Heroes vs Villians #4: Teen Titans, GO!

Because I'm a geek:

I couldn't decide on one Titan to illustrate for this manicure (that'd be pretty boring, wouldn't it?) So I decided to do all five.

Colors used:
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear #300 White On
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Fast Dry Nail Color in Blue By!
Pure Ice in Touch Me Here
Pure Ice in Siren
Maybelline Color Show in Plum Paradise
Wet n Wild Megalast #213C On A Trip

I used BlueBy, On a Trip, and Siren as my basecoats. I didn't have a light enough blue for cyborg, so I mixed equal parts of Blue By and White On.

I used a few different techniques for the detailing. Scotch tape masking, dotting for the circular elements, some refining with my nail pens, and a whole lot of freehanding.

Unlike the other base colors I used, the Wet n Wild On a Trip didn't bubble thanks to the heat and humidity we've been having, and I didn't have any trouble getting it to dry.

That humidity is the reason I think I'm going to be swatching for a few weeks instead of doing nail art. It's been nearly impossible for me to get regular colors to dry and dry well. *sigh* I might not be able to do the summer challenge after all.

But! I've still got one more week of Heroes v. Villians, so stay tuned for that!

Heroes vs Villains #3: Slade

I decided to go with another cartoon variant this week, rather than a blockbuster.

Teen Titans was my favorite cartoon to watch in high school and college even trumping a good deal of the anime that got me through mountains of school work, and Slade lends himself perfectly to doing nail art.

Polishes used:
Pure Ice in Siren and Touch Me Here as a base
Wet n' Wild Wild Shine in Metallica for the diagonal stripe
POP Beauty Split Silver crackle coat
teeny tiny dots of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear #300 White On for the eyes (outlined in Touch Me Here with a nail brush)
Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Instant Nail Hardener as a top coat

This is the manicure that almost didn't happen. I started working on it Saturday night, and didn't finish it until the wee hours of Monday morning.

The first time I attempted, I was tired and distracted and kept screwing up the pattern--nails that should have had a black base ended up red, my edges were extremely sloppy, even for me, and even after two hours it wouldn't dry because it's been so hot and humid around here. Even when I thought it was finally dry and went to bed, I woke up the next morning to find imprints from the sheets stuck in the polish. So I took it all off and started again.

This time I waited a minimum of 30 minutes between coats, after discovering that my quick dry top coat would not work in this situation (more on that later this week). I held my nails in front of a fan, and by then the AC had been on for 24 hours which helped with the humidity. I did the alternating red and black nails, then left them overnight.

I forgot, however, to apply a top coat of any kind, and by the time I got back from work I had some tip wear and nicks. I applied an extra thin coat of polish where it was needed, wrapped all my tips, and then started on the decorative bits (at last!). I used scotch tape as a mask on all of the two-tone nails and the diagonal stripe, and finished it all off with a top coat (I used two coats on the crackle, just because of the uneven texture. I'll be writing about that later this week, too).

After all of that, it just makes me more pleased with the final result. I love the two-tone effects (the two-tone crackle was a spur of the moment thing), and I love the color scheme. I'm really hoping this one lasts a while--it'll be a shame to take it off for HvV #4!