Copper Patina Water Spot

Hello Lovlies!

Today's nails are my first attempt at a technique I've been starting to see around the blogosphere. It's called a water spot manicure, and is a variation on water marbling. The trick to this one is you spray an alcohol based solution like hand sanitizer or perfume on the polish after putting it in water. There is a great tutorial here.  I chose to double dip my nails to get this really marbled, patina look, and I love the outcome... See here:

I started with one coat of Wet N Wild French White Cream. I then spotted on Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Green Tea, a fantastic dusty mint creme, followed by Essie Penny Talk, a super shiny rose gold/copper.

I did my manicure using pure rubbing alcohol instead of hand sanitizer, and noticed that with Penny Talk it broke it up more into chunks than into spots, which worked great for this manicure, but it is something to keep in mind. I love this technique though... it's going to be perfect for making nails that look like natural stones like turquoise or jasper.

What do you think about water spotting?

Until next time,
HeatherS

That 70's Mani.

Hello Lovelies!

Today I have my last manicure from 2012. It's another gradient mani using China Glaze Westside Warrior, a very 1970's drab avocado green creme, China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway, a deep navy creme, and Zoya Kelly, a stormy dark grey with bluish undertones. I then stamped it using Color Club Lumin-Icent and Cheeky XL Plate A.

It was a fun look, but under low light the gradient is almost impossible to see. I may try this again sometime in the future with lighter colors and see how it turns out.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year. Please feel free to leave feedback about what you'd like to see more of... I love suggestions!

Until next time,

HeatherS

I'm Back!

Hello All,

It has been a crazy year for me. Between opening and subsequently having to close a business, family issues, and a vast array health issues it's not surprising that I haven't been able to keep up with my blogging. I am very happy to return to it though, and I have lots of lovely new manicures planned to show everyone!

Today I have a pretty combination of two of my favorite OPI's... What's With The Cattitude from the Shrek Collection and  You Don't Know Jacques.  WWTC is a beautiful bright sky blue that covers in 3 coats, and YDKJ is a rich chocolate-y taupe that's perfect in two. To get the design I used the Cheeky XL Jumbo Plate C which I got in a 3 pack available on Amazon. I have had the XL plates for less than a week and I'm already so in love with them... I've become very addicted to full nail images, and these have so many different patterns, and I never have to double stamp because the images are considerably bigger than Konad or Bundle Monster.

Are you a fan of nail stamping? If so, do you prefer subtler combinations or in-you-face contrast?

Let me know!

Until next time,

Heather.