Lustrous Lacquer: Newspaper nails

Monday, January 5, 2015

My top 10 nail art looks from 2014

I thought I'd start 2015 off with a look back at some of my favorite nail art looks from the last year. Originally I was going to share my top 5 looks but I had a hard time narrowing it down so I went with 10. It was fun to see how things progressed from an ok manicure to start out with to my all ti,e favorite nail art look. I hope you enjoy this stroll down memory lane and I'd love to hear which look you like the best.

March brings us the first look of the year with some tiger stripes. This was part of a twin manicure that actually ended up being a triple manicure.

All the details for this look can be found at http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/03/twin-blog-post-tiger-print.html

I finally attempted a Sugar Spun manicure as part of the Spring Renewal Nail Art Challenge in April. This was the look I put together for the Pastel Prompt.

For the full post, you can follow this link. http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/04/spring-renewal-nail-art-challenge-day-2.html

May was a slow month for nail art for me but I created 2 looks that I absolutely loved in June. Ironically both manicures were for weddings or wedding-related. The first look is a stamped gradient for one of my closest and longest friends in the world.

I wish I had a picture of the finished manicure. I ended up adding a layer of Fairy Dust after I had taken all my pictures. But there is a quick cell phone pic in the original post. You can find it here http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/06/stamped-gradient-for-alissa.html

For the second wedding in June, I did the leadlight technique and matched my manicure to my dress. It was a big hit with my friends and I was pretty darn proud of my efforts.

More pictures including one of the dress I wore can be found in the original post. http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/06/leadlight-manicure.html

July brought out some simple nail art from me. I did a few simple dotticures and this simple tape manicure. It just goes to show that not all nail art has to be extravagant.

This is also about the time that I started cropping all of my images to the same size and making them square. I like the more uniform look. Check out the full post to see if you agree. http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/07/nail-art-tape-manicure.html

August brought another nail art challenge to my blog. This was my Under the Stars look I created for the Let's go Camping nail art challenge.

This entire look doesn't thrill me as much as some of the other looks I created. But it's one of my favorites because of the way I was able to get the sky to look like it had Northern Lights in it. And it even glowed in the dark. http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/08/lets-go-camping-nail-art-challenge-day.html

In September I was given the opportunity to do a guest post over at The Fancy Side. The theme was bridal since Amy was getting married and that's why she needed guest posts.

I was really in love with this look and ended up wearing it for almost a week. Find my original post and a link to the guest post here. http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/09/guest-post-at-fancy-side-bridal-manicure.html

October was another busy month for nail art for me. And while I did like my Halloween manicure 2 others won out for the top 10 list. I did my first Chevron manicure at the beginning of the month.

The full post can be found by following this link. http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/10/my-first-chevron-manicure-fraturing.html

Towards the end of October, I did another first on my blog. Well, 2 actually. I attempted Newspaper nails and Water decals for the first time in this vintage-vibed manicure.

All the details including a funny story about the water decals can be found at http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/10/newspaper-nails-with-born-pretty-store.html

Rounding out the year is my absolute favorite manicure. My Ugly Sweater nails for the 12 Days of Christmas nail art challenge.

This is also the manicure where I discovered how easy it was to create these looks using acrylic paint instead of just polish. I have a feeling my nail art is going to look a whole lot better in 2015 with this bit of knowledge. Find the full post here http://lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-12-days-of-christmas-nail-art_19.html

I hope you enjoyed this little look back at my year in nail art. It's been a fun journey and I've learned a few things along the way. I have big hopes for 2015 and I'd love it if you'd come along for the ride. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM The New Black

Newspaper Nails with Born Pretty Store Decals

*Affiliate Link*

Raise your hand if you want to see some nail art today! Did I get anybody to raise their hand? You'll have to let me know in the comments if you did. Today I have for you a manicure featuring another technique I've been wanting to try for a while now. The Newspaper nail.

I actually found a kit from The New Black on clearance at TJ Maxx that was meant for this exact technique. Of course, I snatched it up because I'm all about making nail art easier.

Let me just save you the money right now and tell you not to buy it. It's a gimmick that actually adds extra steps. Take that transfer solution for example. You're supposed to apply it to your nails, place the newspaper on your nail while it's still wet, Apply another layer of the solution on top and then place a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol on top of that. Umm, excuse me? Who has time for all of that!

I did use the base color provided in the kit because it has that old worn out paper look that I was going for. I hate to say it but I'm not entirely sure what the name of that color is. The label on the bottom is printed really small. I think it's called Gold Grenade.

After letting that dry completely I dipped each finger in rubbing alcohol and pressed sections of newspaper onto the nail. This turned out to be a little trickier than I had expected since the paper wanted to stick to my fingers more than the nail and moved a little as I tried to evenly disperse the pressure. But here is my finished result.

Not bad but a little plain, and remember that old worn out paper feel I mentioned earlier? I really like the look of vintage manicures and decided that some flowers would complete my look.

This was my first time using water decals. These are #G065 from Born Pretty Store. Apparently, the directions weren't exactly as clear as I needed them to be. I put the first one on backward! So off to Youtube, I went to see what I did wrong. Can I just say Thank God for Youtube and all the nail art vloggers out there! They sure have saved me on more than one occasion.

I'm really happy with how this all came together. It has that vintage feel that I was going for. I lucked out that the colors of the flowers played nicely with my base color.

Have you had good luck with water decals? I'd love to hear about your experiences good or bad. If you'd like to purchase these exact decals you can follow the direct link here G065 and use code LAUNX31 to get 10% off your order. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!