>NOTD: Turning Gold

>Long time no proper Konad, I know! =) I sort of didn’t know what to do with all those new materials like rhinestones, pearls, bullion beads, acrylic paint, etc. It was suddenly too much! But then I started designing some artificial nails and also stamping them, and I came up with some nice designs, which I’m going to recreate on my own nails.
For this design I used Essie Playa Del Platinum as my base color. I actually started with MAC Light Affair, but it has such a bad formula that I almost threw it out of the window in rage. It’s thick, chalky, streaky and doesn’t even itself out. I’m going to get Essie Body Language tomorrow, which is a dupe for Light affair, and I’m sure it’s going to be much easier to work with.
After 3 coats I sponged OPI Rising Star halfway up the nail, then I sponged OPI Take The Stage on the very tips. I stamped the flower design from m75 using konad special polish in black, and added some orange rhinestones from eBay to complete the look.

I love how a soft, neutral color like Playa Del Platinum changes slowly to gold and bronze. I’m a sucker for nail art that is bold but not tacky =)

Uzun zamandır doğru düzgün Konad yapmamıştım, farkındayım =) Bir anda üstüme yağmur gibi yağan taşlar, inciler, boncuklar, akrikik boyalar yüzünden ilham patlaması yaşamak yerine tıkanıp kalmıştım. Sonra özel günler için takma tırnak tasarlamaya başladım, ve bu sırada bir sürü yeni fikir geldi aklıma. Bunların bazılarını kendi tırnaklarımda da uygulayarak göstereceğim =)
Bu manikürde tabanda Essie Playa Del Platinum var. Kum beji diyebiliriz, bayıldığım bir renk. Aslında MAC Light Affair ile başlamıştım, ama oje o kadar kötü ki sinirden camdan aşağı fırlatasım geldi bir ara. Aşırı yoğun, kireç gibi, düzgün sürmek imkansıza yakın. Yarın Essie Body Language almayı düşünüyorum, renk olarak Light Affair’in aynısı ve sürümünün çok daha katlanılabilir olduğuna eminim.
Neyse, 3 kat PdP sürdükten sonra OPI Rising Star altın rengi ojeyi tırnağın üst yarısına sünger ile uyguladım, sonra da OPI Take The Stage bronz ojeyi uçlara uyguladım. Konad siyah ojesi ile m75 diskindeki çiçekleri yaptım, son olarak da çiçeklerin ortasına turuncu taşlar ekleyerek tamamladım.
Playa Del Platinum gibi yumuşak, sade bir rengin yavaş yavaş altın ve bronza dönüşmesi güzel bir etki yarattı. Böyle abartılı ama rüküş olmayan tırnaklara karşı zaafım var =)

>From The Vault: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

>Dumbledore has always been my favorite hero. I must say I grew up with Dumbledore, and he taught me so many things about being unprejudiced, non-discriminating and humble. He also taught me that “it’s our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.” I guess everybody knows about his words at the first-year banquet: “Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!” =) And I think they not just randomly chosen, funny words of a crackpot, old man; they have a much deeper meaning.
Nitwit: Finding it difficult to grasp something. Ravenclaw’s biggest fear.
Blubber: Being not courageous/brave enough for something, bursting into tears. Gryffindor’s biggest fear.
Oddment: Not fitting in, being not good enough for anything, being unworthy. Hufflepuff’s biggest fear.
Tweak: Being changed, tweaked, persuaded into something they don’t want to. (like being around people from Muggle families, etc.) Slytherin’s biggest fear.
Here is how I interpret these words, and I’m sure someone could come up with a different explanation. But it’s great that Albus Dumbledore shouts these words at the students, as if he can see through their deepest fears, and to make clear that each House has its own flaws and they’re by no means better than the other. He’s persuading them to let go off their fears and embrace each other, even if they’re parted into four different Houses.
Enough talking =) I did this manicure the night I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I. It was a very quick manicure, I didn’t have time to do some detailed nail art, so I just portrayed the four Hogwarts Houses, and Harry’s scar on my thumb.

Thumb: Freehanded with gold over black.
Index: Slytherin. Illamasqua Rampage, stamped with Golden Rose Nail Art #107 and konad m70.
Middle: Gryffindor. OPI Chick Flick Cherry, stamped with Golden Rose Nail Art #108 and bm16.
Ring: Ravenclaw. Essie Mesmerize, stamped with bronze Revell Modellbaulack and konad s06. (I don’t recommend you ever using model paint, it’s unhealthy and creates a mess! It was my first and last time to do that.)
Pinky: Hufflepuff. China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, stamped with konad black and bm20.
I know my pictures are never consistent. I use two different cameras, many backdrops and always the same lighting, but they come out different each time. This one is the DSLR, I love the quality of this, but it’s not very color accurate and it can’t do crazy macro shots.
I really want to work hard on a nice and detailed HP manicure =)

Bu manikürü Harry Potter ve Ölüm Yadigarları 1. Kısmı izlediğim gece yapmıştım. Fazla vaktim yoktu, bu yüzden dört Hogwarts binasının renklerini yaptım, baş parmağımda ise Harry’nin yara izi var.
Baş parmak: Siyah üzerine altın rengiyle şimşek deseni çizdim.
İşaret: Slytherin. Illamasqua Rampage üzerine Golden Rose Nail Art #107 ve konad m70 ile desen yaptım.
Orta: Gryffindor. OPI Chick Flick Cherry üzerine Golden Rose Nail Art #108 ve bm16 ile desen yaptım.
Yüzük: Ravenclaw. Essie Mesmerize üzerine bronz Revell boyası ve konad s06 ile desen yaptım. (Siz siz olun, oje hariç bir boyayı tırnaklarınızda kullanmayın. Her taraf mahvoluyor, bir kez denedim bir daha da yapmayacağım.)
Serçe: Hufflepuff. China Glaze Happy Go Lucky üzerine konad siyah oje ve bm20 ile desen yaptım.
Biliyorum ki çektiğim bir fotoğraf diğerini tutmuyor. Normalde iki kamera, farklı arka planlar ve her zaman aynı ışığı kullanıyorum, fakat resimler birbirinden çok farklı çıkabiliyor. Bu resimler DSLR ile çekildi, kalitesi tabi ki dijital makinadan çok daha iyi, fakat renkleri Sanyo kadar iyi yakalayamıyor ve makro çekimi de iyi sayılmaz.
Vaktim olduğunda ciddi şekilde uğraşıp fanatizmime yakışacak bir HP manikürü yapacağım =)

>NOTD: MAC Style Warrior Inspired Mani

>Hello everyone =) Remember MAC’s Style Warrior Collection? It was an awesome collection, unfortunately I missed out on that one. The packaging was beautiful, leopard and zebra print and accented with gold and bronze. I’ve always been wanting to do a manicure inspired by that collection, but somehow I never got around doing it. But today, I finally brought that idea to life =)

I used China Glaze 2030 as a base on pinkies, middles and indexes, then used konad’s white nail art pen with a thin brush to draw and fill the triangles, where the zebra print would come on top. Then I stamped using a black polish and plate m78, finally I used a small brush to put dots of China Glaze Platinum Gold in the center of the spots.
I used China Glaze Platinum Gold on the rings and thumbs, stamped with China Glaze 2030 and konad plate s06.

I may sleep in peace, now this is out of the way =)

>NOTD: Purple & Bronze

>Here is a basic one before I do my New Year’s mani. I have to admit, I’m amazed at how this magenta/purple and bronze look together. The purple is similar to China Glaze Let’s Groove, maybe looking a bit towards China Glaze Stella. It’s a gorgeous color, and has the same lit-from-within look that China Glaze Retro Diva polishes do. I did the tips with a bronze Inglot polish, and I was about to leave my nails that way, but the Konad monster peeked out as always, and I stamped the nails using China Glaze Admire and Konad plate s06.

They look soo much better in real life than in pictures. And I’m really pleased with my freehand tips! Btw, it doesn’t really show up, but Admire is a cool pink, and compliments the bronze and the purple nicely. =)