Tag: scotch tape

Valentine’s Day Skittle Manicure!

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Sunday! Today I have a fun post for all of you featuring a Valentine’s Day skittle manicure. What is a skittle manicure, you ask? It’s when each nail is painted differently from all the rest, whether it be all different colors or patterns. I thought a skittle would be a cute idea for Valentine’s Day, and it would help me practice some nail art techniques! Let me show you my Valentine’s manicure!

Valentine's Day Base

 

I used Sally Hansen Fuchsia Flare as the base color for my manicure, and an accent nail of Zoya Jacqueline. Fuchsia Flare is a beautiful bright pink nail polish that is opaque in two coats. The formula was easy to apply, and spread out evenly. I thought it would make the perfect base for some nail art, especially for Valentine’s Day! I also used a fast dry polish so that I could get to work on the nail art as soon as possible — I don’t like waiting for polish to dry!

Free Hand Heart

The next step was to begin the skittle! I first started out with Fuchsia Flare again, and ever so carefully did a free-hand heart on the accent nail of Zoya Jacqueline. To do so, I wiped off almost all the polish from the brush, and made two sweeps of the polish in a V shape. It was rather simple to do with a steady hand, and I’m thrilled the way it came out!

Valentine's Day Skittle Manicure | Adventures in Polishland Valentine's Day Skittle Manicure | Adventures in Polishland

Next, I completed my manicure using all of the other polishes. It’s very important to make sure your base color is dry before beginning these next steps, or you will experience smudging. Working from pinky to thumb, I first did a french tip with an unnamed red OPI. To do so I used scotch tape as a guideline. Next, I did a glitter gradient on my middle finger using Equinots from A Rhyming Dictionary. I put a dab of the glitter polish at the bottom of my nail near the cuticle, and slowly dragged up the glitters until about half of the nail was covered. On my pointer finger I used Milani Digital to do another scotch tape design, this time in a vertical stripe. The result here wasn’t very good — Digital was not opaque over Fuchsia Flare, and I didn’t get a clean line after removing the tape. Nonetheless, I completed the manicure with a thin coat of Elixir Lacquer A Cool Fool on my thumb nail. This gave that nail a beautiful, holographic shine.

Overall I am loving my Valentine’s Day manicure! There are some imperfections, but that is fine by me. Be sure to try out your own skittle manicure by wearing a different color or design on each nail. It’s a fun way to experiment with new styles and impress your friends. Be sure to share your Valentine’s Day manicures with me on my Facebook page HERE!

 

Some of the products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Make Your Mani Last: How I Wore Essie Stylenomics!

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Earlier this week I showed you Essie Stylenomics that I got from Klout as a free perk. Not only did I wear Stylenomics alone, but I did two mani upgrades with it. One of my Facebook followers suggested that I try matte stripes, so I gave that a try. Then, I changed the look again by adding some glitter. Let me show you both mani upgrades!

 

 

The first mani upgrade I did with Essie Stylenomics is matte stripes! All you have to do to achieve this look is place scotch tape across your nails in horizontal stripes, paint over them with a matte topcoat, and remove the tape. Voila! Your manicure will go from glossy to both glossy and matte in an instant. Matte stripes are the perfect way to upgrade your manicure if you are looking for a subtle change. For more information on how the scotch tape technique works, visit THIS blog entry.

 

 

Although I did like the look of matte stripes, I just had to add some glitter to my manicure! First I used a glossy topcoat over the stripes to erase the matte look. Then I grabbed Milani Jewel FX in Gems to use as a glitter topcoat. Gems is such a fun polish. It is a clear base filled with lots of multicolored glitters. I applied one coat over Essie Stylenomics to get the look in the photos. The best part is, Milani can be found at drugstores and department stores for around $4-5 per bottle, which makes it more affordable than similar polishes that range from $8-16. I just love the combination of Stylenomics and Gems!

Mani upgrades are the perfect way to make your manicure last as long as possible. By adding topcoats you lock in the original color, and with glitter you can hide the appearance of any chips you are starting to see. Plus, mani upgrades are a quick solution for the girl on the go who wants to change her polish as much as possible, but doesn’t have the time for a complete manicure.

Do you have any ideas for a great mani upgrade? Share them in the “comments” section and I will try them out!

Mani Upgrade with Geometric Glitter

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Remember my manicure from my last post? It was a beautiful nude color from Julep called Lynne. I loved it, but it was time for some sparkle. I knew I wanted to use another color from my July Julep Maven Box called Yumi, so I ran a short poll on my Facebook page to determine what style I should do. The winning trend was geometric glitter, and I was excited to try it out. I’ve done a few other geometric styles, but I hadn’t tried it out with glitter before. It turns out to be just as easy, and it looks super fun!

 To get a geometric look, all you need is scotch tape and scissors! Simply cut small strips of scotch tape in any shape you want and place it on a completely dry manicure. You can do any design you want- stripes, diagonal lines, chevrons, etc. I like to do a different shape on each nail. Once the tape is on your nail, make sure it is pressed down so that no polish will leak through. Then, paint right over the tape with your new color. Make sure to take off the tape before the polish dries! For my mani, I used three coats of Julep’s Yumi. It is a beautiful, multi-dimensional glitter in a light pink base. It is very sheer so it is perfect for layering. It is also opalescent, so the colors shine in the light. It looks perfect with Lynne!

Above is a photo of my finished product! Notice how I used all different geometric shapes. I love this look! It is perfect for a mani upgrade because your nails will be already dry, plus you can cover up any imperfections with the new color. People will also be impressed with your nails, even though you know all you used was scotch tape. Have you tried out this trick yet? What colors did you use?

Macro shot of my thumb. Don’t you love this design & color combo?

P.S. Don’t forget you can join Julep Maven HERE! Enter code COLOR2012 to get your first box for one penny.

Geometric Nail Designs

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

I remember back in high school when my mom bought me my first french manicure kit. Complete with stickers that were supposed to help me create the perfect french nails, this kit turned out to be a flop. Maybe it was my impatience, but after a few tries, I chucked that kit in the trash and never looked back. Thanks to Pinterest and this post from Birchbox, I’m no longer afraid to mix colors. All you need to create a funky, geometric look is scotch tape! 

Last night I painted my nails with Don’t Be Cheesy, a bright orange from the new line Spoiled by Wet n Wild. I let this color dry overnight as Birchbox suggested, since putting scotch tape on wet nails is a no-no. Today I chose one of my favorite nail colors, Check Me Out by L’oreal Paris, and got to work with the tape. I loosely followed Birchbox’s ideas and cut the tape in all different shapes, some small strips and others larger, and placed them on my nails in varying patterns. Once the tape is secure, just paint your nails with the color you have chosen, and carefully peel off the tape while the polish is still wet. Here’s where my main advice comes in: it is important to smooth out the tape so that there are no air bubbles, but make sure you don’t crease it too much. My main problem occurred in peeling off the tape. Since I had pressed it down so much, it broke while I was trying to take it off! Luckily I was able to salvage most of my hard work, but I do have some mistakes (hey, I’m only human). I’m still proud of my new geometric nails, though. Check out the photos below. Image Image

Pretty cool, huh? Just make sure that once the polish is completely dry you use a top coat. Don’t put it on too soon or the colors will smudge. You can also get more adventurous than I did, and paint your nails all different colors. Or, if you want to add a special touch, put clear glitter over the finished product! You’ll soon come to learn that I am a bit obsessed with glitter, but more on that later.