Moyra stamping polish SP12 and SP16

A couple of months ago we got the news that we would be getting Moyra products in South Africa. Since I've never heard of them before I turned to Google and was somewhat impressed. I decided to get some polishes and a stamping plate or two...

I decided on a yellow (SP12) and light purple (SP16) stamping polish. As I didn't have any of those in my collection and might need one of those shades... Eventually. And the day did come that I needed a light purple, so I tested the polish on my miracle mat.

And oh my word was I disappointed... Barely there on black and white? This might as well have been a normal polish. So this had me worried, what would the yellow be like?? And I tested the yellow.

Slightly better... But it's still not what I would expect from a stamping polish. I shared my findings with the Whatsapp group I'm part of and they suggested I maybe contact the supplier as there may have been a problem with this batch of polishes. Which I did....

And boy, did I get the third degree. First, I was told that these are pastel colours and it depends on which surface I stamp them (????). A silicone mat doesn't show the true colours, its best on a black and white pop stick. Then I was asked if I shook the bottle, did I add thinners to it, why did I wait so long before using it, when did I buy it?

At this point I didn't even bother replying. Firstly the miracle mat was designed for nail art and to do test swatches of stamping polishes. Secondly, isn't shaking a polish bottle the first thing you do? And why for the love of all polishes would I add thinners to a stamping polish? Why? And as for the last two questions I'm not even going there because it seems like the implication is that the polishes have a shelf life. And I was starting to get annoyed.

I was also sent this:

This is the test swatch I was sent by the contact person at Moyra SA. How is this any better?????? According to the Moyra SA and Moyra Stamping websites these polishes are "extra pigmented, fast drying" and "developed especially for nail art stamping". Nowhere does it state that they pastel polishes and won't stamp on certain mediums. I decided to do a test swatch too on black and white polishes.

Disclaimer: I shook these polishes like my life depended on it. And guess what?? It made no difference!!!!!!!!!! Again, the yellow isn't bad, but it's not quite there. Something else I noticed that may or may not be a little odd, is that these polishes didn't have mixing balls, but the stamping polishes I got for my Secret Santa Receiver does...

I did manage to find two reviews, by the same person fortunately, that shows these two polishes. The link for the purple polish and link for the yellow polish and I wish I got those polishes.

The solution for my compliant was, that I could send these polishes to the Moyra SA educator and she will test it for me. Or I could send it to the contact person and she could test it for me. If something is wrong with it, she will then replace it. Honestly, considering the test swatch that was sent to me, this is clearly how they expect it to stamp. 

All in all, I'm very disappointed. The customer service was crappy, the polishes are sad and I won't order from them again.

What do you think? Are my expectations too high? Or does it all just suck?

Thanks for stopping by and reading my rant!

BeautyBigBang Review: Peacock holographic powder

I'm finally getting around to posting this review. This is for peacock holographic powder and I chose colour 9A. Let me show you what I did.

I started with two coats of Sinful colors black on black on my thumb, index and pinky. On my middle and ring finger I have two coats of Hean I love Hean 902. Once black on black was dry I rubbed in the powder.

On my middle and ring finger I stamped an image from BeautyBigBang plate 16 using the powder. I rubbed the powder onto my stamper and then used essence prom-berry as the stamping polish and picked up the image as normal. Once I stamped it, only the powder that had polish transferred.

I love this powder it has such a gorgeous shift from a green-blue to purple. And it has holo!!

The shift and holo is even obvious on the stamped images. I should mention that on the website they recommend using gel, but I opted for normal polish to see how it works and it works beautifully.

What do you think? You can go directly to BeautyBigBang and have a look what they have and you can use my code SARCA10 for 10% off normal priced items.

Thanks for reading!!

BeautyBigBang review: gradient shading nail brush aka thingymabob

I have another review for you guys today.... As I mentioned previously I was contacted by BeautyBigBang to review some of their products. I decided to choose the gradient sponge tool, that I've seen being used by nail artists on Insta.

I'm using gel polish with it as normal polish will dry on the heads and I'm not sure how reusable they are after being cleaned. And normal polishes obviously dries and gel needs to be cured for it to dry.

I started with two coats of Gel-IT (local gel polish brand) coat azure on my pinky, two coats of malibu on my index, middle and ring finger and on my thumb I have three coats of tigerlilly.

I used star vinyls and the sponge tool. So I like the tool, but my vinyls sucked. I don't know if it's because of the gel or what, but it kept moving around. I used coat azure, tigerlilly and on fleek to sponge over the vinyls. I used both the outside and inside of the vinyls for a different look.

The tool has a sponge on each end, the one rounded and the other with a slight tip. The wand part has clear crystals, but they also have ones with coloured ones. The one I chose had 4 replacement heads, two of each shape, the replacement heads only come with the clear crystal wand though. I used the rounded head one for this design, as I believe the one with the tip is meant for the shading of nail tips...

What do you think? I kinda liked how this turned out even if it's not perfect and I'm glad I took this tool... I'm going to try and use it with normal polish and see what happens, but I think it's meant for gel polishes. I'm also hoping it'll up my radial gradient game!

If you interested in this, you can get it from BeautyBigBang and you can use my code: SARCA10 for 10% off normal priced items.

Thanks for stopping by!!

BeautyBigBang review: stamping plate 16

Last year I was contacted by BeautyBigBang to do some reviews for them and I thought it would be exciting to give it a go.

One of the items I got was this stamping plate.

And I'm already a big fan. I've used it a couple of times and it wasn't just for this review. If you look at my previous post you can see what I did there. So let me show you what I did for this.

I started with two coats of OPI my paprika is hotter than yours on my thumb and pinky. On the rest I have two coats of Hean City Fashion 169. I then stamped the bottom left image with a navy BPS stamping polish. The flowers I stamped with Nicole Diary NS05 and coloured it in with Hean I love Hean 905.

So the plate is very well etched and I had no problem picking up the images. And I love the images themselves. I would actually not mind having more of them and giving their stamping polishes a go.

What do you think? There's a link to the stamping plate as well as the website... Or you could just click on the image on the sidebar. Also you could use my code SARCA10 for 10% off normal priced items in the store. Next week I'll have another review for you, if all goes according to plan!!

Thanks for reading!!

#52weeknailchallenge: white

I was wondering how to do white... It is a staple in all nail art, but it's not the main colour. Rarely. Normally it's the base for a gradient or for some kind of art. But today it has to be the focus... I then remembered this mani I did some time ago and never posted it.

My original idea was to have a white base with subtle gold stamping. Not a yellow gold, more of a washed out almost silver gold. Like essence's I still believe in Santa Claus, you can find a swatch here. But after chatting with Michelle about it, she gave me another idea...

I started with two coats of tip top perfect look.

My bottle is half, so I do need another. Well, I actually need to find OPI funny bunny. Anyway, I stamped an image off BC 10 that I got from Cherry Blossom store for review.

I stamped with essence stampy polish in white.

I liked how this turned out. I added a matt top coat just to see what it would look like...

So what do you think? This was very simple, but very pretty.

Thanks for stopping by!

#52weeknailchallenge: holographic

I started with two coats of Essence pink & perfect on my thumb and pinky. My index, middle and ring finger has two coats of Starrily magic rainbow.

For the gradient I stuck 1000 butterflies vinyl from Cherry Blossom Store to my Simply Neat miracle mat and used Essence red rocks, pink & perfect and the masked ball. I used a scraper to level the polish and create the gradient.

Once it was semi dry I painted a coat of clear polish over it, waited for it to dry and then peeled it off to place it on my nails. 

Top coated after that. I really like how this turned out. And of course the flash shot just to show off the holo.

What do you think? 

Thanks for reading guys!

Cherry Blossom Store: Broken glass stencil review

I have another review for you guys today. This is the broken glass stencil from Cherry Blossom and you can find it here. This one was easier to work with than the others, it was easier to peel and it did stick to my nail better than the very first ones I tried. It was a little funny when I peeled it the first time and I was holding the border only...

I started with two coats of Tip Top in the navy on my thumb and pinky. For my index, middle and ring finger I painted two coats of O.P.I next stop... the bikini zone. I didn't bother with it being too opaque as I was going to cover a bit of it.

I then did a gradient with Tip Top in the navy and purple reign. You can't really notice the colour shift, but it is there. I guess I should have maybe used a different purple... Or even lighter colours. Too late now!!

As I said these were much easier to work with. There was some picking, but not as much as the previous ones and there was no lifting. What do you think? Also on a side note, I am getting me a light tent sometime this month!! Any tips?

Thanks for stopping by!!

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.

Thanks for stopping by!!

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

Thanks for stopping by.

Cherry Blossom Store: Flower pattern stencil review

A couple of weeks ago Weheartnailart shared Cherry Blossom Store's profile on their Instagram account and since I loved their vinyls I decided to trust their judgement and went on over to Cherry Blossom's page. There they asked if people wanted to review their products. So I jumped at the opportunity as I have never really done a proper review and really wanted give it a try. So I mailed them and Bianca got back to me, asking me to have a look at the store and letting her know what I like.

I had to blow up the pic a bit so you can see the details.

So first, a little about them. The store has only been around for a couple of months, it started with the lack of all things nail art related in SA. They vinyls are made by Bianca herself, she and her friends test it out, the stamping plates and other nail art stuffs are from trade companies. Bianca is also looking into importing Born Pretty and Moyou products in the future. Good luck to that!! She is also open to making custom vinyls. Shipping is free over R350, otherwise it will be R55-R65 via overnight courier. You can find them at the links below.

Instagram
Store

Anyway, enough yapping, Bianca sent me a couple of goodies, which I didn't take a pic off (chop). The vinyls come in a plastic baggie with a tag that explains all things vinyls. First up is the Flower pattern stencil. I love this design, when I first saw it I immediately thought of stained glass. I started with two coats of I love Hean black on all my nails. Top coated and waited for it to dry. Once that was dry I started peeling the vinyl off the backing and oh my gosh, what a mission. I tried multiple sides, angles, but in the end I just sat picking out the little inside things.

It does say to try peeling from a different side if you having trouble, which I did. Some sides were better than others.

I then used Hean 281, 276 and 278 all from the Jungle Pop collection and tried for a radial gradient. Which didn't come out quite the way I wanted, but looks good nonetheless. The other problem that I had was that the vinyls kept lifting while I was sponging the gradient on. It's not quite obvious in these pics, but if you look at the tips you'll see where the colour bled under the vinyl. I eventually folded the vinyl under the tip of my nail to prevent it, which helped a bit. I feel that I should mention that I didn't touch the sticky part of the vinyl, tweezers were my friend.

So all in all, I really like this vinyl. People saw what I was trying to do with it, but the question is would I recommend it? To be honest, not really. It's time consuming having to pick out the insides of the vinyl and having it lift while sponging on a polish is very frustrating. And for me this is sad, as I really liked this design!!

What do you think of it? I do have more things coming your way. Hopefully it will fare a little better. I really hope it does. If you are interested in these vinyls you can find them here, they are going for R25 for 16 stencils.

Here you can sorta see the difference in the amount of thingies left behind, the result of peeling from different angles.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this long story!