Blue Patchwork Mani (Pic Heavy)

I've made a list of nail designs that I want to attempt and next up I chose this patchwork mani from Chloe's Nails.

I followed the tutorial for the patchwork manicure, taping off sections and then applying a coat of China Glaze Calypso Blue, a dark blue creme, to the nail. Then I applied a layer of Seche Vite to hurry the drying time. Once it was dry I taped off each nail as shown in the tutorial by Chloe's Nails and applied China Glaze Bahamian Escape, a light blue creme, to the taped off sections.

So at this point it looked like this:

Blue Patchwork

Unfortunately the tape I was using doesn't stick down very well and I didn't have any better tape handy :( So instead I kept using it and just used a brush dipped in nail polish remover to try and neaten up the lines, since I had applied a SV coat I didn't have to worry about the layer of polish beneath coming off.

To fix up my lines I applied silver striping tape along the lines and then applied a coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine. So onto the pictures! Please ignore the lint? hair? unknown thread I managed to get stuck onto my index finger on my right hand :(

    Left Hand

Blue Patchwork in Artificial Light - Left Hand

Blue Patchwork in Artificial Light - Left Hand

    Right Hand

Blue Patchwork in Artificial Light - Right Hand

Blue Patchwork in Artificial Light - Right Hand

Then in natural light I have these photos

Blue Patchwork in Natural Light - Right Hand

Blue Patchwork in Natural Light - Left Hand

Blue Patchwork in Shade - Left Hand

My biggest complaint is that I only had normal scissors laying around so every time I tried to cut the tape to length I would pull the tape up! This was a lesson in frustration itself!! I really need to get a pair of cuticle trimmer scissors so they're small and can get close to the tape instead of pulling it up. I also applied my top coat too soon since it was really late at night and smudged the colours onto my tape >.<

So other than the trying to trim the tape I really love the idea I had for this mani :) Oh and I should have used a thick coat of Seche Vite over the tape because since I couldn't cut the tape to length the excess caught on EVERYTHING!! Eventually I just pulled all the tape off :)

Scotch Tape Nails: Half N Half Mani

I used Modelista On Location - Berlin as my base colour since I had a particular design in mind.

I didn't cut the scotch tape at all just applied it across my nails from one corner to the other. Then I used one coat of Revlon Silver Screen for the scotch tape section. Silver Screen worked well because it is opaque with just one coat. Once dry I added a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast top coat and viola.

I only have photo's of this design in artificial light taken after I finished.

 

This is a very simple and easy to do design and I love the contrast of the silver and black. I especially like this design in the sunlight because On Location - Berlin has blue/silver microglitter that looks gorgeous against the metallic silver. I'll definitely be doing this design again with other colours!

Nude Accent with Flowers

It was getting late at night and my nails were still bare because I'd been swatching. I didn't want to leave my nails bare *GASP* so I decided to do a simple design .

I wanted to go with a bare nail look to save time but my nails are slightly stained so instead I applied Konad Regular Base Coat and then a thin layer of Maybelline Sheer Ballet Pink. Once that was dry I used scotch tape for one hand for a red accent across my nails in Revlon Revlon Red and then I freehanded the others. Once that was dry I used the flower image from Konad image Plate M31 and stamped it onto my nail. Then I stamped half the image again onto my nail. I cleaned up my manicure and added a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat and my trusty Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Quick Dry Drops.

These photo's were taken in artificial light once my design was dry. Sorry about the crappy lighting but the white flowers kept getting washed out.

The following day I took photo's of these before it started to chip. From previous experience I know that Maybelline Sheer Ballet Pink only lasts about a day before it starts to chip.

I love how simple this design is!! I think it looks amazing with the small splash of vibrant red against the delicate flower stamps. Although I keep wishing that I has added just one more flower across the edge of my nail along the red. I'll probably end up doing this design again when I need a quick manicure but add the flower across the top because it was really driving me nuts! That's not to say I don't love this design as it is because I do!

Scotch Tape Nails: Modelista On Location - Berlin with Triangle Base

I wanted to play around with scotch tape nail designs and decided to start with something simple. So using my Modelista On Location - Berlin manicure as my base colour I decided to do a triangle base mani.

Using the Scotch Tape method I cut the scotch tape into triangles like below.

 
Then I stuck the tape onto my nails and applied Revlon Silver Screen. After removing the tape I added a top coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. The final design is shown in the photo's below which were taken in artificial light.

I have a tutorial on the Scotch Tape method that can be found here: How To: Scotch Tape Nails.

I did this design very quickly and would have preferred the triangles to be more defined but I still like it. The black and silver look amazing together and although you can't see it the black base has gorgeous microglitter that shines surrounding the silver.  So that was my first Scotch Tape manicure and already my mind is filling with many other designs!

Revlon Iced Mauve and Angled Accent with Flowers

I wanted to play around with a few different techniques to build a nail art design on my Revlon Iced Mauve manicure. To begin with I decided to do an accent angle and I chose to use Maybelline Colorama Dark Plum as I thought it would contrast nicely with Iced Mauve. The design needed something more to it, and to help cover up the shoddy lines I made for my accent nail, so I decided to stamp it. I wanted a design that was long enough to cover the join between the two colours and decided on a flower design from Konad Image Plate M25. So I stamped that image on each nail in Konad Special Polish White. One coat of Seche Vite to make sure I didn't drag my stamped image and it was done!

I took these photo's in artificial light just after I finished so the top coat was still slightly wet.

 

 

Then I took these photo's just as the sun was going down so there wasn't as much sunlight as I would have hoped for. Actually there was only one small spot in my backyard that had a single beam of sunlight shining through!

Wow I love this manicure! I can't wait to mix and match the nail polish colours and the Konad design. There are endless possibilities to this design and I would love to see it in blue. So next time you see it will probably be a blue version!