Monday 4 January 2010

A New Year, a New Blog......

Hi Guys.......

Well, here I am, all bright, shiny and new! I am based in the UK and am your average, 'normal' woman. I don't have oodles of cash to spend on stuff, but when I do I want nice things, like every girl.

I have recently re-discovered make-up and nail polishes and love to read blogs with reviews on products and pictures of things I can try, so I thought I'd have a go myself !

I have always used Drugstore brands of make-up, from my teens to a few years back, but then stopped wearing it all together, unless I was going somewhere special. I got tired, lazy and it felt easy, know that feeling?

Well, my way back into the cosmetic arena was paved by watching a few tutorials on YouTube. A product got mentioned and I loved the packaging, yes, I am that shallow ;o).....anyway, I hunted it out and was shocked by the price, was make-up always this expensive?? !!! I was used to cheap stuff, but then, even the so called cheap brands seemed to have gotten mighty pricey......so I bit the bullet and bought it and then the cosmetic bug hit hard.
This first product that led me back into the world of make-up was Benefit's Dandelion powder! What a cute box, see, told you I was that shallow. But wow, all of Benefit's packaging was uber cute! So I soon found myself yearning after more and more of it.
A few months on and I now adore brands like Benefit and Urban Decay, haven't gotten on the Mac bandwagon yet, I have to restrict myself somehow !

Then about 8 weeks ago I bought a copy of Glamour magazine, only because it had a freebie on the front......it was a Nails Inc polish. I tried it, loved it then hunted down the other versions of the polish with the mag and bought all four of them. Hey, it was so much cheaper than buying the full priced ones, so why not? I was then hooked on nail polishes (seeing an addictive personality forming here?) ;o)
I browsed various blogs looking for reviews and swatches then I found Konad !

Now Konad is my passion at the moment. I'm not very good at it, I've only had it little over a month at this stage, but I am loving every minute of it!

For those that don't know, Konad is a nail art system. It uses metal plates with designs engraved into them, you need a special rubber stamp and polishes for it to work correctly, though some other thicker polishes can work as well. You just run the polish brush over the design you want in the metal plate, scrape away the excess, push the rubber stamp on the dsign then roll it on your nail! It is so simple and I think it looks great, and it is enourmous fun and incredibly addictive. If you haven't tried it yet, then hunt it down and give it a go.

Look what can be achieved with practice...


Here is the kit I started with, you can buy the other plates and polishes one at a time, or in sets, depending on how much you want to pay first time out. I recommend trying a cheaper set first, as some people don't find it so easy.


Anyway, I intend to post here with my Konad designs, just for fun, not because I'm an expert, because I am not, far from it! I just enjoy it. My nails are not great, I am a wife and mother, so my hands get lots of wear and tear. I had never looked after my hands, so they looked pretty bad and neglected. I am now trying to take more care, even wearing rubber gloves for washing up! Never bought a pair before Konad :o) Now I have turned into a saddo that cries when she breaks a nail!
I may also add my views on recent cosmetic hauls and products I love/hate etc.

Coming up over the next few days, catch-up! Chance to catch-up on recent purchases as they arrive in the post! Also I will be posting my existing Konad designs over the next couple of days. I have only been doing it since end November 2009 so there are only a few mani's to show you, but they will get posted in order, so you can see how it all progresses...

So, come and join in the fun!

14 comments:

Susie said...

I just got that very same Konad kit for Christmas along with a few extra special polishes and tons and tons of regular polish.
I'll be following your progress.
Susie

Polish and Powder said...

Thanks Susie, nice to see you here! It's a great little starter kit, though it is so addictive you find you keep adding more and more plates and polishes. lol

Susie said...

You're right about it being addictive. I have about six plates sitting in my shopping cart on line. :) I'll be ordering again soon.
Found a nice blog with a KONAD tips page:
http://freeze3006.blogspot.com/2010/01/konad-q.html
Here is another if you are interested:
http://emeraldsparkled.blogspot.com/...ad-images.html
and again here is the list of polishes that has been reported as working with Konad:
http://sassestampingstampede.wordpress.com/polish/
Have fun,
Susie

Polish and Powder said...

I already follow 2 of those, but thanks for the other one, its great!
The addictiveness of konad is bad! I find myself yearning new plates all the time. I started in November with the 2 plate starter, now I have about 33 plates!! New polishes are just as bad. I hadn't bought a single new polish in years, then once I got konad I am buying them like crazy. I have more polishes now than I have fingers to put them on! There are some amazing colours now too.

Susie said...

WOW you have 33 plates. OH MY GOODNESS. I have 12. You said you started this at Christmas time and you have that many?
Whew!
I had three polishes when I started shopping for more. I had only done my nails maybe ten times in all these years. I have bought 100 with more on the way. :)
How do you store your polishes and how many do you have?
Great visiting with you,
Susie

Polish and Powder said...

I think it was late November when I got my set, but yes, I have bought that many! Bad eh? But you have bought 100 polishes! Crikey, that is some going girl lol. I have no idea how many polishes I have bought, I guess I can go do a count, it's probably a lot, not 100 though ;o). I had around 14 OPI polishes from about 12 years ago in a box under the bed, I dug that out and they were all still perfect, then I have added a couple more OPI, China Glaze, Misa, Orly plus your usual Rimmel, Barry M type ones to it, you got me wondering just how many I have bought now lol.....
I have one of those small plastic drawers to keep mine it. It has two deep drawers and I section it off inside with plastic runners to keep the polishes in rows, nice and organised. I was torn between keeping them in colours or brands, ended up keeping them by brand. So each brand has a row or two in the drawer. My konad stuff is kept in a cute bag and the plates are in a card holder.

Susie said...

You sure are doing great for only being at it a short time.
I'm thinking of getting a 102 count wall rack.
Do you have the image plate holder? I was thinking of getting it so the scrapped polish stays on that. I have a tendency to move the plate around and it gets into the scrapped polish.
You are the one on the Purse Forum right?
Susie

Polish and Powder said...

okay, curiosity got the better of me and I had a count. I now have 114 polishes....14 OPI I had before and 13 No7 ones I had but never used as I got them in various gift sets over the years, but put them in a box as I never used nail polishes!! So I have bought about 86 in the last 2 months....plus there are 4 more on the way (2 CG and 2 OPI). Crikey, they creep up on you don't they!

Polish and Powder said...

I do have the image plate holder, I got it free with my set, but I have never used it. I put a sheet of paper towel on the table then place the plate on that and scrape the polish off the edge onto the paper towel. It saves mess that way and the plate stays put on the paper towel. I was going to use the holder, but thought it may be more messy as the polish would go between the edge of the plate and the holder.....may try it next time see how it goes.

Polish and Powder said...

just did a plate recount, I have 31 here, but I have 6 more on the way.....

Susie said...

SEE? HA HA HA HA. You have MUCH more than you thought eh?
WOW you have a tons of plates too. I want to grow up to be just like you.
I posted my Christmas and after Christmas Hauls on the forum if you want to see.
I would love to see all of yours.
Susie

Polish and Powder said...

sorry for got to answer, yes its me off the purse forum ;o) I know, I was shocked by how many I had, probably why I never bothered counting before rofl. Off to the forum now to see your haul.......

JuMont said...

I started about the same time you did and had about the same care with my nails before! LOL

I see you are getting so good with the french (tip) ones!

Congrats from Brazil...

Polish and Powder said...

@JuMont: I know, its so bad, I never bothered, but konad has changed all that ;o)
That french tip plate wasn't going to beat me, Im still a way to go, but getting there :o)

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