Simply striped (and 2 DRK Nails plates!)

I've done a couple of more creative manis in the past month, with stamping decals and such, but I never get tired of a simple tone-on-tone either! And I had a nice matte polish standing on my desk, untried, so I teamed it up with an A England polish and one of these pretty DRK Nails plates, to create this simple striped mani.

These plates are from the Cobogo line, and the metal part of the plates measures 6x12 cm. I already showed you 2 other DRK Nails plates in this size in a previous post, and shared about more info about them too. Check out that post for more detailed info :) DRK Nails has a bunch of these 6x12 cm plates (besides their XL plates), and matching cases for these rectangular plates, you can find all of that right here!

These 2 Cobogo plates are packed with geometric designs and I think a lot of them will work great as a bold, black stamping on a holo base, or perhaps a gradient? And because of the shapes, they're also nice to take just a part of an image! Like with one of those circular designs, you could use just 1 circle and apply it to the base of your nail, to take a half moon mani to a new level. For today's mani I went for the striped design of the plate below, and stamped it diagonally. And as I'm used to of DRK Nails, the images are engraved really well and stamp great ♥

I started with 2 coats of a matte polish, that looks a lot more turquoise green than my camera picks up. I used to struggle with purples, which this camera doesn't have an issue with, but oh, my beloved teals and greens... :( I just can't get them in the right shade, they're often way too blue! If you have any tips on that, I'd love to hear them, my attempts so far were all in vain!
Aaanyway, yay for easy covering mattes, they make for such a quick base! I added Saint George with the striped image, top coat and here's the finished look:

Essence Macarena Mint with A England Saint George and DRK Nails Cobogo 2.

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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Pastel gradient with DRK Nails

Morning! DRK Nails send me a couple of their plates and for this mani I used one of them. There's 2 in this post, the others will be in upcoming posts, so keep an eye on my blog if you wish to see more of them!

These 2 plates are fully covered with designs that work well on their own, but also flow nicely into the next, so you could combine them any way you see fit! I used the above plate for today's mani, and took an image from the top, so I could easily line it up on all nails.
I have to say, I found it a bit hard to imagine how the designs of that plate would look on the nail, it's unlike anything I've seen before (or can remember right now, heh). That's also why I chose to use it for this mani, and... I think it looks really cool on the nail! Sometimes it can help so much to see an image used, don't you think? In this case, it made me want to do a lot more with this plate :)

The plate below is one that I haven't tried yet, but it has plenty designs that I can better envision on my nails, and I think the way these images are linked together (especially the bottom row), opens up a lot of possibilities. And these also look perfect to stamp diagonally!

These 2 plates are from the DRK Nails Designer series, which contains a couple of plates in this size, and 2 XL plates (I blogged about one of them last year). The plates come in plastic, with the usual protective blue plastic on the front, and a hard plastic back.

To give you an idea of their size, the metal plate itself measures 6x12 cm, with the white back the whole thing is a bit larger of course. The designs are on average 5.2x10.5 cm. And if you look at DRK Designer 4, you can see 10 images that can be used on their own, even though they're all linked, those are around 2.1x2.1 cm. That'll make those 10 images nice for people with longer nails as well!

I've used a bunch of DRK Nails plates throughout the years and they all work great, and these are no exception. And because the designs are fairly deep, they give you more time to stamp! So if you struggle with transferring the design fast enough, the DRK Nails plates could be a great choice as well :) You can find all their plates in their webshop, and these plates cost $6.50 each.



For this mani I started with a light grey base, then I used Dance Legend's Pure Manicure on my cuticles. I applied 3 stripes of pink/blue/purple directly on a sponge and gently pressed it on the nail, then continuing with the next. Repeat that step, for an easy, soft gradient! The colors stood out a bit more in real life, but next time I'd get colors with a bigger difference, the pink and purple look too similar. Anyway, I continued with some holo stamping, and although LOL turned out to be too sheer for my stamping-liking, I'm loving the result! Doesn't the image look nice? I'm happy that these plates are a part of my collection now! (and yes, I really am getting incredibely spoiled lately! *blush* :))

Essence Enter Wonderland with China Glaze Something Sweet, Kinetic Candy and Sweet Hook, stamped with China Glaze LOL And DRK Nails Designer 3.

What do you think of these plates and my mani? Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend ♥


The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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Triple stripes

For this mani I started with a light blue base, stamped a striped image in white, then again in medium blue, and then yet again in dark blue. I stamped the image in the same direction with each color, but varied the direction from color to color. Very easy, and very forgiving, so it's perfect for practicing stamping as well!

Essence Absolutely Blue with Konad White, Catrice Denim Moore, China Glaze Scandalous Shenanigans and DRK-A.

I wasn't sure on the last color, because the white and blue on blue looked nice and a bit more subtle (and you know I love subtle!), but I couldn't resist trying a triple stamp! I like it, but I think I'll use the color combo again sometime without the darkest blue. Thanks for looking and take care :)

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Enamel Gel Effect 2 #1035: swatched & stamped!

Hi guys! The polish that I'm showing today looks great on itself, but you know I love stamping on cremes, so that's exactly what I did! I went with some double stamping, and I'm very happy with how this one turned out :)

The basecolor is another Dance Legend polish, this time it's one from the Enamel Gel Effect 2 collection, and it's color #1035. I used 3 thin coats for my swatches, but if you apply a bit thicker coats, it'll cover in 2. Smooth application, no streaks or anything like that, and it dries oh so glossy! My swatches are without top coat even... it's a perfect, old rose color ♥

Dance Legend #1035.

I decided to test the DL Binary top coat a bit more, I know it works well on glitters and textures, but how does it deal with nail art? The answer is, it has no problem with that either! See my indexfinger, those barely visible little streaks in the stamping? That's the result of not letting the brush float enough. But I think that's normal, this would've happened with other top coats as well, and can be prevented by using enough top coat and floating the brush. Besides, I can be really picky, but I didn't notice it until I saw this picture, haha! Add the glossy finish and quick drying time, and yes, that leaves me quite impressed! But I'll show the actual top coat in a post soon :)

Dance Legend #1035 with China Glaze 2030 and MASH plate 43, China Glaze Joy and DRK XL Designer plate 1.

The MASH image worked great as base stamping I think! It's not so visible here, but it's a circle pattern, you can see the plate here as well. And you can buy the Dance Legend polish on their website, and in various webshops.
What do you think of this double stamped mani, is it something you'd like to see more often, or do you prefer single stamping? Hope you'll have a great weekend, take care :)


The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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A green oldie from the vault!

Good morning, here's a mani that ended up in my still-to-post folder and never came out again, oops! Think it's from last year even, lol! Ah well, better late than never, right? :)

Cadillacquer I'm The One Who Knocks with China Glaze Jolly Holly and plate DRK-C.

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Copper & cream

Morning all! The OPI that I used for this mani came with a magazine deal that I recently got; 4 colors and a base-/topcoat together with 6 months of a magazine. Don't really care much about the latter, but I sure am happy with the polish! This color is one that I didn't have yet, and I can see myself using it a lot as base for nailart. It did need 3 coats, it applied a bit streaky and soso, but the third coat evened things out. I went with some copper stamping, I like it but I do think I have to get used a bit to this color combo :)

OPI My Vampire Is Buff with Essence Copper Rulez! and DRK XL Designer plate 1.

I'm sitting here waiting for the WoW patch to go live - if you also play, enjoy! Few more weeks, can't wait!! :) Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

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Swirly blue

Good morning! A little bit of sun, perfect for a little bit of holo :) Have a lovely Sunday ♥

W.I.C. By Herôme Örebro with China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots and DRK XL Designer plate 1.

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Summer meets Fall

Hi guys! We're having a bit strange weather atm, one moment it's all grey and bleh, the next it's sunny. So today I went with a mani that combines a typical Summer polish (holo!) and a color that's oh so perfect for Fall. And I'm glad I can wear that polish again, I knew I loved it but I forgot how much I actually do so! Below Deck ♥

China Glaze Blow Deck with China Glaze QT and DRK XL Designer plate 1.

This was one of those manis that really needed the top coat. Without it the colors were much more similar (yes, stamping can do weird things, even to a bright pink & taupe combo! :)), with the top coat the stamping popped out more. If you ever end up with colors that are way too close once they're on the nail, don't give up straight away, shiny or matte top coat can work wonders!
And have I already mentionned that I love the DRK plate that I used today? I've already done several manis with it (they'll be on the blog later on) and I keep seeing images that I'd love to try, or use again! So instead of browsing through a few hundred plates, I've been going for the big one that was on my desk already, haha!

Unfortunately there wasn't any sun when I made pics, so I used my flash for the photo below to show a little bit more holo goodness :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day ♥

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Cozy & holo

Good afternoon lovelies! When I received the DRK Themes-SF plate, there was 1 image that jumped out straight away, and as it turns out, I'm loving it even more on the nail than I thought I would! Because Fall is coming up, and I'm getting more and more in the mood for matching colors, I started with a smoky base and a darker stamping color - a holo one, to be precise :) Loooove the subtle sheen of color that it gives!

Dance Legend Cozy Sweater with China Glaze When Stars Collide and DRK Themes-SF.

The holographic effect shows better here, and the smoky effect in the base shows a bit as well in the holes of the image. That wasn't as visible irl anymore, but the holo effect was, it gave a gorgeous glow of color to the mani! I'll definitely stamp with When Stars Collide more often ♥

Hope you enjoyed this post, thanks for looking and have a fantactic weekend! :)

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DRK Themes-SF plate

Hi guys! I already showed you the awesome DRK XL Designer plate the other day, but I received another plate with one huge image on it, the Themes-SF plate. This plate was made to honor Saint Francis of Assisi, who is known as the patron saint of animals. Well, to be honest, I don't think I ever heard of him before, but you know I love animals too, haha! And I had no idea either that October 4 World Animal Day was his feast day! :) DRK Nails donates $2 of each sold Themes-SF plate to an animal organization (SUIPA), which unfortunately I can't tell you much about, since I don't speak Portugese (I'll spare you the Google Translate ^^). But I think it's absolutely wonderful that DRK Nails does this! You can find more information about this plate on their site. Anyway, let's look at my mani, shall we?

Catrice Steel My Heart with China Glaze Adore and DRK Nails Themes-SF.

I went with a metal effect basecolor and didn't use top coat on it, and picked a finer lined image to see how it transfers. And yes, the quality of this plate is fantastic; crisp clean image, sturdy white back, loads of images or combinations to choose from! You can click the image below for an enlargement, and since it's about the patron saint of animals, I figured I could use this "failed" photo with Dewey, haha!

clickable for an enlargement

 

clickable for an enlargement

But since he can be a bit of a distraction from the plate, here's the bottompart again, now without Dewdew :)

When I first looked at the plate, I thought 'wow that's quite a few faces and entire people on it' and I wasn't fully sure about that to be honest. But once I had a closer look, I started seeing more and more options. Like the collarpart of the man's clothes, it's a stitched together image. Near his arms, thin stripes. Or go for the thicker stripes of his robe, ... The plate also contains some animals, I see a knight on his horse, and near Dewdew's face are dog heads, butterflies, birds and dragonflies.
And you can also use just a tiny part of big images like this one. I haven't tried it myself though, but I think that if you have cotton swabs with remover nearby to quickly take everything off your stamper that you don't want, it'll work. Or cut a piece of paper with just enough room for the image that you want and place that over it, before doing the usual scrape and stamping. Or tape off the plate, scrape, remove tape, then stamp... yeah, I'll have to mess with that sometime, see what works best :)

I'm impressed with these full image plates from DRK Nails, and I can't wait to see what else they'll come up with! You can find all their plates here. What do you think of this plate, and have you ever tried to grab just a tiny part of an image? If so, tips are welcome! :) Have a great weekend and thanks for looking ♥


The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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DRK XL Designer plate 1

Morning lovelies! DRK Nails recently changed their site, and they added some new plates as well. Those really sparked my interest, and I was so excited to find them in my mailbox! :) And yes, they totally lived up to my expectations, the plates have the quality that I'm used to from DRK, the size that will make people with longer nails happy as well, and oh how I love the images ♥
It was my first time using a plate that's pretty much 1 big image, and I enjoyed the amount of options it gives, and variation with 1 image as well, like today's mani. It's 1 slightly bigger part of the plate and I could stamp the same image different on each nail. And I just looove how this turned out! :)

 Catrice C02 with A England Rose Bower and DRK XL Designer 1.

And here's the plate that I used, it's so awesome! The options with this plate are endless, and the image that I used today is totally my kinda thing, so pretty ♥ But there's plenty more swirly, flowery images on this plate and I'm sure I'll enjoy using those too! I kept the image quite big so you can check out all the details if you want.

clickable for an enlargement

The older plates that I have from DRK also have a protective cover on the back, but these new plates come with the hard, rubbery back that you see more often on plates nowadays. I like that back, it feels more sturdy.

The size of the plates is the same as their old big plates (I reviewed a bunch of them before, which you can find here). But I also measured the platesize (the whole metal plate, not just the image) to give you a better idea, and it's around 16.5x21 cm / 6.5x8.26 inch. The plate can be found on the DRK Nails website and costs $22. They also carry platefolders for these big plates, and make sure to check out their polish as well!

Have you tried full plates like this one, and is it something you enjoy using? Thanks for stopping by and have a great day :)


The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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Wild purple stamping

Here's a mani from the vault, and I forgot to write down what I used, so I'm not 100% sure on the basecolor. But I think it was OPI, so I'll just go with that :P Every time I stamp with WAH i wonder why I don't use it more often, it gives such a gorgeous result!

OPI Rumple's Wiggin' with Color Club Wild At Heart and DRK-C.

Thanks for stopping by :)

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Copper Diva

Howdy! It's been a while since I wore the beautiful Diva Of Geneva, and I wanted to step out of my comfortzone of stamping on a creme base, and use this as base instead. I wanted to go for a fine, softer and subtle image, but that didn't turn out as planned, lol. Regardless, I'm liking the combo and I'm loving that image! But I still prefer Diva on her own ♥

OPI Diva Of Geneva with Kiko 629 Copper and DRK-B.

Have a lovely Sunday :)

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Green snakeskin

Morning! Reviewing the DRK plates gave me loads of ideas for manis, and here's one of them!

China Glaze Cherish, A England Dragon, China Glaze Jolly Holly, plate DRK-C and Trind Matt.

For this mani I started with Cherish as base, then sponged some Dragon on top with Saran wrap, and finished with the stamping with Jolly Holly. And I'm sure it doesn't come as a surprise that I mattified it, haha! But here it's shiny as well :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

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