NYC Inspired Nail Art – Checkered Yellow Cab

Hey everyone, I was inspired to do some NYC-flavored nail art this afternoon.  It’s been pouring all day so I’m holed up inside, taking it easy and staying dry.  Be kind – this is my first nail art ever.

Here’s what I started with, but I felt it needed something.

So I freehanded some black french tips using Wet N Wild Black Creme.

The yellow is Prevail Taxi! Taxi! appropriately enough.  I used three coats which was enough to even out any streaks and create an opaque surface. My camera could not handle this shade of yellow at all.  Although it appears neon here it’s really much warmer, the actual color of an NYC Yellow Cab.   Anywho, I’m not certain that the Prevail brand is sold outside of NYC @ Duane Reade.  Does anyone know?

For the checkerboard nail I began with two coats of Sally Hansen XTreme Wear White Out, a basic white creme.  After allowing 15 minutes for dry time I drew a checkerboard pattern in Sharpie.  I used a very thin one to sketch out the squares, and a slightly thicker one to fill in the black squares.  I was skeptical that this method would look passable, but I think it does.  You can only tell I used marker if you’re studying my nail really closely.  My pattern was close-to-perfect but did smear a bit on one side, where some excess topcoat settled.  Next time I’ll use a very thin coat.  Also, I learned the hard way to let those black tips dry completely before adding your topcoat.  I rushed a little and my middle finger’s yellow got smeared.

Does freehanding French tips sound too intimidating?  I used to feel that way.  But I discovered a very easy method for getting straight French tips.  I load my brush with polish and anchor my hand on a flat surface, with the brush pointing sideways and slightly downward.  Then I put my nail under the brush, far corner first, and rotate til the entire tip has been painted.  The brush remains stationary and only the nail moves.  This way I get a straight, even line every time.  I’ve mastered this technique when I’m painting on my left (non-dominant) hand, but I need much more practice painting on my right hand.  You would think two different people manicured each of my hands, lol!  Therefore my right hand doesn’t make appearances on this blog.

Hope you enjoy this fun mani!  Do you prefer it with or without the black tips?

~ Allison ~

My First Franken!

I am very pleased to share my first franken creation with you.  As my polish collection grows, I can’t help but realize there are certain colors I’m lusting for that just don’t seem to exist.  Being of the DIY mindset I figure why not make them myself?  To get acquainted with the world of frankening I turned to a fantastic tutorial by Dr. Frankenpolish.  She calls this franken Angel Tears.

Welcome to my franken lab.

I followed the tutorial pretty faithfully.  Although I didn’t have the same clear red that she did, I used an old L’Oreal Jet Set Shine color called Very Cherry.  Maybe because of that substitution my finished polish came out looking too brown, so I added about 20 drops of a Sally Hansen creme, Cherry Red, to bring the balance back to deep red.

On the nail it is a gorgeous burgundy or blood red jelly, with suspended green shimmer that can be seen in any light.

I’m delighted how this turned out!  All the components mixed together effortlessly.  I’ll give you a mixing hint: if you don’t have BB’s laying around to plop into your frankens, use beads!  I added two small, round, stone beads that are the same size as the BB’s, and they work great as far as I can tell.

Like most jellies, Angel Tears required some patience to build up opacity.  I used 4 thin coats here, but you could maybe use only 3 if you lay it on thickly.  A coat of Seche Vite added crazy shine and helped it to dry.  P.S. I would give this polish the slightly grosser name of Bloody Borealis 🙂   Now, I’m really tempted to go dump out all my old unwanted polishes and make a franken army!

What do you think – would you try your hand at this franken?

~ Allison ~

Sally Hansen CSM Barracuda + Wet N Wild Party of Five Glitters

When you hear the word barracuda, do you think of this?

P.S. Don’t Google “barracuda attack,” you will come up with some scary shit.

…Or this?  (Those Wilson sisters were so hot.  I have a girlcrush on Ann)

…Or if you are a lacquerhead, you might think of Barracuda, the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure color that was concocted by Tracy Reese.  This is from the Spring 2011 collection.

For this festive manicure I used 3 coats of Barracuda.  Since it’s a pastel creme it was a bit streaky at first.  It was pretty opaque at 2 coats but I did a third, just for fun.  I painted one coat of Wet N Wild Party of Five Glitters on my accent finger.  This glitter is so much fun!  Against the blue background it makes me think of confetti thrown up against a blue sky.  This one is various sizes of hex glitter, in 5 different colors, in a clear base.  I loved it.  Recommend!

~ Allison ~