Category Archives: Nail Art

Using KBShimmer Polish With Gel Polish – Guest Post By Michelle of Manic Talons

Hi there!

I’m Michelle from Manic Talons and gel polish is my “thing”.  If you’re a gel user you know firsthand that gel polish is seriously lacking in certain finishes, such as crellies, unique glitter bombs, duo and multi-chromes, and linear holos.  All of these are areas that KBShimmer has covered in spades!  So I’m going to show you three ways to get the best of both worlds by pairing KBShimmer polishes with soak off gel polish.

 Layering Polish on Top of Gel

Layering is the simplest way to pair traditional polish with gel.

1)       Do a complete gel manicure start to finish.

2)       Once you remove the tacky layer from the final top coat, apply the KBShimmer lacquer directly on top of the gel.  There’s no need for a separate base coat as the gel takes care of that.

3)       Finish with a fast dry top coat and you’re done.

Layering in this manner is awesome for several reasons.  First, the gel provides serious strength to your nails.  Second, regular polish dries much quicker over gel, so the wet nail wait is decreased.  Third, regular polish applied in this manner over a soak off gel manicure wears like iron!  I have had regular polish last for over a week on top of gel with minimal tip wear.  Finally, you can remove the polish with non-acetone remover without harming the soak off gel manicure if you want to change things up!

Want to see a layered manicure?  I started with a basic white soak off gel manicure using Couture Ooh La La French.  I then applied two coats of Oh Splat! on top of the gel and finished with a fast dry top coat.  The result is this gorgeously opaque mani with incredible depth.

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The Regular Polish (RNP) Sandwich

The second way I like to pair regular polish with gel polish is to sandwich the regular polish between layers of gel.  This one can be a bit tricky, but once you know the method the possibilities are endless!  So, how do you create a successful RNP sandwich?

1)       Apply your soak off gel manicure.  This is your usual process with one slight modification.  When applying each layer of gel, be sure to wrap the tip a bit deeper than you might usually.  I like to wrap the gel so that it overflows approximately 1.5 mm under the tip of the nail.  If your nails are shorter, you may not be able to wrap quite this deeply, but wrap as deep as you can without getting the gel on the skin under your nail.

Wrapped-Tip

2)       After removing the tacky layer, apply a thin coat of your KBShimmer polish of choice.  Cap the tip as usual, but not quite as deeply as you did with the gel.  The trick is to leave a margin of gel exposed under the tip of the nail so that the final gel top coat can bond with it unobstructed.  Allow the coat of polish to dry before applying a second coat if needed.  At this point, you might choose to apply a fast dry top coat to speed things along, but it is completely optional.

3)       Now we wait for the polish to COMPLETELY dry.

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If you used only 1 thin coat, wait at least 1-2 hours before proceeding to step 4.  If you applied two or more coats or used a thicker coat, allow a minimum of 4-6 hours.  The dry time is crucial to creating a successful RNP sandwich.  If the RNP is not completely dry before adding the gel top coat, the top coat will chip off within hours.  Or worse, the RNP will wrinkle under the top coat and destroy your beautiful manicure.

4)       Once the RNP is completely dry, apply a layer of gel top coat.  Be sure to wrap the top coat deeply like you did with the base gel manicure.  This allows the top coat to grab the gel under the tip of the nail and completely seal in the RNP.  I usually apply two coats of gel top coat just to be sure I have completely covered the RNP, but that is definitely optional as it tends to add thickness to the nail.

5)       Remove the tacky layer, apply cuticle oil, and enjoy your longer lasting manicure!  I just removed a RNP sandwich mani from my right hand that lasted the full 2 weeks without a single chip.  It could have gone longer, but the growth was driving me nuts. 😉

Want to see an RNP sandwich?  I thought you might.  I started with a base gel manicure and used Couture Royalty as my gel color.  I then topped it with one coat of KBShimmer Clown Puke, waited for it to dry, and finished with two coats of soak off gel top coat.  The gel top coat pairs really well with this one and smooths the glitter effortlessly.  I seriously LOVE this polish!  Every time I dipped the brush, I discovered a new glitter I hadn’t seen before.  I’m quite certain there are more shapes, colors and sizes in the bottle that are not represented here!

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 Nail Art and Accents

The final way I like to use regular polish with gel is for basic nail art.  In this manicure, I did a RNP sandwich on the index and pinkie nails and dotted the middle and ring fingers with Pigment of My Imagination.  I also use RNP for stamping regularly.  When using RNP for nail art, it still needs to dry completely before adding the gel top coat, so the amount of time will depend on the thickness of the layers in the artwork.

KBShimmer-Pigment-of-my-Imagination

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and learned a few new tricks.  I invite you to swing by my blog at www.manictalons.com for gel polish swatches and nail art combinations.

Thank you, Christy, for inviting me to share these methods!

~Michelle

St. Patrick’s Day Nail Art By MadamLuck

Hello everyone.  I am super excited to share today’s post with you.  Last week I saw some nail art by Suzann of Amateur Manicure on NailIt.com and I knew I had the perfect idea for some St. Patrick’s Day nail art.  I reached out to nail art expert Amanda from MadamLuck to bring my idea to life, and I have to say she did a stunning job!!!   Scroll down to see the steps to create this stunning manicure.

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Amanda started with one coat of our new black cream, Eclipse.   Then using Bunny nail image plate HD-B for the clovers, she stamped those over the black use a white polish.  Now, here is the trick, with the white stamped over the black, you can layer a jelly polish, like Get Clover It, to create a stunning layered look.  Follow with a coat of Clearly On Top for a smooth, shiny finish.

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Isn’t that lovely!  This technique can be used it so many ways.  I could see space stamping done with I Got A Crush On Blue over for a unique galaxy manicure, or Witch Way done up for Halloween.  What ever color, the white will make the jelly polish pop!

Do you love St. Patrick’s Day?  Here is a bonus manicure from MadamLuck using Daisy About You, Honeydew List, and Clearly On Top.  Striping was done with acrylic paint, and clover jewels complete this festive look.

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Thank you so much Amanda for helping out with this post.  And if you love nail art, run over to Amanda’s sites to see any or stunning work.

You can find Amanda on:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/MadamLuck/173882919339770
Instagram – http://instagram.com/madamluck

St. Patricks Day Art – Guest Post By Nidia of Lit From Within

Hi, I’m Nidia, and I run a little blog called Lit From Within.  I have loved KBShimmer polishes for a while, now, and jumped at the chance to show y’all a little nail art featuring one of these lovelies.

I’m not Irish, but I married an Irishman, and besides, who doesn’t like a little green on St. Paddy’s Day?  I was inspired by Robin Moses Shamrock nail art to show off a little o’ the green today.

I started with Deborah Lippmann Pearly Queen, a pale nude with green shimmer.  I just wanted the green pearlescent effect in the background.

Here’s the star! KBShimmer Get Clover It, a green jelly polish with light and dark green, blue, and gold glitters.

It can be tricky to get glitter exactly where you want it sometimes, so after laying down two coats of the polish, I painted a cosmetic sponge with another couple of coats of Get Clover It.  The sponge soaks up some of the base, and then you can dab the sponge on the nail, and it just deposits the glitter where it touches.

Genius, really.  Not my original idea, of course, but one I borrowed from Nail Wish.

Sinful Colors Pistache makes a nice light green contrasting line above Get Clover It.

A teeny nail art brush and some SOPI Give Peas A Chance, and there are the shamrocks, ready for St. Paddy’s!

Topcoat smooths out the nail art and makes sure that all the glitters are nice and shiny.

Bottle shot:  Deborah Lippmann Pearly Queen, Sinful Colors Pistache, and KBShimmer Get Clover It. (Not pictured, SOPI Give Peas A Chance.)

If you liked this nail art, and would like to see more from me, I invite you to check out my blog, Lit From Within, or any of my social media: Facebook, Google+, Bloglovin‘, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Pinterest.

Thanks again, Christy!

******

Thanks Nidia for the great post!  I hope this inspires a lot of nail art!

Multi-Chrome Nail Art – Guest Post From Life In Lacquer

Hello!!

I’m Jade from Life in Lacquer and I am so happy to have been given the opportunity to post for you all today!

Life in Lacquer is a blog I write about nail polish and all related things! I am from the countryside in the UK and have been a nail technician since 2010.

I have recently become the proud new owner of 3 KBShimmer multi-chrome polishes. They make me think of all things futuristic so I thought I would so for a design featuring geometric patterns. They look like they could be designs for a spaceman’s costume!

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I used a white base and then hand painted on Pigment Of My Imagination. This polish so amazing! I see mostly purple but there are flashes of deep blue, gold and red. It’s like a super pretty oil slick! It was quite tricky to capture all the colours but I think I did a good job.

I then finished of the design by adding a black outline and little diamantes.

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I CANNOT stop staring at these nails! I don’t think I am going to get much done and that to me is a sign of a great polish. Plus I now have it on my toes too. I may just paint everything with it HA!

It is opaque in three thin coats or you can you it as a topper over black.

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I hope you have enjoyed my design and thanks for reading!

Jade x

Lifeinlacquer.blogspot.co.uk

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P.S.

Thank you Jade for such a wonderful post!  Jade provided so many wonderful pictures I could not help but fill the post with them!  If you want to see more art and swatches from jade, head over to her blog, http://lifeinlacquer.blogspot.co.uk/ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LifeInLacquer.

 

 

6 Step Galaxy Nails Using KBShimmer Polishes

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I have to be honest, I am not good at painting my nails, or nail art.  My hands shake, I am not one that can draw, so my nail art is usually stuff I can stick on, dots, or accent nails.  When I saw all of the galaxy nail art popping up on the web and Instagram, I wanted to try it out, and found it to be surprising easy.  In just 6 steps, you can have the galaxy on your nails.

I created a video for you to show you how easy it is.

If you want to play along:

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And here is the video!

 

 

“Extend-A-Mani” Guest Post By The Pointless Cafe

I’m so excited to be able to guest post here at KBShimmer’s blog! I live where there is no Autumn, so I pretty much keep Autumn on my nails the entire season. Today is no different!

I’ve done one of my “Extend-A-Mani” posts for you using KBShimmer polishes today.

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I was wearing Dior Cosmic Violine, which is a brown/burgundy crelly and had a bit of tip wear. What to do? Well KBShimmer makes errthang better, right?  So I pulled out Cocoa Nut, 24 Carrot Bold and Every Nook and Cranberry and went to work.

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On my thumb and ring finger, I just layered one coat of Cocoa Nut over the top. On the rest I did a really quick gradient over Cosmic Violine using 24 Carrot Bold and Every Nook and Cranberry. I use a plain make-up sponge and paint on strips of what I’m using and just dab over each nail a few times and Voila! I use an Elf concealer brush and straight acetone for clean-up around my cuticles.

First, here it is matted (I used butter LONDON’s Matte Finish)

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And then I used KBShimmer Clearly on Top top coat. I love matte finish, but in this case I preferred it shiny.

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And close-ups…

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I really love this mani. 24 Carrot Bold and Every Nook and Cranberry are great on their own but they also layer well and gradient well.  I do love versatility in a nail polish!

What do you think? Come on over to my blog, Pointless Café, and see me sometime! (Yes, I said that in my best Mae West voice.)

Thanks so much to Christy for having me! ♥

A Note from KBShimmer:  We are always excited to have guest bloggers, and Sheila does such amazing work!  Thank you!  Shelia used Cocoa Nut, a 2012 winter polish that was retired this spring.  Due to the many requests to bring this polish back, we have!  Cocoa Nut is now live on our site and will be available thru the end of the year.  So get this cool weather favorite while you can!

Summer Gradient by Kayla Shevonne

Hey there!

This is Kayla from Nails by Kayla Shevonne. I’m quite honoured to be posting on the KBShimmer blog today! I absolutely love KBShimmer nail polishes and it’s the indie brand that I own the most of by far! So when Christy asked me to write a guest post, I had a pretty good idea what type of manicure I wanted to do.

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To create this bright and fun nail look, I first layed down a base of a plain white creme and let that dry completely. I then pulled out KBShimmer Don’t Pink Twice and 24 Carrot Bold, both of which are beautiful matte shimmer polishes from the Summer 2013 Collection, and I used the sponging method to create a gradient with them. Next, I added two easy coats of KBShimmer Grayscale, a super fun black and white glitter top coat that was also released with the Summer 2013 Collection. Finally, I finished the whole look off with the KBShimmer Clearly On Top Quick Dry Top Coat.

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Don’t Pink Twice and 24 Carrot Bold blend together beautifully, so the mani looked pretty awesome even before I added Grayscale. But I think the contrast of the black and white glitter over the super bright pink and orange really makes the whole mani pop.

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Thanks so much to Christy for inviting me to do a guest post on her blog. I hope to do one again someday. And if you’re interested in seeing more of my work, please visit my blog Nails by Kayla Shevonne.

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Thanks for reading!

KBShimmer Says: Thanks Kayla for the stunning manicure and the guest post. Are you a blogger that would like show of your KBShimmer manicure in a guest post? Contact us at sales at kbshimmer dot com.

Summer Fun Tape Mani

KBShimmer 24 Carrot Bold and Grayscale

Hello Everyone!  This is Crystal from Crystal’s Crazy Combos! I’m beyond excited to be guest hosting here on KBShimmer’s Blog!  Thank you to Jason and Christy Rose for having me here.  I thought it fitting to have a fun combo (like my blog name) featuring two of the upcoming polishes of the Summer 2013 Collection that release on 6/1/13.  The collection will also be reviewed on my blog soon!

Tape manis have always been so much fun for me!  I enjoy pairing a couple polishes, getting a fun look!  Today, I started with two coats of KBShimmer 24 Carrot Bold.  This picture was taken in my light box.

This is a bright neon orange with gold flecks in it.  It is a matte polish and applied perfectly!  The name is so cute too, making this a great polish to have for summer!  I have seen a lot of orange this summer, so I think that is going to be a popular color to wear.  This next picture is taken outdoors.

Close up.

 

 

I then added KBShimmer’s Clearly on Top top coat to 24 Carrot Bold.  I have found this to be one of the best top coats around!  I still love Wicked Fast by Cult Nails, but Clearly on Top is thicker and smooths out glitter better.  Seche Vite is a popular top coat too, but Clearly on Top doesn’t cause shrinkage and stays on a lot better for me.  I highly recommend it, plus the drying time is unbelievably fast.  Clearly on Top is perfect for tape manis, so you don’t have to wait as long to tape off.  This photo is in my light box.

This photo of 24 Carrot Bold was taken in the shade outside.

Close up.

I use scotch tape for my tape manis.  Any tape should work, and any kind, but I prefer the matte, clear finish.  I feel like it’s not as sticky, and I can still see it on the nail.

I usually use a decent size piece, enough to cover the nail diagonally.

I then apply the tape to my hand.  Yes, a little silly, but it helps remove the tackiness of the tape, so you’re not as likely to pull up the dry polish.

It should look similar to this.

It’s important to make sure your mani is dry, probably about 20 minutes if using Clearly on Top by KBShimmer.  Of course, the longer you wait, there is less of a chance for
smudges! If you are going to do a tape mani after wearing the polish for a day
or two, I recommend reapplying the top coat to prevent the tape from pulling
any of the original color with it!

 

The reason I like clear tape is because you can make sure the edges are flat against the nail.  I do each nail individually with tape, then apply the polish. Once applied, I remove the tape and move the next nail.

I’ve added Grayscale for the glitter over 24 Carrot Bold!  Here it is without a top coat.  You can slightly see the line of clear in the base of Grayscale.

I added a coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top to seal in the glitter.  I love this combo!  Both 24 Carrot Bold and Grayscale will be reviewed on my blog soon!

Close ups!

 

For fun, I added a coat of Wax That by Cult Nails to bring it back to all being matte!  This is in the sun.

And in the shade!  Love this!

Close up!

I hope you enjoyed this look at how to do a fun Summer tape mani using the new KBShimmer Summer Collection polishes!

Again, you can find me at http://crystalscrazycombos.blogspot.com/!

Have a great day!

Much Love,
Crystal

 

*The KBShimmer polishes were sent to me for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own.*

Orange Pop with Tape Stripe Accent Nail

This weekend I am attending a conference and wanted to try some nail art to accent my nail polish.  I have to say that I can not draw, or paint, nor do I have steady hands that would allow me to create nice dots or stripes by hand.  I remembered I saw someone on Pinterest use tape to create stripes and decided to give it a go.  I have to say I am quite pleased with how it turned out.  I took step by step photos to share.

To start, I chose Orange Pop to be my base color.  I used three coats of Orange Pop, and did one coat of top coat on all the nails before applying the “artwork”.  I selected three creams in teal, purple and magenta to compliment the glitters in Orange Pop.  The color of the blue polish is actually more teal in person.

I then gathered my scotch tape, a scissors and top coat.  The tape is my workshop tape, so you can clearly see that it is well loved, and “decorated” with splashes of polish.

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I then painted three stripes onto the tape, without removing it from the holder.  I let the tape dry before removing.  I chose polishes that covered well in one coat, but you could add a second if needed.

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When dry, remove from holder.  I cut close to the last color so the tape was not so long it folded back onto itself.

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Then using your scissors, cut a strip of the first color.   I cut my strip to be 1mm wide.

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With the painted side up, sticky side down, stick the stripe onto your nail.   I stick the strip so that one edge lined up with the edge of my nail.  Do not press the longer edge down.

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Using your scissors, trim the long edge of the stripe to fit your nail.  It might be easier if you have cuticle scissors, but regular ones worked fine.  After trimming, press the rest of the stripe down.  Looking at the micro shot, you can see some of the glitters through the stripe, but you can not see that at a normal distance.

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 I then moved on to the pink, cutting a stripe from the tape.  I placed it on my nail at an angle so that it crossed over the purple stripe.

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Again, trim down the strip and press down so it sticks to your nail.  Move on and cut the last strip, using the blue color.

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I then stuck the blue to the nail, going across the opposite direction of the pink, so that the stripes form a asterisk.

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Again, use the scissors and trim off the excess.

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When complete.  Press down tape, ensuring all edges are secure on the nail.  Then cover with at least one coat of top coat to seal.  I did two coats to ensure it was smooth.

And here is the finished look!

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Not bad for having no art skills at all.  Next time I would probably do a second coat on the tape so the polish was a bit more vivid.  I think the pink blends in a bit too much.  There was plenty of painted tape left over, so repeating on the other hand would not be an issue.  I could also see myself using punches to create shapes from painted tape.  Maybe a scalloped nail edge or flowers.  I have to give props to all those out there that can create murals and designs freehand.  If you have any you created using KBShimmer polish, or with KBShimmer polish as a base, send it to CustomerService@KBShimmer.com.  I would love to share them on here!

Christy