Champagne & Caviar

One of the latest trends in nail art is the Caviar manicure. The nail polish brand Ciate has announced the release of a kit containing everything you need to achieve this look. However, that kit comes with a hefty price tag of $25. That's pretty pricey, considering this look may not be for everyone - I honestly wasn't sure how I'd feel about it once I was wearing - and the fact that there is supposedly a waiting list for the before mentioned kit. Yikes!

The reason I say "yikes" is because I got the same look for $3.99, not counting the cost of polish which I already had. That's a big savings from the name brand kit, huh? The only thing I had to buy new were microbeads...which by the way are not the same as seed beads. More on that later.

I really like the look of this manicure, and there are so many different things you could do with it. For this tutorial I decided to do something matching the name "Caviar". Now, I've never had caviar - and I have no desire to try it. The one time I tried champagne I was not impressed at all...I'd rank it as one of the worst tasting things I've ever had. But, supposedly the two go well together...supposedly.

Let's get to it!

Supplies:

• clear base & top coat polishes
• black polish
• champagne colored polish
• black microbeads
• paper bowl or plate

I specifically used:

•  Finger Paints "Black Expressionism"
• China Glaze "Fast Track"
• Recollections black microbeads

Again, microbeads are not the same as seed beads. Crafty people may already know this - I did not. Microbeads are not found in the jewelry section of the craft store...they are found in the scrapbooking section. Apparently they are a page "embellishment". So, don't get the seed beads because they are too big to get this look. Whew! On to the manicure!

Microbeads vs. Seed Beads

As always, paint on your clear base coat.

Next, paint your ring fingers and thumbs one coat of the black polish. Paint your other nails the champagne color. Depending on your polish, it may take more than one coat; mine took two. Let your nails dry.

  Once your nails have dried it is time to sprinkle on those microbeads. You are going to want to do this one nail at a time. The nail polish MUST be wet in order for the microbeads to stick to the polish. Repaint your first black nail, hold it over the paper bowl/plate, and sprinkle the beads over the top of the wet polish. Rotate your nail so that you get the beads on all sides. Gently press down on the beads to embed them into the polish better.

Repeat this for each of the other black polished nails. If you'd like you can paint over the beads with a clear top coat. I would do a thin coat because you don't want to get dried globs of polish on the beads.

Looks a lot like caviar, right? I have a feeling that this 3D manicure isn't too practical. I've only been wearing it for 15 minutes though and it still looks great. That may change by the time I wake up - I'll keep track of how long it lasts and post an update when I have a better idea.

I would love to see any recreations of this design, or if you tried something different. The next time I try this I want to use microbeads in a variety of colors over pink polish. Ice cream and sprinkles anyone?

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Popcorn Nails!

My husband and I have been watching a lot of movies and DVDs over this past weekend - due to our internet being out. It's working again for the time being; just decides to take a break every now and then. *eye roll*

Anyways, watching all of those movies inspired this manicure! I think it would also be great if you are going a fair or carnival.

You can paint all of your nails with this design, or like I did here - just painting it on your thumb and ring finger as "accent nails."

What you'll need:

• clear polish (for your base and top coats)
• white polish
• red polish
• light yellow polish
• darker yellow polish
• dotting tool (a toothpick works well too)
• thin brush or striper

The colors I used:

• Finger Paints "Paper Mache" (white)
• CQ "Rouge"
• Sinful Colors "Unicorn"
• Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Lightening"

As always, paint on that clear base coat to protect your nails.

You'll need to decide if you want the popcorn design on all of your nails, or just as an accent. If you want the design on all of your nails, paint all of your nails white. (Depending on your polish this may take two coats to be opaque.) If you are going to have the design as an accent, paint your ring fingers and thumbs white. Next, paint the other three fingers on each hand red. Like so.

Now you are going to need that striper, or thin brush, to paint vertical stripes on your white polished nails. Personally, this is the hardest part for me...especially on my right hang. Take your time and steady your painting hand on the table.

Once your stripes have dried it is time to put some popcorn on those nails. First, take your light yellow polish and use your dotting tool to put groups of three or four dots together. This is going to be the puffy part of the popcorn.

When those have dried use that dotting tool again to put a couple darker yellow dots in each popcorn piece. If you put them on different sides of the light yellow groups it looks like the popcorn is facing different directions.

Let that dry for a little bit, then use that clear polish to paint on a top coat. I prefer to use a fast-drying top coat with designs that are thicker - you'll notice that the popcorn dots are raised a little. I use Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri top coat, but Seche Vite is a very popular one...I like Sally Hansen's prices better. :)

I hope you enjoyed this one! It was a lot of fun to do.

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Why nail art?

It may seem strange to some that I decided to start a blog about nail art. Nail art has become pretty fashionable lately. Lots of celebrities have been spotted showing off their nail art and people everywhere are jumping on the trend.

Fergie

Lady Gaga

Beyonce

However, the reason I took up nail art is not for fashion. Anyone who has been around me knows that I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. I hardly ever wear anything flashy...except for my nails. They are almost always painted up with some sort of design.

I used to bite my nails really bad. I mean, it was awful.

Yikes! Look at those nails!

I had tried everything I could think of to stop biting them, but I would do it without even realizing it.

One night I saw a  picture of a nail design one of my Facebook friends had tried. It was water marbling and I thought it looked awesome. So, I tried it myself. Pretty soon I was trying different designs two or three times a week. Long story short - that's when I stopped biting my nails.

My first nail design. Water marbling.

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