Fun with striping brushes

Random! I decided to pull out my striping brushes and play and this is what happened...weird rounded triangle things with studs. They were really quick to do, I didn't use tape, just painted lines into the midpoint then coloured in the triangles.  I think they look prrrrretty cool!

The green is China Glaze - Custom Kicks and the pink is a striper polish by Cm Color Madnic (say wha?) - Hottie Pink.  Such a strange brand name....what is a color madnic??? I used an old Essie super sheer nude on the bottom,  2 coats. Its very rare for me to flash my VNL!! 

I love this picture. The striping brushes I use are these ones. I mostly use the medium size one, apart from my cuticle brush I would use it the most out of all my brushes. You can get the studs here.

I love it when you sit down to do a manicure with no plan in your head and you just fiddle around and something really different comes out. I don't normally do freehand designs because honestly I'm not that good at them. I got so many compliments on these nails and will definitely try to improve them and mix up the colours. I am going through a nail art over nude nails phase btw, can you tell?

Toya-Jade Polish

Today we explore some Aussie indie goodness from Toya-Jade Polish.  New on the market this indie brand has unique polishes with interesting combos and duo shimmers a plenty.  Toya-Jade Polish is a 3-Free polish, meaning its Toluene, Formaldehyde and DBP Free and its available now from their Etsy store. You can also find them on Facebook.

This first polish is Funster. This is 2 coats. The formula was excellent, no fishing for glitter, just paint on like you would apply a creme polish. The white jelly base is the perfect amount of sheer and the pink/purple duo shimmer is a nice surprise. The little black dots are awesome! This is my favourite of the bunch. I wore it for 3 days with no chipping or peeling.

This next polish is Tori. This is 3 coats. I'm not an apricot kinda gal but if you like this shade the formula was good, easy to apply. Its a little bit too sheer but there is a nice gold shimmer to it. Might work really well for a jelly sandwich.

This is Holly. 2 coats layered over the 3 coats of Tori that I already had on. On its own this polish was really sheer, its definitely needs undies. It applied easily and the glitter spread well. Its not a colour I would wear but its a very pretty shade of orange and the sparkle is nice.

This final polish is Shandy. I really like this pink/purple duochrome. It combines my two favourite colours with a little bit of shimmer. This is 2 coats. 

For me the best thing about these polishes is their suspension base which allows for easy application. Another plus is that I had nothing even similar to any of these polishes in my collection so they offer something different and unique. Shandy and Funster are fun and Ill definitely wear them again.  I did find though that the brushes in the mini bottles could be improved as the bristles were uneven making it hard to get a nice line at the cuticle.

If you need these or other sparkly polishes in your life check out Toya-Jade at their Etsy store. 

**These polishes were provided to me for review**

OPI Black Spotted

In 2012 when OPI released their Spiderman collection they teased us Aussie girls with a speciality polish called Black Spotted. Described as as oil meets water effect, this limited edition polish was only released in France which sent us nail crazies into a spin trying to figure out how to get our hands on it. It was almost as hard to get as trying to get a decent picture of this mani!  

Black Spotted is a really watery polish that you apply over regular nail polish to create a spotty, oily effect. You have to make sure your base colour is dry and I mean dry before you apply it or it cracks and ruins the bubbly look. I found adding a layer of Seche before the Black Spotted sped up this process however did make it a little harder to apply so that the spots didn't drag and turn into lines instead of bubbles. You need to apply it delicately and try not to overlap as it floods itself and you loose bubbles and end up with a black blob. Once I figured out how to apply it to get maximum effect it was quick and easy to use. It dried really quickly and didn't smudge when I applied top coat.

Black Spotted is available online from a variety of esellers however its not cheap. You can recreate this effect by dripping one drop of polish into a shot glass then spraying it with hairspray or alcohol spray, however it rarely comes out as good as Black Spotted and its a lot harder to clean up. So is it worth the price? I say yes, I love the effect, its easy to use and because you have to apply it in thin stokes you hardly use any polish so it should last a long time. I'm glad I have it in my collection.

I layered Black Spotted over China Glaze - Flip, Flop, Fantasy which is a neon coral creme from the 2011 Poolside collection. We have this colour at the markets if you like it. So will you be searching out the elusive Black Spotted for your collection?

Lush Lacquer - Clowning Around

Perhaps I'm too harsh on myself but the idea I had for this mani looked better in my head. I envisioned an opaque nude print for my accent nail over a striking neon pink, yet the reality is I'm yet to find the perfect nude stamping polish. The search continues......The neon glitter over the nude, now that's a different story, its Lush Lacquer - Clowning Around, its perfect in every way.

Clowning Around is a glitter topper polish. It has a variety of neon hexagon shaped glitter pieces suspended in a clear base. This is the type of glitter polish that needs to be applied using a dabbing motion to position the glitter pieces evenly across the nail. The suspension base is very forgiving allowing you to move the pieces easily without glitter drag or ruining your base colour.

It looks completely different in the bottle than it does on the nail. In the bottle it appears as if the glitters are mostly reds and oranges, on the nail you can clearly see the variety of colours. It would look great over black, white or grey. 

The nude is OPI - Don't Pretzel My Buttons  My most used nude that I lurve to death, it suits my skin tone perfectly and it has this subtle pink tint to it that stops it from looking too brown.

The swirly image is from Pueen26. I love these plates so much that the first time I used them I put so much pressure on myself to come up with something amazing to christen them with that I couldn't decide which plate to use,  so I had a massive drama queen rage quit and sulked for a day! 

And the verdict is still out on how to say Pueen......Pween like queen? Pooeen like a big Aussie bogan? Or is it just Peen? Perhaps its a Chinese typo and it was meant so say Queen all along, I mean it does have a picture of a crown on the storage pouch. Maybe we will never know......

Pueen 24E Love Elements Nail Stamping Collection

Today we take a closer look at the 2013 Pueen 24E: Love Elements Nail Stamping collection. I have been so excited for the arrival of this brand new collection. Its equally as awesome as the 2013 Winstonia set. The images are original, modern with some super cool prints. And there are no French tip plates, another plus.

This set contains 24 image plates with a funky, white storage swivel pouch. Each plate measures about 1.8" (5.5cm in diameter).  Each plate contains 6 designs for a total of 144 IMAGES. 

The Love Elements collection available now from www.dramaqueennails.com Scroll on to see the entire collection. 

The set comes with this white pouch, the clear pockets are held in with a swivel screw so the plates fan out.

I jizz for this plate. I cant wait to use it. Its my absolute favourite of the entire set.

Yessssss!

OMG bows!

So girly.

Another favourite, the best butterfly plate ever!

Owls and meowers. 

Every good stamping set needs stars.

Love this plate. 

Liquid Sand Gradient

So is it possible to use OPIs new Liquid Sand textured polish to create gradients? I think its safe to say, definitely! I love how this mani turned out, the sand polish was a dream to work with and dare I say, easier to use for gradients than normal creme polish. Its textured finish is far more forgiving of those little lumps and bumps you end up with sometimes when you're sponging. Read on for a guide on how to recreate this mani using polishes from the OPI 2013 Bond Girls Collection.

To create this design is actually very easy. Paint one thick coat of your base colour. Allow it to dry (the dry time on these liquid sand polishes is excellent, I waited about 3 minutes). Paint your accent colour onto the tip of your sponge then slowly dab it on the tip of your nail, working your way from nail tip towards the cuticle  Steady as she goes, dab excess polish from the sponge onto paper first before applying to nail to avoid building up colour too quickly. That's it, it's really that simple.

This stunning gold sand is OPI - Honey Rider. The blue is OPI - Tiffany Case. As with most sand textured polish you do not apply top coat as it dulls the sparkly finish. Without topcoat the wear of these polishes is good. You will get 2-3 days without chips if you apply a good base coat. They are easier to remove than glitter polish, but harder than a creme or jelly finish polish.

And well you know me, I love a good accent, albeit a little random I love how my ring finger turned out. I used light and dark blue square studs to create this design. You can get the studs here.

Instagram 10K Giveaway

We love sharing our nail art with everyone and to thank you guys for following and supporting us its time for another giveaway. So how can you enter? Easy! Go follow us on Instagram and share our giveaway picture. When we reach 10 000 followers we will announce the winner and one lucky person will receive all the goodies below. Thank you again for being a part of Drama Queen Nails. Please read below for the rules and terms and what is in the prize pack. Good luck!

Prizes:

• Konad stamping nail art kit that contains 1 stamping plate, 1 white mini Konad stamping polish and stamper and scraper
• Checkerboard nail patches
• Wearable nail soakers for removing glitter polish, gel polish or removing acrylic nails
• OPI Rapid Dry top coat
• Color Club Striping polish
• Lush Lacquer Birthday Cake
• Essie Absolutely Shore
• Full size Konad silver stamping polish
• Rhinestone wheel with silver shapes including stars, flower, diamonds, squares and much more

With a retail value of over $100 this is a giveaway not to missed. So here are the rules and terms of entering.

1. Giveaway is open internationally
2. You must be following Drama Queen Nails on Instagram to be eligible - its for our followers after all
3. Must be 18+ to enter
4. Postage costs will be paid by Drama Queen Nails
5. Entry is by sharing the above picture which can be also found on Instagram. Screenshot the picture then share it on your IG account with the following tags @dramaqueennails #dqnailsgiveaway
6. Winner will be announced when our DQN IG account reaches 10000 followers
7. Winner will be chosen by using random.org
8. Each entry will be given an entry number
9. You can only enter once
10. The winner will have 3 days to contact DQN via email   dqnails@gmail.com   If no contact is made we will redraw the winner
11. The winner will be announced here, on our Facebook page and also on our IG account.