Thursday, July 31, 2008

Fun With Konad!!

I love the Konad stamper. It's so fun, and really transforms an ordinary manicure into something special. There are so many designs, from stars and flowers, to animal prints and fishnet. I usually use the small designs, like the little stars and the spider and the little cupcake, but the other day I decided to dust off one of the pattern plates (M57) and this is how it turned out:



Chanel Gold Fiction with Konad Plate M57 and Borghese Espresso Brown F. My thumb has OPI Brisbane Bronze, but as you can see it came out a little too light.

The Konad stamper works best with polishes that are on the thick side. Konad polishes make the most crisp designs, but any thicker nail polish will work.

Once my poor broken nails grow out a little bit more, I'll be doing a post on the Konad French Manicure plates for wonderful reader Carla G.

Also, a small request from me!

As you can tell, I'm way behind on my swatching! I always take my pictures outside in full sunlight, but lately it's been too overcast to get a good picture. Is there a way to get good indoor pictures when it's dark outside? I bought one of those 200w Reveal bulbs yesterday to see if that works well indoors, but I haven't tried it out yet. Do you guys have any tips for me?

I'm currently waiting on some sunlight to do swatches of the China Glaze OMG and Kaleidoscope collections for another lovely reader, and those just don't turn out well unless there's bright light.

So, help! What do I do?

28 comments:

  1. OMG, that is drop dead gorgeous!! I will DEFINATELY be getting me some konad plates now!! I love love love animal print nails. Thanks Scrangie :-)

    P.S I'm rubbish with cameras, so can't help, sorry! :-(

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  2. i want a KONAD so freaking bad! thanks for the pics hun =)

    no help with cameras either...i utterly suck at photography

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  4. Whew! I was lemming like mad for a Konad before but now I really am feeling the lemming pressure! Short, long, whatever length they are you have stunning nails. Really!

    As far as lighting goes for photography, the flash on your camera may be able to do the job but you’ll have to be careful so that it doesn’t wash out the color of the polish. For that to work you’d need some distance between your camera and the subject you are photographing. However, if you are taking the photos yourself it may prove to be too difficult to get the distance you need. Another option is set up where you have an open window to let in what sunlight there may be and then position some lamps (a small desk lamp or two that has the adjustable neck) to give you that added oomph. When using incandescent lighting the number one thing you’ll want to look for is true color light bulbs. This is because most incandescent lighting has a blue or yellow hue, which will alter the color results in your photograph. If you can’t find any true color light bulbs you could use white linen sheets as a screen between your light source and your subject. This will soften the light and potentially help you get the best color results.

    Sorry for the long post, I hope it is helpful!

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  5. Carla G., Thank you! Konad is so much fun :)

    Lenka, you should get one! The starter kit is really cheap and it's endlessly amusing, lol ;-)

    Megan, THANK YOU!!! That helps a lot, I will give your tips a try! I always have a problem with the flash indoors, it's so hard when I'm using macro and taking pictures of my own hand. Thanks sooooo much for the tips :)

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  6. I love how that mani looks! It looks awesomely professional. It's not a look that I could pull off, but I like that it looks really professional and not tacky (like stick on nail art. Gah!)

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  7. Yay! I just got my Konad order in today and can't decide which to try first. I'm kicking myself for not getting any of the pattern plates. Next time. Love your gold combo!

    maybe this will help:

    http://www.nailsmag.com/pdfs/features/NAILS0508picture.pdf

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  8. Halogen incandescent bulbs work better for me than any other kind of artificial light. For some reason, greens are the ones I always have trouble with. (Squeezeweasel on MUA: the one with all the peculiar looking greens.)

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  9. It's seriously like we have one mind, I'm planning a konad extravaganza in the near future too. : )

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  10. I love Konad and would love to see more swatches of it.

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  11. :O Ive always wanted to use that pattern, just didnt have a brown polish, looks great scrang

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  12. I love that you Konaded Chanel Gold Fiction. You are truly a nail radical.

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  13. I love the darker leopard color combination. It looks great!

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  14. That is such a fabulous combination!! I have that plate too and love it! Fab!! And yes, everyone should get Konad.

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  15. That is so freakin' gorgeous! Konad is totally awesome, isn't it!
    love it!

    And, I started whriting and then I saw megan's camera tips. I was going to whrite something similar so I leave that out:)

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  16. Now that I've see I can have leopard print nails, I have just ordered that plate and the stamp. A question though, after stamping your nail, is there polish left on the stamp and if there is, how do you clean it off (i did not buy a kit, so it will probably not come with instructions. The online instuctions did not mention cleaning the stamp.)

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  17. Hey Scrang, The Lemming Mongerer ...

    To get your OMG holos and the other glitters to show you'll need a small halogen lamp. They sell them at Target for $10.

    That light actually is intense enough to show the holographic nature of the OMG's and the other ChG's you wanna swatch.

    Use Superfine setting in your macro, turn off your flash, and then experiment a bit. I mix OTT light (which is also called "natural daylight bulbs or color matching bulbs), the incandescents in the room (in the fixtures) with Halogen Desk Lamp to get the great holo-ey goodness.

    We so appreciate your photos you know! And your nails look fabulous "short" too! :)

    L8B

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  18. Grace, It's so fun! There are a lot of different designs :)

    Pina, awesome!! Thank you!! :)

    Liz, a-ha! Interesting, thank you! I have a ton of trouble with greens and reds, they NEVER come out right! I will try that :)

    Steph, most excellent. I can't wait to see yours!!

    Azia, for sure, I'll do some more posts on Konad :)

    Nail Juice, why thank you! :D

    Pinkfluffyslippers, haha awesome! Thank you!! :D

    Melanie, Thank you :)

    Mizz X, thank you and I agree, everyone should try this!

    Sanna, aww thank you :) I love your Konad design pictures a lot too ;-)

    Sheila, there may be a small amount of polish left on the stamp, and all you have to do is wipe off the stamper on a cotton ball or paper towel with a little remover on it. It's very easy to clean :)

    L8B, thank you!! I remember you saying something about that lamp before and I wrote it down and forgot about it... I will have to go get one right away! Thank you so much for your tips, you take amazing photos!

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  19. Love your Konad work. I've done so much I am a little burned out right now however your combo makes me want gold fiction. Crap!!

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  20. Aaaah, gorgeous! That is SO hot! I wish I knew that technique when I was sporting the 80's sleaze glam look, lol! Maybe I should give it another go? Lol!

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  21. I know I commented on this post, but I can't see it now.

    I only wanted to say I love CND's Okey Dokey Artichokey. It is gorgeous. That one and Hyde in the Dark are the only two I stll got in my collection of polishes. I hate that they never dry...

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  22. Oh, and now I am in the wrong post... I am still a bit asleep...

    Well, the Konad-post I thought I commented too, and of course i loved the beautiful leopard print!

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  23. Tink, all your awesome Konad pics made me want to use mine again! Love them! :)

    Rocketqueen, lol! You totally should! :D

    Sminkan, hehe! I have had a few problems with disappearing comments lately and I have no idea what's causing it! Hmm.... Maybe I should email technical support and find out what's going on!

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  24. This time it was totally on me. I am a bit whimsical at times... Sorry!

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  25. Elle*, you should get one! They're inexpensive and so fun to use!

    Sminkan, haha no worries :)

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  26. Okay, just wanted to throw in a thanks for the photo tips! My swatches look like crap if I don't have sunlight!

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  27. Rocketqueen, I think your pictures rock :D

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