going 4 gold

after four years of hard work here we are again, the olympics 2012! who doesn't enjoy a little friendly competition? after seeing several websites and designers hold an olympic nail contest, i decided to compete and here is my design: 

tools: red, navy, white, gold, green, yellow, black and blue nail polish, a large dotting tool, 3 straws and a piece of foil. 

step 1: paint two coats of essie- fishnet stockings on the thumb, index and pinky fingers. then paint two coats of essie- midnight cami on the middle finger and essie- blanc on the ring finger. 

step 2: after the base colors are completely dry, using the brush from the nail polish bottle, apply a generous amount of essie- good as gold on a piece of foil. using your dotting tool, grab the color from the foil and apply one gold dot at the bottom center of each nail (except for the ring finger). now you have gold medals! 

step 3: on a piece of foil, using the brush from the nail polish bottle, apply a generous amount of essie- fishnet stockings . next, apply one end of a drinking straw (the smaller the circumference the better) onto the nail polish on the foil. be sure to get a good and even amount of color throughout the rim of the straw then apply the straw onto the nail. angle the straw on the nail so that you get color from the complete rim of the straw creating the rings.

TIP: after the first circle/ring application, if you miss a spot feel free to go back using the straw until you get a complete circle/ring. here is an example of the straw technique.

step 4: repeat step 3 until you have all five color circles on your nail. 

step 5: wait five minutes before applying a top coat so that you don't smear the colors. complete the look with one coat of seche vite dry fast top coat. 

splatter

this week start thinking about nail polish as paint. in this tutorial we will be using drinking straws to achieve a splattered paint look. the best part is that there is no right way to do it. so have fun and see what design you come up with. 

step 1: gather all items you will need: base color, 3 splatter colors, one straw, scissor, scotch tape. 

step 2: apply two coats of essie- blanc. 

step 3: cut the straw into three pieces. you will need one piece per color used. 

step 4: after the base coat has completely dried. cut 3 pieces of tape and place it around the nail to protect your fingers from getting color on them. do this to all fingers. 

step 5: place one or two drops of your desired nail color on to a flat surface and dip the straw.

step 6: getting enough of the color at the bottom of the straw, put the other side of the straw in your mouth and blow. this will splash color on to your nail. do this as many times as needed to achieve the look you want with each color. 

step 7: repeat step 6 with the your next two color choices. repeat this on all nails until you are happy with the distribution of color. 

TIP: if you get to much of one color in a specific area and do not like it, blot a corner of a paper towel to remove some of the color. 

step 8: remove the tape and apply a clear top coat. 

COLORS I USED: essie- blanc, lapiz of luxury, a crewed interest and sinful colors in black on black.