Purple Haze

Well Easter was yesterday and I ended spending the evening doing my sister's and aunt's nails. It made me want to freshen my manicure as well, so I did. Also I was sporting an Easter manicure so it needed upgrading.

I wanted to go for an ombré look but that was all the planning I had done. I kind of picked my design as I went. So first I selected the polish I wanted to use.

From left to right:
"Clearly Spotted" Color Show Polka Dots
"Black In Mirrors" Color Show Brocades (which I ended not using)
"Bowery Black" NYC
"Prince Street" NYC
"New Lilac" Pure Ice
"Ink Splatter" Crackle Overcoat
Kiss Top Gel
Kiss "French" Color Gel
Kiss Base Coat
"Black Heart" Hard As Nails (which I ended not using)
"Silver Sweep" Insta-Dri
Mash-69 stamping plate (not shown)

The more you create your manicures, the more you develop a style that is "YOU". I started with having all my nails the same plain color (that didn't last long), then I develop an accent design on the ring finger, then the thumb, to finally sometimes having each nails different but coordinating. So knowing that about me, I did the ring finger and the thumbs in a different base knowing I would want those different.

So I started with a gel base coat. I've recently added gel nails to my collection when I removed my acrylic nails and was left with thin weak nails. In fact my pinky started splitting right up into my finger. It was fragile and sore, but the gel nails are gentle on my fingers and is keeping my pinky protected.

I applied the purple polish to my thumb and ring finger and the gel white to the remaining. I created a gradient for the white nails and then sealed it with a gel top coat. I added the black and white polka dots to the tip portion of my ring finger and then did the crackle finish to my thumb. In that last step I discovered that the crackle overcoat will not work on top of the gel top coat. Lesson learn! Lastly I created a stamped decal using the plate MASH-69 zipper image. I stamped the image with the silver polish and left it to dry on the stamper. I then added the "Bowery Black" to the side and covered the whole image with a regular top coat. Allow to dry (about 20 minutes or so) and then peel off carefully. I placed the decals on my ring finger and used acetone and a small paint brush to remove the extra overlapping the nail. I then applied a final gel top coat to those fingers.

I am very pleased with the final result. It might be a little bit busy for some (like my mother) but she can use only one of the techniques I used as an accent.

I would like to invite you to duplicate the design or the techniques I have used for this manicure. Change the color, the image or keep it the same if you would like. Send me a picture before April 29th 2014 and I will add your picture to a post on this blog so that we can all see the different variation.