KKCenterHK's ANE-NAIL Purple Pink Transfer Sticker Decals

Check out this cool new product from KKCenterHK: ANE-NAIL Purple Pink Transfer Sticker Decals. I've got to warn you, even though "sticker" is in the official name, these definitely aren't stickers. They're giant water decals that are pre-cut to fit the nail. If you look at the product page, you'll see that these are a dark purple to hot pink gradient. My nails weren't long enough to fully dip into the pink side of the decal, but I think these still have a great gradient effect! These were gorgeous and had a richness to them that you don't normally see with gradients. Plus, these don't have the sponging lines you'd see with a DIY polish gradient!

For 10% off at KKCenterHK, use code: TORNADOCALLI (expires Jan. 31. 2015)

Click here to see my other posts about KKCenterHK products!

**This product sent to me by KKCenterHK. This is my honest, unbiased review.

KKCenterHK's ANE-NAIL Pink Gradient Transfer Sticker Decals

Alright, I have to start this post with a simple statement: These nail decals from KKCenterHK are right up my alley! They're a little confusing to use and apply, but once you jump that hurdle the end result is awesome.

Basically, the process of applying these is what you would do with a water decal but it's a little harder since these cover the entire nail. They don't really stick to your nail... which may be my fault, but the instructions weren't entirely clear. However, if you hold them down and heat them up with your fingers they will conform to your nail enough to get a top coat on them. I wasn't able to stretch the wrinkles out of them due to their non-stickiness, but that's not too noticeable.

I imagine if you had longer nails, the gradient effect would be more obvious and dramatic, but it still looks pretty awesome on short nails. The subtle change from pink to purple has a nice pop to it. Someone who has seen all of my water decal nails told me that this was her favorite design by far because it's subtle but it still has an edginess to it. You could totally get away with these in a stuffy, professional environment. When you look at these in person, you go through three phases of "Huh, those nails have something goin' on". Phase 1 (the quick glance): "They look pink, but they have a unique depth to them". Phase 2 (a longer look): "Wait a minute, those nails are two different colors". Phase 3: Mind blown. I can't get over how much I love how these look--pictures do them NO justice!

For 10% off at KKCenterHK, use code: TORNADOCALLI (expires Jan. 31. 2014)

Click here to see my other posts about KKCenterHK products!

**This product sent to me by KKCenterHK. This is my honest, unbiased review.

Pink & Orange "Gentle" Gradient

Here is a very gentle pink to orange gradient (sponged on). It's so gentle that it was very, very hard to photograph, but it looked so cool in real life because it was hard to tell exactly what color my nails were.

Orly Purple → Green Gradient

Orly's Out of This World (purple) and Halley's Comet (green). I saw this color combo on Tumblr and thought it was unusual, yet still pretty. This gradient was done with polish blending (put the two polish colors side by side and blend the polish a little where they touch with a toothpick) + sponge which is so much faster than sponging or painting on each layer!

Focus on the leftmost finger (and especially not the middle finger!)

Blue → Gold Gradient (Sponged)

White Outlines and Gradients

Essie's As Gold As It Gets (gradient) over OPI's Pink-a-Doodle outlined in white.

I'm not sure how I feel about the white outlines, they're not as bold as the black so they look accidental and boring. It does have the feeling of a twist on the french tip... like it's almost the next evolution of the french tip, but it's not quite there.

Instant Mermaid

A sky blue to dark blue gradient (done with sponges) with Essie's Shine of the Times over it is totally mermaid-y. It looked cool before SOTT, but as soon as I layered that over the gradient -BOOM- instant mermaid.

Sinful Gradient

Gradient using Sinful Colors' Dream On and Aquamarine (done with sponge):

Mauve → Purple Gradient (Sponged)

OPI's Pamplona Purple sponged over China Glaze's Below Deck.

It looks really good in person... not so much in pictures!

Mix & Match Mani + Incoco French Tips Review

This post is serving a two for one purpose: Showin' off this crazy mani and doing a quick review of Incoco's French Manicure strips.

All pink: China Glaze's Something Sweet (Up & Away, Spring 2010)

White bases: OPI's Alpine Snow

White zebra stripes: Konad's special white polish

Indexes: Sponged on gradient (fades into Alpine Snow)

Middles: Incoco's french mani (see below for review)

Rings: Pink rhinestone heart, clear rhinestone bow

Pinkies: Konad's m57 zebra stripes

Thumbs: Silver stripping tape

Review! Incoco's french mani strips are great! I've tried free-handing a french mani as well as using a Konad plate and neither of them are as easy as using these strips. The white strip is pre-curved so you just place it where you want it to go and file the rest away like you would any other Incoco strip. Next you place a sheer beige strip over the entire nail and file away again. Boom, you're done. The best part? It's a classy french tip, not one of the trashy, unrealistic, Snooki-style french tips that have unfortunately become popular lately.

Megapost: Gradient Leopard, F21 Glitter, Home Movies

Here's a sponged on gradient using the blues from OPI's Shrek Forever After collection:

I know, I do the leopard a LOT, but it's really great for covering up little mishaps. Tip: Use a new sponge for the best application, not a sponge that's been used for nail polish sponging before.

I decided to try out Forever 21's nail polish line, Love & Beauty. It's only $2.80 a bottle online and they have a huge collection that's worth checking out. Here's their Confetti Sparkle Polish in Dark Purple:

It's pretty good! I would recommend using a solid color as a base coat like white or black, because after three or so coats you can still see through to the bare nail in places.

Here's part of my pet project from the past month or so. I purchased one of those giant plates with 42 practice nails on it and I've been using it to try things on. Here's my tribute to one of the best non-kiddie cartoons of all time, Home Movies:

Ha, imperfections really show up in an up-close picture... Anyways, their names are written on the side of the nail (Brendon, Melissa, Jason).

White → Pink Gradient

I finally replaced my non-nail art bottle of white! I really love this gradient. There's something so angelic and dainty about it, especially from far away. It's definitely double-take worthy. I have a feeling that this would also work wonderfully with a baby blue fade to royal (if only I had a jelly blue!).

OPI's Alpine Snow (white) with OPI's Isn't it Precious? (pink)

Here's the how-to from a previous post, and here are the updated tips:

1. Take your time, do it in bright light, and watch what you're doing.
2. Let each coat fully dry before you add another one. See those grey spots in the pink above? Yeah, that's what you get when you get impatient and don't let them dry.
3. Go all the way over the end of the nail every time or else you'll have a white (or whatever base color you used) edge.
4. In my opinion, wide and even gaps between layers gives the best gradient effect. It seems to be more gradual and natural.

UPDATE: Here's a junky webcam picture to better show the range of the white to pink transition.

Yellow → Orange Gradient

I had been wanting to do a gradient for a while, but thought I never really had any sheer colors to make that happen until I saw another blogger using one of Butter London's three Jelly colors, one of which was already sitting in my cabinet (a total "duh" moment).

Please ignore the worn-out mani rough edges and not-so-granient-y pinky!

China Glaze's Lemon Fizz (bottom coat closest to the cuticle) & Happy Go Lucky (darker yellow), with 3 partial coats of Butter London's Chuffed. I tried this mani once without Lemon Fizz, and it didn't have the dramatic effect I wanted it to have, so it is possible to use only 2 different polishes.

Your first coat should be the lightest color which you paint your whole nail with. Your second lightest color should start where just a little of your first coat shows. Paint all the way down the nail, not just a stripe. Continue that pattern until you've reached the tip. Top it off with a clear coat to blend them all together (my picture is not a good example of that). This all takes a while, so be prepared to block out some time!