Choi's nails: December 2015

Models Own's Lilac Sheen and accent nail stamping

These Models Own pastels really do have a good place in my collection. It feels nice to wear them once in awhile and It's hard to neglect them when the polishes I own from the Hyper gel collection are such good solid colours. Good on its on and good as a design base.

The base of this mani is Models Own's Hyper gel Lilac sheen. Some of you may not know but I do tweak my photo lighting to prettify things a little. My camera really likes to dull things down against this shade so I'd say this polish is looking a shade lighter after the editing.

Hopefully my new camera doesn't give me this problem anymore and I'm looking to show you more macro shots.

For this manicure you'll need:

One coat of your preferred base coat (I used Essie's Protein base coat)
Two coats of Models Own's Lilac Sheen - Pastel purple
With and black and gold polish, stamp the image from the Moyou Festive collection No 22 plate on the ring finger nail.
Seal the nail with one coat of your preferred top coat. (I use INM's Out the door.)

Hmm, I tried to do the whole two tone stamping technique but with the design lines being kind of thin and all it didn't quite work out. The two shades did mix a little but I didn't think it was much of a big deal overall I'm still quite happy with how it turned out.

What do you think of this manicure? What other colour combinations should I try for the two tone stamping techniques?

Friday, December 18, 2015
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OPI's Ski teal we drop and an accent nail that looks somewhat festive

Barry M

Felt a little nostalgic this day so I went for one of my older polishes from the very little selection of OPIs in my collection.

Here is OPI's Ski Teal we drop, a dark teal blue. Anyone remember this polish? This is one of the polish more frequently used than my other OPI's because it has great formula, besides darker shades like these are always easier to add a design to in my opinion.

For this manicure I wanted to add something simple but also trying to save time for some extra sleep hence why only my ring finger nail had been the only one decorated :D

For this manicure you'll need:

One coat of your preferred base coat (I used Essie's Protein base coat)
Two coats of OPI's Ski Teal we drop.
Using Barry M's Gold foil and the maple leaf design on the Bundle Monster BM04 plate, stamp the design randomly on the whole nail.
With a dotting tool and the gold foil polish gently dot the empty spaces.
Seal the nail with one coat of your preferred top coat. (I use INM's Out the door.)

Simple right? The design unintentionally and thankfully looks a little festive to me. Given that I'm usually very bad at creating seasonal/themed designs I'm glad this can be pulled off as some sort of Christmas nails.

Well, thanks for reading! Hope everyone's having a good time with Christmas around the corner. 7 days! Where did time even go?!

Friday, December 18, 2015
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Models Own's Strawberry tart and reverse stamping

Barry M

From the moment I'd finished this design, I've been dying to share this on my Instagram. My first reverse stamping attempt and it is a success! The choice of colours were very simple yet they just matched so well, so bravo Choi, bravo! (Pats on the back)

For this manicure you'll need:

One coat of your preferred base coat (I used Essie's Protein base coat)
Apply two coats of Models Own's Strawberry tart, a pastel pink polish. One I do like to go back to once in a while. The photo above shows it as a full mani on it's own. This polish is part of MO's scented collection and the smell is still there for my one.
Apply a layer of top coat on a nail stamper.
With a design from the Moyou's Kaleidoscope collection plate 01 and the Konad white stamping polish, do as you'd normally do to transfer the image onto the scraper.
With your choice of polish shades, colour in parts of the design whilst it is still sitting on the scraper. A dotting tool, toothpick or thin brush is recommended for this part especially if you're going to be painting the smaller/intricate parts.
Here I simply used Misa's I will survive, a standard black and Barry M's Gold foil.
Once the colouring is done, apply a layer of top coat over the design and wait 10 minutes for it to dry.
Using tweezers, gently remove the design from the stamper and place on the ring finger nail. If the design rips, you may need to leave it for a few extra minutes before attempting to remove it again. If the design still looks a bit 'wet' then I'd suggest doing so.
Seal the whole nail one coat of your preferred top coat. (I use INM's Out the door.)

Have you tried the reverse stamping method yet? Well, you should! The process is a little time consuming with a bit of waiting here and there especially if you're going to go ahead with doing the full thing but the results are very satisfactory.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015
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Orly's Rapture and glitter sponged tips

China Glaze

Glitter always adds such a kick to a plain manicure, it's like a party at the tip of your fingers. But it's the trouble of making the glitters look less clumped up on some parts of the nail that steers me away from doing this design more often. Sometimes over sponging can be a bit of a problem for me too. Despite that, my glitter tips attempt has given me a look I'd think was okay to show on the internet. I do think it looked better in person than in photos though.

For this manicure you'll need:

One coat of your preferred base coat (I used Essie's Protein base coat)
Apply two coats Orly's Rapture.
With a sponge gently dab a Orly's Flare - Gold shimmer and China Glaze's I'm not lion - Gold glitter at the tips of the nail.
When you feel they've been sponged evenly and you're satisfied with what it looks like, seal with one coat of your preferred top coat. (I use INM's Out the door.)