Shopping Haul and Storage Solution

Over the holidays, I bought a lot of stuff!

I ordered quite a few design plates and stamping polish from MoYou London. I ordered a few plates and clear stampers (not pictured above) from Bundle Monsters. I also ordered a refill bottle from HK Girl Top Coat (not pictured above). Those Black Friday sales are dangerous! 

And if you remember, I bought quite a few MoYou London polish from my local Trade Secrets store a few months ago... I had so many bottles on my table and didn't know what to do! 

And I found this!

The perfect storage for my MoYou London stamping polish! I found this drawer organizer at a local dollar store. It is just the right size to fit twenty bottles of MoYou London polish! 

Now I can see all the colors easily and just turn it 180 degree to see the other side for more colors! I love this so much that I'm just staring at it like a kid in a candy store! 

By the way, I'm on no-buy this month now after all the holiday spending...

Love,

Little Dot

MoYou London Stamping Polish Review!

I picked up a bunch of MoYou London stamping polish recently at a local store!

I have been using MoYou London image plates for some years now but I never had a chance to try their stamping polish. I haven't tried all these colors yet but for the some I tried, I am very impressed. 

Here you see our twin creation (my beloved daughter's and mine!) On the left, I used MoYou London Malibu Tan to stamp forest animals. On the right, I used MoYou London Bora Bora to stamp paisley design on my daughter's nails. 

See how clear and opaque the images are? For this look, I first painted my nails with Essie Playing Koi (reddish orange) and stamped animals from Bundle Monster plate BM-S163, using MoYou London Malibu Tan (tan). 

For my beloved daughter's nails, I first painted her nails with Essie Kimono Over (dark purple). I stamped designs from MoYou London Flower Power Collection 15, using MoYou London Bora Bora (turquoise). Some of the nails even look like having the green background polish. But it is the stamped color! Very bright and opaque!

I like the fact they are like regular polish in consistency. Very easy to apply without any stringy feel to it. Yet very clear and opaque!! Love!!!

Have you tried these?

Love,

Little Dot

OPI Color Paints Mini Set Review!

I saw OPI Color Paints mini set at local store for $9.99, so I bought it! This collection came out last year around the same time as Essie Silk Watercolor collection. They were both similar so I didn't get the OPI one but I can't pass a good bargain!

After some planning, I have decided to go with a free-hand design!

For this look, I first painted my nails with OPI Silver Canvas Undercoat. I used OPI Primarily Yellow, OPI Chromatic Orange, and OPI Turquoise Aesthetic, to randomly add brush stokes here and there. 

This set consists of the following colors; Silver Canvas Undercoat, Primarily Yellow, Chromatic Orange, Pen & Pink, Purple Perspective, and Turquoise Aesthetic. You suppose to first use Silver Canvas Undercoat as the base color and top with your color of choice. 

The box says "Blendable Nail Lacquer", but I didn't find them to blend that well. On my nails, there are some spots that colors overlap but those parts only look darker rather than making them blended color (such as yellow + blue = green effect). I think I still like Essie Silk Watercolor better. I did the reviews for Essie one here and here if you want to compare. And I also used it in the design here. But overall you can probably use both sets interchangeably. 

Do you own OPI Color Paints or Essie Silk Warercolor? What kind of designs have you used them for?

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

Cosette Clear Stamper Review!

I purchased this clear stamper from Cosette Nail Shop after reading a review from Chitchat Nails. And here are some of my thoughts on this product!

I have been using this stamper for the last few weeks. It is a great tool when you require a precise placement of a design. So something like small images that you want to place in a particular area of your nails or double stamping. When I do plaid nails, I usually double stamp with two different colors. So I know I would be using this stamper for sure! Also, it is handy for Direct Decal Method because you can actually see what the decal would look like before stamping!

The one I bought is called "Crystal C-Thru Stamper with Cap" and as you see, it comes with a cap and a scraper. The cap is great because you can protect the head and keep it clear of dust particles! The stamper head is nice and squishy. The other thing I like about this stamper is the fact the bottom is flat. This makes it easier if you want to add color to it for direct decal method. 

Now here are some potential issues. This is a view from the top as you may be approaching your nail from above. You can see where you are going but it looks like magnifying view. I found myself having some trouble judging the distance between the stamper head and the nail surface maybe due to this distorted view. I learned to stamp aligning the image by placing the stamper and nails like this in the past. 

So you have to re-learn the way a bit. I will probably stamp the way I have been doing for most of the time (because I became pretty good at aligning images this way!) and use this stamper for when the precise placement is called for. 

The other thing I noticed was it sometimes doesn't pick up clear images. I find it better if you roll your stamper lightly to pick up images. Some learning curves here. 

Overall, I think this is a great stamper to have around. Certainly, this little tool will make nail stamping a lot easier. You can order this stamper from cosettenailshop.storenvy.com. 

Have you tried this stamper? What is your thought?

Love,

Little Dot

OPI New Orleans Mini Set Review!

The weather is getting nicer and the days are getting longer for sure, but we are still experiencing yo-yo climate here in our area. One day spring and one day snow storm! Oh well, you can just dream spring/summer time with OPI New Orleans collection!

I bought a mini set, which contains 4 colors; Got Myself into a Jam-balaya (coral pink), Take a Right on Bourbon (warm metallic pewter), I'm Sooo Swamped! (green), Show Us Your Tips! (periwinkle shimmer).

Nice spring tones! 

For this look, I first painted my nails with OPI Got Myself into a Jam-balaya (coral pink) and OPI I'm Sooo Swamped! (green). I used a leaf design from Bundle Monster plate BM-XL116, using OPI Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (gold) as stamping polish. 

I think this green might be just what I need for St. Patrick's Day nails! 

Have you tried any colors from OPI New Orleans collection? What is your favorite color?

Love,

Little Dot

OPI Hello Kitty Mini Set Review!

This look is a bit too sweet for my taste to be honest. But if you do a review of Hello Kitty nail polish, you must match the look, right?

I wasn't planning to get this collection but when I saw this mini set at my local Winners, I couldn't resist! It's so cute!

It even came with a nail art tool, which is a dotting tool on one side and a skinny brush of the other side! 

I used 4 colors out of 5 for my nail look. I painted one nail with OPI Milk Bottle (white), one nail with OPI 5 Apples Tall (red), and the rest with OPI Let's Be Friends! (pale pink). I used heart design from Pueen 41 and stamped on my white nail. I used OPI Never Have Too Mani Friends! (black) as stamping polish. I used a dotting tool to put pale pink dots on red nails, using OPI Let's Be Friends! 

On the back of the box, there are a couple of nail look suggestions and there are some great easy nail art tutorials on OPI website at opi.com/hellokitty if you want to check it out. 

The 4 colors I used were all pretty well pigmented. Two coats gave decent coverage. The black one was even good enough for stamping! Interestingly, the white polish, Milk Bottle, seems to be only available to purchase in this mini set. As far as I know, you can't even get this as an individual bottle. It's a bit strange because this polish is used in many of the tutorials in the OPI website. I'm pretty sure you can just use any white polish though... 

In my honest opinion, I don't find these colors to be anything special. But if you are a Hello Kitty fan, this is a very cute set that gives you all the colors and the tool you need for Hello Kitty nail art!

Did you get any of Hello Kitty polish?

Love,

Little Dot

China Glaze Happy Campers Mini Set Review!

I bought this mini set a while ago. And I have been using it a lot!!!

It is a great assortment of colors that are perfect for fall season! I like all the colors from this set but I used Cabin Fever a lot this season. 

Like this one. 

And this one! You can check my previous post here to learn how I created this look!

And this!

Also, I enjoy using My Lodge Or Yours? (mauve pink), Change Your Altitude (greige), and Sleeping Under The Stars (Navy)!

Like this!

And this!

Well, you get the pictures, I have been using these colors from this set quite extensively!! The only colors that I haven't had a chance to use yet are Wood You Wanna? (brownish metallic) and Free Bear Hugs (oxblood). But I am sure I will use them at some point for sure. For the ones I have used, I can tell you they have great coverage and all are easy to apply!

Have you picked up any colors from this collection?

Love,

Little Dot

Mont Bleu Nail File Review!

I was hearing about Mont Bleu nail files for a while. They are made in Czech Republic and suppose to be the best quality glass files you can get. I was looking for a gift for my beloved daughter's birthday and I thought this would be the good opportunity to order them!

Well, aren't they pretty? They come in black velvety cases!

I ordered two files from their crystal line that features Swarovski crystals and one hand-painted nail file. 

There are so many colors and designs to choose from and it took me quite a while to decide which ones to get. I've decided to get this purple one for myself. 

And I got this blue one for my beloved daughter!

I got this hand-painted file as well. Again, there are so many colors and designs and it is so difficult to choose one!

Overall, I am very happy with these nail files. Not only they look so pretty, they work so good! I would likely order more of their products in the future as gifts for friends (and more for myself!)  I felt the price and shipping fee were very reasonable as well. And it arrived unbelievably quick. I think I got them within a week of ordering. Wow! 

You can order these beauties from here. And I was able to get 20% discount by using "BLOG" as a code, so give that a try!

Have you tried Mont Bleu nail files?

Love,

Little Dot

Essie Silk Watercolor Mini Set Review Part 2!

I posted the review of Essie Silk Watercolor mini set review last week. If you read it, you know that I went back to get the second set! Yes, I like it that much! 

Just like the last review post, I followed the directions on the back of the box to do this look!

This set is called Swept Away Nail Look Kit and it includes Muse, Myself (yellow), Love Sheen (pink), No Shrinking Violet (violet), and White Page (white). 

I also painted my non-accent nails with China Glaze Sleeping Under the Stars (navy).

I don't think I like this look as much as the other look from the other set here. But it is likely that I would be using these colors for leadlight nail art! 

Have you purchased any of Essie Silk Watercolor?

Love,

Little Dot