Non-childish Polka Dots

I have a nice easy one today that anyone, no matter what your talent level is, can easily achieve. 

I'm back to one of my favorite things: Polka dots!!! 

Polka dots are a lot of fun, but sometimes can seem overly girly or childish. A way to avoid looking Hello Kitty-ish is picking a more mature color pallet & a different pattern than the typical dots. Picking varying color pallets will provide results that are feminine, without being syrupy sweet. 

I started with my favorite deep mocha color as my base, and am picking an assortment of teal/turquoise shades for the dots. I ended up not being able to use the shimmery teal in the small bottle on the left, as it was glued shut. I went with a pearly light blue instead, and it worked just fine. 

I used my two sided dotting tool, and differing amounts of pressure to create the different sized dots. 

I chose the darkest color to be the biggest dots, and places a few randomly across my nail. 

I then used my lightest color to add more big dots, again in a random pattern across my nail. 

With each successive color, the dots got smaller, so the last color (white) had the smallest dots, and was used primarily to fill in the excess space. 

I added random dots of the teal glitter polish, that don't really show up, but do give a little extra sparkle here and there. I also covered the whole of each ring finger nail in the glitter. It isn't highly noticeable, but does give it a nice touch I think.  

 As you can see, I went with a diagonal, random placement pattern, and I love the results!
This would be cute with even, symmetrically placed dots as well.
I plan on trying this again in the near future, with pink dots on the brown, and again possibly with purple dots on grey polish.
Other combinations that I think would be awesomely fun are:
Yellows on Purple
Yellows & Purples on White
Blue & White on Red
Black & White on Hot Pink
Hot Pink & Black on White

Just pick your favorite two or three colors and go for it! Or, pick your favorite piece of abstract art and duplicate the color pallet.

Fine Feathered Phalanges

I had planned on doing this manicure for Thanksgiving, but because Thanksgiving week was busy, and I was lazy then, it just didn't happen. So, here is a manicure I'd seen a while ago, that I loved for its unique look. 

However, most tutorials I saw seemed to be geared towards those of us who do nails regularly. Not all followed the KISS principal. That being said... here is my go at it! 

First off, you will need feathers... I got a bag of them from the craft store for just a couple dollars. 

You'll need small scissors, and cuticle nippers. You will also need a thick, quick drying top coat. I used Seche Vite. (Which, I just found out is carried at CVS, and probably other regular drug stores with beauty sections... so no need to go out of your way to a special store like Ulta for just that. Unless you want to, which, I would totally understand!)

You'll be putting several coats on each nail (at least 3) so make sure you have enough. I used clear, but other than clear could be used. (Micro glitter or shimmer could give you an interesting effect. Just make sure that since we are adding many layer it doesn't totally obscure the feather)

You'll also need a fine grit nail file. I rarely will use anything more rough than the roughest grit on a 3 way buffing stick. Too rough of a grit will cause uneven edges that can chip, peel and flake, as well as get caught on things and tear. 

Start with painting your nails a base color. I used Princesses Rule! by OPI (A very pretty, very girly pinky color I got from one of my bestest friends, Mags) 

Select the feathers that you would like to use, that somewhat fit your nails. Look at patterns and placement, and pick what you think will look best. It doesn't have to be just the tip, you can use the sides or center, whatever will produce the look you are going for. 

 Using the small scissors, snip off the part of the feather to be applied on your nail. You'll end up with a large section for your nail, and several smaller sections as well. Save the small sections, they are good for filling in blank spaces, or fixing "oopps" moments. (I'll have an example of that momentarily)

Coat one nail with clear top coat, wait no more than a few seconds, and place the feather on your nail. It is ok to have over-hang, we'll fix that later. Press the feather into the polish, to make it stick and lay smooth.
Now for our first coat of top coat over the feather!
Use the brush with top coat to smooth out the feather. I occasionally brushed UP the nail, to make things lay how I wanted them to.

 Now use your small scissors to cut off most of the over-hang. You do not need to get it perfect, we're just getting rid of the part that will be burdensome while trying to do your other nails.

 Repeat this process for all nails.
To recap: to this point you have base polish, clear coat, feather, and then your first layer of clear coat.

 Once the first layer of polish is completely dry, use your cuticle nippers to clean up the edges. Trim the over-hang as closely to your nail as you can. In trying to trim mine super close, I slipped and ended up taking a chunk out. This is why saving tiny pieces is good.

 I simply dabbed a little top coat onto the blank spot and wedged that little snippet of feather into the hole. Once it was pressed into place and trimmed, it was hard to tell here my gap had been.
*one note about trimming, make sure you SNIP all pieces, and do NOT tug! Tugging will cause the feather to pull up off the nail. I used several small snips per nail, to make sure I didn't pull the feather out of place. (after the first time I pulled it out of place)

After trimming, (be sure to trim around the cuticle area, so you get all the little stray feathery pieces) it is time for the second coat of top coat.
When the second coat is dry, use the file to smooth away all of the rough edges, and do another trimming if necessary. File downward only, as side to side or up will possibly tear the feather and pull it up.
*one note about trimming, make sure you SNIP all pieces, and do NOT tug! Tugging will cause the feather to pull up off the nail.

Now, with everything smooth, you're ready for the 3rd layer of top coat.
Normally, each time I dip my brush in polish I will cover about two nails, because you want thin layers usually. This is not a usual case. Dip your brush in polish for each nail, you want each coat to be a good solid layer. This is why you should use a good quality quick dry polish... you can make the layers thick without having to dry for hours.

And there you have it! Naturally decorated nails in a custom pattern that you've done yourself!

I think this is my favorite nail of all of them! (the pointer finger on my right hand)