Generally Not Reccomended

Usually, I don't wear yellow, even though I love it. I have an olive complexion and it tends to be a very difficult color for me to wear. My one and only yellow polish is generally relegated to nail art, like for flower centers or stars. For some reason, though, yellow and pink is a color combination that makes me extremely happy:

Two coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Lightening." Accents in Sally Girl pink.

I love my taping manicures, but this one didn't come out as neat as I would like. Still, no time to re-do it. It's off to work for me!

---


As a follow up to my last post, I have begun this, for those who are interested. Also, please don't forget about my blog sale. If you see something you like, make me an offer!

Dots

Someone posted swatches of Orly "Mysterious Curse" earlier this week, and it made me want to break out my own bottle and play around with it some more. In trying to find something to pair it with, I found an unconventional candidate in S•X•Y's "Dreamy Cocoa". Here we have one coat of "Mysterious Curse" over that light, warm brown. I felt it needed a little something more, however, so I added white dots (Maybelline Color Show "Porcelain Party").

"Mysterious Curse" did so well layered over the brown that it gave me an idea for another layered manicure, which I'll show to you on Friday. I don't think I'm done playing with it yet!

Arg.

I tried twice, but neither of my attempts at an Ultimate Geek Manicure turned out the way I had them in my head. It turns out that it is harder than expected to replicate fabric in nail polish.

The first time (the manicure that my camera ate) I made my pinky look embroidered, painted quilt blogs on my thumb and ring finger, and attempted to make index and middle fingers appear knitted. It didn't turn out so well. So for the redo, I used a different method of representing the knitting (which just became a blurry mess as soon as I put on my top coat) and thought, "hey, a doticure would be a great way to approximate a colorwork chart!" but it turns out it just looks like a doticure:

So I guess this one falls into the category of "fail."

It's been a lot of fun doing the Geek Challenge with everyone. What do you say we try again next year?

Two Tone Dots

Still fighting with the peelies, so here's one from the vault. Hopefully I'll have this under control soon and can get back to my regularly scheduled nail art!

I love tape manicures. They're so easy, but the results are pretty impressive.

I did this one for a family reunion back at the beginning of August. I realized halfway there, though, that I'd forgotten to take pictures of it! So I whipped out my camera and took photos in the driveway once I arrived.

Something I've started doing (because I'm impatient) is laying down my base color, then putting Seche Vite over top, then adding my details and a second layer of topcoat. The result can add dimension to some designs, and also helps the manicure last longer. This one held up really well, even after tubing (for the uninitiated, this is when you attach a special inner tube to the back of a boat and hold on for dear life while the driver tries to dump you in the water. Great fun!).

I put down Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Just in Lime" first, then taped off half my nail and used "Blue By" on the other half. The next morning, I used a toothpick to add the dots. Super simple, but I got soooo many compliments--especially since it matched my swimsuit. And my cousin wants me to do her nails now (she's 12).