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

[RGbrown]

@itsfi 

I love your weather theme, gloomy with a chance of sparkle makes for a lovely mani! 🌦️✨

[itsfi]

“Gloomy with a chance of sparkle” makes for a better theme and a better weather forecast. 😍 It sounds so much better than atmospheric river followed by a dry day. 😝 Meteorologists need to start using that soon, and send you some royalties. 

I like both these polishes; want to try the topper over a yellow base. 

[Titian06]

I love your mani, @itsfi , especially the gray! 🤩  The name of the topper makes it worth buying. 😄  Do you know, is Veque out of business?  I looked them up after your last Veque mani and couldn't find them anywhere. 🤔

[itsfi]

Thank you @Titian06! Veque closed its online shop that consumers had been able to purchase from. They are currently only working with salons and retailers but I’ve noticed with respect to online retailers, much of their stock has been sold. There as a store I was going to pick up some more shades from but they are completely sold out now. Monroe Boston has two shades available online - a black polish (the name escapes me) and Presidio which is a pretty safe green. I’ve never ordered from that site but it’s the only online retailer that has any stock of Veque polishes available.

[Titian06]

Thanks, @itsfi !  That's too bad.  The colors you've worn are so pretty!

[Mellmars1185]

@itsfi Wonderful weather themed nails. They are appropriate for where I am, too. Grey skies mixed with the odd sunny day. It is very cold but supposed to warm up this week. Great idea!

[itsfi]

Thank you! I hope it warms up for you soon @Mellmars1185! 🤞🏼 The sun ☀️ comes out to give us a break from the rain but it’s deceiving because it’s still sooo cold. The only difference on those days is that I don’t need my umbrella or rain boots. 😆 

[Cissy63]

Your weather forecast mani is spot on!  Oh my “ who lives in a sandcastle under the sea “, I love the name of your topper @itsfi 🥰. These are pretty colors!

[itsfi]

@Cissy63, the name and the color are great, right? 😃 At some point I want to see if I can do a mani with fun polish names. @CookieGirl1 has a bunch of polishes that would fit the bill. 

[CookieGirl1]

@itsfi I might have just added a couple more of those "fun name" polishes recently, too 😂.

[Titian06]

Happy first day of spring, everyone! 🌻🌷💖  To celebrate, I did a spring mani.

Pinky & Thumb:  Orly Artist's Garden.  A lovely spring green.  An easy two coater.

Ring & Middle:  Orly Provence at Dusk.  A gorgeous lilac.  An easy two coater.  The second coat really brought out the color.

Index:  Orly Bleu Iris (not a typo).  A very pretty cornflower blue.  An easy two coater.  I like this color better than periwinkle. 

As you can see, I tried to do stamping.  @RGbrown gifted to me a few stamping plates she wasn't using.  One has some great flower designs.  For some reason, I couldn't pick up the images using either of my stampers.

Outdoors, direct light.

 

Outdoors, direct light.

Indirect light, garage door open. 

Indirect light, garage door open.

 

[Saradestin]

Perfect spring mani @Titian06 ! 😍

[Titian06]

Thanks, @Saradestin ! 💜💚💙  Love these colors!

[ather]

@Titian06  I love this spring mail look! 

[Titian06]

Thanks, @ather !  This is one of my favorite manis. 💚💜💙

[CynthieLu]

Ahhh pretty pastels 🩵🩷 these are gorgeous @Titian06 

[Titian06]

Thanks, @CynthieLu ! 💚💜💙  They are pretty! 🥰

[RGbrown]

@Titian06 

Gorgeous colors, fantastic springy shades 😍

Ugh, I'm sorry you're still having a hard time with stamping 🥺

[Titian06]

Thanks, @RGbrown !  I'm still not ready to give up.  Maybe I need a different stamper, though I doubt that's the problem.  At this point, I think it's me...

[RGbrown]

@Titian06 

Have you tried washing your stamper heads? Just a little dish soap and water, then dry on a paper towel. If that didn't help, sometimes setting them on a piece of paper overnight (stamping side down) can help draw out excess oils that might remain from the manufacturing process, and might improve results. If you ever go down a rabbit hole of stamping troubleshooting, you'll probably come across references to "priming" a stamping head...don't. That's old advice for old stampers that were were made of different materials, and it's no good on today's clear silicone stampers (no acetone, no buffing or filing the head!).

Trying some other stampers isn't a terrible idea either. My first stamper was a stiffer material and less sticky than many of the ones I've accumulated since then, and I have to say, it's still my fave...it worked right out of the box and works really well for dang near every plate I've tried. Sadly it has been discontinued, so I can't even point you in the right direction, but if you have something like the Maniology Ice Cube one (super soft and sticky, and personally, I hated it), maybe something firmer will help. The What's Up magnified stamper seems a bit stiffer, and while I've only used it once I think, it was good IIRC. Sadly, most stamper descriptions don't really specify how stiff or sticky it is, so it's a bit of russian roulette when trying new ones 😕

[Titian06]

Thanks, @RGbrown !  No, I hadn't thought about washing.  I always run it over a lint pickup roller before using to make sure it's clean.  I did notice a difference in the firmness between the Maniology Ice Cube and What's Up magnified stamper.  I tried both this last time.  I've had better luck with the ice cube.  I did notice something didn't seem quite right with it the last time I used it.  Maybe it just needs a bath.

FYI, I saw at Sally's that Nails Inc has a stamper.  I almost bought it out of curiosity.  Maybe I'll have to go back.