Hiya! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! We finally got a little bit of sunshine here today but the temperature's still dropping so Winter is definitely on its way. I can always tell how cold it's going to be by how many cats are on my bed! Last night was a chilly one...
Now for the nails. My nail tape arrived the other day (I bought a set of 10 colours for around $7 on Trade Me [an NZ online auction website]) and I had to play with it! The design I chose is one that I came across on a blog but I can't recall which one so I can't link back to it =(. If anyone knows, feel free to comment so I can give credit where credit is due!
Edit: My wonderful friend Megan reminded me that this design was from ChitChatNails and I remembered it completely wrong! I thought it was done in all nudes/sheers with rose tape, but it's grey on grey with red! Click here to see the stunning original. Thanks Megan! =D
A quick technical note: I always put some baking paper down on whatever surface I'm doing my nails on to protect the surface from mess / damage. I've spilt too much polish remover on too many wooden surfaces not to learn from my mistakes! The baking paper is perfect as it doesn't absorb anything, so spills are easy to clean up, and you can wipe it clean with a tissue.
For the mani I applied 2 coats of my base colour, OPI Steady As She Rose from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection.
Love this colour and not just because I love purple. The grey-ish tint that comes through in this purple creme makes it less garish and more every day. Over that I taped my tips off on an angle and stamped with the BundleMonster plate BM21 in OPI Lincoln Park After Dark - my favourite stamping polish! The polish itself comes out almost black on my very pale fingers, but as a stamp it's a lovely plummy deep purple.
Time for tape! It took a few fingers to get the hang of it as the tape is sooo tiny that my big clumsy fingers didn't seem to agree with it too much, but the result isn't so bad IMO. It adds that little bit of a finishing touch to bring everything together. Before I applied the tape, it just looked like I'd tried to stamp a french-tip style and got the stamp horribly wonky. Outlining it in a complementing colour made it look on-purpose, which it was, I swear!
Everything topped off with a coat of Seche Vite.
The mani that inspired this one was done in nude colours, with a pink sheer underneath and a sheer silvery-white stamp, with the taping in a dusky rose. Very very elegant and would not be out of place as a bridal look. Looking through the tape, I couldn't resist the purple so I changed the other colours to match.
What do you guys reckon? Like the darker stronger colours or prefer it in nudes and sheers?
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Stop by again soon =D
- Ally xx
