06 August 2013

Alphabet Challenge: S is for... Swirly, Starry Spectrum

Good day my lovelies! I have been such a naughty blogger lately. I'm up to V on my fingertips and am only just now showing you S! Perhpas this week will be a flurry of updates. Maybe.

(I wish I could do daily updates, and get samples from nail polish companies, and be one of those cool nail bloggers in the cool nail blogger circle. But I just can't >.< )

ANYWAY! Letter S, and this happened to coincide nicely with the arrival of a new nail product I had never tried before--foils! I have watched the very talented Robin Moses demonstrate her methods for using nail foils in loads of her videos, and finally gave in to the temptation to order some. I have watched her so often that I was eager to put her techniques to the test, and I think it came out pretty nicely for my first try at it!

SO SPARKLY
Pretty!

I started with a base of Spectrum, from the Sally Hansen HD line. A yummy sparkly turquoise/teal blue-to-pinkish duochrome, this is sheer (great for layering!) or builds up nicely alone. This is three medium-ish coats. (Afterwards I tested on a nail wheel, and one coat of this over OPI Can't Find My Czechbook looks just the same. May do that next time to save polish!) Here is what it looks like alone:

I love how shiny and sparkly it is, and that strong pink flash is <3

Once that was dry, I poured out a wee bit of the nail foil glue from dollarnailart.com, added a few drops of water to thin it down (Robin recommends this so it's easier to work with, and doesn't get all gloppy or peel off), and used it to paint on some stars and swirls with my detail brush. I acquired a decent striping brush like... two days after I did this design. Wish I had waited, as the lines could have been thinner. Oh well.

The glue goes on sort of a milky-blue-white, but dries clear and very sticky. I then took the foil called Silver Dots, from the same retailer, and pressed it gently over the nail. It sticks to all the areas where the glue was applied. It looks so pretty over the blue! Waited about half an hour and then topcoated with a slow-drying clear coat from Nailene to protect it.

Fast-dry topcoats are what I use 99% of the time, but they can cause foils to crinkle up and look all meh. They do react a little bit to any topcoat, but slow-drying ones are easier on it. As long as you can sit still for ages and not smudge it. I am so spoiled on these quick-dry ones, I swear. That was by far the hardest part--the waiting!

After topcoat. Apologies for the kinda weird angle. This was so shiny it was hard to find an angle where you could actually see the design!

Verdict: nail foils are reeeeeeeeally cool! Especially if you're willing to practice a bit to get the feel of how they work and master it (I am) and are into super shiny bling (I so totally flippin' am). Can't wait to play more with these!

Thanks for stopping by :D see you next time! xoxo

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