Vivid Lacquer Plate VL023

This weekend I got an early Christmas present from one of my best friends and just had to use it immediately. She got me two of the new Vivid Lacquer plates that I had really wanted which was so freaking sweet of her. So this post will be a small review of one of those plates and I will also have more from this plate tomorrow.

Vivid Lacquer plate VL023 is a pirate and mermaid themed plate with images of pirate ships, waves, a compass, pirate flags, and of course several different pirates and mermaids. As soon as I saw this plate released I was in love and fell even more in love with it in person. I think lately I have had a little bit of a pirate obsession. This may be because I have a slight crush on Captain Hook. No, not the cartoon or creepy version from Hook, but the hottie from Once Upon a Time. Tomorrow will be pirate nails but today I have Mermaids!

Let me just say first that the quality of these plates are amazing! These aren't my first Vivid Lacquer plates and are just as amazing and perfect as the other ones I have. The etching is perfect on these images and I didn't find any to be too deep or shallow. I was able to get a perfect stamp the first time on all of the images I tested.

I started off with a base of Milani White On The Spot on all the nails and then let that dry. Next I did a gradient starting at the tips and went about halfway up the nails using Essie In The Cab-ana. Then using VL023 I stamped on the wave pattern also using In The Cab-ana. I decided I wanted a little bit more contrast so I decided to use the double stamping technique and stamped with the waves again on each nail this time using Zoya Cynthia. I loved the contrast so much and almost left it at that but I had set out with intent to use mermaids and couldn't just leave it. There are four different mermaids on VL023 and I used one of each on my nails. I finished it all of with a coat of Seche Vite and then one coat of Butter London Matte topcoat.

 

Vivid Lacquer plates can be purchased for $8 a plate from their Etsy store here: Vivid Lacquer.

Halloween Serial Killer Nail Tutorial

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday of the entire year. Fall is finally here, the weather is not trying to melt my flesh, and there is a new scary movie out in the theater every single week! Plus costumes and candy! This nail tutorial is inspired by Halloween, my favorite serial killer that is finally back for a new season Dexter, and this awesome nail design by my friend Samantha that can be found here.

First you are going to paint your nails with two coats of a white polish. I chose to use Essie Blanc. Then you are going to to want to top coat this so that when you add red they don't bleed together to turn into an awful strawberry milk color. Don't really worry too much about cleanup because it is about to get really messy!

Next you are going to add blood spatter! There are lots of different methods and tutorials but this is just how I do it. Take your bottle of polish, for this I used Zoya Rekha, remove the cap and put it to the side. Now you are going to take a drinking straw and dip it right into the bottle of polish. You do not need to stick the straw all the way to the bottom just stick it in far enough for the tip of the straw to become covered. Quickly aim the straw at your finger and blow through the straw with one big breath. As as much or as little "blood spatter" as you like. This can get very messy so clean up your skin and around your cuticles as you let the spatter dry before you add top coat for the next step.

Now you could stop here or continue on to the next step to take the creepy up to another level. I thought it would be cool to have a little note on my nails in the classic serial killer type ransom letter style with cut out letters from a magazine. For this you will need to work one nail at a time. Add a layer of top coat to your nail and then add your letter clipping to your nail and position it. If it keeps peeling up push it down and hold it in place for a few seconds. Also as the top coat dries it will be easier to push it into the topcoat and make it stick. Once you have it successfully pushed down add another layer of topcoat to seal it all in. You should end up with something creepy like this!