Faux Shine

What would you do if you ran out of your super shiny top coat or just didn’t think it was shiny enough?  Paint on your own shine.

It was kind of a crazy idea, but fun to try.  I polished my nails with Julep Viola, a deep raisin colored creme.  I only applied two coats, but should have used three.  You can see some streaky spots on my ring finger.  Then with a small detail brush and a white polish (don’t remember which one I used) I added on a highlight to each nail.  Even though it seemed redundant and unnecessary, I used a glossy top coat.  It looks nice, but the faux highlight and the actual highlights from the lights battle each other a bit.

So I added a matte top coat.  Much better!  First I used the Sephora matte top coat and it hardly did anything.  Disappointing.  I switched to NYC Matte Me Crazy which worked much better.  I think this design is really fun.  It almost looks cartoonish.

What do you think of my matte, shiny nails?

Matte and Glossy Fun in Black

I don’t often paint my nails full black because it can be so hard to get off.  It sure is pretty though.  A black nail is so dramatic; it commands your attention.

I realized it had been a long time since I’d used a matte top coat, so I decided to play with one today.  I started with Cult Nails Get It On base coat.  I NEVER polish with black without a base coat.  It doesn’t always guarantee that there won’t be any staining, but it definitely increases the odds.

My black is China Glaze Liquid Leather.  I was very, very careful with my application so I wouldn’t have to do any clean up.  I hate trying to clean up a black polish.  It stains my cuticles sooo bad, which in turn makes my pictures look awful.  To clean up necessary today.  I applied this in slow motion.  The top coat I chose was NYC Matte Me Crazy.  This was the first time I’ve used it.  I’m not blown away by it, but it got the job done.  I felt like I needed two coats to hide the brush strokes though.

When the Matte Me Crazy was dry enough, I applied my tape.  My thumb, index and pinkie fingers all have a chevron french tip, while my middle and ring fingers have what I call a dart.  Has anyone else heard a better name for this design?  I really can’t think of anything else to call it.  I like my darts the best.  Playing with matte and glossy finishes is a fun way to have a bit of a peek-a-boo effect with your nail art.  It’s there, it’s subtle and may go unnoticed, but that doesn’t lessen the dramatic impact.

Twinsie Tuesday: Matte

Today’s Twinsie Tuesday is supposed to be a matte polish.  I only own 2 matte polishes and I didn’t want to use either of them.  I compromised.  I did a mani inspired by Erica of Chole’s Nails (who isn’t inspired by her!)

I used Julep Boris and Nicole (the rust color), and Sinful Colors Nirvana and did my polka dots.  I topped it with Seche Vite.  That combination by itself was so pretty.  Then I free handed the tip with Nirvana and added Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love just to the tip.

I haven’t experimented with matte all that much.  I want to play with it more, but I really want to get my hands on some Essie Matte About You.  It seems like it’s got a stronger matte effect.  To be honest, I still like the glossy mani better than a matte one.

Be sure the check out every one else’s mattes today:

Amanda of Amandalandish
Anne of Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley of Art Evolve
Chelsea of Nailed Blog
Jenn of All That is Gorgeous
Jenna of I’m Still Thinking
Katherine of Haul of Fame
Marisa of Polish Obsession
Meredith of Polish and Charms
Nory of Fierce Make Up and Nails
Sarah of See Sarah Swatch

Matte Pin Stripes

I love the mix of glossy and matte.  I haven’t done a lot of playing with it, but definitely need to do more.  I had this idea a while back and just couldn’t decide which polish to do it with.  After using my China Glaze Velvet Bow on my red leopard nails, I decided it was the perfect color for this pin striping.

Velvet Bow is a deep maroon cream and being that this was the first time I’d worn it, I was surprised that it took three coats to get full coverage;  I had some thin spottiness at the tips.  It really is gorgeous though.

A tiny striping brush and some Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love and here you have it.  Subtle and sophisticated.

Barry M Red Glitter

Another of the fun polishes my sister picked up for me while in London.  This glitter is crazy concentrated.  It’s almost a one coater.  Although I did struggle a bit to get good coverage along the very tip of my nail.  The glitter just didn’t want to stick there.  It’s got a clear base so I layered it over black to get that pop.

I guess you could say it’s a bit of a holo glitter because there is some color change.  Do you see the flashes of orange and yellow?  It almost looks like a gold flakie.

I finished this off with Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love and I really love the result.  Why do glitters and flakies seem to pop so much when you put a matte top coat on them?  While it went on pretty smoothly, I’m dreading taking it off.  Ugg.  I hate removing glitters. 😦