Golden Oldies Thursday: Something Tropical

The name of this week's GOT Polish Challenge theme, Something Tropical, made me giggle quite a bit.  I mean, it's so open to interpretation, that I wasn't sure exactly what I should do.  And then I started thinking...  I haven't stamped in a while...  And then I thought some more, I haven't attempted a "pond" mani in a while either (not since this).  I'm not very great at nail art, nor am I very good at doing these pond manis without them looking wonky, but I thought I'd give it another shot!  So, that's what I've done!  If you're curious about the pond mani concept, check out the one that started it all over at Olive View Fashion!  Basically, it's a jelly sandwich but with nail art or stamps instead of glitter. Although, every time I think of anything "pond," I think of this: 

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Look at those fierce red nails on the second best red-headed companion out there.  (Yes, I'm a huge Donna Noble fan.  If you're not, then whatever.  I ain't bovvered!)

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Here is the GOT Polish schedule of events if you would like to follow along or participate.

Remember the rules:

• The polish you use must be at least a year old.
• If you haven't been a polishaholic for that long, you can use the oldest polishes you have.
• The polish should be previously used, but if you're stuck, you can use a polish from your untrieds stack.
• You can use more than one polish as long as it fits the rules.

I purchased all polishes in this post.

For this mani, I used Color Clubs Almost Famous, Pucci-licious, Wham Pow, and Twiggie and China Glaze Pool Party sandwiched between layers of OPI Don't Touch my Tutu.  I used images from the Cheeky Summer Collection plates CH36, CH37, and CH38, as well as Red Angel plate RA-109.

Because I tend to press hard with my stamper, this mani took a bit of time to complete.  I applied my first coat of Don't Touch My Tutu and then went ahead and added a layer of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top Quick Dry Topcoat.  I waited about five to ten minutes and then stamped.  Rinse and repeat three times.  I probably could've taken more time and not used my topcoat between layers, but I was working late at night and was too impatient.  Using topcoat between the layers ensured that my mani didn't smudge off or slide around while I stamped.

I was super surprised and extremely pleased to see that my Color Clubs would actually stamp so well!  I'm not the world's bet stamper, so when I find a polish that stamps well and without much effort I get super excited!  The image transfer was easy on all four polishes. The color isn't as saturated as I would've liked, but honestly, I was still super pleased with the outcome.

Pool Party was the trickiest to stamp with.  With Pool Party, you've got to move fast between the steps of scraping, picking up the image, and stamping the image onto the nail.  If you're not quick, the image won't transfer onto the nail and will just stick to your stamper.  So move quickly if you decide to use it to stamp.  I would've used Sinful 24/7, another neon pink, but I haven't had it for over a year, which means it didn't fit within the parameters of this challenge.

As I was going through this mani, I decided that I wanted to add a little bit of sparkle, so I added in a layer of China Glaze Fairy Dust, a silver holographic micro glitter topcoat.  It's underneath about three layers of DTMTT, so it's super faint, but I like how it gives the effect of sand glittering on a beach.  I almost wish I had put the layer a little closer to the top, but I'm still liking this effect.

You can purchase Color Clubs at beauty supply stores, drug stores, Ross, and Bed Bath and Beyond.  China Glazes are available at beauty supply stores and salons.  OPI are available at beauty supply stores, Salons, and some drug stores/Target.

So, have you done a pond mani before?

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah!

I'm currently spending time with my family, but I wanted to show you my Thanksgiving and Hanukkah manis!  I'm not Jewish and don't celebrate Hanukkah, but I wanted to do a mani to say Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate it!  Get ready for a crap ton of pictures!

First, for my Thanksgiving mani, I did a jelly sandwich using one of Lynnderella's Thanksgiving Twinset polishes Punkkin Pie in between layers of Colors by Llarowe Coconut.  Then, I attempted a pond mani using stamps from Red Angel plate 121 sandwiched in CbL Coconut and Elevation Polish Cascade.  For stamping, I used Essie Good as Gold, Essie Penny Talk, and China Glaze Passion.

The idea in my head was lacking in execution.  Coconut is technically a jelly, but it's a bit too opaque for jelly sandwiches and pond manis, unless you're using super beyond sheer layers, which I even attempted to do. Cascade was a perfect polish to work with as it wasn't too thick, streaky, or hard to handle.  It also handled the pond mani quite well!  

All of the polishes I used for stamping are metallics, so they stamped really well with great image pickup and transfer.  The Essie Mirror Metallic collection is my go-to non-Konad special polish for stamping.

Punkkin was a bit of a surprise because it has a bit of a yellowish tint to the base, which comes out strongly since I used it over and under white.  Like most Lynns it's a thick glitterbomb packed to the gills with all sorts of colors, sizes, and shapes of glitters including some really sweet hearts!  It definitely requires the dab method, but almost all of her gorgeous polishes do, so I'm used to it.  You can get Colors by Llarowe at Llarowe's shop, Elevation at her store, Lynnderella at her store, Essie and China Glaze at Beauty Supply stores and drug stores, and Red Angel plates on Amazon.

Next is my Hanukkah mani!  Let's take a look at Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Ma'oz Tzur by Candlelight, which is a black polish with a purple flash and a rainbow of micro-flakies.  I wanted to go with a nontraditional color combination that wasn't the normal silver and blue you usually see for Hanukkah.  Ma'oz Tzur is a liturgical poem traditionally sung during Hanukkah after lighting the festival of lights.  The thought behind this color scheme is to capture the flickering of lights in the darkness.  This is two coats with one coat of Gelous and one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.

Dry time is typical, and it goes on smoothly without clumping despite being packed full of pigments.  Ma'oz Tzur by Candlelight is a limited edition from my Holiday Limited Edition Collection and is currently up on my store right now.  Don't forget, I'm having sales all weekend, and Ma'oz Tzur will be a part of that sale!

So, what do you have on your nails for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah?  I hope everyone who celebrates has  happy and safe holiday!