Hearts & Hooves Day: Special Somepony Necklace

     Happy Hearts & Hooves Day! This is my final Valentine's manicure, and my first My Little Pony themed of a much planned series. I didn't really want to start out my Pony series with this one, but I absolutely could not let the holiday roll by.

     I am subscribed to this very talented lady, and she recently uploaded a lovely tutorial. I instantly fell in love with the necklace idea, and had to recreate it and put my own spin on it.

     I definitely have nowhere near the length of her beautiful nails, but I had to try it. I should have also used the nail art brush to add a little black around the horseshoes for depth, but I was scared that I would ruin it. I ended up doing that anyhow, but probably a lot less than I would have done with the brush.
     I have had my nail art brush set for a while, but have always shied away from using them because I knew if I messed up that I would have to wear it. I never allowed myself enough time to practice, and be able to remove it if I did. I got into the habit of paint-stamp-topcoat-done, but now that I have more time to play around I am trying to branch out from what comes easy.

Items Used

Main Fingers

• Base Coat - Palladio Moisture Surge
• 2 Coats - Pure Ice Siren
• 1 Coat - Hot Topic Red Glitter
• Stamped With - Konad White
• Dotted With - China Glaze Dance Baby
• Plate - Bundle Monster 317

 

Accent Fingers 

• Base Coat - Palladio - Moisture Surge
• 2 Coats - China Glaze Dance Baby
• Stamped With - Konad White
• Nail Art - Wet n' Wild Black Créme
• Plate -  MASH 37

Top Coat on All - Seche Vite (before and after Stamping)

     The only thing that separates this mani from being a Valentine's mani is the Horseshoes. The Special Somepony Necklace is adorable, and I am glad I bucked up and tried out the nail art brushes. As always, now that I am finished I see about 20 things that I wish I would have done a little differently- but those ideas can be saved for another layer of polish.

     In case you were wondering about how I ruined the mani, here is a very detailed account of what caused those smudges and bubbles.

     I have little hearts the same color as the ones on my thumb that are hollow in the middle. I had them sitting on the bottoms of the horseshoes. Immediately after placing them- I hated it and popped them off. The hearts do not sit flush with your nails, and I couldn't stand the way it felt. They are under topcoat on my thumb and unlike the rhinestones, the polish does not help. It puddles up underneath the sides. They are too big for all of the heart to touch the surface of my nail and get a good seal. I got them both in a set quite a few months back and will not be using the shapes on my hands again. If I didn't like this mani so much, I would have done took them off.  They will come in handy for decorating my BirchBox boxes though!

 

 

 

 

Nail Shape Ramblings

I seem to do this in almost every post. Why not give it its' own section?

     Do you see how my nails don't look as straight from a different angle? This is the anguish that I go through constantly. If I file them with them facing away from me, they are crooked when I turn my hand around like in the pictures. If I file them facing towards me, they look horrendous facing outward. I just can't seem to win.

     It could be the deep C-Curve that I have. Not only is it deep, the sides on a few of my fingers turn inward. Mainly the ones that have been broke, or that were the focus of my torture.
     Did I not mention that I am a reformed biter? Over a year and a half clean. Before I filed them down recently, they were the longest they had ever been in my life. I am constantly amazed by how the smallest thing effects their overall shape. I have been working at not picking at my cuticles and sidewalls, and letting them heal over is making the smallest, yet still noticeable, change in my nail.
      I am very excited for the straight edge clippers that I ordered to get here, they really need to be cut to be straightened I think. I would use regular curved clippers, but I don't want to risk the big chip that comes from having to do them in 2 snips. They are very thick, and break easily. If I can't get them evened out with the clipper, then I may have to explore new shape options because the inwards pull on some nails is just too overpowering to have the square shape that I have always wanted.

*The item(s) in this post were purchased by me.

Simple Valentine's Day Mani - Take 2!

     Today I have another simple Valentine's mani to share. Out of sheer nostalgia, I chose to stick with the stock red/pink/white palette for the first VDay mani of the year. This one still has a nostalgic feel (at least for me!) but incorporates a different color scheme. Using MASH 15 as an inspiration and a memory of some pottery my grandmother has, I created this simple manicure.

 Special Guest Appearance By: My Elusive Thumb Nail!

    I wanted to have a French included in my Valentine inspired manicures because I have not had one in ages, but didn't want to give up the accent nail that I have been addicted to having. To add a modern twist to a timeless classic, I reversed the colors and worked in a sponge French before stamping.

Items Used

Main Fingers

• Base Coat - 2 Coats Zoya - Lucy
  Zoya describes Lucy as : A soft, milky neutral off-white sheer creme. Ideal for French manicures or to be worn alone for a nail-brightening effect.
• Accessories - Blue Striping Tape
  After waiting on Lucy to dry, I started placing the striping tape. I unrolled about double of what I needed to cover the width, and placed it on top of my nail in the center. (The free edge becomes much less tacky the more it is touched, so I tried to keep from putting the bits that i had held between cuttings directly on the nail.) Starting from the center where I placed the tape, and working inward toward the roll, I pressed down and rubbed a few times before cutting. Leaving a little length on the side, and wrapping what was left over onto my finger. Then I would do the same to the free edge side that wasn't attached to the roll. After much pressing and smoothing on the tape to make sure it had gotten a good seal, I cut as close as safely possible to the sides of my nail. I used a pair of manicure scissors because the blades let me get really close, taking any unwanted bits that poked my fingers from the sides.
• Tipped With - Wet n' Wild - French White Créme (& a nail art brush)
  I didn't trust myself to use the handle brush in the bottle, nor a bottle of striping polish because of the excess amount of polish that runs down the bristles. I chose a small nail art brush, and had the easiest French tipping experience to date.

Accent Finger

• Base Coat -  Sally Hansen - Diamond Strength
• Sponged With - Wet n' Wild - French White Créme & Alessandro - Blue Lagoon
  I painted strips of both of these, just barely touching, on a cutting of a make-up sponge. Then dabbed the color onto my nail, working slightly up and down for a not-so-prim effect to counter the crisp lines of the other fingers.
• Stamped With - Konad Blue Pearl & White
• Plate(s) - MASH 15 (Kissing Swans) & Pueen 18 (Floral Pattern)

Top Coat on All - Seche Vite

     While looking for a picture to describe the pottery I had in mind, I ran across this beauty. It looked exactly like what I had in my head when I found the nail plate that had the image of the kissing swans. It is currently for sale, a bargain at under $10- and absolutely gorgeous. It makes me realize that I missed by a little in the color department, and fell short of the cobalt that I needed. Oh well, I had fun doing it, and enjoyed it while it lasted.

*The item(s) in this post were purchased by me, but features an image that is not mine. I was given permission by the Shop Owner to use the image. It has been watermarked with their Shop Site using my stock font to keep uniformity.