Zombie Nails

Hello Lovelies! I know it's been a long while since I've posted here, but life has been crazy busy lately. The family and I are trying to suck every last second out of summer before it ends. It always ends too quick, but it's followed by Fall which is my favorite season. You also know that Halloween is my favorite holiday of all! I'm super excited because I'm participating in my first swap for this Halloween. Recently, I was challenged by my swap girl to create a bloody zombie mani.  I couldn't resist doing something gross and semi-realistic, so if you don't like gore you may want to skip this post. 

And here they are in all their gory splendor, complete with gnarled nails and a nice meaty hand prop...

Of course, I wasn't going to ruin my natural nails to create these so I started with some press on nails. After sizing them to make sure they would fit, I used clippers to gnarl them up. Just think of your worst nail day ever and go to town. Then using a dry costume make up pallet  (I keep on hand) I stained the nails a nicotine yellow. Once I was satisfied with how ugly they looked I applied the false nails to my real nails. I did apply a protective basecoat on my natural nails to protect them from staining. 

I used the makeup pallet to grey out my skin to make it look like dead flesh. With a dry pallet, you mix it with rubbing alcohol to make it moist enough to apply. The more rubbing alcohol you use the more diluted and transparent the color becomes. Use less rubbing alcohol to make the color more opaque. 

I then used my Graftobian modeling wax (purchased from Amazon) to create a gash on my mid finger. Use spirit gum to adhere the wax to the skin. I then used a cuticle pusher to smooth the wax and blend it to the skin. I used the flat side of the pusher to create the open wound and smoothe the inner edges as well. I then greyed the wax to match it to my greyed skin. 

And now it's time to get bloody and gory. I started with the dark red color from my dry palette and defined the gash, stained around the edges of the nail (I thought this gave the impression of the nails coming of the nail bed. Then with my gel blood I got extra messy. 

That's how I created these super creepy, extra ugly, bloody zombie nails. 

I had such an fun time creating these nails. The stuff I used can be found on Amazon or any Halloween costume store. They're perfect for Halloween or just for creeping people out. 

Thank you swapgirl for giving me the incentive to create these. I hope you all enjoyed these sick nails. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Dotted Rainbow Stripes

Hello Lovelies! I am super excited about this months WNAC because the theme is rainbows! Who doesn't love rainbows?! For this week's stripe prompt, I decided to create a dotted stripes.

For this nail art design, I decided to use my go to Ciate London rainbow creme scheme which includes: 'Mistress,' 'Cha, Cha, Cha,' 'Loop the Loop,' 'Apples & Custard,' 'Boom Box,' & 'Talent Scout.'

To create this design I painted three vertical stripes, skipping every other color of the rainbow. Then using a medium dotting tool I dotted a stripe over each seam with the colors I skipped. 

After a quick clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, this is what I came up with…

I decided my rainbow stripes need some more rainbows. So, I added a layer of I.A.M…Custom Color Cosmetics 'Quest for the Holo Pail.'

These nails were so easy to create, and they're bright and fun too. The holo topcoat gave it that little bit extra, that makes me really love this designs. I hope you like this design too, thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,



Rose are Red, Violets are Blue

Hello Lovelies! Today's nails are inspired by the poem 'Roses are red, violets are blue.' Of course, I always thought violets are violet, so that's the color I used for my violets. I created these for this week's WNAC, floral prompt…

Materials I used:

Base coat - I.A.M…Custom Color Cosmetics 'Cement Sticky Basecoat'

White polish - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'White On'

Rose image - Pueen image plate Nature Lover 01

Violet image - Uber Chic Beauty image plate 5-02

Black stamping polish from bornprettystore.com

Red polish - IAMCCC 'Ixchel'

Dark purple polish - IAMCCC 'Enabler'

Medium purple polish - IAMCCC 'Secret Society of Poobahs'

Green polish - Revlon 'Emerald'

Fab Ur Nails squishy stamper and scraper

Small detail brush

Topcoat - IAMCCC 'Diamond Pro'

I started with a white base color over my protective base coat. 

I created a stamped decal for the rose and violets. It's fairly simple to create. Pick up the image, use a small detail brush fill in the image with desired colors. Apply a quick drying topcoat over the image. Peak the image from the stamper when it's dry. Apply a layer of topcoat to your nail and then gently place and press the decal onto the nail. Trim the excess decal with either scissors or nail clippers. 

Use gentle acetone and a brush to carefully remove any remaining extra decal, the acetone will also help mend any lose decal to the polish underneath. Finish up with a layer of your favorite topcoat. 

I repeated this process to create the violet. The initial image included two flowers but I was only able to use one flower. 

With this nail art design I have completed another month of WNAC. I'm hoping to be able to do next months challenge but I'm getting close to my delivery date and the arrival of our little guy. I appreciate all of you sticking with me through my sporadic posting. I'll keep posting for as long as I can, before I take a break. Thank you for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,

Broken Hearts Pond Mani

Hello Lovelies!  For this week's Weekly Nail Art Challenge (WNAC) prompt the theme is a love/hate pond mani.  Around this time last year I created a Valentine's Day heart pond manicure, at the time I referred to it as Jelly Sandwich Hearts because I was unaware that the technique was actually referred to as a pond manicure.  So, this year I decided to do more of an anti-Valentine's Day design and went with a broken heart pond manicure instead...

Materials I used:
Base coat: Dream Polish 'Smooth Gem'
Sally Hansen's 'Big Smokey Topcoat'
China Glaze 'Seeing Red,' 'Strike a Rose,' & 'Spring in My Step'
Small dotting tool
Small detail brush
Topcoat - Sweet & Sour Lacquer 'Gloss Sauce'

After applying 'Smooth Gem' base coat, currently my favorite ridge filler base, I applied random small dots in a red, medium and pale pink using a dotting tool.  I followed that with a layer of 'Big Smokey Topcoat'.  Then using a small detail brush I painted a heart torn in half.  I followed that with another layer of smokey topcoat.  Then painted more broken hearts over top of this layer.  You can repeat this process for as many layers as you choose, but I recommend 2-3 otherwise you lose your pattern and it can become very busy and messy.

As usual perform any necessary cleanup with gentle acetone and a brush, and apply your favorite topcoat.

I like pond manis because they are not overly complicated.  The most difficult part of a pond mani, is choosing colors that won't wash into each other.  I recommend when creating a pond mani choose highly contrasting tones between your gelly polish and your opaque polish, like black and white, or pale pastels with darker hues.  The contrast in tone will allow you to be able to see you design easier through the gelly layers.

I hope you enjoyed this anti-Valentine's day nail art design, and found the tutorial and tips useful.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

  

Mustache-icure

Hello Lovelies!  I have been having a difficult time staying motivated with nail art, so I decided to pick up a challenge for November.  For this month I thought I would give the Instagram #WNAC2015 a shot.  The over all theme is elegant, followed by weekly prompts.  This week's prompt is Movember.

No that's not a typo, Movember aka No Shave November is a movement to help support male wellness, encouraging men to exercise, eat healthy, and get regular checkups.  The primary goal of Movember is to bring about awareness of prostate and testicular cancer.  Many men show their support by vowing not to shave for the month of November, many growing elaborate moustaches in the process.  For (most) women growing a moustache is not really achievable so instead we create moustache nail art.  This was what I created...

Materials I used:
Basecoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Bring It On!"
Polishes - OPI "You're so Vain-illa", "Icebergers and Fries", "My Voice is a Little Norse", and Sinful Colors "Black on Black"
Medium/small dotting tool
Small detail brush
Topcoat - New York Color matte topcoat

I started with an off white on my pointer and mid finger, black on my ring finger and thumb, and added a glitter polish to my pinky.

For my moustaches I decided to try to go for a handlebar style stache.  Surprisingly, this is the first time I have ever done a moustache of any kind on my nails, however, it is relatively easy.  Start by placing two dots side by side with a dotting tool.  Then using a small brush, create a tail to either side of the dots.  I created a pattern of four to five moustaches on each finger and added sparkly dots between them to add a touch of elegance.

I did the same pattern over the black base as I did over the off white.  I simply changed the colors of the moustaches.

I performed my usual clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, and this time I added a matte topcoat.  I have never applied a matte topcoat over a glitter polish but I thought the affect was pretty interesting, almost stone like.

My goal with this manicure was to make it both masculine, since it is for Movemeber, yet incorporate a little bit of elegance so that it fit the theme of the WNAC.  I'm not quite sure I met the criteria of my goals, but I think I came pretty close.  What do you think?  Either way I hope you enjoyed this nail art design, thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,