I’ve loved the little reading owl on Born Pretty’s Retro Script BPX-L010 stamping plate since before I purchased it. Indeed, as useful as I hope the script elements will end up being, it really was the deciding factor in buying the plate. So when I was asked to join in a collab by @nailpolishpix, @chelseasnailstory, and @onehundredbrushes to celebrate @iamdeliasnails’ birthday with a theme of books/learning/literature I knew the owl was in. But there was also a bonus for ugly colors and I’d just purchased China Glaze’s “Trendsetter” and it arrived in time for me to use it! The staaars have aligned for us, my collection!
So one great lazy thing happened here. You see all those books scattered everywhere? They are from one full nail design pattern that I filled in and cut up. Just one! Don’t get me wrong, sometimes filling in all those little details over and over again looks really amazing. But sometimes it just looks crowded and splitting it up ensured the owl was the focus but the books still looked cool. Probably the only other way I would have done this manicure is if I had colored in only one book in each full nail pattern.
- Base Polishes:
China Glaze’s “Trendsetter” and “Whip It Good” - Stamping Polishes:
Mundo de Unas’ “Black” and “Ocre” - Advanced Stamping Polishes:
KBShimmer’s “Oh My Gourd”, Look’s “Lilac”, Sinful Color’s “Whiteboard” - Stamping Plates:
Born Pretty Retro Script BPX-L010 (owl), BP-L064 (text and books)
Did you notice that I marked the “Ocre” Mundo de Unas as being used for the first time here after I already talked about using them all? Yep! I did another manicure with it, but I kind of hate it so, even though I have most of the blog post written up, I’m not posting until I re-do it. And so…this is the first time you get to see me use the last Mundo de Unas stamping polish I own. It is a better, kinder thing I do for us all. Ah! How will I keep myself from buying more Mundo de Unas stamping polishes now? I probably won’t for much longer. 🙂
Anyway, I hope Delia enjoys all the love we sent her way on her birthday. This was a really fun collab and I’d love to do more nail art with ugly pretty colors in the future. If the collage below isn’t enough for you, check out all the nail art as people post them on Instagram.
I love this mani – everything about it. It makes such a fun and personal statement. Great job!
Wow, I’m impressed you’ve used all your MDU’s. I bet some more will find their way to your collection. LOL. I really should think about replacing mine – they’re all over 4 years old (in an older formulation) and they’re certainly priced low enough to allow for refreshing my stock. Do you find regular ole’ acetone works ok to clean up (off stamp plate, skin, etc.) yours? Mine only worked well with non-acetone remover and I have gotten lazy and don’t want to use two kinds of products. 😉
Awww Thank you! I’m so glad you like it. 😀
I bought…50 MDUs all at once because I wasn’t sure what colors I would use more. Mostly they were mini bottles except for white/black/red. I should have skipped the red, it’s not opaque enough. It’s taken me about two years to try them all. You’ve had yours for four years? I can only imagine how much they’ve separated. Mine are terrible. I’m going to try to mix them with a wire because shaking isn’t doing it. But I’d try mixing them instead of re-buying first just because the thought of throwing them out…I don’t think it would be legal to just chuck them in the trash considering the contents.
As for cleaning, I use regular acetone (The Sally Beauty formula. I…bought an entire gallon of it…) for cleaning plates and final removal. But I use pure acetone when cleaning my cuticles. I’ve resigned myself to always having the two because I want to use the pure acetone as little as possible, but it’s impossible to clean my cuticles with anything else. Then I try to keep non-acetone around in case I spill.
It is less painful to use the regular acetone because I have mine in a little pump bottle. I’ve actually been thinking of putting the pure acetone in a condiment bottle for cleaner pouring. I don’t know what your setup is, but maybe it will be easier if you improve that instead of trying to only use one product? 🙁