GCOCL Nail Stamp Machine (Konad dupe)

I originally planned to purchase Konad's cheapest starter kit from wowwownails. The store is located at Steeles East near Pacific Mall, so I thought I'd peep first and decide whether I like it enough before committing to purchase.  I was this close to getting it but halted coz hubby remineded me there could be something similar in ebay. Lo and behold, ebay never disappoints! This GCOCL nail stamp machine definitely looks more luxurious than the Konad starter kit at only a fraction of the price (approx 15USD with free shipping)!

The kit comes with the nail stamp machine, 6 GCOCL metal plates, and 7 GCOCL nail polishes for stamping.

The nail stamp machine is actually a cool device which scrapes the polish off the metal plate uniformly and the image can be transferred precisely where it's intended.  It takes a little bit of practice to measure the positioning of the nails. But once you master the technique, everything can be done in 5 easy steps.  

1.  apply polish to the plate. 

2.  go over the plate with the pink scapper device to remove excess polish. 

3.  press down the stamp to transfer the image from the plate to the stamp.

4.  reposition the scrapper and press the stamp to transfer image from the stamp to the nails.

5.  clean the scrapper, stamp, and metal plate for next use.

While this is a cool device, I find that it takes more work to use the stamping machine when I want to position the image anywhere other than the middle of the nail.  After the image has been transferred to the stamp, I usually take the stamp out of the machine and manually transfer the image to my nails.  I can rotate the stamp however way I want that way.


The plate that comes with the kit are mostly florals designs.  They are cute and pretty easy to transfer.  But I did find some designs to be too intricate so it does not stamp well on the nails.  I was hoping to get at least one full nail plate, but it doesn't come with the kit.  Other designs can be purchased individually at ebay.

As for the nail polishes that comes with the kit, they are very opaque but dries super fast!  I decided to ditch these after using them once.  Regular polishes works better. Just be sure that the consistency of the polish is opaque enough to show through when stamped.

In case you are interested, the nail stamp machine can be purchased here.

I have ordered image plates from Bundle Master to try... will post them up once I receive the package. Can't wait!

Nail Polish Army

Wow, I didn't realize I have THIIIIIIS much nail polishes!!!

And the break down according to hues...

Black and Whites: Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, Art Deco White, Sally Hansen Celeb City, Sally Hansen Gunmetal, Sally Hansen Black Out

Reds: Wet n Wild Blazed, OPI Paint my Moji-toes Red, Wet n Wild Everybody Loves Redmond, The Face Shop RD303

Yellows and Greens: Joe Fresh Butter, The Face Shop GR502, Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom, Essie Cool Click

Blues: Essie Coat Azure, OPI Give Me the Moon, China Glaze Sea Spray, OPI What's with the Cattitude?, Sally Hansen Gray by Gray, Orly Sapphire Silk, Joe Fresh Persian Blue

Pinks and Purples: Essie French Affair, Essie Nice is Nice, Revlon Lilac Pastelle, Zoya Harley, Joe Fresh Fig, OPI Tickle me Francey, Sephora OPI Metro Chic

Oranges: Sally Hansen Petal Pusher, Zoya Alluria, Zoya Dulcinea, The Face Shop GL112

Nudes and Taupes: Essie Topless & Barefoot, Rimmel Crushed Pearl, Orly Powder Puff, Essie Sand Tropez, Orly Country Club Khaki, Sephora OPI Under My Trench Coat

Base and Top Coats: Sally Hansen Base & Top Coat, OPI Base Coat, Seche Vite Top Coat, Out the Door Top Coat, Sally Hansen Strobe Light, Sally Hansen Disco Ball

I'm generally more into nude and beige polishes...
My blue polishes started to accumulate for some reason...
I used to use the Sally Hansen Base & Top coat, but I'm loving the OPI base coat now...
Even though Seche Vite smells more overpowering and turns goopy easily, I still prefer it over Out the door. I use SV on newly painted nails, and OtD every 3-4 days for maintenance...
I have a few red nail polishes in my stash but never actually used them... I love red nails but it's a bit over for work....
Do you buy mini size polishes? I prefer to try the new collections in mini sizes first, but the mini brushes are such a pain to work with...

Everything squeezed into this baby wipes box...

I seriously need to reorganize this...

and stop buying! LOL

Nails of the week - Nail Stamping

First experience using GCOCL nail stamp machine I got through ebay.  I would love to get Konad but this is so much cheaper!  I will do a full review of the GCOCL machine to show the items that comes with the kit. 

Started with OPI's base coat and then used Orly's Country Club Khaki as a base.  For the flower stamps, I used Sally Hansen's Insa-Dri in Whirlwind White and Xtreme Wear in Celeb City.  Everything's topped off by Seche Vite top coat.  

Panda Nails

Since I started my adventure with nail art, I can't seem to wear my nails with just plain polish. Hubby would always complain how I stay up late to just paint my nails.. LOL... something only girls can understand :)

Here's what I have on for this week which was inspired by a tutorial done by cutepolish on youtube.  My lil monkey said it's "koko panda" (that's how he says kung-fu panda LOL) haha...  I used Zoya's Dulcinea as base color. Now I understand why it was on clearance when I got it at Trade Secrets... the color is just meh... applies nicely though.  Panda design was done with Sally Hansen Extreme Nails in White On and Black Out.  Highly recommend this line for nail designs as they're so opaque!  And of course, I used my ever trusty ball point pen as dotting tool :)

If you notice, the panda faces on some nails are ... err... crooked.  It's hard to center the white dots on the black eyes.  And it's really difficult to make consistent designs on all ten fingernails! Anyhoo... just blabbing :)

That's it for now!

P.S.  I got my QVC package yesterday! Loving the Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous set! Stay tuned for a post on this baby :)

dotting away!

Since my first attempt at doing more than just one color nail polish, I've been so hooked into watching youtube tutorials on cutsie nail arts!  Well, everyone has to start with simple techniques so I decided to give dotting a try.

I never realized you could use almost anything around the house with a pointed tip as a dotting tool!  Search youtube for "DIY dotting tools" and you will be surprised with crazy ideas!  Anything from bobby pin, toothpick, ballpoint pen, needles, skewers - use your own imagination! :)

For this attempt, I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Petal Pusher as a sheer base.  The bottle definitely shows peach but on the nails, it looks more pink. After the base color is applied, I then dotted the flower pattern using Joe Fresh's nail polishes in Fig and Butter.  I used an old ballpoint pen that ran out of ink as a dotting tool so I can do the dots with more control.  To finish the design, I used Art Deco nail art lacquer in white to draw in the twigs. Uhm... it's not noticable in the photos but it's definitely there.  Everything is sealed using Seche Vite top coat *fave*. I'm so happy with the results!!!

Warning: photo spamming ahead... I just couldn't find the right angle to show all my finger nails in one shot! And I hate that my hands look so dry - like Sahara desert dry - in the photos... I wonder why....

It definitely takes practice to do even dots.  Painting and dotting using the left hand is another challenge I need to overcome... it's just so hard to maneuver! I only show photos of my left hand coz the flowers on the right hand are actually bigger... LOL

I thought the design looks very familiar.  Dug up photos from our pre-wedding pictorial and it's indeed similar to the nail art which I had professionally done at a salon. I can do nail art after all! :)

I saw a few nail art designs in youtube that I want to do next... can't wait!

Note: I don't have photos of the Joe Fresh polishes but do check out these blog posts for swatches - Fig & Butter.

What to do with a week old nail polish?

I have OPI What's with the Cattitude on my nails for almost a week now. I'm so impressed with how it lasted without any chip at all!  I buffed like crazy prior to applying nail polish though (tip I got from TiffanyD)... that also prolongs the wear. It was all perfect until I accidentally nicked one fingernail while chopping green bell peppers. Before you start to gross out, no... I didn't cut myself.

So, it was a decision between taking off or fixing it.  I decided to spice it up a little bit using another shade. I chose Orly Country Club Khaki coz that's the only thing I have in my drawer that's opaque enough in one application.  And the combination looks nice too.

Orly Country Club Khaki

OPI What's with the Cattitude?

And the result?  Damn... I need more practice :)  Looks nice from afar though LOL