This week I'm kind of doubling up on nail trends - negative space manicure and mauve-y grey! I actually love how they turned out - I wasn't sure how the negative space would look on my nail shape, but I think it has a great balance!
Here are the products I used for this week's Manicure:
-Formula X nail cleanser and base coat
-Nail Hugs appliques (or any patterned sticker you choose!)
-striping tape
-straight nail stickers
-Sally Hansen Gel Top Coat
-mauve grey polish (I used Law Beauty Essentials in Smoking Mauve)
-scissors (not pictured)
-nail file (not pictured)
The first step is using the nail appliques!
These appliques are from Nail Hugs and are approx. $13.00 CAN for 3 sheets of stickers. (I got mine as an Ipsy point purchase). These stickers come uncut and unshaped.
I haven't actually used nail appliques before - they are different from using a sticker, wrap or decal. I was planning on posting a full how-to of these appliques because the material is very different from other stickers I have used. My husband compared the material to a temporary tattoo - which is pretty spot on (I compared it to the gross grey-black glue left behind after a bandaid has been on too long, so his is better).
Anyways, these were pretty difficult to use in my opinion (and I followed the directions perfectly) - I used one whole sheet to do 4 nails - the protective backing was hard to get off and then the appliques stuck to anything so the pattern shifted and got ruined when the backing finally did come off. Once they got on, you don't need to size them because you use a stick to scoop all the excess around your nails. Then you cover with top coat.
I love the concept of these, but I'm not a fan at all! I prefer a wrap or a sticker that I have a little more control over personally. I will not use these again, but if you like the idea of a super thin applique for your nails, don't let my complaints deter you!
For the rest of the nails I applied nail cleanser and base coat, then I used 2 straight stickers to create a small space on my nails and painted 2 coats of polish on either side of the stickers, leaving the middle bare. Then I peeled off the stickers quickly, so the polish did not have time to dry. (I also kept 1 accent nail plain, with just 2 coats of polish on it!)
I let my nails dry well and finished off by applying glittery striping tape to any line with negative space beside it for a little hint of glitter! Then I finished each nail of with a top coat!
So, despite the fact that I did stuggle with the appliques, the end results turned out well. Also, I absolutely love this nail polish formula and shade - I will have to check out more from this brand as I was impressed!
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