –get ready to admire a totally individual nail design with a 3D look! A small tip: it’s best to pour the effects into the lid and then press your nail into them. Available in two new and a total of eight different textures and colors.
Is that not too exciting? Kind of beaten the horse to death (thanks Ciate for that)? Then maybe these will excite you! No? You also find the magnetic trend done and gone? Me too!
Magic Nails… extremely versatile and now in a new 3in1 version! You can create three different designs on your nails with just one magnet. Here’s how it works: select one of the three designs and bring the spacer into the desired position. Hold the magnet above the still moist nail art magnetics nail polish for 15 seconds and your chosen nail design is done: cute hearts, cool waves and crazy circles, funky checks and zigzag designs. Available in a total of two versions.
Ok, these two don't excite me AT all, but if you like the glitter/micro beads fad of a year ago, or the magnetic fad of two years ago, these might excite you.
At about 3 am one morning I happened to see a bloggers review of nail vinyls, and I impulsively bought three pages of them. I don't know WHAT I was thinking. I SUCK at stamping, stenciling, anything artistic at all and I am out. But I bought these and by morning was instantly regretting it. Another nail art project to fail at.
So they came in the mail relatively quickly, with the above directions. They were $5 a sheet and the shipping was about a dollar. I instantly decided to try to screw up I mean accent my current manicure.
I got lightning bolts, small chevrons and large chevrons. The truth is that the chevrons are so similar in size I regret buying the large ones. But oh well. Lesson learned.
Here are the three shapes I got:
And in 15 seconds (maybe thats why all my nail art fails. No patience.) this is what I had! Not too bad for my dominant hand on the first go round!!
Overall, these are pretty much fool proof, idiot proof, or Polish Jinx proof. However you want to word it. And this is my manicure. I type this as I am about to take off on a flight to LA for L's wedding. So this is the wedding manicure. My dress is black with purple flowers.
So this is a new set available on the Butter London website for $30. It does not yet seem to available on the Canadian site, but we tend to get things much later so I assume it will be coming shortly.
COLOUR HARDWARE NAIL ART TOOL KIT
Rock looks inspired by the catwalk with the Colour Hardware Nail Art Tool Kit. Developed backstage, this set of six essential tools contains everything you need to master the basics and experiment with colour. So go ahead, unleash your creativity and rock bespoke looks everyday.
SET INCLUDES:
- Dotting Tool: Double-ended with two different sized dots perfectly sized for dot-within-dot manis.
- Striping Brush: Short and pointed for intricate nail designs.
- Clean Up Brush: Dip in nail lacquer remover and brush away imperfections.
- Long Striping Brush: Long tip perfect for bold lines and long strokes.
- Ombré Brush: Innovative brush perfect for chic ombré designs.
- Fashion Size Nail File: To shape and smooth rough edges.
- Tin Storage Container
- Get-The-Look Instructions
I just have to start by apologizing for the first picture. I was out when I did the manicure and my cell phone was not cooperating. I used Butter London Billy No Mates and Stag Do for this mani and my new dotting tools!
So I was very lucky to get a set of Bundle Monster plates in the mail yesterday to review for the company. I have been asked by readers which plates I recommend and my answer has always been that I had never tried any of them (other than an essence stamping kit that was a nightmare!). So to get to try out the bundle monster set is FANTASTIC!!! Let me start by saying I am a stamping virgin. I have ZERO idea what I am really doing. So these are my experiences as a newbie!!
To start with they came to me packed very well in bubble wrap inside a bubble mailer. There was ZERO chance these were getting damaged along the way!!
Make sure to peel off the blue plastic on each plate! And be warned - they are REALLY REALLY on there!! It took some effort to get them off.
The back has a paper backing to make the edges less sharp. Do NOT peel this off!!
This is in no way a complaint at all, but I was SHOCKED at the size of the plates. I am not sure what I expected. But these are TINY!! The plates are really really small. They are more than big enough to do the job, and they take up almost NO room. So while it was a happy surprise. Here are pictures with a Julep bottle just to show you the size.
The other thing to note on the packaging is that there are ZERO instructions ANYWHERE on them. This might not be an issue to the more experienced stampers but it really was a disappointment for me. Now there are instructions on the website, so its not like they do not supply them at all, but if I had been given these as a gift from a friend they might just very well sit and not get used at all as I have no clue at all how to use them!
Taken from the Bundle Monster website:
**INSTRUCTIONS FOR NAIL STAMPING: 1. Apply polish on image plate design. 2. Using the scraper, scrape off the excessive nail polish. 3. Stamp the image in rolling motion. 4. Stamp design on nail smoothly. Done ! ***NOTE: Before use, peel off the tight, protective, blue plastic on top of each plate. All image designs featured in this set are authentically created and designed in-house by Bundle Monster EXCUSIVELY. Each design is protected by copyright laws.***
Now another thing to note if you are brand new to stamping is that the scraper and the stamp are NOT included in the set. So once more, if you are inexperienced I can see you reading the instructions, buying the set and then realizing when you got it, that you were unable to use it.
Thankfully, look what I was gifted last year:
Now I wish I had some idea if there was a quality difference between stamps and scrapers or if every stamp was created equal. I have no idea what the answers to those questions are. But I have something, so I am excited to make this work! Now in this box set (this is the 2012 collection) there are 25 stamps and the set retails for 21.99. Considering Konad plates are about 7 or 8.00 a piece, price wise these are completely non comparable.
Each plate comes with 6 designs making a total of 150 stamps you get. None of these images are repeats from previous sets so if you have other sets, these will still be ALL new designs. The plates are:
Now I spent a few hours today playing with these plates and learned a few valuable lessons:
you need a THICK polish for these. If you use a very thin one the scraper will scrape it all out of the grooves and it wont work
you have to be careful to get the image right in the centre of the stamp so it matches up real well to the nail
do not try practicing on a nail wheel. It is NOT the same thing at all
there IS a learning curve. I got much better at it on my 30th try than my first try, but I am still not quite there yet!
I will show you pictures of my results in a day or two, but I really have to master the art of stamping first. This is a judgement on ME, certainly not the product. I am however confident that in a day or two I will be showing off my new stamped nails!
EDIT - The lovely Gina ofsoguesswhat11 YouTube Channel forwarded me her video tutorial of how to nail stamp! I must say I feel much more prepared now to reattempt this tomorrow!! I am going to link you to one of her videos but check them all out! Its such a great helpful channel.
