HOW TO CHEAT AT NAIL ART LIKE A PRO!

Note: This is an abbreviated version of all the discoveries leading up to this nail art technique. I will update this later when I have more time, but I wanted to show this now because I'm really happy about it.

Simply put, paint a square shape of polish on a plastic bag of sheet protector and let it dry. Gently pull off the nail polish square and put it in the slot of a stationery design paper punch of your choice. Use the little polish shape that pops out on your nail.

I included a picture of my mom's nails to show what the flowers look like.

Rainbow Streaks

To create these Rainbow Streaks, I used Julep Kate as the white base. (I'll post my swatch of that later.)

Pink: Orly Butterflies
Orange: SinfulColors Hazard
Yellow: Ulta Sun-Sational
Green: Ulta Limelght
Blue: Ulta Blue Streak
Purple: Ulta Duty Free Shopping Spree

The bottom two pictures show the finished product with Nicole by OPI Here Kim's the Sun on the tips and Cina rhinestones.

Here are my nails right after I painted all of the Rainbow Streaks. (No top coat.)

From left to right, top to bottom: 1. Paint your base color. 2. Using a small nail art brush, paint your pink streak(s). 3. Paint your orange streak(s). 4. Paint your yellow streak(s). Mine are hard to see in this picture because the yellow is on the side. 5-7. Continue on with streaks of green, blue, and purple. The last picture shows the manicure after I added a glitter coat to the tips and rhinestones on my ring finger.

I love the way the very edge looks.

OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress

I posted a photo of a very old swatch of I'm Not Really a Waitress before on my blog but decided to replace it with this newer one. As always, I'm Not Really a Waitress never fails on delivering smooth application and vibrant color.

Seche Restore Review

I used Restore on an Essie top coat and several nail polishes from several brands. From left to right (these are the oldest ones I was working on): OPI What's With the Cattitude? was thick and clumpy, now it's liquid again. ChinaGlaze Love Marilyn was an un-spreadable glitter and now it's smooth on the brush. Essie Mint Candy Apple was thick and would not evenly coat the brush, here you can see a little drip about to fall because it is once again a glitter. OPI Merry Midnight was a thick, clumpy glitter, and now it spreads smoothly. I have to end up using about 10 drops of Restore for each bottle and I think I need to work on some other ones again later on.

But look at what happened with one of my recent manicures. I used Seche Restore in my older Essie Good to Go and it did bring back the original smooth consistency, but when I used Good to Go, it shrunk my colored nail polish. Seche Vite shrinks my polish as well. So here's my theory: Since Restore "replaces key ingredients which may have evaporated over time," Butli Acetate, Toluene, and or Isopropyl Alcohol must be to blame. I'm using OPI Start to Finish now and it left some weird bubbles on my nail but that may have been because I went to bed right away. More testing is in order. 

Ulta - Limelight

Color swatch time again. My posts are a little out of order but this manicure was done right after I removed the cherry design. I realized that I am more critical of polish wear and tear when I have a design on. Is anyone else the same way?

Limelight had a very smooth consistency. Unfortunately, my top coat shrunk the polish. I used Essie Good to Go which is my current favorite but, because it had become thick with time, I added Seche Restore to return Good to Go back to its normal, smooth self. As a result, my top coat shrunk my polish just like how Seche Vite does to me. More details on this in my next post.

After a few days of wear and while eating peanut M&M's

Glitter Gradient

For this look, I used Ulta Sun-Sational and Nicole by OPI Rainbow in the S-Kylie. My sister picked out the neon yellow and wanted glitter so we decided to go with a gradient. 

Nicole by OPI - Miss Independent

This is my first time using Miss Independent. My mom picked it out for herself so I did her nails as seen here. It is a silvery pink metallic color with smooth application. Even though it looks pink in the bottle, I think it looks more silver on the nail.

Poll Winner - Cherries

The Cherry design was the recent poll winner, and when the time came for me to do the design, I realized I didn't have a true green for the leaves. The color I used is more of a dark sea green.

To start off, I used Essie Blanc and OPI Pink-ing of You for the base.

Then I used OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress and a large dotting tool (really it was the end of a eyeliner makeup brush) to make the cherries, Orly Instant Artist Jet Back for the stems, SinfulColors Rise and Shine for the leaves, and Essie Blanc with a small dotting tool for the polka dots on the thumb and with a small paint brush for the little shine on the cherries.

Blue and Silver - Caviar

This was my first time using microbeads on myself. I used Recollections brand in silver, Ulta Blue Streak, and Ulta Silver Lining for the base of the accent nail.

 I had heard that OPI Start to Finish sunk down in between the beads so it is a good top coat to use over the microbeads to seal them in. I can't really notice that much of a difference, and whatever change in look it makes I'm willing to accept because I want the microbeads to last more than one day. The last picture shows it with top coat.

Periwinkle to Purple to Pink

I started off with a different nail design in mind but I'm a sucker for purples and gradients. I couldn't help myself! I started off with Essie Lapiz of Luxury (Periwinkle), Ulta Duty Free Shopping Spree (Purple), OPI Pink-ing of You (Pink).

Then I decided to add Nicole by OPI Here Kim's the Sun which my mom got at Ulta for $1.99 marked down from $7.99.

Before I took this manicure off, I added stripes with Orly Instant Artist Jet Black. I was inspired by the pattern Brummingbird did. Here is her blog link: http://brummingbird.blogspot.com/. She is new to blogspot, but you can find more of her nail art on her Instagram page.
 

Sally Hansen Magnetic Polar Purple

This is my first time using any type of magnetic polish on myself. Sally Hansen's formula was very smooth and opaque with one coat, and then the second coat is when you use the magnet to create the design. I guess I didn't hold the magnet the same each time because only two of the patterns matched. I look forward to using magnetic polish again!

After Two Coats and Magnetic Was Used 

Just the First Coat (before Magnetic Effect)