Basic striping tutorial

Three cheers for tutorials! This one isn't featured in the previews but I'm still really excited about this. I will introduce you to a cheap, fast and idiot-proof method of creating delicious strips on your nails.

All you need is nail polish (well obviously), masking tape and scissors. Start off with clean nails and apply a layer of basecoat. Like I said before, this is a good habit to have to prevent ugly staining. I used China Glaze Strong Adhesion Basecoat.

Apply basecoat

Apply a base colour of your choice. This will be one of the colours of your strips. I used OPI Alpine Snow Matte. It was a nightmare to apply. The first coat was extremely streaky and was almost chalky in texture. I had to use whopping 4 coats to obtain an even coverage. So I honestly wouldn't recommend this although the effect looks quite amazing.

4 coats of OPI Alpine Snow Matte

After your base colour has dried, get your masking tape ready!

Masking tape, masking tape, I love you, yes I do!

Cut stripes of the same thickness from the masking tape. Whatever tickles your fancy, really. Mine are around 5mm.

Guess who's lazy and didn't paint her thumb?

Stick them onto your nails! I've done mine horizontally to create a sense of energy. Ms Ruck is going to be proud. Make sure that they are all stuck on nice and firm because nail polish can seep beneath to ruin the stripes. So press them down!

Stick them down in place

Choose the other colour of the strips and paint it over the nails. I used Essie Mesmerize. A gorgeous dark blue that is opaque with 2 layers. Places covered by the masking tapes will be left white. Left the nail polish dry for approximately 3-5 minutes and peel off the masking tape for a pristine finish. I then applied Essie Silver Bullions over the blue stripes for that extra bit of dazzle.

So go have fun and experiment with stripes! Red and white stripes would be terrific for Chrstimas. You could also try creating rainbow stripes. Now that's a thought. I'd love to see your results!

Subtle is key

I'm sorry for getting you sick. So here's an entry to help relieve your boredom. If you're not sick because of me, go away. You can't read this entry. Only joking.

I feel a lot better now. I can't wait to go to school on Monday because I've missed everyone so much. It'd totally suck if you're all sick though. I'd have noone. I painted my nails this afternoon. I didn't feel like working. Gwen Harwood is a life sucker, like one of those monsters in Sailor Moon. I miss Sailor Moon.

Back on track! I used Zoya Savita. It is a matte, suede-like eggplant coloured polish. My camera refuses to capture the correct colour so I had to photo filter 45% red to achieve a true to life colour. So I apologise for the rather pink looking skin. I'm yellow. I thought I'd give Zoya Get Even Basecoat another chance but my ridges are still visible. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how long Savita will last with Get Even as base.

Matte nail polishes are amazing. Zoya Savita is no exception. It goes on like any other nail polish but dries to become matte in a matter of seconds. My nails were completely dried just 5 minutes after application. 2 coats is enough for a great finish. However, I really don't like the small brush. I find myself needing to re-dip after 2 strokes. That caused streaks to appear as the polish dried at lightning speed.

2 coats of Zoya Savita over Zoya Get Even Basecoat

I really need to do something about my cuticles. They're dry and looking very ugly with supermacro. Can you see the ridges on my ring finger? Stupid basecoat not doing its job properly. It was looking a little plain so I decided to Konad it using plate m40. I only got this plate for the cute little crown.

Image hijacked from www.prettynailshop24.de

I used LA Girl Matte nail polish in white to stamp. I got it for my birthday, from Troll. I've never moved so fast in my life. The effect is a nice subtle finish. I'm loving it.

More ugly cuticles

Close up

I then spot applied China Glaze Matte Magic Topcoat. Another terrific thing about matte is that the topcoat can be applied to one spot and still dry flat, merging seamlessly with the nail polish. Maybe I'll dye my hair tomorrow.

I have more platinum than you

Since I didn't post anything yesterday, I thought I should blog another entry today to make up for yesterday's inactivity. After slaving over Thoughtless Alice and its Red Queen counterpart, my nails had random blotches of nail polish on them. Plus the tips of my Chanel inspired mani was kind of worn. So I changed my nails.

I love greys. I want to paint my new but old house's rooms a nice neutral greige. This is where Essie Playa Del Platinum comes in. It is a creme grey that is more on the beige side with its subtle green tone, released part of Essie's Resort Collection, earlier this year. Average application, like most of Essie's polishes that I've tried. 2 coats was enough to cover the nail but the perfectionist within me demanded a 3rd coat.

I had to use Zoya Get Even Basecoat today because I couldn't find my China Glaze. Sucks not having a polish stand. I can still see my ridges. I applied 1 coat of Nubar G188 over the grey base. I absolutely love the iridescent flakies! Then I applied China Glaze's Matte Magic Topcoat over everything. To be honest, I still having touched my Essie Matte About You Finisher. I love the result though.

3 coats of Essie Playa Del Platinum, 1 coat of Nubar G188, 1 coat of China Glaze Matte Magic

It was quite difficult to capture the nails. It is matte but still sparkly. Difficult for me to explain. But you can see the flakies reflecting the light that falls upon them. Looks amazing in real life. So stalk me tomorrow at UNSW open day and I'll hold my hand in front of your face.

Due to the matte finish, the surface of my nails feel like dried, unpainted clay. Quite awesome actually. I then discovered that I can draw on them with normal pens and the pen won't come off. It doesn't even smudge. I can prove it.

However, the down side is that I'd have to be careful when writing as I've already gotten an unwanted dot. Boo.

Nail foils tutorial

I'm not feeling motivated to do any proper work or revision so I'm here presenting you with a nail foils tutorial instead. Like I've explained before, nail foils are like a cheaper alternative to Minx. However, it doesn't last for more than 24 hours because it can be scratched off easily. So it is best to apply it right before an event. It doesn't take long at all because there's no waiting time.

Alright, let's get started. Always start with clean nails. Arrh! Bare nails! The horror. But this is what the nail foil adhesive looks like. You need to apply this to your nails before placing the foils. Any brand will do. Most online shops sell generic no-brands with your foils for half price.

I always recommend using basecoat. It is a good habit to have because most darker nail polishes will stain your nails and that is not an attractive look. So apply basecoat!

I wish I had another hand then I wouldn't need to use the stupid timer while balancing the camera on a tissue box. Quite sad. Anyways, after the basecoat has dried, apply a layer of the nail foil adhesive. It is iridescent when wet. Dries clear.

Yuck, fingers. The instructions that come with the adhesive will tell you to wait 1-2 minutes for the adhesive to become tacky before applying the foils. They are WRONG. You have to wait a lot longer than that, more like 5 minutes. I find that the foils apply better this way as the adhesive is most tacky. In the meantime, you can cut up the foil strip into pieces as it comes in a roll.

Don't worry about cutting the foil into your nail shape or anything. The foil only sticks to where the foil adhesive is applied. Mess free and idiot proof. All you have to do is place the foil with the right side up and press. If the adhesive is the right tackiness, the foil should lift itself off as you're pressing.

It may look ugly upclose, use the unused areas to fix up any bits that you've made. Just repeat the process mentioned above for the bald spots. I don't see the point to apply a base polish when the foil is opaque.

You are left with the option of applying topcoat. Personally, I don't recommend it. Any topcoat will wrinkle up the foil (no idea why) and it doesn't extend the wear of the foil, so why ruin the effect? You could try special nail foil topcoat but apparently, they're not much better either. You'll see why.

Sorry for not cleaning up the edges and things. I'm planning to remove this tonight anyway. The foils are so reflective that you can see my reflection. I also did a scratch test. The scratch is much larger on the nail with topcoat using the same amount of force.

The foils can be easily removed with nail polish remover (no acetone required) or by soaking in warm water. So easy.

Yucky looking cottonbud. Looks like someone's sparkly booger. Yum. On a much nicer note, check out the result! Such bling-ness! Such mirror-esque finish! I can even see my own reflection.

Woaw fat fingers, Maybe I shouldn't have blurred it so much. Oh wells.You're more than welcome to bug me if you want to know more about such a wonderful product and where you can get it. But you'd need to be able to either use internet banking or have Paypal.

What baby?

Since I was complaining about the Zoya Get Even Basecoat, I thought maybe I was a bit too harsh on it and shouldn't have made my mind up so quickly. Milani's Blue for my Baby is basically a blue version of Key Lime Shine with the same consistency and chrome finish. However, it applied with no trouble whatsoever with my China Glaze Strong Adhesion Basecoat.

3 coats of Blue for my Baby with topcoat

Maybe its the colour or the lighting or the angle or whatever, the ridges appear to be more visible on this than with Zoya's Get Even Basecoat. Or maybe its just purely psychological because my inner Asian is screaming "Money should never be wasted!" You can decide for yourself since I'm feeling indecisive today after 3 cups of coffee.

Zoya Get Even Ridge Filling Basecoat review

I'm the kind of person to flip through 5 pages on Google of reviews until finally buying the product. So before I bought the Zoya Get Even Ridge Filling Basecoat on Ebay, I've tried to find some reviews on it but there just aren't enough out there. This is step 2 of Zoya's Colour Lock System but I just wanted a ridge filling basecoat so I bought this thinking: "the less chemicals the better, right?"

I'm kind of disappointed although this is only the first time I've used it. As you can see the actual product is white and it goes on the nail white. After it dries, the dents of the nail ridges are still white while other areas have dried clear. I applied 2 coats of it to be safe. Then 3 coats of Milani's Key Lime Shine.

2 coats of Zoya Get Even Basecoat, 3 coats of Milani Key Lime Shine

My ridges are still there! Sorry about the cuticles. It was also quite difficult to apply with the basecoat. The nail polish went streaky and uneven, yuck. Overall, I think this basecoat is kind of pointless because what's the point of having a ridge filling basecoat if it doesn't work for chromes? But I'll try this with Zoya's polishes later and keep you updated because I hate knowing that I've wasted my money on a useless product.