Black & white plaid nails

Lately, I've been feeling more like playing around with my stash than wearing untried colors - this has resulted in a lot more short posts with just a few pics, but some of these looks have turned out just like I wanted them, and this one was a real fave of mine.  A colleague at work this week has been wearing the most adorable black & white plaid blazer, and after I told her I was just jonesing to do her nails to match, I went ahead and did mine.

outdoor, overcast daylight for both

My base here is Bee's Knees A Mantis Shrimp's Favorite Color, a stark white crème.  As per a recent suggestion on how to get white polish to be perfectly even in just 2 coats, I started with one coat of the white, then one coat of matte topcoat.  When I went in for the second coat of white, this resulted in a complete disaster of streaks and pulling, and I needed 2 more coats of white (so the same 3 coats I would have done anyway).  After being mightily annoyed by this "tip," this mani wore like iron for a week, so maybe it helped after all?  The plaid pattern is from a freebie gift with purchase stamping plate of a brand I've never heard of before or since, QA84.  No complaints from me at all, I'd always rather have a cute plate that works well than candy any day.

I got tons of compliments on this at work, though it was a simple single stamp in one color over a single-color mani, so this didn't take long at all to do.

~Michelle