Tamagotchi Nails #5

Well, it had to happen at some point. My nails were getting to that length where they all start breaking. And since I just got a job at a restaurant (I start today), I figured it was better to cut my nails now instead of risking accidentally taking a chunk off of one while I'm prepping vegetables for someone's pizza. I hate having short nails. They just don't look right on me.
Anyhoo, this is my fifth Tamagotchi mani, inspired by my Connection v5.5. I ordered this model off ebay when I became interested in starting a collection and exploring different Tamagotchis I didn't already have.

As I discovered with my third tama manicure, I have a severe lack of star stamping designs. This time I used the one star themed full nail design I have. I also attempted some hand painting of lines, which I'm never very good at because my hands are shaky, but I think they came out decent. The purple nails came out more plain than I'd originally planned, but at that point I was on my third day of working on my nails and just ran out of time to redo them for the billionth time.

 

Polishes and plates used: China Glaze For Audrey, OPI Pamplona Purple, Essie Go Ginza, Kleancolor Aurora, Kiss Nail Art Paint (light purple and silver lines), and Moyou UK Time Traveler 03. 

Tamagotchi Nails #4

I am really excited about this one because I think it turned out fantastic. This manicure was inspired by my Tamagotchi Connection v4. Again, like with my v4.5, I didn't really choose this shell, it was the only one Ross had at the time.

I wanted to incorporate not only the wavy blob shapes on the shell, but the asterisk thingy on the screen background, so I finally got to use my Uber Chic plate I ordered months ago. A lady on facebook asked if anyone wanted to split the 3 piece set with her. I was surprised that I didn't have to fight anyone for plate 1-01. I think the designs on it are so much cooler than the other two plates, which were all flowery, but hey, that's just me. I love how it has mini designs that coordinate with some of the full nail designs.

I'm still very new to water marbling, but I learned from this mani that I've been dragging the toothpick wrong. Before, I thought it was best to start at 12 o'clock, then go to 6, then 3, then 9, keeping the drags "symmetrical". But then I realized it works much better to go from 12 to 1 to 2, etc.
I'm also finding out more things about these Kand stamping polishes. No, that's not a typo of Konad. They're cheap knockoff stamping polishes I got from ebay. First off, the yellow sucks. It was barely visible when I tested it over the light pink on my thumbnails. Then I had the blue stamped on there, and it was totally dry, I mean, completely, and I put on a top coat and it SMEARED so bad. I was so pissed, I had to completely clean off all the polish on my thumbnail and start over. So I skipped the top coat on my pinkies to be safe. For Christmas, I'm totally asking James for an assortment of MDU polishes.

Polishes and plates used: Essie Madison Ave-hue, Secret Story, and Muchi Muchi, China Glaze Sunday Funday and Happy Go Lucky, WnW D'oh!, Konad special polish in white, Kand special polish (the bright blue, I don't remember its number) and Uber Chic 1-01.

Tamagotchi Nails #3

Third in my series of Tamagotchi inspired manicures, this one is styled after my Connection v4.5. While I own tama models older than this one, i decided to do this challenge with the Tamagotchis in the order that I got them, not by their release dates. Why? Because I'm lazy and it's easier for me to remember when I bought these instead of looking up all their specific releases. :)
If I had my pick of any of the v4.5 shells, it wouldn't be this one. I found this tama on sale in the toy section of a Ross, and it was either the only one they had or the better or whatever few options they did have. I don't remember. Anyway, it's weird. I mean, celery green and maroon? Who puts those colors together? And that black tribal looking design is so dated.

The weirdness of the shell gave me a lot of trouble at first. I couldn't figure out what to do. Then I remembered I had these little star shaped gems that are the perfect green color. But for me to use them, I couldn't have the green as my main base color. Once I decided to use the maroon as my base, it all came together.

Sadly, both of my thumbnails have broken off. My nail are at that length where they've just started to look good, and now they're going to start breaking one by one until I have four or so broken ones and decide it's time to cut them all. But for now, since it's just my thumbs, it doesn't look too bad and I decided to make use of their "differentness" and use them as my accent nails. The stars came out messy though because I used regular craft stickers to paint around. I didn't realize until I did this manicure how much I'm lacking in star stamping plate designs. Anyhoo, this is my favorite so far of my first three tama inspired manicures. I left off the top coat at first because I liked the contrast between the shiny maroon and the matte stamping, but then I added one because I didn't want the stars to snag my hair in the shower, and it still looked pretty good.

Polishes and plates used: China Glaze Loft-y Ambitions, Orly Green Apple, Sinful Colors, Just a Pinch, Essie Licorice, and Konad special polish in black with plate XIUYA-02.

Tamagotchi Nails #2

This is the second in my series of manicures inspired by my Tamagotchis. It was based on my other vintage tama I got as a kid, my Angel. American Tamagotchi Angels are fairly rare and somewhat valuable these days, so I feel lucky to have one. Unfortunately the screws are stripped and won't come out, so I can't put new batteries in it.
This manicure gave me hell. I had way too much trouble just trying to get a good base of yellow. I think China Glaze should have just marketed their entire Up & Away collection as stamping polishes, because that's all most of them are any good for. I tried using Lemon Fizz (which I realized is the only pastel yellow I have in my polish collection) and I just couldn't get it to look good. It was still streaky after three coats. So I decided to start over with Orly Melodious Utopia, which I like because the pink shimmer makes it so pretty, but it too was giving me opacity problems. So I started over AGAIN with a beige undercoat, but it still took four coats of the Orly Polish for it to look decent. I covered it with a pearl polish to make it lighter and more like the finish on the tama shell.
Eventually I got to the embellishment stage and I kind of wish I hadn't. I don't like the three pearl buttons and the black stars seems out of place. I left my left hand plain, and I think it looks better. Less really is more sometimes, I guess! This stamp is actually from a bird themed plate, but I think it worked just fine as an angel wing. :)

Polishes and plates used: Orly Melodious Utopia, Tony Moly Fantasy Edition Tonynail Snow SF08, Essie Penny Talk, and Moyou Tropical collection 05.