Kimono

This summer, I had a lovely idea for a kimono style manicure on my natural nails.  I loved how powerful and vibrant the colors were, and it was quick and easy to repair the few chips that my natural nails were subject to by adding a couple of green leaves.  Since I run so much and am really rough on my hands during the summer, chipping is a huge problem.    I have found that putting a base coat on reduced the chipping.


I used a bright red base coat, and stamped on greenery from plate m2, my very first plate in my now rather large collection in Apple Green.  I then used plate m36 to stamp yellow blossoms.  I was a bit disappointed that the flowers didn't pop more in the picture, it looked really great in person.

Irish Plaid on Gold

March is a time to have some fun with your nails. I have decided to sport my Mad Plaid this week.




Step 1: Go for the Gold, I found it at the end of an OPI "rainbow" at FlipFlops, where I go for nail and hair "spa" days.

Step 2: Grid it with my trusty m57. The Konad Apple Green and gold was fun, but a little too simple. I knew the plaid was coming, so I was happy. I rocked it for a day, and then...

Step 3: Stamp the plaid from m64 using Konad Black. Nice! It's fun, and I can still go to a flower accent on top for the weekend to girl it up a bit. Or not...



I love to do a full nail design like the ones found on m57, m60, m64, and several of the more recent plates (it's like they heard my prayers to the nail goddesses!).

But from what I have seen in other posts, I seem to do it a little different. Rather than paint the entire square, I paint a line along one edge and then squeegee the polish across the design. Occasionally I have to double scrape, but I find it works great. You don't end up with swirls of unevenly surface-dried polish mixed in, and it makes everything a bit faster...not to mention it's less messy and/or wasteful.

Here is a video on how I apply a full nail design. I hope you like it! It's only the green fishnet from m57, and at the end when I do my thumb you can see how I stitch the two stamps together to cover the entire thumb by using foil wrapped around my finger to help me keep the first stamp clean.

I have done the m64 plaid alone, but once I saw it with the second layer peeking out from under the patterns with it's little zip of color (in this case Apple Green) I decided that the extra dimension was too charming, too unique. If I do plaid, I don't want it to be a *snore*

This plaid also looks awesome on a natural nail, you don't need a basecoat at all for it to look fashionably finished. Got to love a Full Plaid, it's my gold at the end of the rainbow!