Thursday, July 30, 2009

Blue flowers, blue skies, blue sun

Hello ladies,

A brief edit: Unfortunately, Carolyn New York may have gone out of business without taking down their website. Please don't try to order from them as all their contact listings are no longer in service. Their site, however, is still set to charge credit cards even though no orders are being shipped. I really hope the company can regroup as they have made some fantastic polish. 

Today I have a trio of blue for you: Konad flowers, Carolyn New York Blue Skies over the City and a blue sun perfume pendant. This morning, I arrived at the store where I work on Thursdays and ran off to the canal behind the building with a borrowed necklace and a borrowed camera. My boss is a former nail tech and he currently does hair and make up for drag shows. He understands, I tell you! 

I hope you enjoy my choice of a prop. I walked around the shop today between appointments. I took a visual inventory of everything small enough to pick up and possibly coordinate with some of my untried nail polish. Blue Skies over the City appears the palest blue in low light or dappled sun, but looks like a white creme polish in brighter rays.  




The application of this polish comes with a warning: Blue Skies over the City is a fussy diva! I started with two thin coats and added on a heavy third. I battled my way to opacity, but I felt like I was sending a fully loaded brush into bare territory again and again. CNY polishes typically apply with ease. I am tempted to duct tape a ridge filling base coat to my bottle of Blue Skies over the City. I am pleased with the finished manicure. I don't want to discourage anyone from trying the color, but be prepared with extra time to work around the formula issues. The other struggle is my bottle of CND Air Dry is ending it's time with me as is my bottle of Konad topcoat. I use the latter as a protective layer over the stamping and the Air Dry to shine and seal the manicure. My supply of both needs to be refreshed. 

The Konad design was stamped from the new plate, S9, in blue special polish. I placed the first stamp lower than I meant to, but decided to continue. I liked the blue/white tips. I was going to cover them, but it already seems a variation on a French manicure.  

I hope you enjoyed today's nail look. Thanks for stopping by!  

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Goldie and a plague of frogs

Hello ladies,

Today I have a fanciful manicure for you featuring Zoya Goldie from the Ooh La la collection. I spend the late morning and afternoon with my friend Alicia. I decided to find the silliest Konad stamp imaginable that would entertain us on our shopping errands. That frog definitely looks like he is up to something. Watch out! The weather verged on rain for many hours. I managed to get a partial sun picture taken over the fountain water in Rittenhouse Square. 


The picture above resulted from acts of boldness and hilarity. It also served to illustrate that once in the suburbs, people don't care what you do in a retail environment. I was looking at the Ott lights in Michael's craft store. I wasn't planning on buying a lamp today, but I was curious to see if their reputation for creating natural light indoors would serve my purposes. Alicia and I set to work finding a suitable background for my hand modeling. In the scrapbook supplies area, she discovered a book of papers entitled So Girly. Perfect. She held the green floral paper behind my nails to camouflage the unsightly power strip, littered with plugs to every sample light fixture. When the reality dawned on both of us that we were standing in a craft store taking pictures on the sly of my frog stamped nails, we were giggling uncontrollably.  I am pleased with the quality of the Ott light photo and also the covert activity executed to obtain it.

Zoya Goldie has rich pigmentation for a metallic. I achieved full coverage easily in two coats. Having a thin consistency, Goldie isn't the most forgiving polish. It will show the outline of silk wraps or any major imperfections even over Zoya's ridge filling base coat. This makes sense since the metallic is so glossy and reflective. My skin tone is neutral. This is not the gold for cool toned ladies. It's more of a burnished gold in tone, yet it's still bright. 

Goldie is classy. It's a color suited to complement an evening gown. The fact that I stamped frogs over it and went galavanting to beauty supply stores says a bit about me. Again, I used Coraline plate C05 from kit 1.  Konad special polish in green comprised the stamp. 

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I'm not sure if it need be mentioned: Despite the continued use of the word lady in different forms, men are invited to read and comment respectably. I'm not sure how much testosterone could have made it through this post, but guys are indeed welcome. 

I want to thank everyone who has been reading, adding painted Lady fingers to their blogrolls, becoming followers, and commenting. It's been a real treat for me. I will keep the posts coming. 

 

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

feathery and ooh la la

Hello Ladies,

Today I have Zoya Midori from the Ooh La La collection. I know I have been showing you a lot of Zoya to start. During a Twitter promotion, I ordered both the Ooh La La and the La Di Da lines. With the weather verging on oppressive in Philadelphia, even under a parasol, I feel compelled to wear bright and fresh colors. I choose polish more by whim than weather, so you may encounter a vampy shade despite the 92 degrees F.

Click the pictures and watch them grow. Delightful!


Application was like a magic trick. Midori went on with brushstrokes, which disappeared after drying. I really love the gold reflection in this aquatic green. It makes me think of lily pads and duckweed, which I renamed lacy algae on one of my many nature excursions. Now with a little research, I discover it's not classified as algae. I am ever the confused naturalist. 

The Konad design is from Coraline plate C05, found in kit 1. It makes me think of stylized feathers. I used Konad special polish in white. Stamping across the area of my nail above the free edge made me a little nervous. I didn't feel entirely comfortable with the sensation of rolling the stamper over that bit of length. I'm accustomed to the more solid feel of pressing the design to the center of my nail. I really do favor the visual of the placement though. I think vanity will win over discomfort in this instance. I hope you enjoyed seeing more from the Coraline set. Some of my favorite Konad designs are in those two kits. I will share them with you over time.

For new visitors to my blog, please let me know in comments if you have a nail blog. I would love to see what you are up to and add you to my blogroll. Look forward to more whimsy tomorrow! 

Monday, July 27, 2009

A Sun Goddess and a game of chance to win a Konad set B

Hello ladies,

Today I have for you N.Y.C. New York Color in a Minute in Sun Goddess. I purchased this yesterday at the local Rite Aid. It's from their new collection: Golden Girl. There was one other polish called Bronze Goddess. I like a little more adventure than the other choice could afford, so I left with only the one pictured below. Sun Goddess is heralded on the bottle to be a Quick Dry Nail Polish with Minerals. The presence of the minerals is what kept the bottle in my hand all the way to the register. There are tiny particles of gold shimmer in a salmon base. I was very pleased to see the shimmer appeared so boldly on the nail. The color is an odd medley. The base is work appropriate. The shimmer adds enough spark to give it personality. I imagine this would appeal to a wide range of people. The first picture is taken in natural light with my parasol as a background. It is the most color accurate. The following two taken in direct sunlight allow for the gold shimmer to beam from my nails. 

Click the photos to make them bigger. You don't even need to consume a beverage labeled Drink Me





Now that you have viewed the color, let's discuss the formula and application. First, I will inform you that I am in a reasonable geographic proximity to New York City. I can take a train and be there in a little over an hour. I feel confident that I understand what color in a New York minute should entail. While waiting for the polish to dry, I checked the bottle to see where it was created. It just said "Made in the U.S.A." This is curious. I have to say there must be some regional discrepancy to account for what I understand to be a New York minute and how slow this polish actually dries. What is favorable here is I added CND Air Dry and had no bubbling or other issues that must be endured by people impatient enough to add a quick dry topcoat to a quick dry polish. Sun Goddess acted like regular polish in terms of dry time. The brush applied the color well, but I had to get used to having less polish on the brush than I would normally use. The brush seemed to sponge up the polish from the depths. It's easily remedied by emptying a bit before applying your first stroke. Otherwise, you won't be polishing your nails, you will be playing paint ball.

On to the Konad! I stamped a delicate floral pattern from plate M8. I used Konad special polish in yellow.  This manicure was done specially for fellow nail blogger KonAddict. Right now she has a contest in progress to win a Konad B kit. There are ways for bloggers and readers alike to enter. I personally enjoy reading her blog. She does some involved and very fetching nail art utilizing the Konad. She treats every post like a mini tutorial to help you achieve the look she is presenting. She is very excited about her contest and I am happy to help promote it. The Konad is indeed habit forming. I love being able to achieve detailed designs at home without the awkward application of having to draw with tiny brushes with my unskilled left hand. I hope you enjoyed my showcase manicure with Konad plate M8. 

I want to thank everyone for stopping by and reading my blog as I get started. Please leave a comment for me if you have a nail blog and would like me to add your link to my sidebar. I would be pleased to do so and to learn a bit more about your place in the nail community. 

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Pink butterflies and white frosting

Hello ladies,

Today I have another Zoya for you, this time from the Ooh-La-La Collection. Behold, Ginessa. I added some Konad butterflies from plate M20 with Konad Special Polish in Psyche Pink. My Virgo self never tires of centering medium size designs or positioning them to my fancy. Little details calm me. You may wonder a bit about my lack of bottles in the photos below.  I simply left them at home. I hope the substitute pink impatients will do. The flowers are a dupe to Psyche Pink. I took these photos in the backyard garden of my favorite coffee shop. I temporarily confounded a barista until he decided it would be really cool if I used his bicycle as a prop for polish photos. If I forget my bottles again, this may indeed happen.  

Click to enlarge. 



Please excuse my hand positioning in the second photo. I was trying to be careful with the petals. Zoya bottles are far sturdier. I did three coats of Ginessa. Two would suffice for most people, but opacity is almost a religion to me. The application of Ginessa was most interesting. It was thick and smooth. It really made me feel like I was brushing white frosting across my nails. There are tiny glitter particles that give the visual sense of texture while the polish remains even. I love the shimmer in this. It would be a very pretty shade for brides or for guests at a wedding. It would be a festive alternative to sheer pinks and nudes. I must praise Ginessa for being incredibly wearable. My skin is quite fair and I didn't feel like a mime. 

Friday, July 24, 2009

Oddities: wee beetles

Hello ladies,

Welcome to painted Lady fingers. For my first post, I am going to show you Zoya Ki with Konad special polish in green. I have the little pincer beetle from Coraline plate C01. I am charmed by both Coraline kits. The beetle is from Kit A. I am reminded a bit of Common Stag Beetle when I look down at my nails. I took some liberties here with color as this particular beetle is dark red or brown in nature. For those who find beetle embellished nails a bit startling, I can assure you these beetles dine on sap. The mandibles on the male are generally reserved for male on male fighting when it comes time to woo a female Stag Beetle. I consider myself wooed. 

I will warn you ladies this is the first occasion I have ever used a digital camera other than the times when a tourist will hand me their camera with a smile and a plea. These were test shots I took while on a walk with my friend David along the Wissahickon today. David stood by bemused both at the fact that I was taking photos of my nails and also being privy to the negligible skill a man was demonstrating while tossing a frisbee to his dog in the water. The man had a back up frisbee. I thought at first this spoke of the dog's catching abilities, but no. I give him credit for the foresight to bring two frisbees. Let us now focus on my troubles on the wooden bridge and not his below. The sun was bright on the bridge and I had some difficulty seeing the screen for practice shots. Here is my first attempt at photography since I had my last camera, which loaded film. 

Please click to view full size.





Above is a shot of my left hand. The ring I am wearing is a silver owl. It occasionally gets mistaken for a fish or a pineapple. The picture will give you another view of the green duochrome in the purple shimmer wonderland that is Ki. My silver band, which is unfortunately turned a bit, reads lumen, which is latin for light


I hope you enjoyed my first post. I have a sea of untried polishes to photograph, lots of Konad to enchant you and as always a bit of whimsy.