Black & Blue

I needed a little inspiration for my nails today, so I perused Instagram to see what other people were doing with their Pueen plates. I kept seeing this design from plate 26 popping up, and a couple times in blue on black, so I decided to try it.

This is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in "Blue-ming Fast" (bought on clearance for $1.07!) stamped on Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Black Out." Then I added dots of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Celeb City" to jazz it up a little bit more. I'd like to try actually stamping with this silver sometime.

I have to say, I'm really impressed with the Insta-Dri polishes for stamping, they are pretty opaque. I've used them on top of black a couple times now.

Subtle Spirals

My original plan for tonight was to do one of the lacy patterns in black on a pale pink base. I used Sally Hansen Star Opal in "Rose Gold Opal," one of my all-time favorite nail colors, and then started stamping... I haven't had any problems with black before, but I guess doing it on such a pale background, regular black polish didn't end up looking as opaque as it has on darker colors? I also feel like there was something on the plate that was preventing me from picking up the pattern right (and I always clean them with nail polish remover before using, to remove any residue). Moral of the story is, it looked bad.

After trying and failing with with a different lacy pattern, I decided to go for something completely different, and instead stamped this swirly spiral pattern in Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in "Vigorous Violet." It came out a little lighter and more subtle than I had intended, but I liked it in the end.

Scaley Shells

I wanted to do my nails tonight, so I looked online for some inspiration photos using the Pueen plate sets I have, and kept seeing this image from plate number 13. I had some trouble getting it centered right, but it doesn't look horrendous...

The base is Wet n Wild "Bijou Blue," design is stamped in Wet n Wild "Black Creme," and then I added a dot detail in Wet n Wild "Metallica."

...And pretty much no streaking from the top coat!

Monotone Swirls

After a week without any stamping, I wanted to do something a little subtle. So I went with a base of OPI for Sephora "Under My Trench Coat," and stamped some swirls from Pueen plate 46 in Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Grey Area." Hopefully neutral and something I won't feel like updating right away.

I did get a little bit of streakiness when I added the top coat, but it's not horrible...

The colors are probably more accurate above, but the picture below is clearer, with the flash:

Coffee Table Rings

This circle pattern on Pueen plate 47 reminded me of the rings left on your table when you don't use a coaster.

The end result was a little more subtle than I'd intended. The Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes I've tried have been pretty opaque and good for stamping, but I guess "Vigorous Violet" didn't have quite enough pigment to stand up to Pure Ice in "Kiss Me Here" (which is a weird name for a gray color, btw).

Here is a picture after I added a top coat - it didn't streak too badly:

Leafy Greens

This is not my usual color combination, but my favorite Sally Hanson Insta-Dri nail polishes were on sale at the supermarket today, so I picked up a couple new colors. This is "Mint Sprint" on a background of Pure Ice "Bikini," using the leafy/vine design on Pueen plate 33.

When I first started stamping, I didn't have any problem with my designs streaking when I applied top coat, and I didn't even know that was a thing. It seems like ever since I heard it was a potential issue, my designs have been streaking more - did I jinx myself? I've been taking pictures before I apply top coat now, but actually this one didn't streak too much when I did it.

Funky Flowers

I'd had my eye on this floral pattern on Pueen plate 25 for a while. I was actually planning on doing a different pattern in black on pink, but couldn't get it lined up right, so decided to go with the flowers instead.

I think I would have liked this more in a different color scheme - maybe even a white background with different colors for the flowers. As it is, it strikes me as kind of a 60s psychadelic flower thing. Also, the base color, Wet n Wild "Tickled Pink," turned out pretty streaky.