Go Red for Women

Did you know that today is National Wear Red Day?  I believe the first and maybe every Friday in February the American Heart Association asks you to wear red to show your support for Women’s Heart Health.   I’m doing that by way of a manicure.I didn’t want to just paint my nails red.  You know me, I’ve got to do something to spice it up.  I can’t be seen simply wearing a solid color of nail polish. 😉  An animal print is the quickest way to spice things up in my opinion.

I’ve done lots of leopard, but haven’t dabbled in zebra much, so that’s what I settled on.  I need to practice a bit more.  While I’m in love with the overall design, I think my zebra could use a little work.  I used NYX Girls White, Sinful Colors GoGo Girl and China Glaze Liquid Leather as well as black, red and white acrylics.  I topped this off with HK Girl top coat.Are you sporting red today?  There’s still time to go change your shirt or your polish in support of women’s heart health.  Heart disease is a serious subject that we should all educate ourselves about.  Check out the American Heart Association for more information.

Zebra and Leopard Nails

I pinned this post from Enamel Girl a while back. I was looking through my pins the other day hoping for some inspiration and this jumped out at me.She stamped hers and I’ve never really done a zebra print so I was a little apprehensive. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to do.

I love this look! I’ve been doing manis on my right hand for a few days because I can’t bring myself to take this off!

I used NYX Girls White for my base, sponged on some Julep Stella on the tips and used black acrylic for the stripes and spots. I topped it off with Chill Zone top coat.

Zebra Water Marble

If I told you this water marble was done with out any tape or polish remover of any kind, would you believe me?  Well, believe it people!

I did a Zebra water marble many months ago and have been wanting to try something like this ever since.  I felt like black and white was a little too predictable and stark.  I went with Jordana Chiffon and Zoya Petra.  Petra is actually a dark, dusty purple, but looks brown on top of the tan Chiffon.  I like the way it looks, but definitely think purple would look better.  Does this look like a zebra to you?  I see a zebra’s back.  They have a “spine” of stripes that runs up their back that other stripes come off of.  I love this design.  I find myself looking at it a lot.  It looks very sophisticated to me.  I think it’s the color combo.

Back to the no tape thing, have you heard of using tape in conjunction with Vaseline to make clean up easier?  Well how about using Vaseline instead of tape?  I actually used Aquaphor ointment rather than Vaseline.  I slathered my finger in it.  I got it as close to my nail as I could without actually touching my nail.  That way when I dipped my finger in the polish water, the polish didn’t stick to my skin and I could just wipe it away with a cotton swab.

Around my cuticle, while the polish was still wet, I ran my shish kabob skewer (as opposed to a toothpick) all around the edge pulling the excess polish out as I went.  I know, that probably doesn’t make much sense.  I did a video here that shows the technique.  And there you go, you’re fingers will be greasy, but there’s a tape free, polish remover free water marble.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Zebra Water Marble

I’m calling this my zebra water marble.  I don’t know if it’s a very convincing zebra or just a black and white water marble, but I liked it.