Spring Wild

First off, I've decided to do a weekly feature on Fridays called "Notable Nails". There are so many great nail blogs I read through (drool over) every day, and I rarely have time to comment, but I want to give these great nail artists some recognition. So every Friday night, I'll be posting links to the top five nail designs I came across during the week. I've been considering starting a monthly award in the same vein - we'll see if I can get that done.

Now for this week's manicure - you can see I decided to wear the "baby" stiletto shape for a little while longer. I needed bright this week. And green. And spring. I think this does the job nicely, don't you? It's a simple design using Cina nail art decals - I bought a bunch of them on my last trip to Sally's (last Saturday), and I just love how they lay flat and blend in seamlessly. I think they're probably the best sticker-style decals I've used to this point.

I decided to do the undersides of my nails too, just for some extra interest, so I did those first using Zoya's "Creamy" yellow:

If you're going to do the undersides, do them first. That way you can cover up any excess on the top with your main color.

You may have noticed I've become a Seche Vite convert - so I started with 1 coat Seche base coat, followed by 2 coats Pure Ice "Wild Thing" - isn't this just the most delicious lime green?

The color even shows up in the yellow lamp-light. Then I put one coat of Seche top coat on (it's quick dry, so keeps the stickers from "sinking" into the damp polish), and used an orange stick to position the decals.

One more coat of Seche top coat over the whole thing, clean up and voila! Easy peasy, and I think they worked, since Spring finally showed up last weekend. :-)

I'm not sure what color I'm in the mood for this week. I may try stamping again, since the Seche dries so quickly...but I have all those great new decals too...decisions, decisions.

Stop in Friday night for the new "Notable Nails" list - and I'm definitely going to get a "clean up" video done this weekend too, so watch for that next week.

Until then, Happy Polishing!

Ruby "Baby" Stilettos

Last Tuesday, I went with my husband to see Rob Zombie & Alice Cooper, and naturally, I needed some wicked nails befitting a hard rock concert. I decided to try shaping my nails "stiletto style" for a pointed look. As you can see, they weren't quite long enough for a super-pointy taper, so I'm calling them "baby stilettos" instead. ;-) I started with my normal oval-shaped nails.

I thought about clipping the edges, but I was afraid they'd break or split. So I decided to get out my handy-dandy electric file, and taper the edges that way. 

That worked very well, and I ended up with nice, tapered tips. I even got them fairly balanced, which was cool. 

Next I put on one coat of Seche Vite base coat, and two coats of China Glaze "Ruby Pumps". 

I added a thin tip in China Glaze "Liquid Leather"...

And then added a red rhinestone at the point where the red meets the black, just for a finishing touch. 

I even painted the undersides red.

Then I topped it with more Seche Vite, and cleaned up the next morning. Voila! Rock Concert Nails. 

The above photo is the closest to the "real" colors in natural light. You can sort of see the glitter in Ruby Pumps. 

My "baby" stilettos aren't as hard to wear as I thought they'd be. They actually don't get in the way as much as my normal shape, because they're tapered. I had to get used to typing with them, because I'm used to catching the sides of my nails on the keys, but with these, it's just my fingers unless I'm reaching "up" a row. As an added bonus, the point at the tip is handy for picking stuff up. LOL  I think I'm going to leave them this shape for another week, see what they're like when they grow a little longer...

Hubby requested green nails next week, in hopes that spring would be summoned. And I got some groovy new nail art stuff at Sally's last weekend, so fun stuff coming up. Until then, happy polishing!  :-)

What are you sporting on your nails this week?