Today's mani: Gruesome gradient

Happy Hump Day! October is almost over, can you believe it?? I hate how fast time goes by!

Well, you might have noticed that I haven't really gotten into the Halloween spirit as far as my nails go. Halloween just doesn't interest me now that I'm too old to get free candy. Plus, orange doesn't look very good on me. But I figured I should do at least a couple manis before the holiday passes.

Instead of orange, I decided to use a slime green color, which is equally creepy to me! I did a gradient with Essie Shake Your $$ Maker and Revlon Stiletto. When I was done, I decided it needed something more, so I did a little stamp with Winstonia plate W116 and Julep Harley (my go-to stamping silver). What do you think--is it ghastly enough?

I'll probably do one more Halloween mani, since I doubt this one will last until Friday (I'm going to be deep-cleaning our apartment for the next few days). See you then, boys and ghouls!

Today's mani: Sunset gradient

Hi all! Boy, I've been a bad blogger lately, haven't I? The truth is, I've barely done my nails at all lately. I sometimes feel like it's not worth it, because my mani will be ruined by either 1) making nail polish or 2) packing up orders. Yesterday I decided I had to do something because I had a tutoring job to go to. So I threw something together which I'm not 100% happy with.

First I did a gradient using Picture Polish Citrus, L'Oreal Orange You Jealous?, Revlon Passionate Pink and Zoya Audrina. I can't remember the last time I did a 4-color gradient (have I ever??) and it turned out nicely. I just keep forgetting that orange looks better in the bottle than on me!

The stamp is what really annoys me. I first wanted to do a cloud stamp, but after I finished the gradient I realized the stamp I picked wasn't going to work (it stamps the sky, not the clouds themselves). So I switched to this sun stamp (Winstonia plate W111), and of course I didn't manage to center it properly. Bleh. Plus I have shrinkage on my tips.

Today I've been grouchy too (lip balm making is giving me trouble, plus the endless stress of trying to find a job). But I'm going to try to perk up and do my nails more regularly. He Picks My Polish is coming up in a few days, and Mr. ALIQUID already knows what colors he wants!

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Two cremes with stamping decal

Hey, what's up? The theme for today's Neverending Pile Challenge is two cremes. I'm running short on untried cremes since I always use cremes for nail art, but I found two that went together perfectly for a nice summery mani!

I started with a base of China Glaze Be More Pacific (a new one!) and made a stamping decal with Revlon Stiletto (the black) and Revlon Optimistic for the accent nail. The cherry stamp comes from an untried plate, Winstonia W118. Last time I did a stamping decal, I put it on after the base color was dry; this time, I did it while it was still wet. It was easier to stick on, but I got hella bubbles under it. So I'm still not sure which way is best for decals!

For my other nails I tried out another untried stamping plate, Cheeky CH22, which is all French tip patterns. I'm not sure how to get the tip even when you can't see the stamp as you apply it...oh well. I really like the way my decal came out!

Total untrieds tried: 57 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #6: Hearts

Hey all! This week's theme for FingerFood's Theme Buffet is, appropriately, hearts! I'm really excited about this mani because I tried making stamping decals for the first time and I was pretty successful at it!

If you haven't heard of stamping decals before, there are several methods, but basically they involve using a regular stamper to make a sheet of clear polish with a stamped pattern on it that you can attach to your nail. They avoid some of the difficulties involved with stamping, like getting the stamp to line up the way you want on your nail. I followed this tutorial from heartNAT!

Here's my mani (I'm using my right hand because this decal came out a little better):

I think it turned out really cute! For my accent nail, I started with a black base (Revlon Stiletto) then created my stamping decal with Winstonia plate W102. Here's a shot of my stamper with the decal drying on it:

I used Julep Harley (the silver) for the stamping itself, then colored in the empty hearts with China Glaze Neon Flying Dragon and Zoya Amy. (It's OK if some of your coloring gets on top of the stamped outline, since this side of the decal will end up face-down on your nail.) Then I added a coat of Zoya Armor and let it dry for an hour. Finally I peeled off the decal (carefully!) with tweezers and stuck it down on my nail--wipe some acetone around the edges of your nail with a brush and that will help the decal stay in place until you topcoat it.

The only trouble I had using the decals was getting them to smooth out completely on my nail, and I got some bubbling. (I wonder if it would be better to stick them to a wet nail instead of a dry one?) It's also a very slow process unless you have multiple stampers available, so unless you're just doing accent nails, you might want to make the decals the day before you do your mani. Definitely give it a try though--the results are worth it!

Don't forget to check out the other lovely manis for this week's theme!