Tropical Stripes!

I am liking the tropical stripe look on my nails lately. Eversince I got MoYou London Tropical Collection 23, I have been using it constantly!

I like the fact I can stamp all kinds of stripes from this plate. 

For this look, I first painted my nails with China Glaze History of the World. I used MoYou London Tropical plate 23 for stamping a few stripes, using MoYou London Bora Bora as stamping polish. 

It is a very simple look but I like it a lot. 

Do you own this plate? Which stripe is your favorite?

Love,

Little Dot

Tropical Flowers!

Our vacation to Puerto Rico is coming up. In fact, when this post is up, my beloved daughter and I will be enjoying the sun in San Juan!

We are so excited about this trip because it is the first time for us to visit Puerto Rico! 

For this look, I first painted my nails with China Glaze History of the World (navy). I used a few leaves and flower designs from MoYou London Tropical collection 23 for stamping. I used MoYou London Bora Bora (green) and MoYou London Classic Lipstick (red) as stamping polish. 

Love the tropical vibe of this look!

I hope we will have a great time in Puerto Rico and will report back to you when we return!

Love,

Little Dot

Birds and Birdcage

Birds and birdcage nails this week! 

For this look, I first painted my nails with China Glaze Sleeping Under the Stars (navy). I used Messy Mansion plate MM14 and Konad white for stamping. 

I love birds! This is my favorite bird plate!

Do you like bird designs?

Love,

Little Dot

Blue Pattern!

I missed my weekly blog post last week! Life has been hectic here. I hope I wouldn't miss much in the future though...

I had this design on my nails last week. I was aiming for gradient stamping but it looks more like two-toned rather than gradual fading of the color on most of my nails... I'm ok with that though...

For this look, I first painted my nails with Essie Mint Candy Apple (baby blue). I used a design from Bundle Monster plate BM-417 for stamping. The stamping polish I used for gradient (two-toned) look were China Glaze History of the World (dark navy) and Konad white stamping polish. 

Simple but I liked it quite a bit. 

Hoping everyone is enjoying the last bit of summer!

Love,

Little Dot

Double Stamping Patterns!

To tell you the truth, I struggled with the inspiration for today's mani for a while. I started to look through the stamping plates last night but not quite inspired with any of them... And I looked through my polish pile, looking for some sparks of inspiration but no avail...

This morning I just decided to pick a color and just go with whatever comes up in my head. My pick was Essie Petal Pushers. 

Well, in the end, I'm actually loving this design! 

For this look, I first painted my nails with Essie Petal Pushers (medium grey). I used Bundle Monster plate BM-S110 and stampted all of my nails, using China Glaze History of the World (smoky navy) as stamping polish. For accent nails, I stamped a few henna designs from MoYou London Explorer plate 03, using Konad White stamping polish. 

The double stamping really makes the designs stand out. I intentionally picked the first stamping color similar to back ground color to create the subtle layer of stamped surface. And I decided to add high contrast color, white, to accent a few nails. I am quite satisfied with the result!

I haven't done double stamping for a while but now I like the look so much, I should be using this method often!

Do you like the layered look of this design?

Love,

Little Dot

Spring Henna!

This is what I have on my nails this week!

I really like these two colors together! Turquoise and periwinkle!! So spring like :)

For this look, I first painted my nails with Essie Where's My Chauffeur? (Turquoise) and Essie Boxer Shorts (periwinkle). I used various henna designs from MoYou London Explorer Collection 03. I used China Glaze History of the World (navy) as stamping polish. 

I think these colors are so refreshing. I actually had these two bottles of polish side by side on my table and they looked so nice together! 

I already got quite a few compliments on my nails!

What colors do you like wearing in Spring?

Love,

Little Dot

Distressed Stamping!

I didn't have any inspiration this week... So I asked my beloved daughter to help me!

Either intentionally or by chance, the stamping came out distressed looking. Some faded area here and there. And I like it quite a bit!

For this look, I painted my nails with OPI You're Such a Budapest (blue lavender) and China Glaze Metro Pollen-Tin (mango) as my beloved daughter's instruction. She stamped designs from Bundle Moster plate BM-S102, using China Glaze History of the World (navy) as stamping polish. 

It reminds me of some ethnic fabric prints! 

I enjoyed the relaxing moment of someone else doing my nails :)

Do you like the distressed stamping look?

Love,

Little Dot

Retro Nails?

Sometimes your intention results in something quite different... And that is OK!

I got the inspiration for this nail look from this cosmetic pouch.

But I'm looking at it and I just can't help but getting the retro vibe!!?

For this look, I first painted my nails with China Glaze History of the World (navy) and OPI My Vampire Is Buff (creamy white). I used a design from Pueen 34 and stamped using OPI Off With Her Red! as stamping polish. I added a few navy dots with China Glaze History of the World. 

What do you think? Do you think it looks retro or something else?

Love,

Little Dot

Happy Easter! - Essie Resort 2016 Mini Set Review!

Happy Easter! Here is my pastel green Easter nails! As I mentioned in my previous post here, I'm in Green mode! But this time, it is soft green, perfect for Easter time!

I bought this Essie Resort 2016 mini set recently. 

I was particularly drawn to the unique orange shade, Taj-ma-haul. You can see my post here for the India inspired design. I only used Taj-ma-haul (orange) and Going Guru (soft green) so far, but they are both great cream polish!

For this look, first I painted my nails with Essie Going Guru (pale green). I used Bundle Monster plate BM-XL116 with Konad white stamping polish and used Direct Decal Method to stamp on accent nails. I used China Glaze History of the World (navy) to add color to the design before stamping. 

The colors in this collection might not be unique except Taj-ma-haul, but I find the coverage to be excellent. Just two coats and it's complete opaque for me. For light green, that's a bonus!

Have a nice Easter!

Love,

Little Dot

Gold Hearts, Navy, and Hot Pink!

This is probably the closest I can get for my Valentine's nails! I can't do it too sweet!

The color inspiration came from this pen my beloved daughter gave me for Christmas!

I don't wear too much pink so I was looking through my polish stock for hot pink. And I found this pink, Hey Baby, in OPI Gwen Stefani mini set. There was also good stamping gold polish, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in this set, so I was good to go!

For this look, I first pained my nails with OPI Hey Baby (hot pink), China Glaze History of the World (navy), and OPI Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (Gold). I stamped heart pattern design from Pueen 29, using OPI Love. Angel. Music. Baby. as stamping polish. 

China Glaze History of the World is my favorite navy polish. I don't really know other navy polish that actually looks navy rather than black... If you know any, please let me know!

Have a happy Valentine's Day!

Love,

Little Dot

Glamorous Tribal!

Can you be glamorous and tribal at the same time? Yes, you can!

I loved and used China Glaze Happy Campers mini set quite a bit in my recent nail designs. You can read my review here. One of the colors that I haven't had a chance to use was this Wood You Wanna? It is bronze brown shimmer polish, which I think is quite unique. It is also a good stamping polish because it is a one-coater!!

For this look, I first painted my nails with China Glaze Wood You Wanna? (bronze brown) and OPI My Vampire Is Buff (creamy white). I used a tribal design from Bundle Monster plate BM-XL116 for stamping. As I mentioned, I used Wood You Wanna? as stamping polish. 

I really like the unusual combination of tribal design and glam polish color. It is fun to try something new!

The beautiful tribal scarf in the background is a Christmas gift from my beloved daughter!

Do you experiment with tribal designs?

Love,

Little Dot

Art Deco Inspired!

I told you about my shopping spree while back in this post here. One of the items I purchased was the Gatsby plate from Messy Mansion. I did this nail design inspired by the Art Deco images of this plate! 

I used two colors from China Glaze Happy Campers mini set. This mini set was such a great buy! If you want to read my review, check it out here!

For this look, I first painted my nails with China Glaze My Lodge or Yours? (dusty mauve) and China Glaze Sleeping Under the Stars (navy). I stamped a few designs from Messy Mansion plate MM45, using Nails Ink Kings Road (rose gold) as stamping polish. 

I really like the combination of colors and the rose gold stamping. Very elegant yet fun look!

Do you like Art Deco designs? 

Love,

Little Dot

Hand-Painted Stamping!

I did the hand-painted stamping before in this post. This is my second time using this technique and I love it!

This time, I wanted to match my scarf! This technique is great when you want to create hand-painted look but you are too scared to directly paint on nails. Also, you get good results on both hands (we all know how difficult it is to paint with non-dominant hand!!) 

The method is quite simple. You use a small brush or a dotting tool to paint design on a stamper head. And you stamp it on your nail. I explained this in a bit more detail here, so check it out. 

For this look, I first painted my nails with China Glaze Sleeping Under The Stars (navy). I painted the floral design on a stamper head using OPI It's A Piazza Cake (burnt orange), Essie Shearling Darling (oxblood), Essie The More The Merrier (light green), and Essie Vested Interest (dark green). I used a small nail art brush for painting. After the design is painted and a little dry, I stamped it onto my nail. 

Design like this is difficult to do with regular stamping, I think. I don't own any plate that looks like hand-painted floral (maybe a bit but not really...) and also it would be quite hard to add a few colors on plate without mixing colors. So this method is perfect!!

Have you tried this technique?

Love,

Little Dot