Messy Mansion stamping plate MM40

Just for fun, I thought I’d do a review of a Messy Mansion plate. I have bought two of their plates previously, and adored the quality, and when I saw they’d restocked some plates and the stamping heads, I couldn’t resist and nabbed another two plates and the soft stamp set with the tin.

Stamping plate! This one is a knitting plate, though I see that crochet needle over there too, plus zips, buttons, and a cat. Because we all know how much cats like knitting. Or impeding knitting 😀

Like most plates, they arrive in a little bag…

with a blue protective plastic cover over them, which needs to be removed before use.

And the stamping heads – in a really adorable tin. Note though, it’s a small tin. I hoped to be able to fit a few more stamping heads in it, and I can, but not a lot.

Still, very cute 😀 These ones are the soft stamping heads, and I have a stamping barrel already to use with them. These are fractionally larger than the ones I am used to, which is perfect because they stay IN the barrel of the tool. The other ones would fall out and annoy the crap out of me.

Designs! I tried one of each of the knitting patterns, first over deep red (Warpath)

please ignore the mess along my cuticle, I used acetone and a brush but that bit remained like a stubborn salesperson… ugh

and then over a lighter yellow with glitter in it (You Go, Glen Coco).

I had this on my thumbs, and it made me giggle – I smudged it, and it looks like it reads ‘I love knots’. No, not in wool I don’t 😀

The stamping polish was one I made, but if anyone is looking for one, may I recommend Mundo De Unas or Kleancolor Black or White for stamping with.

So there it is! I have used the fox and wolf plate several times too, and it’s gorgeous. My favourite images there are the wolf howling at the moon, and the fox and the raven in the Celtic circle. 😀

Have  a great day!

Ami

Born Pretty Store Review: Stamping Plate QA93

Last of the items to review from Born Pretty Store was this stamping plate (which can be found here). I loved the stars and the swirly pattern, but was curious as to the size of the patterns, as some I have previously tried from Born Pretty Store have been on the smaller side.  Here is the plate, with the removable blue plastic on it… and as you can see, these are not small!

The first one I tried was, of course, the stars. I used A England Excalibur (the first version) as the stamping polish, and stamped a variety of stars over Dance Legend Anthem.

They turned out beautiful – I’m no expert stamper, even though I am improving, but these were lovely and clear and easy to use.

Next I tried something very different for me – the plaid pattern!

Over a nude shimmery polish I stamped the plaid in black (a stamping polish I made, but any one coat black will work), then used jelly polishes in orange and red to add some colour over the stamping. I didn’t like the effect much, so I added shimmer. And still didn’t much like it, but I have to say, the lines stamped really well, and any crookedness is just my inability to do anything straight 😀

And then finally, I used the swirly brocade like pattern

This was, again, with black, over another of my polishes. I loved this effect – simple, yet rich.

And to show the size, this is the stamp on my thumbs – which aren’t  long, but they are wide, and this stamp covered it easily.

I am very impressed with this stamping plate! 😀 This was sent free for honest review, and can be found (among many others, at Born Pretty Store ). Feel free to use my discount code if you like, found along the right side task bar there  – for a 10% discount.

Have a great day

Ami

Peacock Pie Polish SUPER SPAM POST :D

The awesome Serra from Peacock Pie has been super busy making polishes … polishes that I can’t resist 😀 I have a whole bunch of them to share today – please excuse the short nails, I removed the acrylics. Full disclosure, most of these were bought by me (I regret NOTHING!) some were sent because she is a sweetheart, and we bounce polish back and forward to each other. So, not free for review per se, but just because I am a lucky sausage 😀

Astrella: Mint, purple, teal matte glitter, lilac metallic hexes in a clear base with a lovely sprinkling of spectraflair for added rainbows 🙂

I have layered it here over Color Club Wild Cactus – one coat of Astrella over all nails except the pinky nail, which has two coats.

Next is Midnight Dreary – one from her Fairy collection, based around some gorgeous artworks by…This has periwinkle, red and black glitter and large holo silver dots (for the moon!) in a deep jelly base. I thought this would be sheer, so I layered it over Miki no 29 – just one coat… check this out, I left my index nail bare of Midnight Dreary for this photo so you can see how dense this polish is.

Gorgeous! It would be opaque on it’s own in 2 coats, I think, but I do like layering them over creme bases, it just makes the edges a bit tidier looking sometimes.But seriously, any colour underneath would work, this puppy is so dense and awesome.

Pet Storm Dragon – over Black

This is another holographic glitter topper in a clear base, but I think she made this one for me 😀 Dragon in the title, blue, purple, holographic? Yep, made it for me.

One coat over the middle two finger nails, two coats over index and pinky. So pretty! After swatching I put this combo back on 😀

Royally Sparkled – 3 coats on it’s own

I love this polish, and am sad I couldn’t get better photos of it!

This is one I should have layered, though it is plenty opaque on it’s own, just to tidy the edges up because I can’t paint straight 😀 I love the copper, gold and silver mix of glitter, and the way it pops against the purple!

and last for today is Seaweed – 3 coats

this is an interesting polish!Mid green crelly base and a mix of periwinkle and white glitters with a sprinkle of navy. I will layer this one next time too, to tidy up the edges, but it’s a very nice, slightly subdued polish.

Love these! You can check out Serra’s blog here, and I think she is changing her shop sites too, but in the meantime you can find her Etsy shop here 🙂

Have a great day

Ami

Too Many Untrieds 6: OPI and OPI Designer Series

My little stash of OPI untrieds have grown to a stage where I think they have earned their own post 🙂

The Color To Watch- 3 coats no top coat, ring finger has one coat over Kleancolor Black

Some colours just scream out to be layered, and I’ve started listening. Pretty dusty grey purple with blue shimmer, yes, but over black it’s stunning. Sorry about the mess, my chicken was sleeping on me and when I went to get up and take the photo, he flapped his wing and took out a goodly portion of the polish. My patch job was inadequate.

My Pointe Exactly – jelly, very sheer. 3 coats

Very sheer, as you can see. If your nails are in better condition than mine this would be a nice soft neutral look, glossy and squishy. But why do I like it? Well..

it makes a perfect jelly sandwich polish 😀 This is one coat over Crown Me Already 🙂

OPI Crown Me Already – 1 coat over My Pointe Exactly

This is a destashed polish, and it’s so thick it’s almost unworkable (even after about 15 drops of thinner) but I’ll add more, it’s super sparkly and would easily be opaque in two coats. Nice!

Peace, Love & OPI – 2 coats, very close to being a one coater!

Predominantly shifts between grey, green and purple. It is quite chrome, so brushstrokes can show, though they mostly dry out. My recommendation is to finish each nail with a brushstroke down the very centre of each nail, even up the lines 😀

Muir Muir on the Wall – 2 coats

This looked like a darker version of Peace, Love & OPI in the bottle, but on the nail they are completely different. Not as colour shifting, but a more flattering colour base, this looks to me to shift between a maroon red and gold, catching a glimpse of green around the edges. Me likey!

An Affair in Red Square – 1 coat. Not sure if this would be a one coater normally, it’s an older polish and has thickened a lot. Took a whole eyedropper of thinner to become workable.

Pretty, deep shimmery red.

Blue My Mind – 2 coats

I was expecting this to be a pretty wishy washy colour for some reason, and it’s not. It’s gorgeous. That purple duochrome just sneaks around the edges, though I couldn’t capture it here.

Divine Swine – 3 coats, one coat over Kleancolor White on ring finger.

I think I’ll choose another layering option next time, but the sparkles are pretty.

Pink Yet Lavender – 1 coat over Kleancolor Black, three coats along on ring finger

Can’t see any lavender 😀 Love this though, so girly and sparkly, but I like it over black best 😀

OPI DESIGNER SERIES POLISHES

Temptation – 2 coats, no top coat

You could leave this with no top coat for a textured look, or top coat it for maximum bling. There’s a lot of glitter here though, I’d recommend a couple of top coats if you want smooth. I like the little turquoise glitters in the red toned purple.

Extravagance – 2 coats. Very close to being a one coater.

Love this one, too! A plum coloured polish I can wear! Yay! 😀

Magic – 3 coats.

I want to layer this over black! The duochrome (blue to purple) does show, but I want to see how much it pops over black sometime.

What a pretty polish!

DS Classic

Two coats. oooooh. ahhhhhh. LOVE!

And… the sunlight just disappeared. Maybe they weren’t joking about those thundery rainstorms on the weather forecast. Regardless, I can’t show you (or see!) the holographic shimmer, but looking at the particles here, even in dim light, I think it will be awesome. Dries fast!

DS Reflections – two coats, almost a one coater

Perfect summer colour! Pink, slight coral hue, nice thick holographic shimmer flakes

And that’s all for now!

Have a great day

Ami

Random Nail Post – including massage nails and nail polish jewellery

And I mean nothing nefarious by ‘massage nails’: I went on an awesome massage class leaning Lomilomi for a weekend, and well, I learned during my nursing training, and in the massage diploma course, that brightly painted nails can just not look quite right. (well, it’s outright banned in most hospitals, and then your sense of what is appropriate becomes warped, more likely). Anyway! I cut my nails short for obvious reasons, and went with a very soft neutral Color Club pink and stamped a delicate pattern on my accent nail.

Oh, the ring? Why yes, isn’t it gorgeous! My friend Serra from Peacock Pie makes the most gorgeous jewellery using nail polish, and I managed to snaffle this ring off her. And I love it 😀 It goes with everything.

The next is a polish I put on yesterday, to match a bustier I wore out dancing last night. The main colour is a deep red holographic Star Kin polish that I am planning on making available a bit later on in the year, called Holo Sailor. The stamp is done with a black holographic stamping polish I also made just for my own personal use.

The accent nail has two coats of Holo Sailor, and then put on a top coat (well, base coat, it dries slower!) and pressed on some holographic red and matte black square glitter into lines across my nail. I used the high tech method of a small wooden skewer which I dipped in water to pick up the glitters 😀 Topped off with two coats of proper top coat, it was still a bit rough to the touch but I wouldn’t have been able to sand down wood with them, and all glitters stayed firmly in place.

With the bustier – you can see I reversed the colours, but it still worked fine for me 😀

And yes, it was a great night out, good band, good friends, danced for 4 hours. Happy Ami, tired Ami 🙂

Have a great day!

Ami the Happy and Tired 😀

Notoriously Morbid Haul :D

I went back for more. I have no guilt 😀 Carrie from Notoriously Morbid has some GORGEOUS eyeshadows and lipbalms, and some amazing customer service too. What’s not to love?

and… lollies!!!! 😀

Quick swatches! In all of these pictures, the middle section is over Dark Hearts primer. The tops and bottoms are over bare skin. Primer seems to make these stay on my eyelids longer, but these shadows are super pigmented even without primer, as you can see 😀

The green/golds: from left to right: Rain on Cold Glass, Andorian, and Kilgharrah. I know I’ve swatched Kilgharrah before. But it’s so pretty, I wanted to swatch it again 😀

Sun

Rain on Cold Glass: VEGAN. Lovely cool toned gold, with what looks like silver and lilac/pink shimmer. Can’t wait to pair this with Kilgharrah!

Andorian: VEGAN.  Very pigmented green with a teal blue undertone, and a lighter leaf green interference shimmer. I think this will be an amazing eyeliner.

The darks: from left to right, shade: 13 Black Rainbows, Hearts of Black Lace, Velvet Hammer

Sun

Velvet Hammer: VEGAN – plum base, looks deep purple in the packet. However, on the skin that amazing lavender interference shimmer dominates, so a much brighter purple overall.

Hearts of Black Lace: NOT VEGAN. Wow. I need to get a full size of this, too! The overall effect is one of a deep copper toned brown, but.. no, not quite! When I was applying it I noticed a very blackened base, and the pigment was duochromatic red and gold – when blended it looks copper chocolate brown. I adore this!

13 Black Rainbows: VEGAN. Estelle gave me a little sample of this, which I decanted immediately into a small plastic pottle, and bought another sample to top up that pottle 😀 Looks plain dusty black in the bag, but mixed in with the pigment is plenty of teeeny tiny iridescent blue/purple /green / orange (the glitter I buy for my polish they call it a rainbow mix) flakes. I mean tiny, too. So, this is not a glitter, it is out and out stunning.

I also bought a full size of Mystique – Carrie sent a free sample of that with my last order, and I knew I needed a larger version 😀  Also two lip balms (coffin kissers) – Vanilla Veil (deep smooth vanilla scent – with a floral note??) and Strangely Charming Cherry – which is cherry scented and yes, charming. Not strangely. It’s just lovely 😀 The moisturising qualities of these last a long time on my lips, the shine doesn’t so much, and they aren’t sticky at all, but the slip and smooth lasts for ages. (about an hour at a guess? Goodly long time!)

Here is what my arm looks like now. Every time I do one of these I want to keep my arms all stripey and colourful all day. There must be a way we can do that 😀

Have a lovely colourful day!

Ami

Disclaimer: I bought all these, or they were free samples as she does because she is lovely, there is no kickback for me for writing this, or in saying check out her shop! So… check out her shop, ok? 😀

More Notoriously Morbid Swatches :)

A quick post! I went back and ordered some more goodies from Carrie at Notoriously Morbid – not included in these swatches is Kilgarrah, as I had that in the last post (here). I did need a full size of this, and I’m glad I got it 😀

As before, these arrived promptly (to the far corner of the globe, how a globe has corners I don’t know but regardless), and well packed. Carrie also added a few free samples which is always lovely and surprising… but, CHECK THIS OUT!

She wrote a little thank you on this note, for the last review I did, and said she’d noted my comments about the vegan shadows, and only sent me vegan samples. This totally blew me away! That’s some amazing attention to detail, and incredible thoughtfulness right there. I just hope my comment didn’t read like I was complaining, because I wasn’t. 😀

Swatches! These are over Dark Heart Designs primer, and smudged on with my finger. I do find though, that these swatches are pretty indicative of the pigmentation levels on the eye, too – i.e, very. 😀 All descriptions are my own, she has better on her site 😀

left to right – Belle’s Bounty (gold), Stake of Holly (green with blue overlay), Stripper Zombie (green with gold shimmer)

Left to right – The Doctor’s Wife (deep blue), Mystique (deep aqua blue with teal shimmer), No Warmth Could Warm (light blue shimmer with lilac duochrome).

And all together now…

Ahhhh.

I have do have one complaint. I just put in another order, and I didn’t swatch these before I did. I did order Mystique in a full size, but I should ALSO have got No Warmth Could Warm, The Doctors Wife, and Stake of Holly. ARRGH! She is too good at this!! 😀

There is a new webshop, too, nicely laid out and easy to find things, and another Coffin Kisser (don’t let the name put you off if such things tend to, they are pretty much the best lip balms I have EVER tried, and I’m not being paid to say so) – it’s cherry, which is exciting. Plus, as noted about, Carrie is just a lovely person, so I’d doubly recommend her products 😀

Have a great day

Ami

Skydiving Nails :D

Saturday a week and a bit ago, I went skydiving with my mother and Sister V. My mother had gone the week before and was so hyped about it she wanted to go again (as in, immediately!) and offered to take my sister and I with her. Sister V leapt at the chance. I took a night to think it over and do the research .. .which all came back with, if something happens and I die in a tandem jump, it’d be a miracle. A nasty one, but none-the-less, miraculous (which I call Terry Pratchett’s Miracle, as it was one of his amazing books that pointed that pointed that concept out to me) 😀

So… after that angst, next came the nail angst! (ok, and the have a shower / straighten hair / shave legs angst because hey, if you’re going to fall out of a plane, might as well feel like you made the effort should someone have to lever you out of the ground, right?). But THEN came the nails 😀 I tried a few different combos, and they failed. The polish themselves worked, but little things like my eldest son bumping them etc etc.. so I went another option.

This is – mostly – Emily de Molly Hole in the Sky. My Sister C bought this for me (wheee!) and it is STUNNING. Perfect pale periwinkle blue with silver holo glitters including mid size silver holo dots. Just gorgeous.

The accent nail is Star Kin Cashmere as the base, stamped with Star Kin Green Shift (from the Bundle Monster plate) to make the earth, I filled in some more with a small brush and Green Shift, and then used the brush to fill Star Kin OhNo! around the edges for the space / starry sky. I feel like I could have done a better job, but I liked it overall. 🙂

And I LOVED Hole in the Sky. One, it’s the perfect name for going skydiving. Two, I got to say ‘I am wearing this so I can make a Hole in the Sky, and NOT a Hole in the Ground’ – which is the kind of thing I really enjoy saying 😀 I am sad, yes. But I have fun with my type of sad 😀

And how was it? Amazing. I’m NOT a thrillseeker – I’ve been on one rollercoaster and hated it. I went for the experience, I wanted to know what it was like, I’ve always wanted to fly, and to take a ride in an open helicopter or something (ok, maybe I just don’t seek all the thrills but there are a few…). And I’ll admit, those first five seconds before the stabiliser parachute opened were the most terrifying thing. My tandem jump guru took me through a nice barrel roll during that time so I did get to look up at the plane as we fell backwards, sort of. I may have been quite busy screaming and trying to turn us over into a proper falling position 😀 BUT once I was in the proper flying position, it was amazing. We were still freefalling, we did 10,000 feet in 60 seconds, but there was some purchase (especially once the stabilizer chute opened), the view was amazing, and it was just wow. Then the main parachute opened and it was surreal and serene and glorious and I wish that I could parachute everywhere, every day. I didn’t want that to end (though I did tell him off every time he tried to spin us – I don’t like that feeling, plus I wanted the float down to last forever) :D. So, yes. Amazing. I’m not sure I’ll do it again. O.K, I’m pretty sure I’ll do it again.. but may leave it for when I need a life reboot. Because man it does that. YAHOOOOO! 😀

Parachuting over Lake Taupo with Liam, the tandem jump guy 🙂

Have a great day, and may you find your own life reboot when you need one!

Ami 🙂

Too Many Untrieds 3: Indies – Hare, Smitten, Candeo,

Getting through these now, so they can be on the main shelves where they should be, and used! 😀 Weather is warm but overcast, not good for holographics but nice for glitters, although you won’t see the full glittery effect.

CANDEO LACQUER Jellybean – 2 coats, and top coat

Pretty soft yellow base colour, this was a mad lemming of mine for some time, but … it’s pretty, but I’m not overwhelmed with polish love 😀

Oceania over L.A Girl Sandy Beach (2 coats, my bottle of Sandy Beach isn’t textured but it is a pretty blue).

Nice subtle matte hex glitter combo!

SMITTEN POLISH Confection – 3 coats and top coat

Pretty! Slightly sparing on the glitter, which gives it a white look overall. I love the little matte lilac squares 😀

Hocus Pocus – 3 coats and top coat – this is not a top coat optional polish – it needs the gloss to look it’s best.

This and the next polish I have had, waiting to swatch, for over a year. SHAME ON ME. I wanted to do them justice, and ended up doing nothing. Wah. Anyway! Looks like holographic orange glitters in a purple jelly base to me, and it also looks very pretty. A really good example of how sometimes the ‘simplest’ polishes can be the prettiest 🙂

You’re Turning Violet, Violet – 3 coats and top coat

And then sometimes the not so simple are also the prettiest. I mean, wow. I’m going to try this layered over a really dark purple too, sometime 🙂

HARE POLISH

Return to Nature – 3 coats no top coat

Wow. Just a perfect nude tan base, with gold and silver small glitters and tiny gold shimmer. I love this. Truly love it.

Asteroid Turf – 3 coats no top coat

Simple, but not subtle! Grassy green jelly with metallic purple hexes.

Have a great day!

Ami

Too Many Untrieds 2: Zoya, W7, Nubar etc

W7

W7 Pink Suede – 1 coat, no top coat

no sunlight! But this is a very pretty deep pink, and I’d imagine top coat brings out that silver shimmer.

W7 Metallic Jupiter – 2 coats, no top coat

Oh, wow. I love glass fleck shimmer, and multi-chromes, so no surprise that I adore this. I was surprised at how opaque it was at 2 coats! And the pink/purple/blue shifts were gorgeous.

NUBAR

Toasted Marshmallow – 2 coats, no top coat

This is a very jelly polish, but it became opaque at 2 coats. Strange! Also, it reminds me of baby poo. Not good. But a nice flattering colour, and for me, a good base for some of my other glitters 😀

Nubar On The Radar – 2 coats, no top coat

Crelly, and just a gorgeous colour. My camera wants to show all these as much lighter than they actually are, argh! But it was a flattering deep terracotta orange,  looking almost red in the sunlight. This polish had been sitting for a good few months, and some of the pigment was separating out, but a good shake got it all mixed back up again.

Nubar Contempo – 1 coat no top coat.

Matte!  Surprise! Lovely deep raspberry, blue toned pink.

Nubar Reclaim – 2 coats, no top coat.

I’ve been wanting to try this for ages, and I’m sad I waited so long, it’s gorgeous. Deep emerald green, and even though there was no direct sunlight, you can see the holographic shimmer still. Sorry I couldn’t get a better photo!

Peripera Rose Nail – 3 coats, no top coat.

Pretty pink jelly with scattered white hex glitters. Quite sheer, nail line is still visible after the three coats.

SpaRitual  Greenhouse – 3 coats, no top coat

Very pretty! Needs three coats for opacity, but has a lovely gold shimmer. I still love their bottles…

NYX Girls 131 – 2 coats, no top coat

Almost a one coater, and a very pretty deep red with pink and gold shimmer. I do LOVE these shades!

Have a great day

Ami 🙂