Black, White and Gold Zig Zag Nails!

As much as I love the glitter mosaics, every once in a while I feel the need to do something different.  I stopped in at a craft store on the way home tonight as they tend to have all kinds of supplies I might be able to shoehorn into a manicure.  Along with a new, tiny paintbrush, I picked up painter's masking tape and metal craft scissors with a zig-zag blade.  Oh yes, I'm going to have fun with these!

I spent a good couple of hours watching The Mitchell and Webb look and staring at the scissors, trying to decide how best to use them.  I finally decided to try zig-zag strips as it's something I've tried to do by hand before but stopped because it was taking too long.  To start, I applied three thin coats of L.A. Girl Delicate, a shimmery white creme.  Once it and the coat of Seche Vite were totally dry, I cut thin strips of the painter's tape and laid them on my nails.  I then added the black and gold over the top, Rimmel Black Satin and Revlon Gold Coin respectively.  

The Verdict: I'm really happen with how these came out, especially with the gold accents.  I'm also super happy with how my index and ring fingers are holding up.  They both have breaks but are holding together with the tea-bag method.  It actually works really well - you cut a tiny piece of tea bag and stick it over the break with nail glue.  Hang in there, nails!

Neon Rainbow Zig-Zags Using American Apparel Neons

Ever since I found proper pinking shears the other day in a craft store, they've been sitting on my desk, begging to contribute their zig-zaggy goodness.  I was in the mood for something bright so I five American Apparel Neon polishes and one China Glaze and went to work.

To start, I added two coats of L.A. Girl Delicate.  I wanted a white base so I wouldn't have to do a million coats of the neon.  Once that and the coat of the Seche Vite were dry I cut a thin zig-zag strips of blue painters tape.  I added three strips at a time, making sure each strip was the same height and spaced the same across my nails.  I then added three of the colours.  If you look at my thumb close up, I placed tape where the orange, green and purple are first and applied the red, yellow and blue.  I added another coat of Seche Vite and did the same for the rest of my fingers.  Once they were all super dry, I covered the stripes already in place and added the other colours.  A final coat of Seche Vite and I'm done!

 

The Verdict: I'm really happy with how this came out.  It's eyeball-bleedlingly bright and I even don't mind the white showing through, it reminds me of some erasers I had as a kid.  Personality, you know?  It's also crying out for a Pinterest-friendly infographic as it's not hard to do.... yay Rainbows!