Friday, June 15, 2012

Rainbow Zebra!

I'm going on holiday! Yay! Therefor I've planned a lot of different designs that are fairly simple but still gorgeous, so I can paint them fast and wear them for a long time. This is one of them.
I have to remember to use top coat every second day so the design lasts. 
I was inspired by Robin Moses ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE-mVZVQl4o ) and this gorgeous zebra design that she made. I don't have pigments so I used acrylic paint instead, and I made a full rainbow. 




Here's my right hand in sunlight, and below is my left hand under a strong lamp. 



Isn't that just gorgeous?
I made all the colors pastel by mixing them with a lot of white and then sponged them on. It took a while because I wanted very thin lines of color, and a lot of colors, so after making a new one I went back on with the previous one to dim the line a bit. Using the black on top really makes the colors pop! 
This was my first try at zebra print on my finger nails, I'm wearing another zebra on my toes which is a lot messier. There I have a silver background. So technically it's my second try at zebra print. It's a lot easier than it looks! Would be even easier with a striper brush, I made these with a regular tiny brush. I need to buy a striper. 
I'll make a huge update when I get back! 
Tialiq

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Colorful Dots!

After wearing that horribly dark True Blood design, I wanted something a bit more colorful, but still not too light. Therefor I did a wonderful black french, which I wore for a day as it was since it looked so clean and just awesome. 



Doesn't that look amazing? Differently colored french manicures are always fun to play with, and black just looks amazing. 
Then I decided to add my color, and since I hadn't used my dotting tools for a while I pulled them out and made a rainbow scale of dots. 
I started with a big dotting tool and crimson red on my thumb. I did a few with the big tool and a few with a medium sized tool. Then I did scarlet dots with the medium sized tool and the small tool. I finished with orange and the small tool, making the dots smaller to the side. I didn't want everything the same size, and I wanted a pattern. 
Then I went through a rainbow scale, using three colors on each nail. As you can see I only went one "step" through the color scale on each nail. The ring finger started with the second color on my thumb, scarlet, and middle finger started with the second color on my ring finger, orange, and so on. In retrospect I should've skipped the scarlet or the crimson, because then I could've used blue on two nails and gotten a bit of purple in on the pinky. 
I also added silver rhinestones on the lunar line to finish up the design. Rhinestones on a clear nail just look amazing. 


I was very happy with this design, and wanted to wear it for longer, but my nail broke where I'd pierced it for the pink design I wore a while ago, so I had to cut my nails. Since I was going to change my nails just a day after, I did a really simple, frosty white french, and I kept the rhinestones on (one must not waste). 



As you can see, my nails are a lot shorter now. I had to cut about 4-5mm to get them even, which was half the tip of my nail.  
Having this, however, gave me a chance to try out the silver tape I bought a while ago, and I really like it. I'll definitely use it more. 
Since I've been wearing french designs I was worried that the tea bag I use to hold my split nails together would show, but it really doesn't unless you look closely. On my left hand I'm only wearing it on my thumb, and I bet you didn't notice until now! It's really something I recommend. 
Now I'm sketching up another design that I'll post tomorrow, probably. Painting is so much fun! 
Tialiq

True Blood Nails!

I love the HBO series True Blood, and with season 5 coming out I wanted to do a tribute. However, I wasn't very pleased with the results, and I will do the series justice in another attempt in the future. 


Creating these I didn't want to have a white background, but bloody red doesn't show well on black so I did a gradient. I didn't consider how much blood I'd put on and the white ended up barely showing at all, which was a shame. I also was a bit too fast with the coats and it bubbled. That ruins a design completely! 



As you can see the finish isn't smooth at all. The design wasn't though through, so I did the letters after I'd done the blood and it was just a mess. I didn't wear them for very long. 
Creating good blood, however, I enjoy. I have this amazing bloody red polish, but as it's red it gets pink over white. To prevent that I mixed up a brown red with acrylic paint, and thinned it with water. Then I applied a big amount on my tips, and let the polish do the work. I guided the droplets with my brush, but the paint did the thickness and the round ends. It was a fun way of doing it, even if it doesn't look as precise than it would've if I'd painted it all. 
Again, I will do True Blood justice at one point! I really love the series, and I can't wait for the next episode. 
Tialiq

Friday, June 1, 2012

Rocking Pink!

First of all I gotta say; removing my rhinestone studded nails was hell. It took forever, I damaged two nails when I had to try rip the stones off, it was terrible. Therefore I did it again.


This weekend I'm going to a turning 40-party, and I'm going to wear a pink dress. Even though I'm not a big fan of pink, I decided to have pink nails as well. But first my mum. 
This was the first time I did a nail design supposed to match a dress, and it was so much fun. The dress is beige with tiny pink flowers, so that's what I made. Simple and subtle as always. 



I mixed all the colors, and used 3 shades for the flowers. 
Here're my nails!

First I did a really light coat of a thin, soft pink, and did a darker french. Then I added a few fuchsia stripes (which is the color of my dress) on the side, and black lace in the other corner. I added one coat of Luxe and Lush (which you unfortunately can't really see) and then a coat of Servin' up Sparkle, which is.. Really sparkly. Then I added the stones. I wanted something huge and blingy, so I took these big heart shaped stones, and added smaller heart shaped stones and two round ones to make a little trail. I'm also wearing my star shaped nail jewelry on my left pinky, it's so adorable! 

Again, I've never been a big fan of pink, or glitter, or heart shaped things, but I think this design ended up being really rocky. Makes me think of Avril Lavigne. I bet she'd love these! I sure do!
Tialiq