Neon Pink Triangles

I'm moving on from striping tape to freehand designs, which I really need to work on! I've fallen into a pattern where I'm going along great for two fingers, and then I think, "OK, this isn't as hard as I thought." And then I mess up.

Triangles seemed to be the easiest, so I grabbed one of my thin brushes and went to town.

My base color was three coats of Sinful Colors 24/7, a vibrant neon pink. I was really surprised at how the color came out — in the bottle, it's actually more of a muted hue. The formula is a bit thin, so I had to keep reapplying until I got the right opacity.

The triangles were done with Sinful Colors Black on Black and OPI Alpine Snow. I was dabbing the polish onto wax paper, but had so much trouble with clumping that eventually I started dipping the brush directly into the bottle. 

I really like the color combination here, but I definitely want to keep working on this technique, and maybe get some new brushes. If anyone has suggestions for good freehand brushes, let me know!

Mint Candy Apple Stripes

White nails are becoming my latest obsession. Before I even decided what I was going to do for today's manicure, I started with two coats of OPI Alpine White. It's really the perfect shade for summer, and at work right now we're putting out our summer issue so my brain is apparently tuned in to that frequency.

To practice my tape techniques more, I decided to try a manicure using my thin striping tape (10 for $3 from China — eBay FTW). My pinky ended up a little clunky, and on my index finger you can actually see a few smudges from where I took too much polish off. Let that be a lesson in patience.

The always-lovely mint color is Annie's favorite, Essie Mint Candy Apple.  This is a fairly straightforward manicure (three pieces of striping tape over a base color and top coat), but my one takeaway for you is this: Don't try to correct your mistake after you pull the tape too soon.

 

My layers were a bit too thick on my index finger, so the polish actually bled into the gap created by the tape. When I tried to go back to correct my mistake, I ended up taking too much polish off because in my rush, I forgot to sponge the excess acetone off the brush.

Moral of the story: Go slowly! Be precise when doing tape manicures, and be sure to use thin layers when polishing so the polish won't bleed.

OPI Black and White Tips and Dots

Since its almost Memorial Day, I figured it was appropriate to bring back the bright white nails. If you're ever looking for a manicure that really pops, use a white hue for your base!

I'm trying to practice more with tape so I can perfect the super crisp lines that look great in colorblocking, and I think I've almost got it.

I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow, the brightest white polish that I own. One of the perks of summertime is the abundance of neons, brights and out-there colors that aren't so appropriate during the other months out of the year.

After applying top coat and tape, I painted the tips (and dots) using OPI Lucernetainly Look Marvelous, a microglitter that's inky black in some light and a metallic gunmetal silver in others.

I actually used three different size dotting tools to create the dots, but I think it could be done with just one using the right pressure at each point.
























Even though summer doesn't technically start until June, I just wanted to wish everyone a happy start to the season! Expect more colors than ever in the coming weeks.

'Girls' Floral Print

I swatched the Deborah Lippmann "Girls" collection last week and decided to create a manicure using all four of the colors. I'm not sure which of the girls' styles this is most in tune with but it reminds me of those really ugly floral print dresses that I wore back in the 90s and are now (kinda?) back in style.

 

I started with a base of Shoshanna; the flowers were made with Jessa and Marnie, and the leaves with Hannah (that may be one of the strangest sentences I've ever typed on this blog). 

I don't love it, but it'll do (please ignore my cracked up cuticles).

Deborah Lippmann 'Girls' Swatches

Annie got me hooked on "Girls" a little while back, so when I came across this nail polish set on the Neiman Marcus website I did a little happy dance as I added it to my cart.

This is actually my first time using a Deborah Lippmann polish. More than anything, I think I'm most in love with the adorable packaging. The bottles are pretty yet substantial, and the box features cute quotes that were on the show. I don't agree with all of the color choices, but this was a really fun find! Read on for some of my notes/thoughts on each polish.

Hannah: As a 20-something myself, Lena Dunham is a god. "Hapless hunger green" is the perfect color for self-obsessed Hannah, however. The formula, however, was just short of perfect. The color is beautiful, but I found the polish to be slightly thin—even with the three coats pictured here, there were still some sheer patches and it wasn't quite opaque.

Jessa: I wouldn't quite call this color "Bohemian burgundy"—it's more of a bright, vibrant red—but either way, I think it reflects Jessa's personality. I had some of the same problems with this polish as I did with Hannah; the formula was thin and a little streaky.

Marnie:  This "prim and proper pink" is my favorite from the whole collection. Pictured below is three coats, but the formula was even and surprisingly opaque. If you've seen the show, this is exactly the kind of color I can picture Marnie wearing.

Shoshanna: I have a huge problem with this purple/lavender being Shoshanna's color. Shoshanna is the definition of all things girly, feminine and cutesy—I know they're going with the whole muted color palette for this collection, but this purple is seriously anything but "vivid." The formula was fine—somewhat sheer even after three coats, but not streaky like Jessa—but the color is just so off for the character that I'm a little disappointed.

Overall, I wasn't overly impressed with my first Deborah Lippmann polishes. I got this collection using a promotional gift card I got in the mail for buying my wedding shoes at NM last year, but I would have been really disappointed had I paid the $50 retail price.