First and Last 'Watercolor' Nail Art

Hello, Fireflies!

Still working on this month's challenge to recreate the first 4 nail arts that I recorded.  The second one I found was this 'watercolor' acetone-wash blue and gold mani.  I was so proud. *sniff* That pose is so awkward, though, it's almost painful.

I think it's harder to post these old manis than it's been to post my makeup-free face!

To start the re-creation, I used two coats of Nina Ultra Pro Blue La La, a dusty medium blue.  Love the color, but the brush was wonky, so my application was less than stellar.

The build up of blue wasn't all that exciting, so I'll spare you that and go to the final blue look, where I dabbed on Hope Girl BL03, Bettina Gems Sapphire, and Different Dimension Dewing It Right, and patted on acetone in between colors.

Then, the gold - my fave Maybelline Bold Gold.  I will admit that I tried the DIY Spotted technique on top of this, where you water marble a black with an alcohol spray, and failed utterly miserably.  It just looked matte black and lumpy on my nails.

Bottle shot:  Nina Ultra Pro Blue La La, Hope Girl BL03, Bettina Gems Sapphire, Different Dimension Dewing It Right, and Maybelline Bold Gold.

I don't know if the nail art looks much better, but I used two additional polishes, so I should get points for complexity.  In my mind, I am sooo much better than I used to be, but maybe I've not come as far as I'd thought! I'll admit, this exercise is a bit humbling!

Are you better at a skill you've been practicing for the last two years?

An InLinkz Link-up

TRI-holo watercolor

Hello, Fireflies!

Last Tri-polish Tuesday for March, and I'm celebrating with a watercolor holo design.  I started off with Different Dimensions Good Evening Clarice, a sheer mint-green with a subtle holo.  If you like holos, you should check out this Indie.  She makes some of my faves.

I placed random blobs of Nabi Sky Blue over that.  Nabi holos aren't very strong, but I think they are so pretty.  Sky Blue has a gorgeous color to it.

Nabi Deep Purple went on over that.  What a gorgeous royal purple.  I've never seen Nabi in stores around me, but there are a couple of sellers on Ebay that sell pick-your-own-color collections, which is how I got mine.

I dabbed on a little more of the green, and then added topcoat to blend everything together. 

It's a Monet!  If you stand far enough away, you can see water lilies, or a landscape.  Can you see the Eiffel Tower in the ring finger? no?  Are you squinting?

Bottle Shot:  Different Dimensions Good Evening Clarice, and Nabi Sky Blue and Dark Purple.

I like to switch up between really defined nail art patterns, and something more random, like this.  What's your favorite type of nail art?

An InLinkz Link-up

Metal Head

Hi Fireflies!

Bang Your Head! Metal Health will drive you mad!

Avon Brushed Metals won't drive you mad, but they are pretty Metal.  This is Dusky Copper.

I love this polish.  It really does look like textured metal! This is pretty much one coat - it's thick, but has a pretty good formula.

I wanted to try a 'watercolor' mani with lots of metallics, so I used Maybelline Bold Gold and Essie's No Place Like Chrome, Penny Talk, and Nothing Else Metals. 

I'm not sure how I feel about it.. I kinda like the patina look, like it's water-worn and maybe even melted a little.  But, it also looks a little muddy.

I wanted to try a different look that showcased the metal texture, so I just added some large hexagonal gold studs, and topcoat.

Metal with metal.  Yeah.  That's Metal.

Bottle shot:  Avon Brushed Metals in Dusky Copper, Maybelline Bold Gold, and Essie's Nothing Else Metals, No Place Like Chrome, and Penny Talk.

How do you feel about metallics?  Only for stamping? As long as their shiny and reflective? Or do you like this brushed metal look?

Sparkling Water Watercolor

Hello, Fireflies!

For today's mani, I wanted to try the watercolor technique I saw in a video posted by Chalkboard Nails, where you take small dots of polish and dab them with a brush dipped in acetone, and then spread the dots over the nail.

I started with OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, a lovely off-white that applies so smoothly!

I put 2 or 3 drops of Sinful Colors Jolt on each nail and then dabbed with the acetone.  I was lazy and did all the polish first and then the acetone.  I think it works better if you just do one nail at a time.

Then I added Sally Hansen Kiwi Bikini.

Same thing with Maybelline Plum Paradise.

The last color I added was Sinful Colors Shock and Awe.  And then I repeated all the colors one more time.

Topcoat is essential for smoothing out a look like this.  I love how all the colors blend together, but you can still see random dots of color.

I couldn't resist adding a little bling with Orly Sparkling Garbage!  This is my fave glitter, and it's always close at hand.

Bottle shot:  OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Maybelline Plum Paradise, Sally Hansen Kiwi Bikini, Sinful Colors Jolt, and Sinful Colors Shock and Awe.

What do you think of this acetone/watercolor technique? 

A Very Special Mani

Some of you may remember this mani that I did a while ago:

It was for a girlfriend of mine who was going on her first date with a guy a friend at church had set her up with.  It was fun to chat while doing her nails and see how excited (and nervous!) she was about going on a date again.

Fast forward.....

....and now I'm doing her nails for her wedding!

It was an informal service, and she wore a brightly colored dress, and wanted nails to match.

I started with China Glaze Aquadelic, a lovely color somewhere between turquoise and seafoam, I guess.

Then I used Sally Hansen Thinking of Blue and White Tip and a 'watercolor' technique done by smudging the colors with acetone.

To soften it and add some iridescent shine, I layered Aphrodite Lacquer VIP Room on top.

During the ceremony, my friend held the bible that her mother had also held when she had married.  So sweet!

After the ceremony, the couple found a tribal-esce, colorful drum to use as a backdrop. 

The happy couple!  May their marriage be long and happy and colorful!

Stamping Sunday - Invasion!!!

INVASION!!

What better color to start with for an alien invasion than green?  I wanted to try my new Layla Ceramic Effect in khaki, and I was not disappointed.  Not sure it was totally worth the inflated price over other cremes, but it definitely applied like a dream.

I decided to play around with the acetone "watercolor' technique and add dark and light greys to the mix.  The dark grey is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Grey Area, and the light grey is Essence Grey-t to be here. 

An unexpected benefit to using the Essence was that, as the color washed out with the acetone, it left the pink shimmer behind, adding an other-worldly haze to the background of my alien invasion.

I used FNUG holos to stamp on my invasion.  Futuristica, the blue holo, was used for the ufos on my thumb, and the alien on my pinky.  Fantastica, the green holo, was used for the Space Invaders on my middle and ring fingers, as well as the rocket and ufo on my index finger.

 Are you ready for the invasion??

Watercolor mani

I tried, I wanted to emulate this fantastic watercolor mani I'd seen online, but this was as close as I could get!  At this point, I still didn't really know how to clean up a manicure, either... and out of all the blue polishes I own, these Finger Paints ones stain.  They are beautiful, but they stick around long after the party's over.

I've not seen the Savvy polishes or Finger Paints outside of Sally's, and I got all of them on clearance at different times.  I will be trying this mani again sometime - it's not hard - use a base white, and add drops of polish and move them around with an acetone-dipped brush.  I think it just needs practice.

Finger Paints - Add & Abstract
Savvy - Golden Honey
Finger Paints - Artistic Azure