[press sample]
Have you been missing the glow in the dark stuff? I have. Why can I never get around to painting them more?! Well today’s glow did not even require painting because I used Beauty BigBang’s glow in the dark heart sequins (J4196-1C) along with the last stamping plate I received from the winter set: BeautyBigBang XL-034.
BeautyBigBang XL-034
This stamping plate comes with eight full-nail images (only one negative space) and one big house image that contains three more distinct full-nail images but could be parceled into about six full-nail patterns. Sometimes when you get images like these they end up being less useful for those of us with longer nails. Like you have to make peace with using multiple patterns on your nail because no one pattern is big enough to cover all the surface. I hate that sort of thing because it goes against how I put a design together, but it’s a non-issue here. You can see from my nail art that I found a way to use it for a complete look for Valentine’s Day. Somewhat impressive since this is winter/Christmas with one weirdly spring-like image.
My favorite image is of the deer and rabbit snuggling. Totally shipping that couple. So cute. Least favorite is the Santa and mutant with the pine trees. Seriously, is that supposed to be a penguin or a seal? I wish they’d just stuck to the trees because those are pretty (and also really clash with the line-work on the Santa/mutant duo). The little scattering of individual images are great. Three sizes of the same snowflake is actually quite useful to me and those pine cones are adorable!
Glow in the Dark Heart Sequins (J4196-1C)
These sequins are nice and thin which helps to get them to stick on curvy nails. I actually washed my hair with a row of them at the tip of my nail (and two coats of top coat) and I did not lose one. That is pretty amazing because my hair will find any crack or weakness, slip in, and pop things right off. Now the disadvantage to that thinness is that it can only hold so much glow power. As the glow begins to fade it gets very grainy and patchy which breaks up the heart silhouette. I guess you could put two heart sequins in one spot if you wanted more glow?
They are also weirdly static-y. So picture several minutes of flailing as I tried to get the un-used hearts OFF ME! and back into the jar. There was no swearing involved…out loud. heh
The last great thing about this is that you get a looot of them. I feel like I should be finding crafty-type uses for them because there is no way I’ll ever get close to using them up. Even if I keep using them to make flowers or three- and four-leaf clovers.
Test Samples
I’ve used heart-shaped glitter before to make flowers so I thought I’d try again with the glow in the dark sequins. The biggest challenge is that they are translucent so I had to paint a flower behind them for non-glow time. It worked out pretty ok, though I should have let the petals dry before sequin application so I could test that I had made them big enough to back the whole heart. My other test sample used a pastel gradient over a black holographic polish and that just makes my heart happy.
Floral Heart. Background is Orly’s “In Summer“. Freehand petals painted with Sinful Colors’ “Truth or Lavendare“, Smucker’s “Skellington“, and Look’s “Caution“.
Black Star. Background is Color Club’s “Beyond“. Stamping done with Mundo de Unas’ “Pastel Blue“, “Pastel Pink“, and “Pastel Yellow“.
Winter’s Love
I had a more Christmas sweater-y design planned out for BeautyBigBang XL-034 if the set came in time for Christmas, but it didn’t. So I swapped my plans about to make it fit Valentine’s Day and the heart sequins really helped with that. This ended up being a very fun and different kind of V-day mani for me. Also, it fit #glamnailschallengefeb’s Heart prompt. W00t!
And glowing…
Products Used
- Base Polishes:
- Rimmel’s “Maniac“, Sinful Colors’ “Nice Guise“, and Zoya’s “Olivera“
- Stamping Polish:
- Essie’s “Good As Gold” (also used with a dotting tool to add a heart on top of a sequin)
- Advanced Stamping Polishes:
- Sinful Colors’ “Pink Smart” and Smucker’s “Wickedly Stylish“
- Glitter Placement:
- Glow in the Dark Heart Sequins ( J4196-3C) from Beauty BigBang (press sample)
- Stamping Plates:
- BeautyBigBang XL-034 (press sample)
I like having ulterior motives for painting most of my designs and usually they have to do with using something for the first time on the blog. Oh, how that list is getting shorter. Today, I not only did that, but used it as an opportunity to swatch the different polishes together to make sure I wasn’t keeping a dupe. Nope! Zoya’s “Olivera” is a significantly darker version of Rimmel’s “Maniac“. And Sinful Colors’ “Nice Guise” is much bluer than the other two. All keepers! 😀
Final Thoughts
I definitely have more ideas when it comes to this stamping plate. If nothing else, the snuggling couple will find their way to my nails eventually. Meanwhile, the glow in the dark hearts make me so happy. I love glow in the dark stuff. It’s such a weakness of mine. Now if only I could leverage that love and start painting my other glow in the dark nail art ideas! 😬
If you’re interested in either the stamping plate (BBBXL-034 or full set, ZHSP0467) or the glow in the dark heart sequins (J4196-1C) feel free to use my discount code (hermi) for 10% off your order. (Non-affiliate code).
Words. Valentine’s Day sale. No pressure. 😉
I do still have more reviewing to go, so keep an eye out! LOL
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