Candy Canes - Take 2!

I did Candy Cane nails last year and was pretty pleased with how they turned out so I decided to try again this year, I used a slightly different stamp for the stripes and a different base red colour and I think they turned out even better than last year's.  Which is why I have had them on for three days!

 

 

I used Bundles Monster plate BM-423 which is part of the Create Your Own collection for the stripes and then HD10 for the candy cane stamp, the base is Kiko 238.  As usual I used a nail art pen for the white stamping polish as it's a bit thicker than regular polish and I like the effect it gives.

 

 

I really like the stripes, I think they look more candy cane than last years larger solid stripes, they also give a great effect in real life, loads of people have commented on them and asked if they were nail wraps.

 

Last year I had a sparkly glitter base colour but I actually think this manicure works better with just a flat cream under the white as it gives better contrast.

 

I really loved these nails, so much so I didn't want to take them off so they survived a whole weekend and I still have them on today!

 

Candy Canes!

Another Christmas manicure, and this one is probably not anything new, there have been versions of it all over the web lately.  I decided to make mine slightly different by accenting the regular candy cane nails with a little stamp.  I also cheated a bit and stamped my stripes using a Bundle Monster plate as my free hand stripes would have been a disaster:

 

First off, a festive shot with the tree:

 

I used the same combo of Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Blood Orange and Models Own Scarlet Sparkle that I used last week to create the red base, this works amazingly well and you only need one coat of each to get a really bright sparkly finish.

For the white stripes and stamping I used the polish from a cheap nail art striper that I got in Spain, no idea of the brand, sorry!

I love how this turned out, especially when you catch it at certain angles under bright light and the glitter really pops through the matte white stamping.

Stamped Snowmen

This month of Christmas manicures is really not going how I had planned it, I had another disater last night which left me at 10pm with naked nails after three attempts at various different ideas I had.  By the time I'd had three goes and it got to 10pm I was not in the best of moods so I decided to do a super quick one coat paint job and stamp on top, this is the result:

 

 

 

One coat of Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Blue Plum and stamping with barry M Silver Foil. 

 

Blue Plum is definitely being relegated to the stamping only pile from now on, the colour is nothing special and the tip wear is horrible (this time it's definitely tip wear and not the fault of Seche Vite as I used No7 topcoat) but it does gain points for being fully opaque in one coat.

 

 

 

I used another Bunny Nails HD plate (HD10 this time) for the stamp, again, as with the others I've tried, this plate stamps beautifully, I can't wait to try out Santa and the reindeer next.

 

 

So, again, not my most succesful set of nails but considering I did them in about 20 minutes fairly late on last night they turned out not too bad, let's just hope Blue Plum hasn't stained my nails too badly, it looks like it might have the potential to!

Snowflakes

Today I did some festive stamping over my Blue Bells Ring manicure from yesterday.  I used plates HB23, from the HB nail plates from BF Beauty, and HB05, from Bunny Nails' HD plates collection, both of which feature snowflakes.

 

 

The HB plate stamps relatively well, the larger centre image is great but some of the smaller snowflakes were quite tricky to get looking crisp and neat, most of them turned out ok though. 

 

The HD plate was great, it features 3 larger snowflakes and they all stamped well, a couple of mine blurred slightly but I think that was more user error than the plates. Now on to some pictures:

 

 

 

I used the larger design for a couple of fingers and then covered the rest with a mix of large and small individual snowflakes in a random pattern. All the stamping is done in Barry M Silver foil.

 

 

 

 

I'm really pleased with how this turned out, for a quicker version I think you could just use the larger design from the HB plate on most nails but I like the addition of lots of different flakes on each finger, making it a bit more random and like real snow.

Rudolph the Red Nailed Reindeer

Today I used another of my HD plates from Bunny Nails to do the first proper festive inspired manicure of the month, REINDEER!  Or possibly some sort of stags but for the purpose of Christmas they are reindeer. ;)

 

I used HD05 and HD07 for the stag / reindeer designs and Barry M Gold and Silver Foils as my stamping polishes, gold on all the fingers except my ring finger which I did with the silver.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the results, I love how in bright light the gold and silver really sparkly:

 

 

 

I love how well these images stamped, they are so clear and sharp and really did work perfectly, I am so pleased with both the HD sets so far, I can't wait to try out more of the images.

 

 

 

Bunny Nails - HD Plates - HD06 - HD10

Today I have part two of my recent haul from Bunny Nails eCrater store.  This is set two from the HD series, plates 6-10.  The HD series features holiday themed designs like Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas. The second set focuses mainly on Christmas with a Thanksgiving completing the set, the only one from the collection I have tried so far.

 

On to the close ups!  Again I have left the protective film on the plates in these photos, that needs to come off before stamping.

As an added bonus with this set you get 2 free plates, as far as I know they are ones which Bunny wasn't totally happy with and so had remade, they are duplicates of two of the other plates with a few small difference, mainly the size of the images (most are too big for smaller nails).  I'm sure there are some I can make use of though and really who doesn't love a little bonus freebie?

I am so glad these were in stock and arrived before Christmas, there are so many cute designs I want to use over the holiday period.  Look out for a selection of them coming to the blog soon.

I have already used the Thanksgiving themed plate, which you can see here.  It stamped beautifully and if the quality is the same across all the plates I'll be delighted, it was so easy to work with.

As with the other times I ordered from her Bunny Nails' service was great; good prices, great communication and fast shipping considering they come from the other side of the world. So if you're looking for something to do your spooky themed or Christmas stamping manicures with then I suggest you check her store out.

Bunny Nails - HD Plates - HD01 - HD05

Today I have part one of my latest haul from Bunny Nails eCrater store plates 1-5 from her HD series.  The HD series features holiday themed designs like Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas.  The first set focuses mainly on Halloween.

 

 

I WISH these plates had been delivered in time for Halloween in the UK, I don't think I can wait until next year to use the designs, they are so cute!  Thankfully, as well as being suitable for Halloween a lot of them are just generally spooky themed and could be used all year round.  I can definitely feel a zombie manicure coming on at some point in the future...

 

Now, on to some close ups of the plates!  They still have their protective film on for now, I find them a bit easier to take photographs of that way.

 

 

The final plate in this set is the first Christmas themed one and will definitely be getting an outing very soon, I can't wait to try the little stag and the snowflakes.

 

 

I've yet to use any of the plates from this set but I have tried one from the other half of the series (HB06-HB10) and it stamped beautifully so I have high hopes that the rest are of similar quality, I'm sure they will be.  Obviously I will report back as soon as I have tried them out.

 

As with the other times I ordered from her Bunny Nails' service was great; good prices, great communication and fast shipping considering they come from the other side of the world.  So if you're looking for something to do your spooky themed or Christmas stamping manicures with then I suggest you check her store out.