Konad: If Practice Makes Perfect, Then I Need Practice!

Above: Finished! I'm satisfied, but not happy with it. I need practice! It didn't line up as well as I'd hoped and my topcoat smeared the 'special' polish. Nothing 'special' about their polish.
Below: The items I used. I much prefer an old credit card to the metal scraper. It doesn't scratch the plate and seems to scrape away the right amount of polish better than the metal one.

My love/hate relationship with my Konad needs work! I've had the kit since the beginning of January and have only used it once or twice. One of my first posts was about my Konad and I don't think I've touched it since. I always admire everyone else's ability to master this little wonder tool, but am starting to doubt my own. Perhaps I'm being too critical...I am at times, my own worst enemy. Today I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Flashy Fuchsia for the base, plate #m65 and Konad Special Nail Polish in white. I will say about the special polishes from Konad (the white is the only one I have), in my opinion, they don't dry very well. I applied my topcoat after about 10 minutes and it smeared the design to the point where I had to do them over again. Applied with a lighter touch the second time around made no difference, as it still smeared. I didn't have that problem with any previous attempts, always using other polishes than the 'special' one. But I'm not giving up! I will continue my quest to conquer the Konad and someday, success will be mine. Here are some reasons I call it a love/hate relationship:

I love the challenge, I love the look (when it comes out right!), I love the versatility and the endless options you have for designs/color combinations, and for the price, it's a very reasonable and enjoyable form of entertainment!

I hate dragging everything out and cleaning it up (there's not that much to it, but I'm lazy!), I hate when I can't get it lined up exactly, I hate when I don't get full coverage or there's the slightest imperfection, and I hate that I keep seeing more and more plates that I *need*! Hmmm, it seems that my hates reflect more upon me than on the product :)

It does seem that some colors are more forgiving of imperfections because these bright cremes I used today show every little mistake as compared to the darker shimmers and lighter frosts that I used in my previous post. A topcoat also seems to diminish some of the errors. Practice seems to be the key here and I am going to attempt to spend more time bonding with my Konad. But in all honesty, I love this little thing. It's fun, it's a great way to play up your nails, it allows you to be creative and most of all, it makes me happy.