Lead Light Lacquer Technique tutorial

*Press Sample

Hi there everyone!!! today I have a great tutorial for you. It is all about the lead light technique everyone has been talking about!

I was lucky enough to have the new Powder Perfect Lead Light Lacquers sent to me, and So I decided to share with you a little video on how to obtain that great effect quickly on your nails,

Ok, do before we get into it lets check out the polish I will be using.

From left to right we have - Illuminate, Medieval, Flora, Cranberry Glass, Charlemange, Tracery and Cerulean. All of these are what I would describe as a sheer tint. You would need like 6 coats I reckon to be opaque, but that is the point of them!!!! They are meant to be sheer for this very technique! All of them had a great formula and were easy to work with both a dotting tool and a brush.

So the technique, well first up here are a few pointers.

• When doing the lead light technique, ensure you have a pale base like white or creme.
• Try to find a stamping plate with bold lines but large open spaces as well to easily colour in. You do not want to much of a small area as this will be harder to paint in.
• once you have stamped your pattern in black, pop on a quick dry top coat. I recommend this as you will be putting a solvent based product over the black pattern. by adding a clear top coat in-between you will have less of a chance for smudges and the black then mixing wit the colours.
• If you do not have the colour needed mix your own. As long as you have the 3 basic primary colours you can pretty mix any colour!!! just pop a little on your plastic and mix!

Now you have got these tips check to the video. This will show you step by step how to create the lead light effect and how to mix colours to make your own custom colour.

I hope this has helped you with this technique.

Here is the final manicure.

You can purchase Powder Perfect Lead Light lacquers for $8.80 each, or you have the option to just buy the primary trio for $25.00 or a full mini set like I used for $36.00. At the moment there is a sale on so the primary trio is only $22.50.

The stamping plate I used was the Messy Mansion Lead Light Lacquer A01 plate which sells for $12.77 atm.

If you have any questions please pop a comment below and I will get back to you asap

Until next time.....

How to Stamp in Multi Colours, Plus How to Make a Stamping Polish Opaque.

Hi there everyone!!!!

Today I have a got 2 techniques to share with you today for Stamp -A-Palooza.

 Firstly I have one on how to stamp in multiple colours and the second part of the video shows you how to make a previously non opaque stamping polish become opaque over darker colours.

For both of these techniques I will be using Celestial Cosmetics stamping polishes. 

Why?? you might ask am I using this particular brand of stamping polish?? Well Celestial Cosmetics stamping polish I have found is the smoothest and cleanest stamping polish on the market. There is not an overload of pigment in the colours and because of this the polish is smooth not lumpy and stamps and dried at a good even rate. The only down side to this is that most of them are not opaque over darker coloured polishes. Hence why I have made the second half of the video.

Ok so what do you need?

Well in this video I am using all of the current shades of Celestial Cosmetics stamping polishes. I am also using the Messy Mansion basic accessory kit and rectangle stamper. I am using this in all of my tutorials so there is a constant element in everything I do this month.

I also used the Fab UR Nails stamping plate FUN12 and the Lead Lighting Lacquer plate from  Messy Mansion.

The usual lint free wipes and polish remover are also used.

Here is the video.

Here is the finished mani with the multi coloured stamping.

And here is the finished mani with the now opaque colours.

Both techniques are super simple when you know how and the second technique to make a stamping polish can be used for all polish, tho I recommend to use a white stamping polish to mix with due to the high pigmentation in stamping polish. Please remember tho that when ever you put a lighter colour into a darker colour the finished colour will be slightly lighter.

Maybe try it with different brands and stamp the results! I would love to see what you do over on my Loki's Lacquer Facebook Page so make sure you pop a pic up!!! and ill share on my site!

Now for the good stuff.......

 Celestial Cosmetics have kindly offered a discount code for the whole of this week for anyone wanting to purchase their stamping polishes and regular polishes. All you need is Loki10 to receive 10% off your order! how awesome is that!!!!!!!!!!

Make sure you check out my other posts about stamping this month as there are othere discount to be had!!!!

Until next time.......

How to Prime a Nail Stamper Tutorial

Hi there everyone!

Today I will be sharing with you all how I prime my stampers.

When I first started out trying to nail stamp the images were very hit and miss. The images I picked up sometimes were missing parts, and I never knew why. But I found out very quickly that the stamper heads needed to be primed. 

So what do you need to prime your stampers???

You will need the following......

• A stamper and Stamper head that needs to be primed.
• Lint free wipes
• Isopropanol alcohol 
• Magic Eraser (or a fine grit nail file)
• cuticle oil

When you get a new stamper head you will notice that the Stamper head is really shiny. This is what you need to remove and make the stamper head dull. I found that the shininess of the stamper head can be what causes it to almost repel the stamping polish.

I have put together a short video so show how to prime your stamper head. 

After you have primed the stamper head the one thing you need to remember is, every time you use your stamper to never use nail polish remover on it. 

To remove any excess polish from your stamper always use masking tape. This then takes off the excess polish without damaging your stamper. If for what ever reason you do effect the stamper head so it stops stamping correctly, not a drama, just re prime the stamp head!!!

I hope this had been informative. you can pick up your new stamping heads from Messy Mansion as a great price.

Until next time.......

New Years Eve Gel Manicure Tutorial with SensatioNail Gel polish

*sponsored post

Hi there everyone!!! How did you all fair after Christmas? Did you get lots of polish goodies???

Well now Christmas is over its time to think about what you are going to do with your nails for New Years Eve!!!

 Well fear not!!! I have grabbed my SensatioNail Gel Polishes and created an awesome NYE mani for you to recreate. 

So with all SensatioNail Gel polishes you will need the following- 

• SensatioNail LED Lamp
• SensatioNail Primer
• Sensationail base/top coat
• SensatioNail Clenser
• Lint free wipes

This will give you a clean durable gel manicure with up to 2 weeks of non chip wear. Preparation is everything. If you have a clean nail that has been primed and lint free your mani will adhere better and last longer.

OK so lets check out what else we need!

Aussie nails monday- saran wrap mani and tutorial

Today with Aussie nails monday we were given saran wrap mani for the challenge. I personally have never done this mani before. so i looked it up and decided to do a quicky tutorial on how to create this mani so others can do it too :)

First up you will need 2 different polishes.

I chose Ulta3 mermaid green and Ulta3 gold rush fever., you will also need some saran wrap (cling wrap) in bits scrunched up to dab on your wet nails.

1- paint your nails one colour. ensure they are totally dry.

2- then one finger at a time paint a good thick coat of your second colour polish.

3- with the cling wrap dab once /twice lightly to pick up some of the polish off your nail.

4. you will see the marble effect created. wait to dry and then pop on a clear top coat.

Once all your nails are done you will have a marbled finished effect on your nails.

It is a cute and quick effect to create on your nails with not too much clean up!

Until next time.......

Nail polish punching Tutorial and Loki's Lacquer Boxing day Giveaway and SALE!!!

Hi there Everyone!

So today is a big day! we have an awesome tutorial for you and a giveaway to match!

Lets get started!!!!!!

Nail Polish Punching.

I have had a few people ask me about punching strips of nail polish to create your own nail art stickers and as I use to work for Fiskars and own like a million hand punches I thought i would share a little step by step guide on how to do this.

You will need for this technique; Nail polish, baking paper, a hand punch or border punch,clear top coat.

1. First of all grab your baking paper and cut yourself an A4 piece. With your nail polish, paint on the baking paper small rectangles approx 10cm x 5cm in size. Make sure when you are painting them you do thin coats and do not miss any part of the rectangle. The polish needs to be in a full shape with no gaps. You can see with mine that they are not perfectly even but they are fully covered.

2. Once the rectangles are dry repeat this step several times to get about 3 or 4 coats of polish.

3. Leave the polish rectangles to dry overnight.

4. Once left overnight you can peel off the rectangle of polish from the baking paper with ease.

5. This is where it's your choice on what you want to punch. You can use fancy cut scissors to make chevrons or patterned lines, you can use a hand punch which creates small shapes to place on your nails, or you can use a border punch like I have.

6. Slide your polish rectangle into your border punch like you would a sheet of paper and punch down.

7. Once you have punched through you can remove the polish rectangle and the pieces that have punched out will be under the border punch.

8. As you can see it punches through no problems.

9. Lastly, pick what part of the punches design you would like to use and apply a thin layer of clear polish over your mani, place the punched polish pieces on your nails, then finish off with a top coat.

I used Picture polish starry night as my main
and used a punched polish of
colour club holo hues blue moon.

You can use heaps of different punches and a big variety of polishes as well. From creme polish to duochromes, glitters and jellies they all work, tho the drying times will vary and the layers of polish you use will vary as well. You can also layer polish so you can get different effects. Fore example, you can put several coats of black polish on before you layer with a duochrome polish.

*a few tips-

 Make sure you leave your polish rectangles to dry for 24 hours before cutting them with your punch. you don't want to have to try and get polish off the punch you use.

Ensure your punch is really sharp. If you are unsure, punch through some thick cooking foil first several times. This will sharpen your punch. If your punch is REALLY blunt, punch through some fine grade sandpaper. but use this as a last resort.

If your punch is sticking try oiling it with some dry silicone spray. don't use normal oil it will make the punch greasy. A few drops of dry silicone will make a huge difference.

Now for the giveaway! I have a great pack up for grabs!!!!

This pack will give you a great start for your first attempt at nail polish punching.

Included in the prize is-

1 x fiskars hand punch 1/4"flower design (kindly donated by Fiskars)

1 x OPI - Not like the movies

1 x Happy Hands - I just blue myself

1 x Femme Fatale Cosmetics - Dream Bough

1 x Pretty Serious Cosmetics - Nightopia (kindly donated by Kaz from PSC)

2 x Ulta 3 polishes - lily white and black satin

2 x Lokis Lacquer Polishes - Oceans 11 LE and Supernova 1987A

1 roll Washi Tape

*all prizes were purchased by myself unless stated otherwise.

This competition is open to everyone! all the terms and conditions are on the rafflecopter.

The competition goes from 26th December 2013 till the 26th January 2014.

Please feel free to share the giveaway on your blog or through IG etc.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!!!

And lastly........ LOKIS LACQUER is having a boxing day sale!!!!! you can save 25% off all polishes by using the code- BOXINGDAY this offer is available until the 10th January 2014.
**Please note*** All orders between the 26th December 2013 and the 10th January 2014 will not be shipped until the 10th January 2014. but its a great offer so why not take advantage!!!!

Until next time......

Born Pretty Nail Foils review

Hey there  everyone! today i have another product to share with you from the Born Pretty Store.

They were kind enough to send me a pack of nail foils to have a go with, and review.

Ok so here it is straight up...... apart from using foils on cards for crafting i have NEVER used foils before! but i really wanted to have a go at them :) so  please don't judge my not so prefect end result.  I have seen a lot of ladies use foils and get an awesome result.

OK so first up the foils came in a little plastic container. Great for storage and easy to see the design.

I picked as you can see a clear holo pattern so i could put it over any colour and get a holo result. i thought i would go simple for my first go! you can find this foil HERE it is number #26.

so first up my advice is if you are new to nail foils....don't pick a light see through colour! i took the foil out and was totally confused which side was which as it is not obvious as you would think. i have since see the opaque coloured ones and one side is silver so you know which is which! 

Anyways once you figure out which is the correct side to place on your nails, cut yourself enough little pieces for foil to place on every nail. By doing this you do not waste the foil .

Ok next thing, the instructions said not to use any kind of foil adhesive they say to just use the polish your wearing. but i just could not get it to work that way. so i used my jessica holo aqua base which seemed to do the trick. it went a little tacky and the foils stuck no problems :) i also tried a top coat as well and that worked as well.

once your nails are painted the desired colour doing one nail at a time paint with your aqua base/top coat, wait till it gets tacky then place the piece of nail foil on top.

Rub it on your nail getting into the edges and then lift off.
Repeat with all your other nails.
Once you have finished seal with either a top coat or Picture Polish revolution. Revolution is a glitter base coat but it works really well as a top coat for foils and stops them wrinkling when you put it on. you can purchase revolution HERE.

and now for the finished effect. mine were not the best foil job, but for my first go it was not too bad. they sparkled heaps and it was a ice change from a normal holo polish.

If you would like to give this technique a go you can get the nail foils from Born Pretty Store for only a few dollars. there is free worldwide shipping and if you use the below code you will get 10% off!!!

happy foiling

It's BLOGFEST 2013 TIME!!!!!!!!!

THAT'S RIGHT!!!!! It is Picture Polish BLOGFEST 2013!!!!!

CELEBRATING- 

"The year of the Blogger"

"This year it is all about celebrating what us as bloggers do!"

I was super excited to be invited to join this annual event! And this year is even more exciting than the last!!! 

This year everyone who was invited to join  in the Blogfest were sent 3 shades of Picture polish and were asked to create nail art with them and only them ( a little black and white was ok too  )

And on top of that  everyone who has joined in the BLOGFEST 2013 gets the chance to win a special prize as well!!!

What do we win i hear you ask?? well, for contributing to the BLOGFEST we have the chance to win one of 3 opportunities to create a collaboration shade with Picture Polish for 2014! 

I KNOW RIGHT!?!?! How awesome would that be!!! i know exactly what i would want to do and name mine if i got the chance it would be one hell of a tribute to my 2 girls!!! 

So the  prizes that are up for grabs include 3 categories-  

1 award voted by the picture polish friends and fans

1 award voted by the blogfest 2013 peeps

and 

1 award voted by Jules and Megs of picture polish

OK so  now i hear you shouting at me...... "come on Tara! what did you get???"  ...So here are the 3 shades of Picture Polish that i received......

I received

 Picture polish Attitude

Picture Polish Fairy Floss

and the NEW collab shade

Picture Polish Sea Jewel

Now you may be thinking "woah! what nail art can you do with these 3 polishes??" and honestly i saw them and although each one of these polishes in their own right are AWESOME! i just for the life of me think could not think of any nail art! i was in a total kerfuffle with 3 totally different polishes and type of finishes that they have. 

I mean i had a jelly with holo, a creme and what i would call a glass fleck finish.  

I tried a bunch of different nail art,watermarbling and cling wrap manis that i did not like before my 11 year old Zoe (and a lot of my followers know my special little girl...and for you peep out there who don't, she is just as much a polish addict as me!) said to me "Mum ! they are the colours of the little mermaid!"

I have one word for that kid! GENIUS! 

So after drawing some pictures...... and i dont know if anyone else does this but i have a black and white pic of my nails laminated which i draw on with a whiteboard marker to draw what i want before actually painting it..... anyways here are my nails inspired by Ariel The Little Mermaid.

Now so ok it is only her torso! but i have nubbins ATM and pretty much that was all that would fit! but i got her scales and her bra so i think it looks like her!!!

Now i hear you ask how did you do this??

well below is a tutorial of how to get Ariels torso on your nails......

First up you will need the following brushes.

 Pop on a base coat and then 2 coats of Picture Polish Fairy Floss.

With the medium brush paint white polish where you want the bra and mermaid tail.

I did this so that when i paint on the other colours they would pop! 

(thanks Tammy for this awesome tip)

Next With the Med brush paint 2 coats of Picture Polish Attitude 

over the white where your bra will be.

Next do the dame thing with the Picture Polish Sea Jewel where

the tail will be.

Last up with the fine brush and black polish paint in the detail.

The scales, the bra detail and lastly using the dotting tool pop on a belly button.

And lastly pop on a clear top coat.

I 

So there you have it! Ariel Torso nails!!!!!                      

                      

I hope you enjoyed this post and the tutorial. Now for the important stuff!!!

 Where can you get these polishes???                              

                      

You can hop on over to Picture Polish if you live in Australia and buy up big!!

The Shipping rates are reasonable and on top of that you can also pick up some

awesome Everyday Deals these include ( at the time of this post) buy 4 polishes and 

get 1 free or buy 7 and get 2 free.

Now what if you live overseas?? no problem check out the Network page

to see where you can buy overseas. There are many different options available 

to you on this page.

You can also check out Picture Polish and follow them in various ways-

FACEBOOK -  TWITTER  -  PINTEREST  or INSTAGRAM 

Well i have had a blast joining in with blogfest! Don't forget to check out everyone elses

manis and tutorials via inlinkz below, and please feel free to follow my via GFC ,google +, bloglovin or 

via Email in the right sidebar.
Also on Lokis lacquer FACEBOOK PAGE , Lokis Lacquer on ETSY and @lokislacquer on IG

Until next time.....