Cherry Blossom Store: Stripes review

Yay Christmas mani!! Okay, not so yay. This month got away from me. Work has been crazy busy for the past two weeks, we had our Secret Santa box opening which I was supposed to blog about today and I haven't done a thing to prepare for the big day in any way... Well at least I have a menu for Xmas day.
So I actually have two versions of this mani. The first one looks really crap, I had it one for a day and I took it off. I started with two coats of Nubar conserve on my pinky and thumb.

On my Simply Neat miracle mat I laid down the stripes vinyl from Cherry Blossom store. They were easy to work with and I had no problems of note. I like vinyls like this, as I can't lay down a vinyl in a straight line to save my life. I painted in the lines with Tip Top gold mine and Nubar conserve. When that was dry I painted two coats of Sinful Colors snow me white over it and waited for it to dry.

So that was my first mistake... I should have rather painted my nails white and used a clear coat for the stripes. I hate cleaning up Snow me white. My second mistake was being too impatient with my top coat and I smeared it. So this looks very very kak (shit).

My second version is so much better. Or at least I think so. I used polishes from my SS box. When I saw the Essence The little Xmas factory polishes, I knew I had to have them. So I sent Michelle over at Ordinary Misfit a message and asked very nicely if she came across them if she wouldn't mind getting them for me, I was quite happy to pay for this and by happy coincidence she was my SS. Anyway, I started with two coats of let's take an elfie. It's slightly thick, but I assume that's because it's glitter-ish.

I did the same with the vinyls again, but this time using I still believe in Santa Claus and meet me under the mistletoe, both polishes from the little Xmas factory. I used a clear polish and I was a bit more patient this time round when top coating.

So I like the colours of my first mani, but I prefer my second. What do you think? I am a little torn. If you're like me and need all the help you can get with straight lines, you can get these vinyls here.

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Cherry Blossom Store: Spiral stencil and stickers review

Today I have another Cherry Blossom Store review for you. You can find the previous one here. I wanted to try a different technique with these vinyls. I have seen some people on Instagram place the vinyls on their Uber mat or Simply Neat miracle mat, blob polish on and then use a scraper to blend the polish into a gradient.

So first off I started with one (thickish) coat of Sinful Colours Snow me White on my index, middle and ring finger. I painted two coats of Essence island hopping on my pinky and two coats of Essence ever young on my thumb.

I tried peeling these vinyls off the backing, but it did the same as the previous ones. So I ended up picking the insides out first. I then stuck my vinyls on my miracle mat, blobbed on island hopping, ever young and island hopping again, scraped it down and peeled off the vinyl. I alternated the colours with the other vinyls. Waited for it to dry a bit and then painted a coat of Essence absolute pure (clear) over it. Once that was dry I lifted it off my mat, placed it on my white nails and trimmed it down to size.

So this was much easier than last time. Especially since there was no lifting, but then I didn't stick the vinyl on my nail. So there is ways to work around it.

What do you think? I got quite a few compliments on this mani. I'm not sure why it's so difficult to peel these vinyls off the backing though. It's the first vinyls that I have this problem with. These are available in the store for R15 on sale currently. You can find them at the following links:
Instagram
Store

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