Well, it's mighty early in the morning, but I haven't bee able to sleep! So...I decided to re-do my manicure for tomorrow's work day! I fudged up this one a bit, but I'm a bit tired and VERY clumsy! I'm still learning all of the tricks and tips! But here goes! Oh! Also! I was planning on doing a mail post...yesterday? But I wanted to see what would come in today and tomorrow and also take photos of what I'm sending out!
Well! Here goes! Hopefully you can understand my instructions!
Materials I used:
- nail polish remover.
- cotton balls/any similar thing. This is what I had on hand.
- an old clipboard.
- pointy tweezers (similar to
these but way cheaper! Not a necessary item but they come in handy.)
- fimo fruit slices like
these.
-
Essie 'Vanity Fairest'.
-
Wet n' Wild Wild Shine in shade 402/Tickled Pink.
-
Seche Vite topcoat.
- nail scrubby brush. (they are like a dollar!)
- cotton swabs/Q-Tips (I don't use them much till after it's dried a long time to clean up edges.
The Process:
So, first, I like to lay out all of my materials. Nobody wants to be fumbling for things with wet or tacky nails!
OH! here is a close-up on my fimo slices!
Lets begin the removal of your previous nail polish! Most of you saw my previous
red fruit manicure, so now, I'm taking that one off! Once again, I like to lay out my supplies. I use non-acetone remover!
Seche Vite comes off super easy and that is one of the features I LOVE about it! I used to use the Essie topcoat that supposedly dried quickly (it didn't.) and it was SO HARD TO GET OFF! Use the cotton puff to gently remove your existing polish and then if you have some spots near your cuticles that the puff can't reach, I suggest using a cotton swab/Q-Tip with a bit of nail polish remover on it to get inside and remove those little bits of nail polish. But be careful not to over do it! Remover is drying and can make any owwies hurt or any dry cuticles irritated! Removing those little bits is especially important when using a lighter color nail lacquer. As you can see below, I pour a teeny bit of remover into the cap and lightly dip the swab in. :)
Now, it's time to rinse! I'm not sure if manicure aficionados recommend this, but I ALWAYS wash my hands after removing polish! I use regular soap, normally liquid (or sometimes bar soap, whatever is on hand!) and use my nail cleaning scrubby to remove any extra gunk or polish remover! Gives me a nice fresh slate. :)
And post wash!
Lets get to painting! Given that I haven't had much success without a base coat, I decided to give it a go. I applied one layer of Essie 'Vanity Fairest' (a light beige almost.) to give me something to work off of.
Whole hand! There's really not much difference except for a teensy bit more shine, but it makes a difference in the end.
Now it's time to polish! The most important part (for me at least..then again, I AM an instant gratification type of girl...) is to
let the first coat of whatever color you choose to dry. Or at least get to a semi-tacky/tacky state. I cannot stress that enough! It's really not that long of a wait, especially with all of these new quick-dry polishes.
Lets apply the first coat of pink! (This is the Wet n' Wild 402 color.)
Whole hand first coat!
Again, be sure your materials for the last coat and whatnot are ready! (I'm missing my topcoat in this photo, haha.)
Once that first coat is tacky-ish, apply your second coat as smoothly as you can. Don't freak out if you make a few errors because Seche Vite seems to be the fix-all of glossy top coats! Now, we're about to get into the scary area...the fimo application.
I know some prefer to apply a fruit slice directly onto wet polish, but I prefer to once again, let it get tacky and then pick it up with a toothpick or in my case, a pointy pair of tweezers, that has a bit of Seche Vite on the end to catch the fimo. Let me just show you how small these pieces are so that you can get a feel for the kind of 'sticker-onner' tool you'll need. The photo below has my slices sat next to a standard hair/bobby pin.
I guess a step by step would be easier.
1. Take your tweezer, toothpick or whatever utensil you want and get a teeny bit of SV (Seche Vite or topcoat of your choice.) on the end. Be careful not to put too much on the end! You can see in the photo below, I used my tweezers.
2. Once that is done, lightly tap the top of your selected slice and the slice should stick lightly to your utensil.
3. GENTLY place the slice in the desired area. It should come off your utensil fairly easily. If you press down to hard, it may since down into your polish and that is well...odd looking.
4. Let it sit for a minute or so and then apply more SV or topcoat! I love the SV because it's nice and thick but it is also easily manageable if you want a thinner coating.
5. Give it about 30 seconds to settle, and then follow up with another coat of SV or topcoat and SHABAM! CUTE MANICURE!
Here are both of my hands. I know it looks like it came out messy, but you can clean them up afterwards (once they are fully dry!) but a bit of polish remover and a tiny swab. Just make sure not to remove anything you don't want to remove! My nails got a bit messed up because I was maneuvering the camera all around with wet nails!
You can also purchase unsliced canes like these that come in different shapes, and pre-sliced ones that come in different these like
these hearts,
butterflies,
flowers, and
these animals. Oh, and how can I forget the
dessert and cupcake slices?!?! Sometime soon, I plan on messing about with some
dried flowers as well!
So! That's my VERY beginner's guide to a super simple, cute manicure! :D Let me know what you guys think!
