Tuesday, January 1, 2013

new year, new nails

nail color: essie glamour purse / metallic bronze sharpie


let us get things straight, right off the bat. i am not. a. nail. person. i have maybeeee had two professional manicures in my lifetime and not one of them included fancy design or tips of any sort. one trip to the manicurist for nail purposes was on my wedding day and another time for someone else's big day. i have never clipped my cuticles (which is blatantly obvious if you take a close look at these pictures...you probably shouldn't do that) and typically stick with run of the mill short nails with a coat of polish maybe once a month or so. however, being sick in bed for the past few days got me itching to attempt something new and give this whole nail art thing a shot. it is all the rage these days. i really don't know how people do this or even this to their own nails. i have a hard enough time putting polish on my right hand.


i opted for a beginner's route with the use of a metallic sharpie. metallic sharpies are my new best friends and you will soon see that i have found other uses for them as well. stayed tuned for that on another day. as for the "how-to" for the beginner nail art, here is what i did-- 

>> first i painted two coats of the essie glamour purse nail color and let dry for a few hours.  i wanted to make sure the pressure from the marker wouldn't put indents in the nail color  >> next i created the polka dot pattern on all ten nails (see pics below) with the bronze metallic sharpie  >> i was unsatisfied with the results so i simply used water and a tissue to wipe off the marker and start again >> my next challenge was the chevron pattern which i drew free hand >> i was much more satisfied with the results (primarily on the left hand, pictured above)  >> lastly, i made sure to preserve my "art" by putting a clear top coat over the nails  >> voliĆ , there you have it

husband and i had a good laugh trying to incorporate the nail art into a photo opp.  he and i both know that hand modeling is not and will never be in my future. the 50 or so photos we took to try and get a decent shot proves it and i don't even know we were successful with that.

happy painting all you pretty hand picassos.






4 comments:

  1. LOVE the idea of using metallic sharpies on your nails. They look fabulous. My husband works for Sharpie, so we have quite the collection laying around. http://theknoxvilleholts.blogspot.com/2012/01/happy-happy-joy-joy.html
    {FYI, there are rumors of ultra fine tipped metallics & new metallic colors in the works. Super exciting for sharpie enthusiasts like ourselves!}
    Cheers!

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  2. Laura, that is exciting news!! ps...loving the blog design updates you have been making lately!
    http://theknoxvilleholts.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks! Updates I've been meaning to make for the last year or so and finally getting around to them! Still a few more to come. I'm loving your blog! I hope you're planning on doing a post about your incredibly beautiful fair skin and what you do to take care of it!!! The people want to know! :)

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  3. I feel for you, Linsey! Putting nail polish on my left hand, as I am a lefty, is also a trouble. Whenever I do that part, I always tend to ruin a done fingernail or two. >.< But your nails look fab here, even if they’re obviously not professionally trimmed! Love the polish you used, and so does the permanent marker! Whoa! That was very ingenious! :)

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