Color Foil

I was in my local drugstore, Walgreens, today where I spotted the latest Sally Hansen polish collection Color Foil. All ten of the polishes have a metallic/chrome solution that melts my nail-polish-loving heart. 

I didn't have my phone on me in Walgreens to snap a photo, so I used a picture from Nouveau Cheap blog.

I tired on five of the polishes in the store.. All the polishes in the collection cost $7.99 - way too expensive for me! I'm a Sinful Colors' lovin' gal. Anything over $4 is out of the question for me unless it's a high quality polish that's miraculously on sale. 

I only applied one coat of each polish in these photos. Honestly, I felt like that's all you needed at the time. It dried instantly and no bare nail peeked through. After gardening, doing dishes, and other chores, my nail showed some intense wear-and-tear.

 

Again, this was only one coat; I'm sure two coats would last longer. I don't know if a top coat would enhance the metallic or negatively effect it since I wasn't able to test it out. 

Let me know what you think of the collection if you've tried it!

Tamz

Neon

Busy and super fun weekend, so I didn't have much time to put together a design. I picked out Wet N Wild's Nerd Alert: Screech, a bright neon green that is relatively new. This sub-brand of Wet N Wild rarely comes out with new polishes, but last summer I spotted a neon collection at K-Mart that I snatched up. They've also released a protective base coat and matte polish a few weeks ago that I need to try out. Plus, all of the polishes of this brand are $0.99 in the US. 

Since Nerd Alert is a neon, I first did two coats of NYC's French White Tip. Using white polish under neon polish will make the color pop. The neon solution is extremely thin and dull; without the white base, it wouldn't become an opaque neon. Plus, you almost always need a top coat of make it shine.  

I have two coats of Nerd Alert on top of the white polish. I had a tennis theme planned in my head, but this green was way too pretty and modern. I watered down silver paint for the lines and open circles. They turned out thicker than I was aiming for; I liked the result, but I could have down more with a thinner brush. 

What do you all think?

Tamz

Pink Thunder

I used two coats of Sinful Color's Easy Going on my sister, a super light shade of pink. Once dried, I did a gradient with Wet N Wild's Tropicalia on the tips of the nails, an average pink shade I would say.

For an added design I practiced my "winter storm" design that can be viewed here. I first tried this on my last post titled "Seattle for the win" - a Superbowl nail post I did in February. I think my second try turned out better. Both attempts I created the lines using polish instead of paint; I'm wondering if using thinned out acrylic would produce a cleaner look. Or I need a thinner striper brush.

Here's a close up on the gradient which I loved. I need to try out funkier color combos in the future!

Tamz

See Ya' Soon

Happy Mother's Day to all of the beautiful women who raise generation after generation of people around the world! 

I haven't had time to do any nail art with finals tomorrow and Tuesday, so I'm showing off a polish I love. 

 I did only two coats of Wet n Wild's See Ya' Soon which I bought at Walgreen's for $1.99. Wet n Wild has several sales a year where their $1.99 polishes drop down to only $0.99 along with lip glosses and lip stick. The only issue is that it seems to wear out quickly.

I am in love with with polish. First of all. If seen inside, or in bad lighting, it looks black or dark green. Once it hits the light, it's a whole different story. The nuances of teal and dark blue/green always blow me away. And check out the party of glitter happening inside the bottle and on my nails! Fabulous. 

Tamz

Newsprint Technique

Here's the play-by-play on how to do newspaper print nails that I promised you all!

I have on the same Sally Hansen's Sheer Me Now from the Newspaper Kiss mani. You can use any polish you want: experiment with different shades and colors to see what you like best.

Supplies you will need:

-Some type of rubbing alcohol

-Medicine cup / small container for the rubbing alcohol

 -Clippings of  newspaper the general size of your nail

-Clear coat

Step One:

Pour out enough rubbing alcohol for your nail to be completely submerged. Dip your nail in for ten seconds.

Step Two:

Take your nail out and immediately press a newspaper clipping onto the nail, making sure that the newspaper is  sticking to every part of the nail. Apply pressure from above and below the nail with your opposite thumb and pointer fingers to ensure the print comes clear and opaque.

Step Three:

Peel away the newspaper. If you press hard enough, bits of the paper stick to the nail. This may be a good or bad effect depending on if you want that authentic look compared to a clean look. Note that the words are reversed on the nails. 

Step Four:

Repeat the steps.

Apply a clear coat once all of your nails are complete. 

Once you have mastered these steps, you can add stamps over it, or paint a design. Play around with it and have fun!

 Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Tamz

Newspaper kiss

I did my sister's nails with three coats of Sally Hansen's Sheer Me Now - a neutral, nail colored polish in their french manicure collection. I used the newspaper technique that I will post ASAP. 

Right hand

Right hand

Right hand

The newspaper print on the right hand transferred most of the ink, so the words are darker than the left hand. For the left hand, I had my sister put her finger on table, and then I pressed the newspaper onto it. Using that method, the ink was partial and very light. On the right hand I held her finger and pressed down on nail from above and below. That extra force caused most of the ink to transfer onto the nail.

Left hand: I didn't realize the first time that there was a correct way the lips should be placed... Its upside-down.

After the newspaper I used the three lips stamp on plate m84 using NYC's Times Square on the middle fingers. Top coat to seal in the print and stamp.

Like I said above, the step-by-step will come ASAP!

Tamz