French manicure with nail stamp

I had a huge family emergency recently. It tied me up time-wise and emotionally. This is why I haven't posted, I didn't even have the time or energy to even think about doing my nails. Obviously, family comes first. Things have settled.

My daughters birthday party is coming up and I need to sport some nice nails and toes. I finally figured out the french plates and how not to stamp all wonky. I used exact Konad Knock Offs
Konad - M45
with Nakomi m45. Im still waiting to see if these EVER get back in stock. Really ladies, I'm on pins and needles just as much as you all are.



Figuring out the french plates was a bit harder then other designs. I watched a youtube tutorial that says to angle the design upwards instead of straight. This worked relatively well. Then I began practicing on bare nails (like this design) by going slow with the stamp and following my own curvature in the nail bed. This helped me get the "feel" even better.



I later practiced (but did not snap shots) over a fully painted nail. My best advice is to not blindly stamp the french design, watch what you're doing from a side angle. This will allow for perfect curvature every time. If using Konad special polish it is still slightly pliable after application, you can push certain designs up or remove pieces of the design. Over another color polish it is harder but doable.



You can see a few areas I could've cleaned up, but I ran out of time. Although this easy french design has almost become 2nd nature I still am always on a time crunch. I'm hoping to do a french design over my nails for the party. I want to do my toes too, but the french designs are just wide enough for my thumbs and will not fit my big toe. That makes me sad because it's the reason I wanted the french set to begin with! (I love french pedicures!)

Valentines day nail art

So I had a few (literally) minutes to play around some more with my Naokomi/Mash
set. So I did a Valentines day design. It included cute little hearts. Awww.



I used Nakomi m78, which is an exact dupe of Konad m78
. The quality of the plate is superb, although some of my stamping was funky. This was due to using red konad polish and a red stamper. I couldn't tell if the image was perfect when picking it up. Usually, I check the stamper first, and if its not up to par I start over. Red on red was not a good idea.



For the base polish I used OPI Birthday Babe
(anniversary collection 2006), which really, I don't see much of a difference from Kyoto Pearl. If you already own one, I wouldn't go out of the way to purchase the other.



interestingly enough, the whole nail design was almost too big for most of my nails. Unlike some of the other knock off brands. I really enjoy this pattern and hope to sport it for the next week.

What are you doing for Valentines?

Review of the MASH Nail Art Set

I never got a chance to thank my followers. We recently reached over 250 GFC followers!! Im so excited, and so thankful. Recently we've been getting a lot more visitors, and I'm hoping the trend continues. I've been lacking any free time to setup a give-away. I hope that changes soon so I can give back to all you who have supported me.

I promised a review of the Amazon MASH Set. They shipped very very quickly.


Picture of the whole Set

At first glance, the brand is not MASH but Nakomi. I've done some searching and they do not match up with "Nakomi Beauty" set, which has square plates. I cannot find any more information on them. Bummer, considering Amazon is now sold out of this set. The plates are the same shape and size of Konad plates. They have a blue film protective cover and no paper backing. Otherwise they seem to be exactdupes of Konad excluding 5 of the plates m50, m52, m48, m47, m46.

I went through the whole set, looking for defects and I did find a couple. Really, this only affected 3 images out of the entire set. They were as follows : the "I Y" Design on m46. Another that looks like a branch thats missing an image on m50?, and the last one which corresponds to Konad plate m72 - The whole nail LOVEYOU Pattern - The loveyou is placed wrong over the background pattern. It is the only Konad duped plate that has an issue, that I've noticed, and only with that one image.





Quality wise, they are of superior quality to GCOCL plates found on ebay. Side by side with the exact Konad plate makes it almost impossible to see the difference. I believe these Nakomi plates are probably laser cut like Konad as the designs are precise and exact. Tiny - miniscule - maybe even purposeful design changes within the patterns may be the only hint along with the fact the plates do not say "Konad".

The only other major difference is there is no paper backing. This could lead to cuts with careless handling, so either back your plates with protective film or be careful. Definitely do NOT stack metal backed plates on top of each other!


GCOCL Plate VS Nakomi>

When I purchased my GCOCL plates from Ebay I was sorely disappointed with image quality. I told myself I wouldn't waste my money again and stick with Konad. Im glad I decided not to listen to myself and jumped on the MASH set, it's perfect. The little details make a HUGE difference.



Above you can see the stamping results, these are all examples of MASH/Nakomi Set and NOT Konad. You cannot tell me that anyone would be able to discern the fact I spent a little over 50 cents plate(shipped) and not $7-8+ shipped.



The plates I received: m20-22, m25-m28, m44-m48, m50-m52, m58-57, m60-m64, m72-73, m78, m80
This included a smorgasboard of designs, with 5 different french plates. Each plate was different. Just to put in all in perspective:

If I had purchased Konad brand I would've paid about $150 for 25 plates. My total for the MASH set was $14.15 shipped.



Now don't get me wrong. I love Konad. I love the extras - the paper backing especially. The guarantee of quality with every plate. I don't love the fact that Konad has not only cornered the market - but also has asked all retailers to NOT allow coupon use. That sort of bugs me. Will I still purchase Konad? Definitely.
I do see the MASH set as the BEST alternative or addition to my current collection. If the seller ever has more sets in stock I plan on purchasing more for gifts for friends and family.