New Shape, "New" French

Very rarely do I change up my nail shape. I'd venture to say never. They pretty much grow "squoval" (except my index fingers...those little rule breakers) and I've stuck with that.



BUT. I got super inspired after seeing this video of Sophy Robson doing Lisa Eldridge's nails - HERE. (P.S. I totally want to be Lisa Eldridge.)

A couple glasses of wine, and I was left with this:

It's a sketchy night shot, but I liked it because it shows the navy tips off better than my day shots do. I used Essie T-Bills Putty for the nude and Essie Midnight Cami for my tips.

Result? I am looovvviiinnngggg not only this manicure, but this nail shape. I can even see myself doing this French again with different colours - Maybe a more pinky base with grey tips? I probably will not stick with the oval shape forever - it will be hard to keep up because my natural nail shape will be fighting me, but I will enjoy it! (You will see the Return of the Squoval soon here on PoP - I have several swatches that I photographed a little while back still waiting to be shared.)

So - I'm nervous to ask - but what do you think?? Do you prefer the oval or the squoval on me? Do you ever switch up your nail shape? Let me know, I'm curious!!

kittytokaren

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Funky French

After my last black and green flakies manicure (which was every bit as involved to remove as you'd think) I was craving something pale and clean. Inspired by K2K's gold tip french I decided to try my own renditition, which is a bit less subtle.



This is OPI creme of crete (three coats) as the base with China Glaze 2030 tips freehanded over the top. I usually use creme of crete for french tips and I'm not sure what possessed me to use it as a full manicure. It's very runny and streaky and my planned sheer base fell by the wayside because it's impossible to get it to level while keeping it sheer. Nevertheless I quite like the effect, unintended though it is, and it's also covering my first go at a teabag patch (on my middle finger).



I've only ever freehanded french tips - what do you do? Any suggestions for good stencils?

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OPI & Illamasqua teals

This manicure has a short story behind it: my aunt took a weekend trip to Florence (Firenze) and asked me for recommendations, since I spent a fortnight there in '09. I duly provided her with a long list of gelato vendors (I used my time there productively) and asked me to bring me back some scarves, since I'd overloaded my carry on luggage on the way home with four. She picked well: a beautiful teal shawl, which is very possibly my favourite colour. And since I wanted to wear it immediately I decided co-ordinating nails were in order.

OPI ski teal we drop, two coats + Illamasqua muse tips, one coat (with Nailtek foundation II and Seche vite)

Since I had no exact match I decided to do a two-colour french. I've worn both of these colours on their own and both are perfection in their own way: 4-5 day wear with minor tip wear, easy two coat application (possibly one if you're less of a klutz than me), shiny and intensely pigmented. And the colours are goooorgeous.

The respective brushes lend themselves really nicely to this kind of manicure, since the OPI pro wide is so…well…wide, and illamasqua's brushes are very narrow and precise (much like Essie's).

I really liked this combo and would probably do it again with variations - I'd love to try a grape and plum combo, or maybe banana yellow with white, or navy and green.

Are you ever inspired by fabrics? What's your favourite?

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My New Fav French Tip Colour: Essie Marshmallow

I only do a French manicure (well, American manicure, to be accurate) every once in a while. I've been using Essie Waltz as my white tip colour for a long time, but I've always wanted to try Marshmallow since that's what everyone else seems to use! And I think they were on to something...

This is 2 coats of Essie Marshmallow on the tips with 2 coats of Essie Vanity Fairest on top:

The same mani a few days later, when I added Essie Big Dipper on top. It adds a haze of fairy dust-type sparkle to the finish:

I definitely prefer Essie Marshmallow to Waltz. It's more opaque, so it only requires two thin swipes of polish on the tips - making them less thick - therefore less prone to chipping and looking silly. Even though its more opaque, it still possesses that more natural translucent quality, rather than a chalky white that belongs with a classic French.

Oh and if you're curious, I did the tips freehand. Believe it or not, my right hand (I'm right-handed) actually looks better. I think its because I'm more conscious and careful when painting with my non-dominant hand. Even though I don't do this kind of mani often, I really like it. I actually think it looks pretty cute! I know a lot of you are bored by this style, so I'll try not to post them too often! :P

What are your fav French/American mani ingredients?

kittytokaren

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Incoco Dry Nail Appliques: Bling Bling and a french manicure (First Love)

I got these to review from Incoco... a very long time ago. And wore them... a very long time ago. And these photos were taken just as long ago. *headdesk* But never got around to a review because I really wanted to do a thorough review of them, as they are a relatively newfangled way of doing nails. And then I put it off until now.

For those who do not know, Incoco Dry Nail Appliques are kind of like nail polish stickers. They are essentially dry but have a tacky side to them that adhere to your nail. Each pack, which sell for about $8 each, comes with a set of nail stickers in many different sizes, enough for all your fingernails, no matter how big or small. They are advertised as being less hassle than doing your nails with traditional nail polish (difficult application, long dry time, etc) and indeed, right after putting them on, they are as good as dry and ready to go. Application, imo, was more of a hassle for me, but I've put on and removed traditional nail polish at least a thousand times... and I've only put on and removed Incoco maybe three times.

I wish I had taken pictures of the process of applying Incoco but this is what's involved, more or less:

1. Pick out the nail stickers that match the width of your nail size best. They will almost always be too long for your nails.
2. Remove the backing off of the adhesive side and place it on your nail. If it's crooked, worry not, you can remove it carefully and readjust it.
3. Smooth down the sticker onto your nail, making sure there are no air bubbles.
4. Bend the remainder of the nail strip over the free edge of the nail and use the included emery board to file the extra length off.
5. Enjoy your relatively indestructible nails!

Overall, I really liked them, mostly because of their longevity: I wore them for about a week when I was traveling and they held up really well. The best part was that I carried some of the leftover nail stickers to do some patch ups, just in case any of the nail stickers came off. I did have to patch up one of my thumbs (which are always abused) and it took a single minute at the airport to do so. The most annoying thing about it was that I felt like I had to work harder to get a good fit for my pinky. Otherwise, all other nails went swimmingly.

Incoco Bling Bling

Not the best application at all for me. I didn't apply the nail stickers as carefully as I ought to have. Even though it's sheer, I really liked this manicure: very sparkly and bright, holo glitter and silver shimmer.

Close-up of Bling Bling

Below you can see the mismanagement of my pinky nail. I was simply too lazy to trim down a thicker strip to match my pinky (the second thinnest was perfect for my ring finger so that sticker got used for that). These are easily trimmed down to proper size using scissors.

The worst of the tipwear and chips after five days:

I also gave one of the Incoco french manicure a test run...

Incoco First Love

This was actually my first set of Incoco nail strips and egads, I should never have started out with these because they are harder than the normal ones. The French ones are actually two sets of nail appliques: the white tip and a sheer pink layer to go over the white tips. It took me about twice the time to do this, partially because I had to put on two sets of stickers and partially because I had a hard to aligning these to cover my real life smile lines.

Also, the sheer pink nail strip part kept on adhering to itself when I tried to realign it, which then made it look messy and creased. This doesn't show up as strongly when it's an opaque color but it does tend to make it look dented and weird in a sheer color.

All in all, I really like these for times when you don't have time to redo your manicure and when you have to travel by plane and get anxious that someone might confiscate your nail polish at airport security. It's also great for doing your nails on the plane, for those of us who have always wished we could do our nails during long, boring flights. ;)

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A Celebratory Gold-Tip French!

Not only is the World Cup going on (Hup Holland, Hup!) but today my PI leaves for several weeks in Europe - an entire ocean of peace of mind for me! I wanted to do a mani to celebrate, but nothing too wild. I thought I'd try a French with gold tips!

This look has always appealed to me. I think it is quietly subversive but yet manages to maintain some elegance. Here I used 2 coats of Essie Mademoiselle plus 1 coat of Essie Tennis Corset as my base. The tips are OPI Opening Night Champagne. This was my first time using French guides, and there is definitely a learning curve - I got better with them as I went along. I normally freehand but I didn't want to do that here with a metallic polish, because I wanted my strokes to be vertical and the polish to be thin and even.

Take a look at the results!:

Different angle so you can see how brightly metallic Opening Night Champagne is:

Close-up so you can see the shimmer in Tennis Corset - one of the two polishes I own a back-up of!:

I absolutely adore Opening Night Champagne - I just received it from a lovely lady (you know who you are!) and it is like a mix between yellow gold and rose gold. It applies incredibly smoothly, but is still hyper-shimmery and metallic. I also have OPI I Get a Kick Out of Gold, which is from the same collection and is the same texture but much more yellow gold in colour. I wish I could get my hands on a silver with this texture - does anyone know if one exists? I would love to do a silver version of this!

I'm really loving wearing this mani - it definitely gives off that celebratory vibe I was looking for! I see more gold-tip Frenches in my future - perhaps OPI I Get a Kick Out of Gold tips with Chanel Illusion d'Or base?

What do you think of the metallic-tip French manicure? Do you use guides, tape or freehand for your French manis?

kittytokaren

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A boring (but cute) French (with a lil sparkle) that most of you will hate!

Last night I took off my polish and was trying to figure out what to do. I was feeling like I just wanted something soft and cute and pretty, but I'm really hating the way my nail-whites are looking as of late. (I think its because of this new vitamin regimen I have to do.) So I decided it was time to cover them up! I haven't done a French in forever, so I was pretty dubious.

I know that most people in the polish community think French manicures are boring, safe and lame. That's OK. Maybe I am those things - I'm certainly not a glitter-bomb holo-wearer. Even though not many people will be interested to see this manicure, I thought I'd share anyways. (What the heck right??)

I used:

Essie Waltz: 2 coats (for tips)

Essie Mademoiselle: 2 coats

Essie Tennis Corset: 1 coat

It's been overcast so its hard to see the gorgeousness that is Tennis Corset! Here is a better close-up shot:

A night shot from when it was freshly done:

I did this free-hand (I don't like guides...too fussy) so maybe it's not perfect but I really do like the way it came out! Exactly what I wanted - soft and easy, but with a little bit of sparkle. Plus it was really quick. I really loathe spending copius amounts of time on a mani (probably the reason I haven't ventured into Konad-land yet) but this was surprisingly fast!

Essie Waltz is my favourite for French tips because its not really stark so it looks more natural and less porn star. It's also easier to work with because errors are less obvious! Tennis Corset is a milky sheer white with the most amazing gold/green/red microglitter (not quite a shimmer, but not quite a glitter - shitter? (hah!)...no...glimmer?? yes...glimmer is better). I didn't want my nails to look totally white, so using Mademoiselle under it adds a nice pink tint to my nails and goes on non-streaky so it's perfect.

Tennis Corset is one of my favourite polishes of all time - it is in fact the only one I have a back-up of and that's probably a good thing seeing as I haven't had it very long and I'm already 1/4 of the way through my first bottle! It adds that perfect secret sparkle and I can see myself wearing/loving it for a long time to come - even when I have a 'real' job (heh...like that's ever going to happen...let me dream) because it is just subtle enough. It's great layered and I love it on it's own. Again, maybe this makes me boring, but hey, we like what we like!

So to combat my boringness, I am going to tempt you with an Essie Whack-a-Lemming I want to show you soon - my approximation of Essie Starry Starry Night!

Do you guys ever do French manicures? Do you use guides? What are your favourite colours for a French?

kittytokaren

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Mashed-up: White Flowers & a Funky Pink Gradient

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 Hey guys!

I've got a fun gradient Koni for you today that's a bit on the softer side.  It's pink (I've been wearing a lot of pink lately but I'm not sure why. I'm not typically a pink girl.) with white flowers and a delicate bit of multi-hued sparkle pressed in over top.  If you're wondering, this isn't a Valentine's Day mani.  My bf and I have been together for just shy of a decade and we've never celebrated Valentine's Day. This year, we had my parents over for dinner and enjoyed some good food and good company. :)  Hope you guys had a good one, regardless of how you spent it.  (Every day in one's life should be a good day, right?)

Base: China Glaze - Awakening
Tips and Stamp: Konad SP - White
Glitter: CM Gold Reflections 43
Top Coat: Sally Hansen w/ Nylon in Nude (no. 95)
Konad plate: m36

A left-turn to nowhere:
Totally unrelated to nails (because my interests are all over the map), I thought I'd share the fact that I love mashups.  At the moment I'm listening to a couple of older mixes: Soulja Boy's Crank That and Van Halen's Jump (aka Jump Dat Soulja), mashed by the very talented DJ Lobsterdust.  Also on my current playlist is DJ Earworm's United State of Pop 2009: (Blame It On The Pop). If you haven't heard it, definitely check out the song and the video as it mashes the top 25 pop hits of 2009!   Why am I posting this on a nail blog, you ask?  I'm always on the lookout for new mashups. If you've got some to recommend, let me know!

- mKat



What I'm wearing: Hot pink and lots of glitter!
What I'm lemming: Bulbs. (I'm totally following Flinty's cue on this lightbox building business!)
Upcoming: TransDesign, OC Nailart and chez Delaney hauls; I've been a Bad Kitty; Nailene nails.

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LeChat Dare to Wear Disco Tech Collection swatches

What fabulous glitters! So instead of doing the same type of swatching for all of these -- since they're all essentially the same thing in different colors -- I decided to layer some of them on other polishes and show different numbers of layers (click on pics to see bigger versions).

Techno Beat

Three layers over Barielle Grape Escape... can't see the Barielle? Neither can I.

Get Funky

One layer over Diamond Cosmetics Tropical Dream, which is a light creamsicle orange with gold shimmer.

Because it looks so sad and forlorn (compared to the other polishes, imo), I also did a video of this to show how glittery just a little bit of glitter can be. (Sorry for the street noise. I live in a small town but it gets pretty loud at times.)

Disco Ball

Two supersparkly layers. Somehow, this applied thinner than the other ones.

Strobe Lights

Three layers over nothing -- see how dense it gets??

Disc Jockey

Two layers over Quirius Ivy Wreath

Strobe Lights with Dancing Shoes

I already did a finger swatch of Dancing Shoes the other night so I didn't feel the need to reswatch everything again so I mucked around with a sloppy funky french that looks like I just dipped my (one layer) Strobe Lights manicured nails into a big bowl of Dancing Shoes.

What I love about these glitters is that one layer will get you a nice glitter topcoat but by the time you get to three, it's packed tight on the nail. Also, you'd expect them to be chunkier because of the type and amount of glitter but they're actually smoother than I thought they'd be.

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A KOTD for Evil Angel, our first blog follower!

A funky french KOTD for the first person who listed us on their own np blog! The image plate used was also from a swap with her.

Skin Food RE106 Black Cherry with White Konad Special Polish (using Hot Topic "fauxnad" plate) and orange Nail Star nail art pen.

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