My Movember Mustache Mani

Last Monday, The Trace Face Files posted about Moustache Mani Monday in support of prostate cancer awareness month. And she invited all of her readers to participate along with her. I didn't get mine done til this weekend, so I'm posting it today for my Mustache Monday. Also, today she posted pics that her readers submitted, and mine is included! You can check it out here, or right here:

Orly Sheer Nude with L.A. Colors Art Deco Black

Bonus pic of me having fun with my mustache! 

After a few drinks, my friends and I end up drawing mustaches on the sides of our fingers and holding them up above our lips. Ah, the crazy fun we have with finger-staches! That's why I had to do my mustache upside down, so that I could have a little fun with it!

Thanks for reading!

Crystal

My Blood Spatter Halloween Mani

I remembered that I had Konad plate m21 with the paint splatter image (that I loved, but hadn't even used yet!), and I wondered if I used it with red polish if it would look like blood spatter... for Halloween of course... and it does!

Orly Dazzle stamped with Konad Red & Black and m21 & m28

I've seen quite a few "bloody" Halloween manis this month, and most of them have either a white, off white, or nude background, but I wanted to try something different. So I started with a silver foil background of Orly Dazzle, which I really love. 

I tested a couple of different reds, thinking that a darker red would look more like blood, or at least fake blood. I even picked up Sally Hansen Cinna-snap at the grocery store thinking it might be more perfect than anything I already had. But when I tested it on paper, it looked more purple stamped over the silver. Then I tried Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby, but it looked more like hot pink. So I actually tried my Konad Red Special Polish as a last result, and it turned out the best. I think because it is thicker and obviously made for stamping, so it actually stamped the truest red than my previous two attempts with regular polish. The other two polishes still stamped well, just not the color that I wanted. 

Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby, Konad Red Special Polish & Sally Hansen Cinna-snap

I wanted more than just blood spatter, and I wanted to use the other stamping images I had bought specifically for Halloween just one more time. So I stamped the skull and crossbones on my middle fingers, and the spider on my thumbs, both with Konad Black Special Polish, and both from Konad plate m28. I tried purposely stamping the spiders at an angle this time rather than perfectly centered. I got the angle part right, but they both ended up further to the side of the nail than I wanted. And my top coat smeared it just a little bit. But it still looks good though. I love these little spiders in black! So fun for Halloween!

Thanks for reading & Happy Halloween!

Crystal

My First Halloween Mani

In past years, the most I've done on my nails for Halloween was either press on some fake nails I bought at the drug store, or just paint my own a dark blood red. I was never confident enough to even try black polish on my short nubbins, I was always afraid it would look too goth on me. I only recently purchased my first bottle of black polish for nail art purposes. I actually like the look of it on my healthy nails! : )  So I used it for underwear with my first Halloween nail art.

1 coat of Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, topped with 1 coat of Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, stamped with Orly Dazzle and Konad m28

I absolutely love this combination! I was able to wear it for 4 days, with some touchups on the tips and extra coats of top coat every day to freshen it up. Otherwise it wore extremely well. One thing I noticed after I stamped my very last spider just a little crooked, is that I think they would look even better if I purposely stamped them all a little crooked rather than trying to center them perfectly on each nail, which is near impossible anyway! Stamping them a little crooked would be much easier to do, and it makes them look more like they are crawling on my nails rather than dead specimens from science class or something. So I still love this mani, but I'll definitely try to improve on it the next time I stamp my little spiders.

I bought Orly Dazzle specifically to stamp with, since the last silver I tried stamping with (Sally Hansen Celeb City) wasn't thick enough and turned out barely noticeable. Dazzle worked better than Celeb City, but I've seen other bloggers stamp with silver polishes that just pop, and I'm having trouble finding the perfect one for me in stores. Maybe if I leave the bottle open on Dazzle for a little while it will thicken up a bit and will have the consistency I'm looking for in a silver stamping polish. Otherwise I might be forced to buy the silver Konad Special Nail Polish. What do you guys think? Do you have a go-to silver polish that you love to stamp with? And is it still available in stores? I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments below, so let me know.

Oh, I almost forgot! When I first bought Facets of Fuchsia about a month ago now, I wore it by itself for a few days. I took pictures of it then and planned to post them as soon as I had the chance. But when I finally got back to posting last weekend, I couldn't find those pictures to save my life! I thought I had somehow lost them forever. Then I finally found them, just in time to add them to this post. So, if you haven't already seen enough pictures of this beautiful polish in all of its glory, here you go:

2 coats of Revlon Facets of Fuchsia and 1 coat of Seche Vite top coat

Thanks for reading!

Crystal