Matte Magenta Moons

  All the nail blogs say the easy way to do a moon manicure is to mask off the moon area with one of those round-sticker-binder-ring-protector-thingies to make the moon shape.  They're easy to find anywhere, and they're not so sticky they'll peel up your base coat, which I suppose makes them fairly ideal.  I've always been a bit skeptical about it - are the circles the right size?  Will they stick well enough to prevent leakage?

  So I decided to find out.    

  I thought the overall effect was...okay.  I'm not thrilled, and I think I could do a nicer job by hand after three glasses of wine, even.  Hey, sometimes I get better at this shit when I'm drinking!

  Anyhoo, there was minor seeping, especially at the corners!  In fact, the binder rings are rather thick for a sticker, and they kept trying to pop off the edges of my nails!  I have very curved nails, so if you have a flatter nail plane you may have more luck.  This was a total pain-in-the-ass for me.

  To conclude this experiment, but not this post, I would say that I prefer not to use a masking method for the moon manicure, or at least not with binder rings.  However!  This method is useful if you want a 'moon' that is a lighter or sheerer shade that won't work as a top layer.  For this mani I used Sally Hansen Smooth Perfect in Dune as the moon color, which is a lovely sheer nude that would never show up over anything!  The top is Revlon Plum Seduction, which is a really lovely magenta.

 Finally, I decided this would be a good look to try with the new matte top coat I just got!  Inspired by a shiny-black on matte-black french manicure I saw, I have been dying to play with matte colors!  It's about time a matte top-coat was made readily available!  I've always hated how the oh-so-necessary protective top-coat always ruined the finish of a matte polish.  BUT NO MORE!  Behold!  The matte-ness!

Regular polish on top; with matte top coat on bottom.

 Yeahhh!  I think it turned out puh-retty sweet!  It's a bit less drastic a difference due to my camera's overactive flash, but I think it's a pretty good representation of what we're working with, here.  I paid like, ten bucks for this matte top coat, goddamnit, so it better work!
  Oh yeah,  it's Sephora by OPI brand, if you are interested.  It was the only one I could just walk to a store and buy, because no drugstores seem to have caught on yet, but I work a block away from Sephora.  (Danger ranger!)

  You can really see on the thumb in the bottom image, how the light diffuses much more softly on the matte finish.
  The only downside to the matte is that it tends to highlight any imperfections in your base.  I felt like uneven spots or brush streaks were more apparent after I applied the matte, so that's something to think about if you're gonna try it!  Nonetheless, I'm excited to try some new looks with this stuff!  One day I'll make the black-on-black look as good as the pros...my attempts so far have been too embarrassing to share - I'm sure you understand.

So, THIS happened...

 Hello, boys and girls, and welcome to a rousing adventure in WTF-land!

 So, I keep my vast collection of nail polish in a plastic bin with a lid that barely stays on anymore.  It's about as deep as it is wide (approx 1.5 feet square), so when you have as many nail colors as I do, you have to dump out the whole stupid bin every time you want a color that isn't on the uppermost layer.  One day, I'll buy myself one of those classy-as-fuck clear acrylic racks that salons use to display their laquers.   I'll mount it on my goddamn living room wall, and forever after enjoy manicure convenience.  Until then, though, I have this shitty bin. 

 Now, despite how much pressure the bottom layer is surely always under, I've never had any issues.  I mean, shit, any polish you buy is like 50% super thick glass bottle!  Those things are indestructible!!

Right?

....

......

Ahem.  So, with this line of thinking, you can imagine my surprise when I dumped out the box and found this.

Shit, and it's an OPI color, too!  I usually only get those as gifts, since I don't like spending more than six dollars on a bottle of polish.  RIP Yes I Can-Can, you were a great color.  Now I need a new sexy dark red, STAT!

70's Beach House Manicure

  "I'm gonna call this manicure House of Sand and Fog, cuz it's beachy as fuck!"

 I am RRREEEAALLLYY excited about this manicure!  A fabulous geometric look starring my favorite color palette, and featuring my debut use of skinny nail tape!

 This lovely harlequin pattern was lifted right from Chalkboard Nails, and all I did was flip it 'round and change up the colors a bit.

  I'm really into this muted, faded-70s-basement palette.  I just cannot get enough peach!  Colors used here are my beloved Savina White Lavender as the base color, accented with Sally Hansen's Commander in Chic (slate brown), and First Kiss (that's the light coral).  And, of course, lovely Revlon in Jaded, and Minted, (both of which I am LOVINGGGG!) as well as Make Mine Mango (dark coral.)  Jaded is that oh-so-totally-not-Jade-colored chartreuse, and it is pretty much the shit.  Almost neon without going whole hog, but still totally jarring and flashy.  I needed one color to take my palette out of the safety zone!  I think having one clashing color can really make the whole palette pop a bit more.  Nothing worse than a mani design that ends up being a washout!

  You can see the chartreuse at work here, totally punching up that minty green and playing off the blue tones, and brightening that darker coral, too.

  I'm really into this design and this color palette, and I'm gonna have to just come out and say it - I think this one my be my favorite.  Maybe my favorite ever.  Basically I love this mani so much I want to marry it.  MAYBE I WILL!