Mad About Nails: Baby Shower Nails

I've had quite a few people comment on my nails in the past ask what I was using or wish I'd done a close-up so they could see better, etc., etc., and had a realization: Why not do a feature on nail polish? It's not book-related (Unless you're wearing the new HUNGER GAMES-inspired line from China Glaze, but I'm not even going into how wrong that is...), but it's fun. Plus, if I do this feature, I'll be more likely to re-paint my nails this week and less likely to let them chip their way to the bare bones (which would mean that I could see my nails...and if I see them, I want to bite them!).

Welcome back to another edition of Mad About Nails! 

I went to a baby shower this past weekend, and to celebrate, I decided to go all-out and do a baby design on my nails this week.  The parents have chosen to be surprised about the baby's gender, so my left hand was blue and green to celebrate a boy while my right hand was pink and purple for a girl.  I used a universal color, yellow, for detail work on both hands.  I made sure that my thumbs were half boy/half girl in color to bring the two hands together.


The inspiration came from a photograph from Smashly Sparkles that I found on Google Images.



I started off with Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition Green Tea + Olive Growth as my base coat, because I'm STILL trying to get my nails to a healthy state again.  They keep growing out with weaknesses, though, so I have to wait for the healthy bottoms to come to the top....

For colors, I am using OPI's "Can't Find My Czechbook" from the new Euro Centrale Collection (blue), JulieG's "Hola-Peño" (a brand sold exclusively at Rite-Aid) (green), OPI's "Pack Your Booty Shorts" from last year's ULTA-exclusive summer line (purple), Sinful Colors in "Pink Forever," (pink), and ULTA brand in "Sun-Sational" (yellow).

For nail art, both items I used were gifts, but they can be purchased from Amazon.  The detail brush came from the MASH Professional 15 piece Nail Art Brush Kit Set and the dotting tools used were from the Dotting 5 X 2 Way Marbleizing Dotting Pen Set for Nail Art Manicure Pedicure, also by MASH.

Here's a look at all of the supplies for this look:



What I love:

OPI's "Can't Find My Czechbook" is one of my 2013 favorite polishes so far.  I love the formula and the color.  It's not streaky and is beautiful after two coats.  I love this shade of blue!

What I like about this group of colors is that they're all in the same family, with the same amount of opacity, not too sheer or glittery, but very opaque and creamy.  These bright pastels look great together, and I've been doing a lot of detail work this year with this color family! 

What I wish could be better:


"Sun-Sational" ism't my favorite yellow, but it's the best I've found so far.  With detail work, it doesn't really matter, but using it as a base leads to streaky nails--and it stains.  For detail work, it's fine, though!  It's NOT, however, good for nail stamping.  I'd wanted to stamp the design of baby feet because I knew I wouldn't do a great job freehand, but the yellow was like, "Nope, not happening with me!"

I don't know where my head was as I was painting, but my stripes are such a mess!  They're not straight at all...I'm kind of embarrassed to show you!  At least the dots look nice...?

Want to see my nails up close and personal and hear more about them?
Check out today's Mad About Nails Vlog!



 Is anyone else obsessed with nail polish? What are you wearing right now?

Comments

  1. Awesome nail-arts! It's perfect for a baby shower event. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very cute! Thanks for sharing with me. I really like how you did girly on one hand and boyish on the other.

    ReplyDelete

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