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.

Subtle Strings

I'm not too happy with this one... I've liked this design on Pueen plate 45 since I first saw it - it sort of looks like strings of beads. But I chose the wrong color to use for the stamp: Revlon "Black with Envy." It was just too sheer. However, I love the base color, Wet n Wild in "Rain Check."

The result is a bit more subtle than I'd like.

So I added a little Wet n Wild "French White Creme" on top, and ... I guess I am happier with the results? Next time I'd like to try something a little more bold and graphic.

CELEBRAT10N

I'm leaving soon for the national conference of an organization I'm part of, and our logo and everything are pink, so I've been planning for a while what I wanted to do with my nails. Originally I was just going to do polka dots, but then I got the stamping plates and decided to go with stars instead!

My toes are Sally Hansen InstaDri in "Presto Pink," and my fingers are Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Black Out" with Presto Pink stars from Pueen plate 44. I know they're going to be a hit!

Blue Jewels?

I had this awesome multicolored stamp all planned, and when I actually went to do it... it just wasn't happening. It's possible these Pueen plates have some kind of residue on them that needs to be cleaned off the first time, but that hadn't occurred to me yet, so I scrapped that idea and went with something else.

Instead, I painted my nails with Pure Ice in "Kiss Me Here" (gray), and used three of the designs on Pueen plate 26 with Wet 'n Wild "Black Creme." On my middle three fingers, I used the one on the right that looks kind of like chandelier beads in varying lengths. For my pinkies, I used the similar one on the left where they're all the same length, because I didn't want to risk having the mostly blank area end up on my nail. And for my thumbs, I used the swirly dot pattern at the top to cover the large area.

I then went back and added dots of Wet 'n Wild "Bijou Blue" on top of some of the larger gem/teardrop shapes. Unfortunately, when I added a top coat, a lot of the designs smudged :o( I think this was mostly because the top coat is kind of old and gloopy now. That's going into the trash :o/