Sponged Flowers

 

This week, I thought I'd try something a little different with the sponged designs. Since I didn't have time to edit video last week, I figured I'd just do another static tutorial this week. It was fun, though it did take quite awhile for this particular manicure...

I had a French manicure in mind, with delicate flowers just sort of hanging in the design. As usual, it turned out much differently on my nails then in my head, but I don't think it was too bad for a first try. The colors I used are OPI's "My Daddy's the King" and "Bubble Bath" (though I couldn't get BB open, so I substituted Finger Paint's "Well-Cultured Pearl" for the white), China Glaze "Wine Me, Dine Me" and another OPI, "Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow".

To start, I layered two coats of "MDTK" over a coat of Seche Vite base coat:

I couldn't get my BB open, so two coats of "Well-Cultured Pearl" at the tips, and then one more thin coat of MDTK over the whole nail, to mute the white and blend.

Then I used Here "Today, Aragon Tomorrow" applied with a fine paintbrush to create stems and leaves for my flowers:

And then a small piece of natural sponge dipped into "Wine Me, Dine Me" to apply the flowers.

Two coats of Seche Vite top coat to seal, a little clean-up, and voila! Puffy flowers!

Next time, I'll cut the sponge smaller - the larger sponge tip made it hard to maintain control, but I think a smaller tip will do the job fine. I'll also use a nail art pen or striper brush for the stems...the regular paintbrush just didn't quite give me the control I would have liked.

Nonetheless, I've gotten several compliments on this one this week, so it's definitely getting noticed. :-)

I just got a package of goodies from Glamorous Cosmetics, so next week, a manicure featuring those! Until then, happy polishing...

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Memorial Day 2012

I have a new camera - yay! I was going to try out a video for this week, but then I caught my husband's head cold, and just didn't have the energy. So a straight photo tutorial today, and perhaps I can get video done next week.

Yesterday was Memorial Day in the US, so I decided a bit of patriotism was in order...

Polishes used: Zoya "Indigo", Sinful Colors "Ruby, Ruby" and a white StripeRite striper polish.

 I started with two coats of "Ruby, Ruby" (before you go commenting on my messy process, please read this - thanks).

 Next, I painted vertical stripes down each nail in white, all flag-like. This really works best with the long, narrow brush in a striper bottle, but you can use a toothpick or a very thin paintbrush too, if you're careful.

 After that, I used two coats of Zoya "Indigo" for the tips, and decided at the last minute to outline them lightly with a silver glitter striper polish.

 Finally, I used one coat of Seche Vite top coat to set white pearl beads into to represent stars on the blue tips. I sealed them with one more coat of topcoat over everything.

After clean-up, all done! This would be great for the 4th of July as well, methinks...

Until next week, happy polishing!

More about → Memorial Day 2012

Halloween Meltdown

As you may have noticed, I'm having trouble keeping up with October posts this year. We're having a big Halloween bash here at the house in 11 days, getting new carpet in 6 days, and trying to get everything ready on time. Needless to say, my head hasn't exactly been on nail pictures. 
So I'll repost this manicure from last year for your viewing pleasure this week, and next week I'll post my split personality manicure to go with my costume. Enjoy these purple nails - I sure did! :-) 

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 I decided to go purple, orange and silver for this week's Halloween nail colors. I was a little apprehensive about whether the China Glaze "Spellbound" glitter would go with the Urban Decay "Meltdown" royal purple. After some reassurance from hubby that it would work just fine, I started with two coats of Meltdown over base coat. I can't say this polish was my fave to work with. It's thicker than I'm used to, and harder to control. I just adore this color though - isn't it gorgeous? Then I added one coat of Spellbound from the cuticle just half way up the nail for some glitter. I have horrible light at night, but wait for the "finished" photos. Spellbound is...spellbinding! I was going to use silver bouillon beads for the letters, but decided that they'd "get lost" in the silver glitter. So I used the white Migi pen instead to write "Eek!" on one hand, and "Boo!" on the other. A little top coat, some clean-up and a little outdoor lighting - voila! Another festive (and very easy) Halloween manicure! I've already gotten a compliment at work for these...Halloween nails seem popular this year! More Halloween next week...

More about → Halloween Meltdown

Pierced Fall Foils

Sorry about the missed post last week. I sorta got sidetracked by way too many evenings out and about. Thankfully, this week should be much more normal.

I've been dying to try this rich brown color - Misa "When U Say My Name" ever since I bought it, and now that fall is around the corner, I couldn't hold back any longer. I decided that gold and copper foil would accent it nicely, then on a whim, decided to pierce my pinky nail just for a little extra glint of gold. The foils I'm using are from Nail Art Delights, and I find it's easier to pull them into little pieces before starting the manicure. I just use a couple of orange sticks...the foil is extremely thin and will go flying with one deep breath (which is what makes it fabulous for nails...).

After I cut and filed my nails, I got my nail drill (also purchased from Nail Art Delights), laid my pinky finger on a flat, hard surface, and started turning the drill back and forth right where I wanted the hole until it went all the way through.

Groovy! I find it's easier to do this without polish, but if you have thinner nails, it might work better with base coat, at least. If you do drill before polishing, remember to keep something handy to poke polish out of the hole with...

Next up, Seche Vite base coat, and two coats of Misa's "When U Call My Name". I love this color...just enough gold in it to shine nicely, but still a very dark, rich color. Yummy!

Then to set the foil, I brushed on a thin layer of top coat, and just sort of piled it on randomly. The foil sticks to the top coat very easily, so it's a pretty quick job. I use an orange stick to wrinkle/de-wrinkle where it seems to work.

You'll notice I still don't have the ring in yet - I put two coats of Seche Vite top coat over these, let them dry, and then when I did clean up in the morning I put the ring through the hole. You'll need at least needle nose pliers for the task, and possibly a small pair of regular pliers too (for closing the jump ring).

And there you have it! I got tons of compliments on these - they were much more shiny than these photos give them credit for.

Because I know someone will wonder - yes, I can type with a ring in my pinky. The trick is to put the hole far enough back that the ring moves freely, but doesn't dangle too far off the nail. It does help if you're already used to longer nails though.

I can't decide whether to go with a matte for next week, a crackle, or a duochrome. I guess it will be a surprise! Until then, happy polishing...

More about → Pierced Fall Foils

Stars 'n Stripes 2011

I know I said I'd do video...but I what can I say? I was catching up on The Bachelorette while I did these (it's my husband's fault I got hooked - he went out with the guys one Sat. night, and it was on, and I just kept watching...yeah. Annoying, I know. But I digress...).

Anyways...I used my favorite Seche Vite base/top coat, along with Sparkly Nails red striper, Avon's "Splendid Blue" and Pure Ice "Platinum". I really waffled with whether to use the stars or not, because if those little points don't get pushed into the polish pretty well and coated heavily with topcoat, they can be uncomfortable to work around. Dangerous even. In the end, it just didn't look right without them, as you can see.

I started with two coats of Pure Ice "Platinum", which isn't the right color white, it's too pearly. Pretty, but cheap polish - I'm tossing all of this stuff out, I think, as it bubbled on me too.

I topped that with diagonal stripes with a red striper brush courtesy of Sparkly Nails. They sent this to me quite a while ago, but the polish was still nice and thin, and applied very easily. I was actually very impressed by the quality after so much time has passed. Great red color too.

Then I applied Avon "Splendid Blue" diagonally across the stripes, covering about half the nail. I'll get a video of this technique eventually, but I start with a single line across the center of the nail, and work out to the edge from that. Two coats, to cover all the polish underneath.

I liked the way this looks, but I'm sure you can see why it needed stars or something...the blue is just too overwhelming otherwise. So a thick coat of top coat, then press the little stars in firmly, then two more good coats of top coat to seal.

I cleaned up with an orange stick in the shower (the Pure Ice was hard to get off too), and clipped any errant star corners with a fingernail clipper to ensure the safety of myself and those I might brush against. And voila! A very patriotic manicure, I'd say.

I had a little tip pull - also the Pure Ice, I think, and my neglecting to wrap the polish around the edge.

Hope you had a fabulous holiday - until next week, Happy Polishing!

More about → Stars 'n Stripes 2011

Blue & Pink Swirl – Water Marble

It’s been awhile since I’ve done water marble art, and unfortunately, you can tell by how it turned out. Not my best work, but we all have flops sometimes, eh? Still, the nice thing about a marble is that people won’t necessarily realize it went wrong. ;-)

There’s a video at the end of the post...I’m afraid I’m still not all that great with the actual recording video part, and it shows, but it’s not too bad for my first try. The only way to get better is to practice, right? Maybe next time I’ll even keep my fingers in the center of the frame...

I used four polishes for this manicure – shown & labeled above. My “Megawatt?!” is really thick, which is why you won’t see it expand as much as the other colors in the video. Other than that, these colors worked really well, and I think they look pretty nice together too.

Before I started, I coated my fingers under the nail to the first knuckle and around the cuticles with petroleum jelly (next time I’ll probably use a thick homemade salve I normally use on my face). This prevents the polish from sticking to the skin – but as you’ll see, I should have gone farther down on my fingers with it...

I started with one coat of Seche Vite base coat, then added two coats of Finger Paints “Well-Cultured Pearl” as the base color.

Then I started dropping polish in my bowl of warm water. I cycled through Misa “Like It Like That”, OPI “A Rose Before Dawn...Broke by Noon”, and OPI “Megawatt?!”. One drop inside the other, as shown.

I didn’t get any good dipping pics, so you’ll have to watch the video for a slightly blurry demonstration of my amateur technique. This is the after-shot for one hand done.

I cleaned off the excess polish by simply wiping away the petroleum jelly with a paper towel (also show in the video), and then used a nail corrector pen (I generally use Avon) to clean up the rest.

And there you have it – a swirly water marble manicure (don’t mind my poor broken nails – ugh). Here's the video:

So what’s on your nails this week? And what kind of tips on water marbling do you have for me? I think I need to watch more of Colette’s videos...

More about → Blue & Pink Swirl – Water Marble

Current Mani & Latest Haul

It's 11:59pm, so I won't get this up before Weds, but hey, I tried. When I started to get pictures off my camera, I noticed that I had a few tutorial sets that I haven't posted here yet. So I'll set those up to post for the next couple of weeks. For tonight - this week's manicure and my super-awesome haul from Nubar, plus a smaller one from Head 2 Toe Beauty. Because I am *constantly* running out of top coat...

Actually, I guess the haul pics first, because I used the new polishes for this week's manicure. So here it is:

Those two tall bottles in the back are Seche Vite base and top coat - 4oz each. You can order the professional kits that include the big bottle, a regular .5oz bottle and a handy pouring lid from Head 2 Toe Beauty, and if you go through top coat like I do, it's a much better deal than buying a normal bottle every few weeks.

I also got the two Misa polishes from there (the two square bottles), unfortunately you can't see the color well here. One is a dark bronze and the other a deep teal green - "Like it Like That" and "When U Say My Name", respectively. I forgot to set them out, but I got two of the China Glaze crack polishes as well - "Crushed Candy" (teal) and "Cracked Concrete" (gray). Finally I also got a couple bottles of China Glaze Matte Magic top coat - my go-to solution for making matte polish last (and matting other polish as well).

The two tiny bottles are a blue and blue glitter I picked up at Sally Beauty Supply the other day. And then there's my Nubar haul...

I went a little nuts with the duochromes, but I don't regret it one bit. The odd polishes out were Midnight Matte Finish, a dark charcoal matte you'll see below; and Nubar 2010, which I've been dying to get for ages. Duochromes above are: Purple Beach, Iris Dust, Reclaim, and Wildlife.  

Whew! I have an order with Zoya that should be here any day now...

So for this week's manicure, I did one coat of base coat (Seche), then two coats of Nubar Midnight Matte to start. I brushed on one coat of Nubar 2010, which is clear with foil flecks (should have taken a pic before I matted it down again).

Then I used the China Glaze Matte Magic to seal and matte down the whole thing again. My pictures don't do it justice at all - it looks like granite with little flecks of green/pink/gold running through it. I really love the way it turned out...a very distinctive look.

Obviously I need to brush up on my photography skills...and you'll note that I have a broken-off nail on each hand. *sigh*

So now that I have new polish, I was thinking maybe I should clean out my polish drawer...or at least organize it a little:

What, you don't keep your polish in the fridge? Weird. ;-)

Regardless, it's a mess. And a daunting one at that. Maybe another day...

More about → Current Mani & Latest Haul