Christmas Flowers

For Days 7 and 8 of the Twelve Days of Christmas manicures, inspiration came from the potted plants that are used as decoration around this Holiday time: a poinsettia!

image from thescientistgardener.blogspot.com

For this manicure, I used a matte white nail polish in OPI's Alpine Snow Matte, a matte black polish in Obscurity by OPI, Nailene's Acrylic Strong Top Coat, and a few red and green flowered jewels for the nail design.








First comes the matte white polish. While this lacquer tends to need more than one coat to be completely opaque, since only the tips will be visible at the end, it is only the tips of the nails that will need a second coat of the white polish.







For Step 2, you will need to cut strips of your blue painter's tape (or use French Tip Nail Guides, if you prefer). Lay the strip onto your nail, so it just passes the beginning of where the nail connects to the skin. Make sure to press down on the tape on the side that the black nail polish can fill under. Paint your coat of black polish on the upper part of the nail, and then quickly pull off the blue tape.




The great thing about adding decals of any kind to a french manicure design, is that those decals can hide imperfections in the painting, such as the little dip in my middle finger where the black nail polish oozed under the tape because I didn't make sure the tape was pressed down before I started painting.





With Step 3, you are just adding the first of the three jewels to your nails. First, go one nail at a time and add a drop of a clear polish in the center of where the black polish meets the white polish, and then drop your jewel into the clear polish while the polish is still wet. Press down on the jewel to make sure it is secure.








With Step 4, you are just completing the row of jewels that will go across each nail. Start on each finger (again, one at a time), by putting a drop of the clear lacquer you are using to adhere your gems to your nails on one side of the centered jewel. Drop the new gemstone into the clear lacquer and press down to secure the jewel. Repeat this process on the opposite side of the middle jewel, so that there will be a total of three jewels/gemstones on each nail in alternating colors.






Step 5 is one of the most important steps when using jewels on nails - adding a top coat. If you want your jewels to stay on your nails for more than a few hours, you are going to need to do more than one coat of Top Coat.




And that is the finished design! This was a fun little festive look because the red and green jewels really pop out against the black and white background. Would you try this design?


On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me
seven swans a swimming
six geese a laying
FIVE GOLDEN RINGS
four calling birds
three french hens
two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
eight maids a milking
seven swans a swimming
six geese a laying
FIVE GOLDEN RINGS
four calling birds
three french hens
two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.

ND7: Starburst

No...nothing to do with the candy. Nail Design 7 is the Starburst Design.



You know, like a starburst in the sky?

image from hubblesite.org

Although, this design looks more like the starbursts we come to know from graphic design that look kind of like flat pinwheels.

image from webdesign.org

This is a great design to try out one of those amazing glitters from the OPI Burlesque collection that are set to release in stores in November (or are currently available online). Though any glitter polish or other layering type of polish will work for this manicure!



For this design, I chose China Glaze Towel Boy Toy as a base color. I really like the subtle shimmer this polish has, and because it is a neon it dries matte, so you can tell when it's dry - which works perfect for layering nail art on top of it.

The glitter polish I used for the overlaying Starburst Rays is Absolutely Alice by OPI. A bit hard to find now (or way too expensive online to want to consider), so OPI's Simmer & Shimmer would probably work similarly. If you want a similar look, go for a dense glitter that is made up of smaller sized glitter particles. If you want to try a different look, Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe might be interesting to use (and cute for the name - you know, 'Universe' in a 'Starburst' mani?). Feel free to play around with layering options!

And finally, you'll need a clear polish (and some rhinestones). The clear polish will be used to set the star jewels on each nail.


Step 1 is simply painting the base color you have chosen. If you are in a rush or your base polish is more slower drying, you might want to put a quick-drying top coat over this layer to speed up the process.


Here is two coats of Towel Boy Toy. This polish dried relatively quickly, and as previously mentioned, it was easy to see when the polish was dry enough to move onto the next step because when dry the finish on this polish was matte.





Step 2 is only a bit complicated. What you want to do is cut a square (or 10 - one for each nail) from your roll of blue painter's tape.

On each square, using a straight edge of some type, connect the corners, and then draw a cross through the square. This should total 4 separate lines you've had to draw. Then on every other triangle you've created within your square (there are 8 small triangles total), place a dot or some kind of marker to show that every other triangle has been marked.

Then cut on the line creating the eight smaller triangles.

What you will be doing is using the marked triangles to recreate the same shape on your nail without the blank triangles - which is where the second color of nail polish (or glitter) will go on the nail. You are only using four triangles out of each of the eight that will be cut.

*Note: It helps to cut the triangles out and then lay them down on a notecard or magazine (some surface that gives you enough space and that you don't mind sticking tape onto), in the square shape they were originally in before you cut them up, so you know exactly where to place each triangle on your nail.




Whew! Step 2 is complete, and now all you have to do is add the decals in the center of your nails. I used star jewels I picked up at my local beauty supply store, but if you have star shaped glitter or just a round diamond-type gem that works too. The point is to cover up the center where the Sunburst Rays originate from because it covers any gaps between your second color of polish (the glitter polish).



So, simply place a dot of your clear polish at the center point where all the Starburst Rays meet and lay the star down in the still-wet clear polish. For Step 3, you do not have to wait until Step 2 is completely dry. Adding the jewel will make no difference.



Step 4 is simply adding a top coat. This step is more important if you have used gemstones of any type that are 3-dimensional because they can snag on things and tend to not stay on very long unless you put a top coat layer over the whole design to seal it all in.


Tah-Dah! You've now completed the Starburst manicure look. What do you think? Would you wear this design? I actually wore this to a birthday party during the summer. It was something fun and bright for a summer bash, but I think you could rock this manicure any time of the year!

Feel free to let me know if you try this design or have tried something similar. I hope ND6 and 7 have given you ideas for using glitter polishes and decals. With this holiday season coming up there are so many great glitter polishes out, I could see making alternating red and green starbursts over a simple silver background with a Christmas Tree decal or something similar at the center point. What about you?

ND6: Shooting Star

Nail Design number six is the Shooting Star...or rather, the Shooting Star(s), depending on how many nails are painted with this design. But it's a relatively simple and fast design, so painting all ten nails (or how many you choose to), will be a breeze!




Aren't shooting stars just magical? Or airplanes if you live in the city and can't see the stars...whatever you see shooting across the sky at night. Either way it makes for a pretty picture and a fun nail design!

image from energytalkradio.wordpress.com

So, gather your needed nail supplies for this.

You'll need a clear polish. I used Nailene's Acrylic Strong Protecting Topcoat because it's the only non-quick dry top coat I have (and I was lucky enough to win this from Babbling Brooke in one of her fabulous giveaways!). I suggest a non-quick drying formula, because quick drying top coats tend to have some shrinkage, and I'm not sure if that will become a problem when we are trying to set our star jewels.

Next up, the base color. I used Funky Dunkey by OPI as it is a medium toned purple creme polish that goes on smoothly and has complete coverage in two coats.

To complement the purple creme background I used Mad as a Hatter by OPI because it has some purple in the glitter along with other colored glitter pieces. For a more dramatic look here, I would recommend a dense multi-glitter which both polishes from OPI's Alice in Wonderland Collection are. If I wanted a blue background, I would have used Absolutely Alice by OPI as the shooting star's tail to complement a blue background, but I wanted a more purple-hued effect here. Feel free to use whatever polish you want to give you whatever effect you feel represents the tail of a shooting star.

And finally, the star jewels. I picked these up at my local beauty supply store for $1.99US and the little pack came with over 20, but if you look closely, you can see the stars have six points. I don't mind with the overall effect of the whole nail design, but if you have a preference, or whatever is easier to come by in nail jewels, feel free to use them!

Step One is simply laying down the base color you have chosen. Whether it be the purple pictured above, or any other color of the rainbow.




After you have let the base color dry completely, use two strips of tape for each nail. Take the first strip and lay it vertically over the nail where the edge you will paint against is in the direct center line of the nail. (In the picture above, I was painting my left hand, so the first strip of tape was laid down on the nail so the right side of the tape piece was in the vertical center of my nail - or as close as could be!)

Using the second strip of tape, lay it at an angle so the point of where the two pieces of tape meet will be a little higher than the center point of your nail (or wherever you have decided to place the star on your nail, keeping in mind that when the star is placed down it will cover that meeting point). Also think about how much glitter polish you want to cover your nail for the tail of the shooting star. Because I wanted each star tail to be relatively the same size in width, I used the corner of my nail's free edge line to match up the angle at which to have one side of the tape touching.



For Step Three, you don't have to let the glitter polish dry completely before moving on.



Using your clear polish/top coat put a small dot on the point of each glitter tail, and while the clear polish is still wet set the star jewel down on top of the dot and press so the star is set in place by the clear polish. Do not worry if any extra clear polish oozes out from under the star jewel after you've pressed the gem down, because it will be covered up with the top coat later.



Step Four: laying down the top coat. This is more important if you have used a glitter polish as the tail for your Shooting Star(s), because glitter polish tends to be gritty and you want your manicure to last and not be a hindrance to everyday nail use!

A top coat will also protect those star jewels from coming off right away, so use one to two coats of your favorite top coat to keep your design lasting!



And there you go! On every finger is a shooting star to wish on! Or just admire. Especially in the sunlight. Look at those sparkly jewels and that gorgeous glitter!

Have fun with this design. Let me know if you try it out, and if so, what combination of base color/tail color you use!

Bye!