Hey there! Today I have a look at Maniology's latest Mani X Me box. December's box is all about gems/marble which makes for some really fantastic designs. For the uninitiated, the Mani X Me box is a monthly subscription box (also available on a month-by-month basis) that contains two exclusive stamping plates, two polishes and an "extra" which changes every month. While the full box is really affordable (at $20-25 USD/month, depending on subscription length), it's also available in an Express format which doesn't include the polishes, for $15.30-18 USD/month). I normally do two manis per plate but this month just screamed for a mix-n-match so most of them included both plates together. This month's box is available until December 23rd so you have until Monday to decide if this one is for you! And, if you're new, you can use the code COPY10 to save $5 off your first box which makes it even more affordable!
Turquoise
Turquoise is the first polish in December's box and its name pretty much says it all. It's a little green-leaning bright turquoise creme polish, opaque at a single coat that stamps great over white and black.
Pewter
Pewter is the second polish. It's a dark silver metallic. Application is good though, as with most metallics, some brushstrokes are visible as a regular polish. Shown is two coats plus top coat.
MXM 021 and MXM022
Since I didn't use the plates separately, I'll show them both straight off the bat. As you can see there's a lot of gem/stone images with quite a few layering options which makes for an complicated-looking mani but without the fuss of reverse stamping. MXM022 also has some marble images which are very trendy these days.
My first mani is a bit of a skittle mani using both polishes from the box and images from both plates. Seriously, those layered gems are amazing and I particularly loved this really ornate image.
For my second look, I went a bit more with a natural rock look, partially inspired from a bunch of stones I bought for my niece at the farmers market last weekend. I started taking her to the market when she was really young and we'll always buy some "rocks". In this case she might be finding rocks in her stocking next week...which is better than a lump of coal, haha! For these I used Cirque colors Pebbles as a base and then used a some of the layered images with Hit The Bottle Make Mine A Mudslide, Everyday I’m Truffling, My Suitor Wears Pewter, Beyond The Griege, Whiskey Latte, A Flock of Seagulls, Looking For Mr Grey and and Painted Polish Stamped In Chocolate and Maniology Turquoise and Straight Up Black topped with OPI matte top coat.
This one is a bit of a fail. I wanted a rose quartz mani, inspired by this month's "extra" but the jelly polish I used for the sandwich was too opaque to see the layers. I started with Cirque Colors Uptown Girl and stamped with Maniology's Bam White. Then I added a coat of a pink jelly (more of a crelly, really), Loaded Lacquer No Bra. I stamped again with Bam White and then did another No Bra coat before finishing with glossy top coat.
And my final (and favourite mani) is a throwback to some gems I did before, but much easier. The earlier ones used loose flakies and builder gel but here I managed with just regular polish (which is preferable to me). I used KBShimmer Free Fallin' as the flakie polish, both on its own and with some reverse stamping in the heart images from both plates. For the stamping polish I used Maniology's Spiced Orange and Straight Up Black. Before I added the gem part of it, I used a matte top coat on everything and then just filled the gems with a bit of clear coat to have something tacky for the reverse stamping to stick too. Then I added a regular quick dry top coat to those areas to give it the 3D finish. I have to say, using regular top coat is sooooo much easier than builder gel which is super thick and stringy. This one was easy peasy.
Rose Quartz Stone Pallette
And the extra for this month was this lovely rose quartz stone, meant to be used as a pallette. It's a really lovely accessory to any nail area, easily cleaned with acetone. It might not be the most practical palette but sometimes we just need pretty things, right? And it's reusable which is much more environmentally friendly than the plastic lids I usually use!
I hope you've enjoyed my look at this month's box. Don't forget, you only have until Monday to decide on it. I haven't seen a preview for next month's yet but I have faith that I'll love it since I've been a fan of all of them to date. I still have some holiday/winter items from Maniology to share so I might be back on here tomorrow with those!
Available at Maniology
Use code COPY10 to save $5 off your first box or 10% off any other order
'Til next time...
1 comment:
Great manis :-D
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