{Mad About Nails} Fun with Neon and Texture!

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! 

This week, I broke out the nail polish with friends, and decided to do something fun! 
I've been dying to try this design out ever since seeing it in the July/August issue of Nail It! Magazine!

Are you ready to see??

Left Hand:

Right Hand:

I'm not all-together pleased with how it came out, but it was my first time using striping tape and I've been eager to try this one out, so...!

Here's a video of the materials used

(Or keep reading below!):

YouTube Link

These two are POWERHOUSES for
long-lasting manicures!  One lasted
1.5 weeks, the other for 2!!!

I started off with a basecoat of ORLY "Bonder."  Many of the professional nail studios use this as a basecoat when doing nails for their clients.  It's a rubberized coat that helps polish adhere to the nail.  It stinks, but it's great!

I finished everything with a top coat of Revlon's "Quick Dry Top Coat."  I'd heard it was a rival for the legendary Seche Vite, but with fewer harsh chemicals.  It also doesn't go bad in the bottle or shrink when used.  I was intrigued, and so far, this stuff is FABULOUS.

(***Note: For this design, I put the top coat on top of each coat of neon, and NOT on top of the textured polish. This prevents the polish from losing its texture!***)

Together, this combo has made my nails last, on average, 1.5 to 2 weeks. They're both awesome!

For my base color:

I started out with two coats of polish on each nail. I chose five neon colors. The yellow is ULTA "Sun-Sational." The blue is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in "Blue Me Away." The three China Glazes are all from this year's China Glaze: Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away Collection. The hot pink is "Escaping Reality," the lime green is "Def Defying," and the purple is "Creative Fantasy." You can't see the purple as well because I decided to top it off with a coat of ORLY's "Purple Poodle" from the brand-new fall collection Surreal.

Originally, I'd been planning to do my nails in an ombre the way it was featured in Nail It! Magazine, because it looked so cool, but I recently saw this image on Pinterest:

and thought that having each nail as one solid color underneath instead of mixing the colors also looked great. Of course, they did a much better job than me, but that's okay. Another time!

For my design:

Once all of the neons had dried enough, I grabbed some striping tape and laid out various designs on my nails. You can get striping tape anywhere. Nail art is so big now, you can find it in local stores like Walmart and Rite-Aid (look for the brand Heart2Art). Striping tape is no longer hidden in the bowels of Amazon and Ebay, though you can, of course, still get it there as well!

Just make sure that if you put the striping tape in a criss-cross pattern, you pull the top layer off first. I meant to do that on one nail and forgot, and the design buckled and became an uneven line that makes me wince to see even now.
...Oops?

I went over the striping tape with a fast coat of OPI Liquid Sand in "Vesper" from the James Bond: Bond Girls Collection that launched earlier this year. It's a deep plum purple that looks almost black, especially in dark lighting. It was given to me as a birthday present last month, and I was saving it to use for the first time on this design!  I was a little disappointed with the lack of texture. You really need to layer the coats to get great texture from the Liquid Sand collection, especially when the color is darker like this one. I'll play with the texture on its own this fall and get it to look a little more, well, texturized! 
(NOTE: I did NOT put top coat on top of the texture, or else I would have lost the texture!)

Despite all the disappointments, I still had fun with this design and would do it again--and do it better, of course!

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