Lustrous Lacquer: Negative Space Manicure

Showing posts with label Negative Space Manicure. Show all posts

Thursday, November 9, 2017

The Nails I wore to Polishcon Chicago

Well, Polishcon Chicago was a little over a month ago and I am just getting around to blogging about my nails now. I had a good and only ok time at Polishcon. I was so excited to go and see everyone, meet some makers that I have been supporting over the years and try to make some new connections. Sadly my optimistic attitude disappeared as soon as I walked in the door. I've never thought of myself as socially awkward but boy was I ever. I found myself unable to make random chitchat with people, I just didn't know what to say and have a feeling I came off as stuck-up instead of nervous. And I just couldn't find the right way to work in handing out my business cards. So if I saw you at the con and our exchange was painful please don't take it personally. It was all me feeling awkward and shy. I promise to work on it for the next convention. But you're not here to hear about my insecurities, you're here for the nails right. So let's get to it.

I went with a manicure inspired by Yagala that I fell in love with the very first time I saw them. She makes everything look so easy, doesn't she? I should know better than to try and recreate one of her looks though. Especially since I wanted to get them just right and my skill level is nowhere near hers. Well, 3 attempts and about 5 hours later this is what I ended up with.

I started out with a base of China Glaze Heaven. This is my go-to polish when I want to create the illusion of bare nails for a negative space manicure. As you polishaholics know it's not always possible to have nice looking naked nails and mine were looking particularly yellow that week.

To create my V's I used some tip guides that I picked up awhile back from Sally Beauty Supply. I liked the idea of an angled take on the half-moon mani with the accent nail looking more like a funky french. It's a subtle difference but still, creates the accent. This step I had to repeat a few times because I was anxious and didn't allow enough time for my base color to dry. Boy what a mess that was! I actually had an issue with being anxious throughout this entire manicure and ended up getting sheet marks in it before I could photograph it. My advice to you: Make sure you have enough time for your manicure to dry completely before heading to bed. Especially if it's a look that's a bit on the complicated side for your skill level.

For my red and black, I used Zoya Black Swan and Orly Just Bitten. Just Bitten is from the Velvet Dreams collection Orly released for the fall of this year and I'll have a review up of that collection next week.

To avoid getting my stamped image onto the negative space part of my manicure I used liquid Latex to carefully cover the angle and around my cuticles. I wasn't taking any chances since I'd already had to redo the red and black portions a few times and was frustrated at this point. But I really wanted this mani to work so I gathered up all my patience and pushed through.

The image I used is from the Abstractos 04 plate by Z nail. You can order these through the MDU site. I've used this plate a few times and found it to be etched well and very easy to use. In fact, I used this exact same plate to create some decals earlier this year. Plus you can't really beat the price point. Especially if you can get it on sale for $3.50 but the regular price of $5 is pretty good too. The polish I used to stamp with is Hit the Bottle Snowed In. I finished the look by edging the angles with a silver striping polish from China Glaze and a generous layer of Girl on the Run from Pure Ice. I should mention that normally Snowed In doesn't smear quite as badly and that it was my impatience that caused it.

In the end, I had mixed feelings about this manicure, mainly because it didn;t turn out quite like I had pictured but also I was proud of myself for not giving up and going with something that was easy for me. I think the next time I try a look similar to this I'll go with a more pointed V shape. Hopefully, that will help make my nails look longer and thinner. Have you ever had a manicure give you as much trouble as this one gave me? Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Friday, April 17, 2015

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Zoya

Half Moon with a French Tip Nail Art

*Nothing to Disclose*

Today I'd like to share with you a simple nail art look that anyone can recreate no matter what your skill level is. Honestly the hardest part of this manicure is waiting for each layer to completely dry before moving on to the next step. I don't know if this look has an official name but I like to call it a half moon with french tips.

There are 3 steps to creating this look. Each step can be done free hand or by using guides like I did.

Step 1: Paint your base color. I started off with a coat of China Glaze Heaven to give the illusion of a bare nail but also have even coloring in the half moons.

Step 2: Create your half moon. I placed hole reinforcements over the lower portion of my nails and added a 2 coats of Zoya Aubrey.

Step 3: Add the French Tip. Like I mentioned above I used tip guides to ensure a nice, even, crisp line. For my gilded tips I chose Orly Luxe.

Top everything off with a good top coat and you're good to go. Nice and simple right! There are a few tricks to getting everything just right though. This manicure took me twice as long as it usually does, simply because of dry time. I've ruined too many manicure by jumping the gun when it comes to applying tape or decals. The last thing you need is to be pulling up your base color when removing these items so just be patient.

Another tip is to apply the tape, decal, or guide to the back of your hand first to remove some of the stickiness and lessen the chance of smudges, smears, wrinkles, or complete removal of the polish beneath. All of which I have experienced and let me tell you it is a frustrating experience. I think it's even worse than bumping your nails while they are still wet and causing a little dent simply because that's typically an accident and rushing through a step is completely controllable.

So what are your thoughts on this look, is it one you would wear? What colors would you choose? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Tape Manicure

Holiday manicure ideas with the Pretty Woman Holiday Nail Kit

*Press Sample*

As some of you might know on Monday I was given the opportunity to take over the Pretty Woman NYC twitter feed for their virtual holiday party. For 2 hours I shared some nail art, held a few giveaways, and talked about holiday trivia. It was kind of fun, but not very interactive. I think the time slot I had may have had something to do with that, though. (Middle of the day and just after lunch.)

For the party I came up with 4 nail art looks using the 4 nail polishes that come in the Holiday Nail kit. I wanted to do designs that even a beginner could easily replicate, and I wanted them to have a holiday feel. Something you might wear for Christmas or New Years without being a traditional design. These are the looks I came up with.

I started out with an Argyle manicure using Just Peachy, Snake Charmer, and Gold Dust. This was actually a lot harder to do than I thought. An Argyle manicure has been on my to-do list for a few months and I was determined to get it right. It took me 3 different attempts to get the triangles looking decent, but in the end, it was worth it.

I tried freehand painting them and that was a disaster. I used stripping tape, but the lines ended up being off. In the end, I used scotch tape and some creative placement to get the look I wanted. I did end up free handing the gold and that worked out much better than the triangles. After taking the pictures I didn't want to take this one off.

The next look I tried was a half-moon using Shirley Temple and Gold Dust. I thought this would be a more classic holiday look that would appeal to a wider audience. Specifically, people who aren't into wearing wild or intricate nail art. Oh and get this, that's one coat of Shirley temple on my nails. I couldn't believe I found a one coat red!

I actually freehanded this entire look and think it turned out pretty good. Especially considering I did the half-moon part with a dotting tool. In hindsight, I probably should have used some guides to get a more rounded look. But hey this is nail art looks for beginners so perfection was not required right?

For this look, I had New Year's Eve in mind when I created it. Something a little more sophisticated and some bling. Using Snake Charmer and Gold Dust I recreated a look I did earlier this year with Mentality Tempest, this time with a twist. I chose a different finger to use as the accent and made that the plain nail keeping the focus on the negative space stripes.

This is a really easy look to do, but it does require some patience. Something I usually don't have when it comes to nail art. But I knew if I wanted my stripes to work I had to wait for each layer to dry. It took a lot of sitting still and catching up on a few TV shows but I found my patience, and my stripes are good. Ahh, the things we do for nail art, it's a tough job but somebody has to do it.

For my final look, I wanted to go a bit more playful. Originally I wanted to do plaid nails. Something with a warm and comfy feeling to it for the cold winter days but this looks a bit more like presents to me. I used Just Peachy, Shirley Temple, and Gold Dust to create this look. And I'm proud to say that I freehand painted those stripes and they look pretty darn good.

This was a fun little challenge for me. Coming up with holiday nail looks using only these colors, making it something I could be proud of and, something others could replicate without a lot of experience. It really made me focus on my techniques and helped tune a few nail art skills. I hope you enjoyed these looks, Id love to know which one was your favorite. If you'd like to purchase a kit for yourself or a gift they are available at PrettyWomanUSA.com. The kits cost $7.99 and you have the option to have them gift wrapped. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Stamping

Gabriel - Hush Hush

*Press Sample*

A few weeks ago I posted about a Collaboration between Gabriel Cosmetics and Brooke Anderson for the Head Down South Collection. Today I am lucky enough to have one of the shades from this collection to share with you.

Hush Hush is described as a steel grey polish with shimmer. You can see silver shimmer swimming around in the bottle giving off a marbled appearance. Unfortunately, the shimmer pretty much disappears on the nail. You can see a little bit of it on my pinky nail in this picture, but it's very subtle.

Shown 1 coat plus top coat

The application was super easy and smooth. Bonus, this polish is a 1 coater! And as you can see it stamps really well.

I wanted to try out a negative space manicure with a bit of a lacy look. I really like how this turned out. I used MoYou plate 06 from the Kaleidoscope Collection to create this look.

The addition of a matte top coat gave a sort of chalkboard appearance, which would make a great background for some metallic stamping. I think I like the matte version better, what do you think?

The Brooke Anderson, Head Down South Collection by Gabriel Cosmetics is available October 1^st through the holidays at www.gabrielcosmeticsinc.com and retail individually for $8.50.

Gabriel Cosmetics is a vegan, USDA Certified organic, gluten-free and cruelty-free - Listed as a PETA's "Beauty without Bunnies" Company. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Tape Manicure

Mentality - Tempest

*Nothing to Disclose*

Today I have for you Tempest from Mentality. Tempest is from the Ombre Mattes Collection and is a blackened dark red with red shimmer. I was lucky enough to snag this beauty from a blog sale. The application process was smooth. I didn't experience any dragging like I have with other matte polishes. However, as you will notice the shimmer is hard to see once the polish dries. All pictures shown are 2 coats.

I love the look of Tempest matte but wanted to see if I could get some more of the shimmer to show with top coat.

You can start to get a glimpse of the depth that Mentality has with the addition of topcoat. Here's a Macro shot for a closer look.

And now to share with you the reason for those 2 stripes on my ring finger. I decided to do some negative space nail art inspired by LacquerStyle. You can see her manicure here. This is my version.

I used Essie Shine of the Times for my flakey strip and then topped everything off with a matte top coat. I really like how this turned out. It felt elegant and fun at the same time.

I have a few more Mentality polishes on my wishlist but would love to hear some of your favorites or must haves. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!