Twinsie Tuesday: Rainbow

On this episode of Twinsie Tuesday we’re sporting rainbows or yay-bows if you’re my two year old.  Being that we’re on the cusp of autumn and it’s not really rainbow season (if there is such a thing) I attempted to go with slightly more autumnal colors for my yaybow.

I’m not impressed with myself.  This looked so much better in my head.  I wish you could see the mental image I have.  This definitely does not live up to my expectations.  I sponged on some Sinful Colors Alpine Snow to act as a base behind my colors and to peek out as a cloud.  My rainbow is made up of OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window, Essie Alligator Purse, Zoya Petra with Sinful Colors Amethyst over the top because Petra was too dark, the unnamed yellow dollar store Color Craze polish and Revlon Chic.

Once I got all my stripes done and decided that it was a failure, but didn’t want to start over, I added some glitter to see if that would help.  I don’t know why.  I never do that.  I know glitter is not the way to resuscitate a dying mani.  Oh well.

Be sure the check out all the other manis today:

Amanda of Amandalandish
Anna of Going to the Showing
Anne of Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley of Art Evolve
Brandi of The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea of Nailed Blog
ChiChi of I’m Just Me…ChiChi
Cordia of Seriously Swatched
Elizabeth of Did My Nails
Jenn of All That is Gorgeous
Jenna of I’m Still Thinking
Katherine of Haul of Fame
Maribeth of Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite!
Marisa of Polish Obsession
Meredith of Polish and Charms
Nory of Fierce Make Up and Nails
Sarah of See Sarah Swatch
Tara of Polishy of Truth

Rainbow Dart

I’m really loving these, what I’m calling, dart manis lately. I seem to think of a new color combination that I want to try each time I sit down to do my nails. I’m restraining myself though.

I love the idea of this one a lot more than I love the actual result.  It’s just not that clean and it’s really bothering me.  I didn’t actually keep it on very long because of it.  Again I used acrylics for my rainbow because of their opacity.  Try layering a red polish over black and you’ll need at least three coats to get decent coverage.  I guess I could have done a white dart, then layered my rainbow over the top of the white and been able to use polish.

In the process of this design I also learned that using acrylic paints with a tape mani is a bit trickier than a polish tape mani.  With polish you want to take the tape off quickly, while the polish is still wet.  With acrylic I learned you should wait for it to dry, and even then, the tape may pull some of the paint off or stretch it out.  Not a fan of taping with acrylics.  Lesson learned.  However, I can’t promise I won’t try it again in the future and learn this disappointing lesson all over again.

St. Patrick’s Day Nails

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!  I’m sure you’re all wearing your most festive green polish.  I’ve been showing green manicures since March 1st and I’m happy to move on to other things.  This is a super fun one.  While it’s not predominantly green, it’s 100% St. Patrick’s Day.

I did my leprechaun basically the same way I did my Santa Claus for Christmas.  Just change up some of the colors and you’ve got a leprechaun.

Most of my colors are acrylic.  The only actual polishes are China Glaze Liquid Leather, Color Club Reddy or Not and OPI Pink Friday.  My rainbow ruffles are kind of bumpy from all the acrylic paint, but I sort of like it.  It adds some texture.  You know those bubblegum balls that are all bumpy and shaped like fruit that you get out of bubblegum machines?  That’s what my bumpy ruffles look like.  This ruffle design came from Sarah over at Chalkboard Nails.  I’ve actually been wanting to do this ruffle since I saw her’s and this was the perfect opportunity.

Of course, I say this a lot, this was yet another one that I was sad to take off.  It was just so cute.

Nailside Cloud Skittles

More rainbows ala Nailside clouds!  I did these nails last week with my feathers.  I was shooting for a full feather mani, but after I finished the feathers on my left hand, I just didn’t want to do my right hand.  I had already done white clouds on all my nails, so I added bightly colored clouds to coordinate with the feathers on the other hand.

I just love how colorful they are.  I’ve been using these same colors a lot lately.  Bold, primary colors are definitely a must in any stash if you plan to do nail art and even if you don’t.  And I just can’t get enough of the cloud with some naked nail peeking through.

The polishes I used for this mani were China Glaze White on White, Kleancolor Green Grass, Color Club Reddy or Not, Sinful Colors Savage, Sinful Colors Pull Over and WnW Buffy the Violet Slayer.

Seurat Inspired Stipple Mani

Do you remember learning about this painting when you were in elementary school?  This is “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat.  When I read that Sarah over at Chalkboard Nails was hosting a contest I started brainstorming.  Her rules (in part) state that other than the brush that comes with the bottle of polish, your only tool can be a dotter of some sort.  One of the first things that came to mind was this work by Seurat.  It’s called stipple art, using dots to create your pattern.

Here’s what I came up with…

A stippled rainbow with a stippled pot of gold at the end.

This baby took a ton of polishes!  I think I counted 17.  I started with a base color of China Glaze White on White,  then a coat of OPI Swedish Nude to tone down the gleam on the white.  Then the dotting started.  I used a light and a dark shade of each color.  I did the whole rainbow in the lighter colors first, then filled in the gaps with the darker shades.  Then did the pot of gold in the same manner.

The only complaint I have about this mani is that if my fingers aren’t all lined up like this, it just doesn’t have the same impact.  I guess that’s what I get for doing a design that spans across all my nails.  Despite this, I really like it!  It’s putting me in the mood for spring and getting me thinking about St. Patrick’s Day.  What do you think of the stippling technique?  Does it just look messy?  Wish me luck in the contest!

Now let’s catalog the polishes I used for this design:
Purples are OPI Do You Lilac It? and WnW Buffy the Violet Slayer
Blues are Sinful Colors Aquamarine and Julep Marisa
Greens are Orly Green Apple and Kleancolor Green Grass
Yellows are American Apparel Butter and Sinful Colors Pull Over
Oranges are WnW Sunny Side Up and Jordana Orangesicle
Reds are Color Club Reddy or Not and China Glaze Phat Santa
The pot is China Glaze Liquid Leather and CND Asphalt
The gold is Sinful Colors Pull Over and Sinful Colors This is it