Life is funny sometimes. And if/when it's not, you just gotta laugh anyway. There, that's my sentiment of the day; as well as a summary of how these nails came about.
On a less philosophical note -- you know I just love mixing and squishing lacquer colors together!! Which also induced more laughter...this might not look it, but it's a funny post!
The other day I had a completely different nail art design already in progress...and then, I saw the popular Australian polish maker, piCture pOlish, had announced a contest on Instagram. Hmmm....in the past, I've really enjoyed their contests as a spectator. And, this one was open to anyone. They're giving away three $150 shopping sprees! Realistically, there's no way I'll be a winner; however, it's been fun to fantasize!
So, presto change-o, here we are. Now if only the whole process went that smoothly....
Anyways, I'll spare you the boring tedious drama of my life beyond the Kolor Kave and nail art, and show you these *almost* successful nails instead.
So, the contest rules were that you create any kind of nail art design using up to 5 polishes made by the host, piCture pOlish, with a tiny bit of white or black if desired for outlining (but not so much that it takes away from the featured polishes). Entrants were required to post a picture on Instagram during the day of January 10th. I think there was maybe a week (or less?) between when they announced the upcoming contest, then a few days later the rules, to when it was due. Cool, huh?!
Oh, and the picture posted had to include all of the bottles of polish used in the design. (More on that fun part later.)
Speaking of pictures...it is a common occurrence that digital cameras and nail polishes in the turquoise/teal family don't always get along. Some of my pictures in this post are not true to color (like the one above). But the ones with polish bottles are mostly good. Just had to put this disclaimer out there. Okay. Check.
So, the easiest part for me was choosing the polishes. I own exactly three. Not for lack of desire, just because. You've seen me use this pale turquoise-y blue quite appropriately called "sky" before. If you like, you can look back on them here, here and here. It's really a lovely green-hued shade of pale blue.
And recently, I featured the sparkling beauty called "remember" in this Candy Cane design.
But, I'm excited to show you the third one for the first time on my blog, "marine". I'm sooo in love with this color!! I can't believe it took me this long to use it.
It helps that I really love all three of these -- makes enjoying this swirled concoction that much better.
Okay, so because of that real-life drama we're not talking about, I started running out of time to get these done. I almost scrapped the idea, but at the last minute decided...yes, you know what I'm going to say..."Done Is Better Than Perfect." (I promise I won't keep mentioning it....much.)
Ultimately, I entered for the fun of doing the challenge, and I'm glad I did.
Typical for trying out something new, I didn't successfully execute this technique, But, I had fun trying it, and found that I want to keep at it. I'll tell you a little about it today. But...when I do get the results I'm looking for, I'll include a tutorial of some sort at that time. K?
Design Details
So, as the title suggests, I tried the method that is basically a combination of drag marbling and smooshing. When done well, it's really freaking cool! There are other nail artists who have mastered this new technique already and I've been drooling over all of their designs.Here's a basic outline:
- Start with a base color. Sticking with the rules of the challenge, I chose sky. Note: The base color has a little more effect on the overall look with this type than with some other smoosh techniques.
- Top coat and let dry.
- Using a mat or other polish-friendly surface, apply the polishes like you would if you were doing a drag marble on your nails. Working quickly, apply them in such a way to create a blended pattern while all of the polishes are still wet. Specifically, I liberally brushed sky onto a plastic disposable plate so that I had a solid rectangular area of thick wet polish. Then I added introduced brush strokes of marine and just a couple narrow ones of remember. Still while wet, I used a small dotting tool to adjust the pattern when desired.
- Next, still while everything is wet, I dipped a stamper into the drag marble and then applied it to my nails. I would say this is an "advanced" smoosh technique. It's even more important with this design that you control the stamper's effect on the wet polish both during the pick-up and the lay-down. The best designs are created with one application of the smoosh pattern. I unfortunately didn't get full coverage in places and had to re-apply. Among other shortfalls, this ruined the specific look I was after.
- Clean up (I remembered to used latex barrier on four out of five fingers - yay, me!). Top coat. Done.
Just like with any marbling and smooshing nail designs, the look can really vary with technique and polishes used. While I do like the look of what I got here, it just wasn't what I was going for. The closest to what I envisioned is on my index finger and the ring I made.
And, remember that little detail about the entry picture needed to be posed with all the bottles (pun intended)? As Jules (the founder/spokesperson of the company) said, "that in of itself can be quite the challenge."
So...as time is racing by (because I'm late, like, ummm...usual....)...I fussed about with ways to get my grubby short fingers posed with three square (they're cool till you do this challenge) bottles. Glad I only used three!!!
All goof-ups and hullabaloo aside, I think these turned out okay; at least worthy of a blog post, even with their flaws. Besides, what's a little nausea and a power-outage, other than speed bumps in my rear view mirror! (The latter kept me from uploading this post in time though...Ggrrr. Thank goodness for cell phones and wireless data plans, as I did get my Instagram entry up yesterday.)
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In case you've not heard of piCture pOlish, or just want to go buy some gorgeous polishes now, here are some links for you:
Where to buy (if not in Australia)
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It will be about a week or so until the winners are announced. I'm looking forward to congratulating those folks!!
Here's one last look -- outside in the dreary cloudy day before the storm....
What do you think? Having the luxury of not knowing my intended outcome, do you think they are a worthy nail art creation; or look like a mess made by a toddler?
Thanks for checking out my post today!!
Till Next Time,
Kimett