Silk Maiden: A Then and Now Post

Just in case you’re wondering exactly how random (and multi-sided) my thought processes can be, here’s how these nails, a “reboot” of the first manicure I ever shared on this blog, came into existence:

1. Week four’s theme in April’s N.A.I.L. Challenge is Spring flowers. I like roses; I should do roses.

2. Ooh, remember those roses you did waaaaaaaaayyyyy back when in that mess of Alice: Madness Returns manis you were doing?

3. That game was awesome. I wish Crazy Horse would come out with another one.

4. Anyhow, you could try those roses again. That Silk Maiden dress Alice wears in the Mysterious East level is such a beautiful design, and I’m sure you’ve improved enough to do the things you were scared to even attempt last time.

5. Ooh, Snickers!

6. Try to concentrate. Anyways, why stop at the print on Alice’s silk dress? We could also add the design on her apron, and the bow at the back of her obi with the odd little shrunken head at its centre!

7. Oh, it’s “we” now, is it? Except that’s veering a tad astray from the Spring flowers prompt, is it not?

8. Sure, but three fingers’ worth of Alice’s navy blue Chinoiserie-inspired gown is better than none. Plus look at that adorable little green shrunken head!

9. You had me at “shrunken head.”

And scene!

This really was the first manicure I posted to this blog, at the beginning of August 2013. I had taken up nail art as a rather intensive hobby some months prior, but had no outlet for it other than pestering my friends on Facebook with an endless series of photos of my ultra wonky first efforts. So instead of driving them (further) insane, I started this blog, and these were the first nails I felt comfortable enough to share with the greater world. Encouragingly, it would appear as though lots of little things about my technique have improved (to say nothing of my iPhotography and layout skills.)

Cotton Candy Clouds

That’s my term for the warm, orangey-pinky-purple clouds that stand like fluffy sentinels along the horizon at sunset. I’m fortunate enough to live in a location with unobstructed views of a major river and the mountain-dotted province just beyond it, so come this time of year, I’m treated to some truly spectacular sunsets. For reasons I’d have to be much more scientifically inclined than I am to understand (which is to say not at all), the combination of the hilly landscape and the reflective water make for a beautiful, watercolour kind of effect where the setting sun’s lush reds and pinks, purples and blues stain the clouds a beautiful rainbow of pastels.

Heavens, that was poetic! But I really love those fluffy cotton candy clouds, and so I put them on my nails in service of week three’s theme of pastels in April’s N.A.I.L. Challenge!

Just Bead It

For week two’s theme of April showers in this month’s N.A.I.L. challenge, I went with a fun little design I’ve been meaning to try for ages now, a super simple dab-on technique I call a “Topcoat raindrops beaded up on the hood of a custom painted Charger”-icure. Yes, that is a VERY specific term, and I don’t expect it to catch on at all, but a nail girl can hope. 🙂 It goes a little something like this:

1. Paint your nails to opacity in any colour you’d like. Finish-wise, I think super high shine, colour-shifting multichromes work best, and really drive (eh?!) home the custom paint job effect we’re going for here. For these nails I used three coats of Polish Me Silly’s indigo-to-plum Holy Shift.

2. Once dry, top with one thin coat of a quick dry, high gloss topcoat like Seche Vite.

3. Once it’s dry, take that same bottle of topcoat and, brushing off almost the fluid, dab it onto your nails in a random raindrop pattern. There needs to be enough topcoat on your brush so that it flows smoothly off the brush and onto your nail, but not so much that it swamps your manicure. You’re looking for beads of water here; it’s a bit of a delicate dance. Thankfully, this is such an easy technique, do-overs are not quite the hair-rending prospect they might be with any other type of manicure.

4. Lay your hands down flat and let dry. And try not to pick! Which you totally will, because I did, even though the little beaded up bits of topcoat are not that intrusive. It’s just second nature to want to eradicate any nail art lumps and bumps. It’s the manicure equivalent of tonguing that little cut on the roof of your mouth – you know you should just leave it alone, let it heal, BUT. YOU. CAN’T!!!

Still, a super fun, lightning fast and mega easy technique that’s sure to impress your more vehicularly-minded friends and requires nothing more than two basic nail art items you undoubtedly already have in your stash. Sweet!

Bunny Butts

The start of a new month means another set of challenge prompts from the fine ladies of N.A.I.L., and these fluffy little rabbit posteriors are my contribution to week one’s theme of Easter. Five weeks has April, and so there are five themes this go-round, encompassing seasonal (and rhyming!) picks like April showers and Spring flowers. I don’t actually do a whole lot of floral nail art, so it will be nice to stretch my polished legs a bit and maybe try out a fun new design. Which is the whole point of the Nail Art Ideas Linkup, so I’d say April is off to a pretty great start already!

Feathered Friends

My first go at avian nail art, courtesy of this week’s N.A.I.L. challenge prompt, birds! Shame the tubby little guy on my ring finger is twice the size of the one on my middle finger. Looks like somebody got greedy with the seed bell.

Grey Skies

April showers and all that jazz, you know.

These nails, an all-over rainstorm design, represent my entry in the first week of the April N.A.I.L. Challenge for the theme of – you guessed it – rain. Something we will hopefully see a bit of over the coming weeks to melt all the snow left behind from the Winter That Would Not End.

Nudge, Nudge

Presenting this month’s challenge prompts for the Nail Art Ideas Linkup. There’s a few themes here I haven’t touched before (birds, diamonds and Easter, as I wasn’t in the nail art game this time last year), which mixes things up nicely. I’m especially looking forward to Easter, because it’s my belief you really can’t ever sport too many bunnies on your person at any one time (unless you’re Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which case, you know, bunnies aren’t just cute like everybody supposes…they got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses. And really, what IS with all the carrots, what do they need such good eyesight for anyway?)