Recent nail art and glue review ^_^

I know I haven't posted for some time now. I've been so busy and I'm having some technical problems with my phone for days already. I still haven't fixed it yet, I'm still going to need to observe it. My phone is the main camera that I use to take pics so I would be heart broken if I can't fix it. I can't afford to buy a new one :(

For the mean time I'm just going to share a couple of my recent mani ^_^

I really love how this turned out. I've been seeing some nail art with gradients on top of their stamped nails. This is my first try, I used a metallic silver on my tips then applied a fine glitter gold polish which I recently bought and love, now I wish I bought two bottles of it because it was so cheap anyway. Ugh!

Okay, this one is still on my fingers right now :)

I made this yesterday and I was able to take a pic of this earlier before my phone started to act crazy again.

I used two metallic polishes, first is the pink base then sponged in the blue. Then I placed one coat of the fine gold glitter again then added a second coat but only on the tips. As you can see all the images I stamped are birds. They came from different plates which I forgot to take note of *toink*

It seems to me the blue metallic polish is too sheer to show up, I didn't want to apply too many coats because the pink base is already 3 coats.

I've been using the glue base method ever since I posted it on here. I have changed to using Elmer's School Glue now instead of the LEEHO gel glue.

There are some pros and cons though....

Elmer's School Glue

Drying time is fast, less than a minute if you dry in front of an electric fan.

Matte like finish when it's dry so you know when to start putting on the second coat and nail polish.

Glue dries thin and smooth.

Peels off faster than the gel glue, you need to seal the tips with polish.

I've noticed my nail polish don't bubble even if I layer polishes. This has been a huge problem for me with my polishes even if I've waited for my polish to dry in between coats.

I will have test this more though, I have a few thick polishes on my stash that I doesn't get any action because of this problem.

LEEHO Gel School Glue

Drying time takes a while around 3 minutes or so.

Hard to see if it's dry so you will need to feel it up a bit.

Dries thick, I can actually see an added thickness when I apply my polish.

Sometimes glue doesn't dry smooth, maybe it's the nail polish brush or what not but sometimes I feel stubbles. I'm thinking that maybe the glue is too thick.

Manis lasts longer, doesn't peel off unless you peel it off still be careful not to nick the edge.

My nail polish sometimes get bubbles specially the first layer of polish, but once I start layering the second coat bubbles aren't very apparent.

Both are affordable and non-toxic.

I still prefer the Elmer's one because it dries quicker, smooth and my polish doesn't bubble.

My mani may not last long but one of the reasons I chose to use this method is because I like to change my mani quite often and clean up is just too easy ^_^

I need to look for a nail moisturizer that doesn't leave an oily/greasy residue before applying the glue, does that even exist? Hahaha ^_^

Thanks for hanging out here, I hope I'll be able to find a permanent fix for my phone. :)

I Won a Giveaway! and Using Glue as a Base Polish ^_^

Last July 20th I shared a giveaway on here from Lydz of Sekhmet's Purple Castle which ended last August 24. Just this Monday I got an email from Lydia with the subject 'Giveaway Winner!!'. Honestly when I opened the email I couldn't believe what I was reading, I had to read it two more times before it dawned on me that I won!:D

This is the first time I've won a giveaway and I'm soooo happy and excited and so thankful that I got picked! ^_^

Ever since I started this blog I've had the chance to join a number of giveaways, mostly if not all are nail polish lots or stamping plates.

Of course the guarantee of winning is quite slim specially if there are hundreds or thousands of entries. Most of the time whenever I join giveaways before actually joining,  specially if I'm not a follower yet, I check out the blog first and read some of the posts and if I like what I see then I join in.

I'd like to follow a blog that I would be interested in and not because they're hosting a giveaway.

Most of the blogs I follow have nail art posts and tutorials. I also like seeing swatches but I mainly prefer nail art/stamping.

I have to say that most of the blogs I follow I found because they were hosting a giveaway, some though are from searching of nail art techniques that I'm interested in. :)

I just wanted to share my experience and excitement of winning my first giveaway ^_^

Do check out Sekhmet's Purple Castle blog, I envy free hand nail artists and she's really great and she does stamping too!

Now the glue...

Last week I've been reading some posts in Adventures in Stamping about using Elmer's glue as base for glitter polishes.

This really piqued my interest because I still have some polishes that I dread to use because it's a nightmare to take off. I didn't jump the wagon because I'm not sure how well it would work in terms of longevity.

Apparently though from those that have tried it the polish would last for more than 24 hours or maybe more depending on often you wash or wet your hands.

 Then I saw this post from Pretty Purple Polish using PVA wood glue, I just had to see what it looks like on the nails so I queried to the girls in AinS what they used and it was Elmer's school glue which says washable and cleans up with soap and water.

So two days ago I went out to find one but unfortunately the couple of stores I went to do not carry this type of Elmer's glue so I picked the closest thing I could get.

I got the blue one but in the small size. I really wanted the Elmer's one because it's white and it dries clear, this one is already clear/transparent so I have to feel it up a bit to see if it's dry yet.

I placed it in one of my empty nail polish bottles, if you don't have an empty bottle you can just use a small paint brush and dip it in. Be sure to submerge your brush in water after use so your brush doesn't dry stiff.

I applied two coats, make sure that the first coat is already dry before applying the second coat. I had to wait 3-5 min. in between coats.

This was the second mani that I did with glue as a base coat.

This consists of:

2 coats of glue

1 coat black nail polish

1 coat EPSA black glitter polish

2 coats LaBelle Crystal Rose Quartz

*stamped with EPSA silver metallic polish

2 coats of top coat

This is how the peelings looked like when I took it off.

I couldn't wait for 24 hours before I peeled them off, I think it was just over 12 hours when I took it off with an orange stick.

I'm happy to say that using glue as a base does work, just the thought of using glitter polish everyday without the tedious work of taking it off is just amazing to me!

With this you can even change your manicure everyday, a very appealing thought because I still have polishes that haven't been used yet. ^_^

If you like your polishes to last at least 3 to 5 days well this might not be to your liking, you can still try sealing the tips if you really want it to last though.

So for me this is such a great discovery. I may be using this method for the rest of the week so I can see if there are any more cons using glue as a base. By the way make sure that the glue you will use is non-toxic and washable okay. ^_^

Thanks for hanging out here!