Show Me Your Nails 2.0

[Tamara76]

Due to some technical glitches with the original Show Me Your Nails Thread, I am starting a new thread with @vegchililover78's blessing (She says "hello," by the way!).

Please share your nail looks, nail art and manicures!

...And don't forget to check out @Beadshopgirl's Nail Stamping Thread for stamping inspiration! ❤️  

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Nailed-It/The-Nail-Stamping-Thread/m-p/3328865

[SportyGirly125]

@RGbrown So festive.  Love it!

[RGbrown]

Thank you @SportyGirly125! ❄️

[itsfi]

Love these nails @RGbrown! 🎄⛄️ You did such a great job with the nail stickers. Makes for a fun and festive mani! ♥️💚

[RGbrown]

@itsfi 

I love an easy way to add a little cheer, especially when I'm sitting down to do them at midnight 😂

[itsfi]

I’m impressed you’re doing your nails at midnight @RGbrown! I would be half asleep and have nail polish all over the sheets. 😂

[RGbrown]

@itsfi 

I'm up until sometime between 2 and 4 am every night anyways, so doing my nails at midnight isn't much of a stretch for me, though I do prefer to do them much earlier in the evening whenever possible 😋

[RGbrown]

😮😮Nice offer from Cupcake!

20% off giftcards through the 22nd with code GIFT21

Heavily debating this...a $125 card would be $100 after discount, and then hold it for a sale to stretch it even further 🤔 They do 30% a time or two a year (and CPLOVER worked as of a few days ago for 20%, so that might be another option if it's still good)

ETA: yup, couldn't help myself. I'd been building a cart anyways, and a $100 card was nearly perfect to pay for it 😁

I spent $84.80 total ($80 for the GC and then the $4.80 balance left over) for a grand total of 11 polishes that have a regular retail value of $143 (net $7.71 each!) 💕 If you do this deal, be sure to give their bundles a look, they're all nicely priced with each polish being $10 instead of $13, giving a little extra savings boost!

[makeitup305]

Great deal @RGbrown !

[RGbrown]

@makeitup305 

Thank you @makeitup305! it's obvious I need more polish 😂😂

[makeitup305]

Has anyone tried Mooncat? I never tried LLP so I have no basis for comparison. I do love the rebranding, though, and most of the shades look incredible.

[RGbrown]

@makeitup305 

I haven't (yet), but I've seen @WinglessOne mention them a time or two; I know she liked LLP, but don't really know if she's used any of the new Mooncat stuff yet...maybe she'll have some thoughts for you!

I bought a few LLP polishes with their closing sale, and the formula is fine. The brushes aren't my fave, but I'm pretty certain they upgraded to a nicer paddle-style brush with the rebranding, so that's a moot point. They do have some pretty stuff, but I need a really good sale to jump in 😅

[WinglessOne]

@RGbrown @makeitup305  I have some Mooncat-rebranded polishes on the way to try. I also have some old LLP polishes, mostly (maybe all, actually) duo/multichromes. One of them, Vaporize, is one of my favorites by any brand. Only one of my LLPs has ever given me trouble, and I still prefer it over ILNP in general because ILNP's formula's much too thin for my impatience. (Don't get me wrong, I like ILNP. But each time I use one of their polishes, I grumble about the number of coats needed.) My big complaint about LLP is the brush, and I remember the rebrand announcement email mentioned a new wide brush for Mooncat—hooray! 

Once I get my Mooncats, I'll write up a quick comparison for you. 

[WinglessOne]

@makeitup305  @RGbrown  My Mooncats arrived, so now I can show you some of the bottle/brush differences between Live Love Polish and the Mooncat rebrand. Let's start with LLP's super annoying brush: 

L: Mooncat Mercury's Tears. R: Live Love Polish Vaporize.

Pretty much any change made to the old LLP brush would be an improvement. 😄 I'm thrilled to see the Mooncat brush has a longer stem, longer cap (even my short fingers have trouble holding the LLP cap sometimes), and wider bristle shape. 

For the hell of it, here's the Mooncat brush vs. a Morgan Taylor brush: 

L: Morgan Taylor Vanished Before My Eyes. R: Mooncat Mercury's Tears.

I'm also glad Mooncat doesn't use decorative caps you must remove to open the bottles. (I also ding Smith & Cult for that.) Also, the bottles now hold more product, so I feel slightly better about the price point. Slightly. 

L: Mooncat Mercury's Tears. R: LLP Vaporize.

I haven't put any of the newbies on my nails yet, but will probably do that tonight since my new Cupcakes also arrived. Might post photos in this thread later. 

[makeitup305]

Thanks so much for the tag @WinglessOne . The comparison is really helpful. I like that bigger brush better, too. I hope Mooncat does a sale at some point, I'd love to pick up a few shades.

[RGbrown]

@WinglessOne 

Yay, I love to see more brands moving towards the paddle brushes from skinny round ones; I wish more brands would. I'm glad I got the LLPs I have on sale; while they are very pretty colors, and I have no complaints on the formula so far, there are way too many brands with better brushes, especially at that price point. Considering I got 4 for less than $20, I'm ok with it, but I wouldn't have gone back for more. With the new brush, I'll watch for a deal and maybe pick up a couple more in the future now! 

[CookieGirl1]

Thanks for posting, @WinglessOne!  I've been wondering about the new MoonCat polishes--I never tried LLP previously--but some of the colors look stunning 🙂

[RGbrown]

What's Up Nails deal!

They've been running a series of 2 day deals, and I've been mostly trying to ignore them because I don't need anything else (ha!), but I thought I'd throw this one out there for y'all. 

35% off their WUN house brand, no code needed, discount shows in cart. Valid through Monday, noon Eastern

The What's Up Nails brand has:

Polish (both regular and stamping)

Stamping plates and stampers

Plate storage 

Loose glitter, flakies, and chrome powders

Water decals

Stencils/vinyls

Manicure tools (cuticle pushers, tweezers, cuticle oils and remover, glass files, sponges, etc)

Brushes for art and cleanup

Dotting tools

...and maybe something or another I missed on my quick scroll through lol

I picked up a few of their polishes over BF and have used two so far...they are really nice! If you liked Pump the Rakes (brown to peach thermal) or The Glint Life (that super awesome flash reflective) in my recent manis, this is a great time to check them out! The brush is similar to Morgan Taylor's, a wide paddle that does a great job of giving clean cuticle lines, and the formulas have been really easy to work with. If you wanna dabble in magnetics, they've come out with a magnetic holo as well (afaik, magnetic + holo is not a common combo, so this is pretty neat). I've got it (they gave it out as a gwp over BF) but I haven't played with it fully yet, though it came out nicely on my swatch stick ✨

I've got a couple of their brushes as well, and they are well made and have held up beautifully. Their stamping plates are good too, cleanly etched, and with a sturdy backing so you don't have to pay attention to sharp edges.

Shipping varies based on what you buy, but I've always found it to be reasonable...I think the most I've ever paid was something like $8 for the 9 or 10 polishes I bought over BF 😋

I find WUN to be a bit expensive for my cheap mindset, but their quality is fantastic in everything I've tried, and I love shopping there with a good sale ❣️

/End sales pitch 🤣

[RGbrown]

I saw a similar mani on Reddit a couple of weeks ago or so, and I dunno why it never occurred to me to do my favorite holiday design in my favorite color before coming across that post, but it was a freaking lightbulb moment for me 💡Purple candy cane swirls? Yes please!

One coat of MT Arctic Freeze for an opaque base, topped with two generous coats of Black Dahlia Lacquer Gumpaste Magnolia, a sheer base loaded with translucent, pastel, iridescent glitters. I don't think it would ever get as full coverage as I'd like, but it makes a fantastic topper, sparkly without overwhelming the stamps on top, and the color shifts are simply lovely to look at. 

Stamping done with Zoya Iris 💜

 

[ather]

@RGbrown  Such a great combo!!! Loving the purple stripes. 

[RGbrown]

@ather 

Thanks so much! 💜

[makeitup305]

Wow @RGbrown that’s amazing! I’m envious of your skills!