Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Tamagotchi Nails #8

Here is number eight in my Tama Nails series (hachi in Japanese). This is the Japanese version of the Tamagotchi Angel. The shell is similar to my American Angel, but I wanted to try and do something completely different from my second tama mani.






I recently received in the mail my 12 bottle Color Club halo hues collection, after wanting those polishes for years and saving up MyPoints for an Amazon card to get them. One of the blue shades matched my tama pretty well, and it seemed fitting to use it since the name of the polish is Blue Heaven.







Please excuse the character's motion blur in the final picture. :)

Polishes used: Color Club Blue Heaven, Kleancolor Pearl Silver, and Kiss nail art paint in black.


Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Tamagotchi Nails #7

This manicure was inspired by my Umino Tamagotchi, which is the Japanese version of the Tamagotchi Ocean. Of all the Tamas I have, this one is one that I specifically picked out the shell because it's just flippin' cool. I mean, a clear shell? So you can see all the inside parts? Amazing!






So clearly I had to do a negative space mani to emulate the clear plastic shell.







For my index finger accent nail I decided to hop on the beach/ocean nail trend that's catching on these days. This was my first attempt at the alcohol spray effect. I used 70% alcohol. I intend to do more tests with hairspray, hand sanitizer, etc to see what different effects can be achieved.

Polishes and plates used: Sinful Colors Grecian Sun, OPI Can't Find My Czechbook, Essie Mint Candy Apple, Konad spacial polish in white, and Moyou UK Sailor 03.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Tamagotchi Nails #6

I have mixed feelings about this mani here. I wasn't looking forward to doing a mani inspired by such a girly shell design, but once I got the first couple of steps down I thought it looked amazing. Then I stamped the hearts, and well, I forgot that most people stamp designs facing away from them.

This is the Tamagotchi Friends. The first release of this model is notorious for only having super girl shell designs. They have since released newer versions that are a little more neutral.



So what's the deal with stamp directions? I remember my first stamped mani I felt was good enough about to post online had a strawberry on each nail, and I placed the strawberries so that when I looked down at my nails, the berries were facing me. Then I realized that most people stamp their images upside down to themselves, but right side up to other people who happen to be looking at the hands.  Is it just a personal preference? I honestly don't know, but when I was drawing out the idea for this mani, this is how I drew the heart stamp. It wasn't until I had already stamped two nails that I realized "crap, these aren't facing the right way". But does it really matter? I mean, no one looks at my nails more than I do. Shouldn't I do them in the way that makes them the nicest for me to look at? At the same time, I LOVE what I did with the gradient and the first layer of stamping, and I feel like the mistake with the hearts renders this manicure unfit for public viewing, a.k.a. sharing it on nail groups. But, whatever. Some of them got smeared when I applied the top coat anyway, though I was being SO extra careful to float the top coat on, streaks still happened, as they always do. Mostly on my left hand. Hence, no pictures of my left hand.







Also upon viewing these pictures I realized there's a defect on my Suki plate, a tiny little pit in the heart design. I am quite bummed about this.

Polishes and plates used: Zoya Zara, SH Gem Crush in Be-Jeweled, e.l.f. Pot of Gold, Konad special polish in black, Kand special polish (light purple shade), Moyou UK Suki 03, and a KO version of Cheeky jumbo plate B.