Design 7 of 31DC2013: B&W Nails
Another first here for Kimett. Black & white nails - without any other colors. This isn't particularly a complimentary color combo for fair skinned gals like me...despite that, my hands were feeling very chic that day. And, drum-roll please, the coveted (especially here in the US) - OPI Black Spotted polish made a debut on my nails!!
I had just received this special bottle recently, thanks to My Nail Graffiti who alerted folks of the opportunity to purchase through Zulily (an adventure of its own kind) a couple months ago. Thanks, Amber, as I now feel lucky to have this in my collection and to play around with it.
So I read up a little bit on other folks' experience with this unique topper before attempting my hand at it. It is tricky to apply, but very fun at the same time watching the spots appear on the nail. I wasn't as successful with my "photo" (left) hand...so I've added a couple pictures of my "Cinderella" (right) hand too. Funny how I got better results using my non-dominant hand to apply it. Often this happens when I am stamping too.
As others have found, it is not a forgiving medium. The exact amount of polish on the brush (very little, but not too little) and the angle of the brush (flatter to the nail, using the side of the brush more than the tip) mattered to the outcome. My favorite is the ring finger on my right hand. At some angles/lighting, it made my nail look translucent under the oil slick.
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| Because only a penguin could make this polish more fun. |
I imagined these nails with a skittlette theme. Black cream on thumbs and index fingers and white cream on the last three fingers. Then I applied topcoat and waited for everything to dry before putting the effect topper on my middle and ring fingers (again top coated these).
And one more picture (after all, I took 72). LOL. I felt very on trend wearing such a hip & grungy, yet classy sort of look. I kept staring at my hands...planning future design ideas with this weirdly behaving polish topper.
And, something else to note for next time, Black Spotted looks great over neon colors, see Sarah's nails here. I think I prefer it over metallic polishes though; the Nailderella shared an informative article with loads of examples and helpful advice. I also found I liked black & white nails. Success. :)
Swatches below.
Materials Used:
- Orly: Bonder (basecoat)
- Orly: Liquid Vinyl (a nice slick black cream)
- Sally Hansen: Insta-Dri White Lightning (yes, I put the wrong swatch in photo - oops, White Lightning is not quite as stark as White On shown in swatch)
- Orly: Sec 'n Dry (topcoat)
- OPI: Black Spotted
- Poshe' topcoat (over Black Spotted)
Skittlette creator: Marta of Chit Chat Nails, more info here
"31 Design Challenge" (see my intro post here)
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| courtesy of Chalkboard Nails |
Till next time,
Kimett