Leather, Tats and Studs

I've had this post lined up for about a week because I knew I would get itchy fingers to post but have no time to paint my nails. It's the last week of semester after all...

I present to you yet another version of this technique with a little extra. I used Nubar Toasted Marshmallows from their early 2012 Jellybean collection as a base for all fingers. I then  applied Rimmel Matte topcoat to my middle and ring fingers and pressed my trustworthy, it-came-from-scrap-foam sponge to give it the leather effect. 

On my ring finger, I stuck some black 3 mm studs from Dollar Nail Art and applied the gold 2 mm from Born Pretty Store on each side of the row with matte topcoat so the textured effect wouldn't change too much.

The fakes tattoos  I used on my index and pinky came from a pack of Ed Hardy tattoos I got from the $2 shop last September, of which I only used a couple and was left with a heap. I chose the below design first without nail polish on because well, it didn't look that pretty and I didn't mind ruining it.  Turns out I really like the way those curls and forehead looked so I decided to use it again on nail polish.

Chinese Dragon. Source

I cut the tattoo to fit my nail bed and applied along the length of the nail without trying to bend the paper to stick it to the sides. Instead, I wet my foam sponge that I used above and pressed it against the tattoo so it would soften and mold to the nail slowly.  Even though the fake tattoo didn't apply wrinkle-free, the softness of the finish of Rimmel Matte topcoat improved the look greatly.

Oh goodness... Don't look at those dry cuticles. They're awful.

I really liked the overall look and it was really fun to wear. 

The position of the black studs was slightly off and they managed to snag on a couple of things as they didn't sit completely flat on my nail. Oh well, lesson learnt. 

One other thing I was really proud of was the fact that I've managed to not only create a dupe method for Nails Inc. Noho Leather Effects, but also have created a very similar dupe for Soho Mews with a polish I'd managed to write off because of the funny colour. Then again, I don't own Soho Mews but there are plenty of swatches out there like here or here.

Toasted Marshmallow by itself. It's growing on me... Slowly.

I just have Shoreditch Lane, the burgundy colour, and Old Compton Street, the grey blue one, to recreate and I could say I saved myself about $75, which I could totally use for a polish haul. Completely justified.

What do you guys reckon? Are you a fan of the textured polishes? Do you own any that you love?

Till next time, 

Laura

Leather And Stripes

I had a bout of inspiration from browsing through my mother's fashion bookmarks this morning that went from one idea to another, to another and ended up looking like this.

I used three coats of American Apparel Sheer in Pacific Beach topped with Seche Vite as a base, waited for it to dry completely, then taped my ring finger and finally used this method to create the leather effect.

I'm really happy the way it turned out and was surprised how clean the lines were. All those failed attempts have paid off and have left me with some decent taping skills. Woohoo!

As I mentioned before, the original idea looks nothing like what I ended up creating. It went from contrasting textures with half moons to adding a colour and using chevrons to just using tape for an accent. I thought I'd show you the dress anyway, you may see the resemblance.

Dress by Fatima Lopez, or Lopes? She's Portuguese and
there are different spellings in different websites... Source

Keep reading to see how I created the mani.

DIY Leather Nails

Back at the beginning of December last year, I came across the Nails inc Leather Effect polishes and a new lemming was created instantly. I looked high and low but the prices were absolutely ridculous, e.g., an ebay bottle of the black version would have set me back $46!!! No thanks. I could keep wishing...

Last night, when I was trying to do some tiger nails (which were a complete fail), I ended up sponging on too much colour and, in a fit of frustration, I dabbed the whole sponge on my finger. When I looked down at my nail, I saw what resembled the leather effect. Could I satisfy my lemming with my existing polishes?

After putting my trustworthy Ulta3 Black Satin and Rimmel Pro Matte Finish polishes to the test, this was the result:

I don't own the Nails Inc Leather Effect polish so it's pretty hard to do a comparison but you can check some swatches here, here and here. I'd like to think I'm pretty close. What do you guys reckon?

Since, I actually came up with this all by myself, I wanna show you guys a mini-tutorial after the break.

Enjoy!

What Will They Think Of Next?

* Edit *Check out my DIY version here*

Quick post. I just saw the news that Nails Inc is coming up with a new nail polish that feels and looks like leather. This has me very intrigued and I really wanna see what leather nails would look like. For those that are curious, this is what the bottle (and packaging) will look like.

Nails Inc. Leather Effect. (www.nailsinc.com)

Unfortunately, Nails Inc is a hard brand to come across in Australia even though they officially launched their product in Aussie retailers in July this year. They generally, like every other brand, take a season or two to send their new collections and Google only gave me a NSW number to call for the stockists. A number really? 

Nails Inc is available from their website but only deliver to the UK, so that e-tailer doesn't really work for us Down Under. The only other two e-tailers that I know sell Nails Inc and deliver to Australia are BeautyBay.com and adorebeauty.com.au. Then again, they don't keep up with the latest but sometimes you can get pretty good deals, especially from Beauty Bay.

Going back to the purpose of this post, I wondered what texture will be created and put into a polish bottle. We've had the crackle, magnetics, matte top coats, gold leaf (what am i missing?) and let's not forget the caviar and velvet manicures. I'm sure the possibilities are endless. I'm sure someone will come up with something crazy that we can stick to our nails and put it in a bottle and we'll be drooling over it.

What is your favourite texture-in-a-bottle manicure? Personally, I really like the magnetic polishes now that I've worked them out. I only own three but I think they will be used to the last drop.

Till next time, 

Laura