My new obsession: Nail art
I mentioned in my last post how I’ve gotten into painting my nails. Lately, what that involves is nail stamping, but I also want to experiment more with water marbling and other methods.
I think I got into it when I was looking at YouTube videos last year. I honestly don’t remember when it all started. But I got hooked. I have the fortune of having strong long nails (I get that from my mom) and I also have a desk job. I have only ever gotten two manicures in my life at a salon: first was when I was 16 and I was working at a legal center and the other girl who worked there took me out to get one; the second one was when I got married.
Anyway, I’ve always done my own manicures but I tended to hate it because nail polish took so long to fully dry. I would do at least two solid color coats and one clear top coat. If I wanted to add glitter, that would be another coat. All that polish takes some time to dry all the way through. The top would be dry to the touch but as soon as any pressure was applied, I would get dents and stuff.
But technology has come a long way. The new top coats available really live up to the hype. I can do an elaborate manicure and my nails will be dry at the end of the hour (that’s including the actual manicure)! You can pick up Sally Hansen quick dry top coats at most drugstores and those penetrate the layers to dry the nail polish quickly. But then I discovered Seche Vite! All the v/bloggers rave about it and now I know why! It is an amazing top coat that feels so smooth and glassy, has beautiful shine, and dries super fast! If you have any bumps or nicks left from your manicure, Seche Vite will even it all out. So if you are running low on time, get yourself some of that polish. I got it at Sally Beauty Supply.
And lastly, how do I get these designs? Konad. It’s a nail stamping system. It’s not stencils, which is what most people think. I have these metal plates that are very shallowly engraved. You brush on your nail polish onto the design that you want and then scrape off the excess. That only leaves the nail polish in the design. You then take a blank rubber stamper and lift off the design from the plate and stamp it onto your nail. It takes a little bit of practice but is now so easy to do for me. You have to sometimes experiment with the colors because of a polish is too thin or doesn’t have too much pigment, the design won’t be noticeable on your nail. Konad thought about that and made their own “Special Polish” which comes in handy but isn’t the only thing that works. Juan did get me the black and white ones for Christmas though, and they are really easy to use.
If you want to get started, I suggest going on Amazon and buying a fauxnad plate set by Bundle Monster. It’s the best deal. Then you can add to your collection with single Konad plates later. You’ll also need the stamper (get the one with two sized ends, it is really convenient).
Here are a couple more manicures. I made this post in bits and pieces so it may sound a bit rambly. If you have any questions, please let me know. I’ll be happy to help!
PS: I created a Listmania on Amazon for people who keep asking me what I have or how to get started: These are the must-have items to get started on Konad-ing your nails.