Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Water Marbling

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a long time! Today I have my first full attempt at water marbling. I used instructions and tips that I remembered from various blogs and Pinterest. I started off trying NYC Long Wearing colors Fuchsia Shock and Times Square Tangerine but it didn't spread exactly the way I wanted to. So instead I used two coats of Maybelline's Color Show Go Go Green as a base and used both the green and Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear White On to do the marbling. Overall I think this was a really good first attempt, but it did take a long time.

By far the one I think turned out the best was my middle finger on my right hand. The white was completely opaque and the design was interesting. 
As for my left hand, the designs weren't as intricate, and the white was a lot more transparent than I would have liked, but I think it still made for a pretty nail design.
Sorry for the polish staining along the cuticles!
Tips I learned while researching and doing water marbling are:
1. WORK FAST! The polishes I used at least seemed to dry quickly and then it becomes much harder to marble the colors together.
2. Use filtered water. I read this somewhere on another blog (I can't think of it at the moment) and it seemed to help the colors spread easier.
3. Don't get too complicated, at least at first. When I tried using the NYC colors I had originally planned to use the green, orange, and pink, and do multiple patterns. Between the lack of spreading and time it took for me to add the colors, I just created a disaster. I think if you master two colors first with simpler designs, then you can build up to those crazy, beautiful designs we all see on the internet. Practice IS perfect.

Tomorrow I think I am going to start a 31 day Nail Art Challenge I found over at http://www.galacticlacquer.com/ and show you a great deal on 8 nail polishes I got from Walgreens!


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Batman Nails

So in honor of seeing the Batman movie Friday night, I decided to use some Batman temporary tattoos laying around to do my manicure! I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow as my base on all my nails. On my thumb, pinky, and middle finger I applied temporary tattoos I got from the kid party section at Walmart. On my ring and pointer finger I did striping with some thick nail tape I had lying around with Migi Nail Art Black polish. 

 After one of my nails chipped while I was moving some things around, I decided to try a little water marbling with yellow and black Migi Nail Art polish. Needless to say it didn't turn out that well, but I don't think it was too bad for my first attempt. 
Are you going to go see the new Batman movie?

Monday, July 16, 2012

Pink/Taupe Forever21 NOTD



Today I wanted to properly try out two new-ish polishes I picked up at the mall at Forever 21. I layered their "Crystal Pink Polish" over "A Touch of Taupe". 
picture from forever21.com
I work at a place that requires "muted" nail polish so when I saw this creamy nude I just had to have it! I was pleasantly surprised that the nail polish went on pretty opaque on the first coat. I used a second coat just to even some parts out (I'm still not perfect at application D:) but I think it's a good, muted polish to have in any nail collection.
picture from forever21.com
I am fairly new and unexperienced with larger glitter polishes so I got sort of frustrated when I was trying to deal with Crystal Pink. It has various sizes of what I would call shards of pink, metallic glitter. I had to do some working to get it on the nail without going over the sides and I had to work around with the brush to get it to spread easier, (I feel the base may have been a little thick, but that's just personal opinion), but once it was on, I felt it was worth it.
Here is a blurred picture to properly show the shine Crystal Pink gives off when it's on. I personally feel this is a great duo, and at only $2.80 a bottle, I can't complain. Forever 21 has a ridiculous amount of cute nail polishes and I highly suggest you go check them out :).

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Pink Love Mani (My FIRST post!)

I totally meant to start working on my first blog post MUCH earlier but I got distracted by some really wonderful giveaways on Facebook! Better late than never! Well to start off, here is a little bit about my nail adventures. I started slightly dabbling in nail art a few years ago when I received a Konad Nail Art Stamping Kit. Throughout the years I have enjoyed doing my nails, but never really tried advanced nail art, and I certainly never thought about the different types of nail polishes out there. Recently, however, I discovered some beautiful nail art blogs and I have been inspired to try my hand, (no pun intended :p), at nail art and swatching different polish brands I try out :). So, for my very first post, is perhaps the manicure I have been most proud of! A cute, extremely simple manicure using probably the neatest trick I've learned. 

I used a shimmery, metallic pink nail polish I received from a kit at Walmart (the brand is named The Color Workshop, there is no specific name for the color) on all my fingers except my accent nail. On the accent nail I used Revlon Top Speed Sheer Cotton. Then, for the heart, I used a neat trick I once saw on Tumblr. I used a cheap ($1.00 pack for four assorted sheets) temporary tattoo to apply the heart to my nail. You apply it the exact same way you would to your skin! (Just cut out the tattoo you want, remove the clear plastic, carefully place face first on nail, wet the back paper with a damp cloth, remove the backing, and voilĂ  !) See! How easy was that? :D
On a scale of one to ten I would give both of these polishes about a 5. The pink is not very opaque (you can see the line on my thumb in the picture), but applies very well and has a pretty metallic shimmer. For the Revlon polish, it was semi-opaque and applied okay, but I do not think it dried at "top speed" as it claims.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed my first blog post and I look forward to sharing my nail adventures with everyone who visits Stars Over Diamonds!