How would you like to win a box full of nail art supplies? If you're anything like me, you'd love to! (And since you're reading this, odds are you're probably at least a little bit like me.)
Enter Viva la Nails! They're having a sweet little contest to celebrate Mother's Day, and one lucky person will win a gift pack worth £29.95! (That's almost $50 in US money!) The gift pack includes water decals, nail wraps, rhinestones, glitter and more! Pretty exciting... I know I'd love to find that in my mailbox!
I know what you're thinking. Yea, but what's the catch? There isn't one. It's open internationally, and all you have to do is leave a comment telling how your mother has inspired you, then make a tweet. It's seriously easy...
But you've got to act fast if you want to win. This contest is only open til March 12, 2012, so you'd better get right on it. Hop on over to the Viva la Nails blog for full details and get started! You can't win if you don't enter, right?
Ahhh, raise your hand if you knew I was going to add to the dots. I didn't even wait 10 minutes before hitting post before getting my polishes out. Yea, I have no self-control.
Still, I think it turned out pretty cute. I showed my husband the before and after pics, and he likes the dots-in-dots best. He thinks there's more energy to them. Personally, I think they're just more fun this way!
Adding the smaller dots was really easy. I pulled out the three colors I'd used in the gradient along with the mid-sized dotting tool and my palette. I added a drop of lavender, put a few dots here and there, then repeated with the pink and the blue. Once I'd done all three colors, I went back and filled in any leftover dots with whatever color I thought would work best.
It was pretty random, and went really quickly. I'm enjoying the look a lot... every time I see my nails, I grin. The only thing that would make this even better would be some glitter, but even I think that would be a bit much. At least... for now. ;)
I have to admit, though... now that I've figured out an easy way to do gradients I may be doing LOTS of them! I have so many ideas bouncing around in my mind!
So what do you think? Is this a design you'd wear? Leave me a comment and tell me how you'd style this, or how you'd change it!
Why yes, I think I AM losing my mind... how kind of you to notice!
After wearing the pastel gradient for a day, I needed something else with a bit of graphic pop. I thought about zebra stripes, or a leopard print. I thought about plain stripes. But I decided to go with plain old polka dots.
Speaking of, have you ever wondered where the term polka dots originated? I'm a bit of a word geek, and decided to track it down the other day. Turns out, the dotted pattern was named for a dance called the polka in the 1850s. The dance was such a craze that there were lots of things named after it! It was that crazy pop music of the time, apparently. Call that your weird fact of the day.
Unfortunately, my dots aren't nearly as neat as I'd hoped they would be. I'm still getting the hang of using my dotting tools again! Still, I'm really happy with these, and they look much better at normal viewing distance. (You know, when the camera isn't making my nails as big as my head!)
I chose Gothic Lolita from the Electropop collection because it went to perfectly with these colors. I promise I'm going to use some other colors eventually, but I love these so much! This was one giveaway prize I was thrilled to win, because these colors have my name all over them!
The process couldn't be more simple. I pulled out my palette (which is actually a packet of nail decals) and put a drop of Gothic Lolita onto it. Then I used my largest dotting tool to make dots on my nails. It's really super easy.
Now, you may find it hard to do a consistent pattern. I've struggled with that as well, so this is how I worked around it. I start with a dot in the center of my nail, then put one above it and below it (in a line). Then I go in between the dots to one side, and then to the other. I also try and put partial dots where they would be if they're going off the nail. That always makes things look nicer to me. I quick clean up with my brush and acetone and I'm ready to go! It ends up looking something like this.
Unfortunately, now that they're on, I'm strongly tempted to put small dots inside the big ones. I can never leave well enough alone, but how cute would little dots in the pastel colors look, with the purple framing them?
Sometimes my brain just won't stop tormenting me with ideas. It gets tiring!
Aah well, check back tomorrow to see what I've done with them. Who knows!
I only wish I got paid for every post I made using the China Glaze Electropop collection...
Ever have a day when you see something that totally changes how you look at something? Yea, that was me last night. I was browsing nail stuff online (as I so often do) and came across people doing a sponged gradient in a totally different way. (See here and here for examples.) It looked much easier than the tutorial I just wrote, and it looked just as good (if not better)! I had to try it out!
And that's it! You cut a piece of sponge the size of your nail (or just paint an area the size of your nail), paint stripes of the colors you're using onto your sponge, then pat-pat-pat the sponge over your nail all at once. The gradient basically forms itself, and you're left with a very messy gradient that goes all over your fingers!
I sent a link to my friend, needing to share my excitement over this find. She didn't believe that it could look so smooth and pretty. Then she did it- she challenged me to prove to her it could look that smooth and soft. What could I do?
I pulled out my China Glaze Electropop collection and started painting. I only did one nail, as a proof of concept, and WOW was it messy. There's really no way to avoid getting the polish everywhere unless you tape off your fingers like you would do for a water marble. I'll have to try that next time...
Still, the one nail I did turned out beautiful. This wasn't enough for her... she didn't think it looked smooth enough, so I added a layer of topcoat over everything to meld it together.
Even though I know how much topcoat can pull a manicure together, I was still blown away at just how smooth this gradient was! It was so easy, and so pretty. That's one stamped coat of rainbow goodness on my index finger there, and it's absolutely gorgeous.
She was pretty gobsmacked too. She couldn't believe how fast and easy it was to get a gradient look like this. She's definitely looking at her ombre nails kit differently now.
So of course, I needed to do a full manicure like this, but I was too lazy to deal with 5 colors like I had in my test run. I ended up sticking with three pastel shades- I'm fairly sure I used Dance Baby, Sweet Hook, and Kinetic Candy.
As you can see, it worked beautifully. The stripes on the sponge really didn't look all that soft and gradienty, but on the nail? Gorgeous pastel softness. I'm just blown away at how smooth the transition is!
Cleanup was an utter nightmare, much like trying to clean up a water marble is. I used cotton swabs, brushes and acetone, and still had a horrible mess to clean up. Still... it's SO worth it!
I can just see doing all my nails in rainbows. You could also do angled gradients or vertical gradients, based on how you apply the colors on the sponge. I really am in love with this look!
Although now I'm thinking it would be fun with a pattern over it- I'm thinking zebra stripes, or maybe leopard print. My husband laughed when he saw it and said my nails look like easter eggs.
So, what do you think of this look? Would you wear it? Would you change it? Would you put a print over the top of it? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of it...
Once again, it was time to see my pain management team. For the first time in months, I felt up to doing a fun manicure for my doctor's visit! Unfortunately, this time it just wouldn't work the way I wanted it to.
I've been itching to try to do something rainbow-inspired since I got the China Glaze Electropop collection. The colors are just so vibrant and fun! I wasn't up for anything too detailed, though, so I decided to do a skittles manicure, then paint penguins on top of it.
Instead of using nail polish for the details, though, I decided I would use acrylic paints instead. I've got some ideas I want to do and I think acrylics would work much better, as well as being easier to correct if I totally make a mess of things. This would be a great way to get used to using acrylics, right?
Clearly, I need lots of practice. From what I can tell, my paint was much too thick, and I was trying to get the details opaque with one coat. Bad idea! Then, I added top coat before the acrylic paint was completely dry which made the paint do weird cracking things and make bubbles. After that, I added another coat of topcoat to try and smooth things out and added even more bubbles!
This was a total mess... but at least I've learned something. Oh, and to add insult to injury, I photographed it last night and figured there was no harm in removing it. Then, when I got the pictures in to crop for the blog post I found that only two shots were usable- the two I combined for the pic in this post.
I've still been fiddling with them, trying to see just how much I can do with them. The verdict is in... they're lots of fun! Turns out they're even more versatile than I thought, which means lots of fun for everyone!
So, what would be a fun way to embellish punched nail decals? Since I had an adorable cupcake punch, I decided to play around with those. It was a perfect chance to fiddle with multicolor polish strips. Once I punched out my cupcakes, I wasn't happy with them, though. But then I realized they needed something else- the proverbial cherry on top, if you will.
I pulled out my plastic bags again, along with some clear nail polish and the adorable Fingr's Flirt nail and body jewels kit I'd been sent ages ago to evaluate. Those are the cutest little gems, tiny and perfect for nail art! I put a tiny dot of clear polish onto the bag for each cupcake, then pressed it gently into place so that it wouldn't be moving around. Then I added a tiny dab of clear polish onto the top of each cupcake and pressed a stone onto each one to represent a sparkling cherry (or other cupcake decoration). Once that had dried, I added a coat of topcoat to seal everything together and held my breath.
As you can see, they worked out wonderfully! I wanted to make sure there wasn't a lot of excess clear polish around each decal, so I used my cleanup brush with some acetone to remove any extra that had gathered around the edges of the decals. I also added different embellishments to some hearts and butterflies. Some got gems, some got glitter. All got a coat of topcoat and cleanup afterwards.
I found out you can really play with the dimensionality of the decals once they're set up like this. For the tiny heart I mixed some Isis brand glitter in the color Coral Beach from Nail de Royale with clear polish into a thick paste, then mounded it onto the tiny heart. To my surprise, it stayed mounded once it was dry! So cute... I may have to make some more of those...
This pic should give you an idea of how large these decals are... that's my index finger it's sitting on! So teeny and cute... I love it!
I also experimented with another substance for decals. I didn't like how the nail polish decals can crack, or melt and smear with topcoat. I started thinking, and realized I've had success peeling acrylic paint off of my palette once it's dried. It was time to experiment some more!
As you can see, they turned out nicely! I had some old cheapie acrylic paints that came with a kids' art project years ago. They were super-thick with age, so I smeared them onto my plastic bag with a craft stick and let them dry.
Some of them turned out pretty thick, but it was still proof that the idea works. These decals end up
sticking well to the plastic bag, so I didn't have any problem with them getting stuck together or cracking or anything. And with a dab of clear polish, I was able to combine decals for bold color, or to add rhinestones or glitter to them. I am SO in love with these!
So there you have it- even more options for creating your own nail decals! I've had much too much fun making these, and now that I know I can use my acrylic paints? I may need more storage just for the mini punches I plan to acquire!
I know, I know, it's a sickness... but at least it's a productive one!
Various items were provided by the manufacturers for consideration. Links are in the post.
Hi again. It's still all kinds of pukey at my house, so we'll look at another blast from the past. Anything to distract me, yes?
This design is another monochromatic look. I was again looking to show that you don't need a ton of colors or tools to make pretty nail art. I think it worked decently!
The steps for this one are simple, and could be switched up easily based on whatever you have on hand. You don't need a lot to do this.
Supplies needed:
base coat
three shades of nail polish: a dark shade, a medium shade, and a light shade.
accent pieces
top coat
something to make blobs with
For accent pieces, you could use just about anything: glitter polish, glitter in various sizes or shapes, striping tape, rhinestones, flat-backed pearls, or stickers. This would be gorgeous with a line of tiny swarovski crystals accenting the line, or with little flower rhinestones. You could also accent a few of the light-colored blobs with glitter polish for a bit more shine. What can I say, I'm all about the glitter!
It breaks down something like this:
Paint your nails with your base coat.
Paint your nails with your darkest color. For this design I used black.
Paint one corner with your midtone color. I used silver.
Paint splotches of your lightest color over the darkest color. I used white.
A design like this can also be tweaked to fit different situations. You could replace the spotches with little hearts for valentine's day, use purple green and gold for Mardi Gras, use earth tones for fall or pastels for spring. You could use tiny flower stickers in place of the white blobs, or shiny hearts.
It really is up to you, and can be silly, bright or elegant. I worked up quite a few variations, just to give you an idea of just how versatile this type of design is!
So again, I feel like I can't say this often enough: experiment! Play with your polishes, try things out together. Try different colors together to see if they work, and if you like it, go for it! It's only nail polish, and no mistakes are permanent!
Til next time!
Rhombus glitter was provided by Born Pretty for consideration.
