Nail Art Lessons of the Week – 16 Jun 2013

Hello Beauties!

Big Stick Gradient Heart Art

It’s been a good week of manicures.  I thought I would share my lessons of the week:

• Shimmer polishes are more difficult to get off your skin then cream polishes.  I use a lot of shimmers, and I notice that when I’m cleaning up my cuticle, it really takes a lot to get the polish off the skin.  I used creams on a manicure this week, and the polish came off easily and cleanly.  One thing that I’ve noticed works for me in working with shimmers is that I get as much polish off as I can.  Then once my fingernails are really dry (I mean really dry) I give my hands a good washing and use  a nail brush to scrub around the cuticles.  That’s been really effective.

• Don’t judge a manicure before it’s time.  I sometimes change up my design mid-manicure because it doesn’t look like it’s coming together.  Those decisions made mid-manicure are not always the best decisions.  Until the cuticles are cleaned up and you’ve applied your top coat, you really don’t know how the design will look when it’s finished.  The Big Stick Gradient Nail Heart Art manicure is an example of that for me.  I thought the manicure wasn’t coming together, so I switched up the main nail image with the accent nail image.  The accent nail ended up being the cutest.  Had I left it alone until I saw the finished product, I think I’d have had a better result.

• I picked up Nails, Nails, Nails this week.  Aside from the clever nail art designs, the first chapter includes some info about nail and polish care.  I learned that it’s not good to store your polishes in a location with varying temperatures.  So my prime location in the bathroom was actually sub-optimal.  Coincidentally, I was reading this book in the bathtub!  After my bath, I removed my polish tower to its new home in my bedroom.  Then decided I would re-organize my polishes.  I’m much happier with the new arrangement, incidentally.  (The striping polishes and holographic polishes, and the glitter polishes are all grouped, then everything else is arranged by color family).
• When using stickers, etc. for your manicure, it’s important to know how long to let the polish dry.  With the striping and tape, I’ve seen the experts remove the tape almost immediately after polishing.  My experience with the French tip guides, and the hole reinforcers for half moon manicures, you’ve got to let the polish dry before trying to remove them.  My advice: if you’re not getting the result you want removing them quickly, let them completely dry.  If you’re not getting the result letting them dry, try removing them right away.  I’d love to hear what works for you!

That’s all beauties.  As always, thanks for reading.  Stay beautiful!