I had this genius idea..."Let's make this mani a mystery".
HPB, or "Hobby Polish Bloggers", is a community on Facebook that I belong to dedicated to providing feedback, guidance, and support to fellow bloggers in the nail polish world. Each month, a theme is chosen and members of HPB start painting away, getting creative with their manicures. January's theme is "New to You", so I've chosen to obtain my mani inspiration in a way that I've never done before, one that's "new to me". I've decided to literally pull my mani inspiration out of a hat!
This turned out to be a really fun little exercise. I even got the hubby involved! I wrote down 7 design ideas and the hubby and I each picked out 4 different colors from my collection - he chose 4 at random and I chose 4 that I thought might work together (although none of mine were picked). Then, I threw them in a bowl, and the hubby blindly picked the inspiration for my mani. I was a little nervous about the combination he would pick, especially since some of the nail art techniques were ones I had never attempted before. Here's what he picked...
For polish, I was given...
- "Posh Pink" by Rimmel London - a bright Barbie pink.
- "Let's Talk" by Sinful Colors - a BRIGHT iridescent purple (although it looks blue in the above picture)
- "Well-Cultured Pearl" by Finger Paints - a very sheer neutral pearl.
For technique, I was given...
- Fan Brush - I received one for Christmas, but I had never used it prior to this mani.
- Loose Glitter - Another Christmas present that hadn't been used prior to this mani. (I guess there's a first for everything!)
Here's what I came up with.
- "Posh Pink" by Rimmel London - a bright Barbie pink.
- "Let's Talk" by Sinful Colors - a BRIGHT iridescent purple (although it looks blue in the above picture)
- "Well-Cultured Pearl" by Finger Paints - a very sheer neutral pearl.
For technique, I was given...
- Fan Brush - I received one for Christmas, but I had never used it prior to this mani.
- Loose Glitter - Another Christmas present that hadn't been used prior to this mani. (I guess there's a first for everything!)
Here's what I came up with.
This first picture is before the glitter. I was actually intrigued by the fan brush technique as I was doing it, so I wanted to get a picture before I attempted the glitter. While I don't like this particular manicure, I think with some practice you could really get something interesting looking with the fan brush. I definitely need to work on this technique because I am pretty sure it's supposed to look a little bit more delicate and pretty than this.
Here's the post glitter look, which I followed up with a top coat.
So, let me talk you through how I got this look. First, though, I feel like I need to address the fact that I am fully aware that it looks like a 1st grader painted my nails - see throw up comment below for my honest thoughts about this mani.
But, if you are interested in how this came to be, I started with a coat of the pink polish on all of my nails. I let the pink dry and then dipped my fan brush in the purple polish and lightly dabbed it on a piece of paper so that there wasn't as much polish on the brush when I applied it to my nail. I used quick, light brush strokes and sort of just dabbed and brushed it across my nail until I felt like there was enough polish. I do think that from a distance, the fan brush created a tie dye effect on my nail, but up close (and in the above pictures) I'm not a huge fan.
After the purple dried a bit, I did the same with the pearl. Finally, I used a clear polish and the fan brush one last time to have a base to apply the loose glitter to (I chose to use purple loose glitter). The glitter adds more sparkle to the mani, but to be honest, it's a bit too much I think.
All in all, I feel like the nail polish fairies threw up bright polish, sparkle, and glitter all over my nails, so I definitely won't be wearing this one out! I'm glad I tried these techniques, though, and I had a lot of fun with the mystery aspect of this mani! The hubby also said it was fun for him and he got a good laugh out of seeing my nails that were more fit for a 1st grader.
But, if you are interested in how this came to be, I started with a coat of the pink polish on all of my nails. I let the pink dry and then dipped my fan brush in the purple polish and lightly dabbed it on a piece of paper so that there wasn't as much polish on the brush when I applied it to my nail. I used quick, light brush strokes and sort of just dabbed and brushed it across my nail until I felt like there was enough polish. I do think that from a distance, the fan brush created a tie dye effect on my nail, but up close (and in the above pictures) I'm not a huge fan.
After the purple dried a bit, I did the same with the pearl. Finally, I used a clear polish and the fan brush one last time to have a base to apply the loose glitter to (I chose to use purple loose glitter). The glitter adds more sparkle to the mani, but to be honest, it's a bit too much I think.
All in all, I feel like the nail polish fairies threw up bright polish, sparkle, and glitter all over my nails, so I definitely won't be wearing this one out! I'm glad I tried these techniques, though, and I had a lot of fun with the mystery aspect of this mani! The hubby also said it was fun for him and he got a good laugh out of seeing my nails that were more fit for a 1st grader.
Have you ever done a mystery mani? I hope this inspires you to get crazy with your manicures and try something new to you...try colors you never thought would go together, a new design, or maybe even have your significant other pick your polish. Just have fun with it!
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you stop by often!
Katey
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you stop by often!
Katey