I really need to break out of my chicken shell...

I really need to break out of my chicken shell and post a video of these because a still photo just doesn't do them justice. Also, they are much easier to do than you might expect. 😃

I used a base of black polish, then this new magnetic Masura that I got. I know that magnetic polish was kind of a fad a few years ago, but these just have something about them. The magnet that this brand puts out is also CRAZY strong.

So... you can apply the polish and hold the magnet over it until it dries for a more crisp line.  I didn't want to do that because I wanted a more organic look, so I pulled them with the magnet, then top-coated them and watched as the line kind of bled out a little.  They looked super cool on their own, but you know I can't just stop there.  LOL  So I stamped this pattern on top.  I tried to angle it to match the wave of the lines in the magnetic polish so it would all look flow-y.

Anyway.  I'll post a link if I do get around to making a short video.  It will probably show up on my Instagram if I do.  😉

Research polish;
Research plate;
Stamping technique;
Magnetized

Edited to add:

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I'm behind on posting...

I'm behind on posting - I actually did these before classes started last week!  They didn't last long, so I didn't get any better photos, unfortunately.  Let me tell you about them.

So this is a new polish - I think it is thermal, but it's nothing aside from hot here, so I never saw it change.  I do wash my hands (often, actually), but I think that I was so fixated on school starting that I didn't pay much attention to them while they were on.

So I'm digging the pink - it's a great shade.  The rainbow shards you see, unfortunately, were done with nail foils.  Beautiful, finicky nail foils.  LOL  I tried several different topcoats to see which wouldn't dull the effect, but only the crappy water-based one worked and that's just not enough to keep them on for long.  🙁

I threw a thin, metal unicorn on there because obviously rainbows and unicorns and pink are a winning combo.  I really loved the way these looked, but alas, they were chipping off by the next day.  I picked at them all week because nerves (terrible, horrible thing to do to your nails, btw), then FINALLY took off the remaining shards last night.  Now my nails are just naked and I have a Calculus test tomorrow, so they will remain bare for now.  🙁

I'm hoping this semester allows me at least SOME time to play with my nail art goodies, but that remains to be seen.  If I do manage to have time to paint, y'all will be the first to know!  🙂

Research polish;
Foils;
Embellishment

Ok, y'all.

Ok, y'all.  So those pretty little abalone foils were all completely popped off by yesterday afternoon.  I could tell when I was posting the photo of them that they wouldn't be on for very much longer.  😛  But that's ok.  I'd just gotten this Chalkboard Manicure Kit from Ciate in recently, so I thought I'd try it out.

Full Disclosure:  This came out like, 3 years ago.  It was an un-used kit, but definitely NOT new.  LOL  I am too poor to be paying $30 for anything non-essential, so when I found this on sale super cheap I snapped it up.

Anyway.  The kit comes with a matte black polish, a clear matte topcoat, and 4 "chalk pens."  The idea is that you paint the matte black down, draw on it with the pens, and the seal it with the matte topcoat.  Sounded simple enough, so I figured I'd try it out.

Well, the matte black kept drying almost like a crackle - you could see my naked nail through the cracks.  So it took about 3 thick coats to get all of my nails fully covered.  You can probably see that on my thumb, the polish itself cracked after it dried.  Blegh. I'm not sure if it's a matte thing (since I don't wear them often) or maybe that the polish is older, but I wasn't feeling super impressed at that point.

Then I got out the chalk pens and they were pretty runny.  You can see the thin spots in the drawings.  Not only that - the tips were huge and blunt.  Not really great for drawing on a tiny surface in my honest opinion, but if they were thinner it might have not looked very "chalky" so I'm sure it was intentional.

I was tired last night and didn't get too creative.  When I was looking up the date of when the kit came out just now I found maybe 2 or 3 manicures done with it that I actually liked.  Overall, I think it's a neat idea and I'm sure that the "imperfect, kind of messy" look is what's so great about these, but it's really not my thing.  The polish seems brittle and is already chipping, so these are probably about to come off.

Anyone out there digging it, or is this a total nail fail?  (You can be honest.  My feelers won't be hurt!)

Nobody look impressed...

Nobody look impressed unless you are impressed that I actually managed to do a thing.  I'm pretty much an open book, so I don't mind telling you all that I feel like I'm struggling with depression.  I'm not really doing so great overall, but yesterday was somehow mostly fine and I got a lot done, including nails.  Today I am fading into a lump of nothingness again, but maybe it'll pass.  In case any of you might worry, fear not - I made an appointment at the mental health center.  I'm not too happy that they can't see me until October 25th, but I guess that's what I get for being poor and unimportant.  Yay, Alabama!

So the last time I did my nails was July 13th - before Scooter died.  It was the caterpillar nails and you can probably see the effort and creativity that went into them.

That is not the case with these.  There was no creativity involved (though there was unintentional effort.  Yay for being stubborn).  These nails were done with nail foils and aside from them being a complete pain in the ass to apply, they are meant to be a quick and fancy manicure.  If you feel like being impressed, be impressed with my patience because SERIOUSLY - I had forgotten how terrible foils are to work with.

They come with glue, which is milky and runny, and you have to wait until it dries clear, and then wait EVEN SOME MORE before you stick the foil down.  If you don't, then the image gets all crinkly.  After you touch the foil to your nail you have to rub hard (with an orange stick, your other fingernails, or something) to transfer the image.  When you go to pick up the film it was transferred from you are more than likely going to break the image.  So you stick it back down and rub some more.  Repeat until infinity and hope the cracks don't show.  (If you are smart and used a coordinating base coat, you might get lucky there.)  😉

The other downside to foils is that they are brittle.  You would think that a normal, kick-ass topcoat would seal them down, but no.  A normal, kick-ass topcoat will cause them to wrinkle.  You have to use a runny, milky, water-based topcoat to seal them.  THEN, you are allowed to use the topcoat of your choice.  AND EVEN THEN your normally kick-ass topcoat won't keep these on for long.  I just looked down and the whole freaking foil has popped off of my pointer finger somewhere between the time I left work and got home to type this.  So.  That's some old crap, but it was pretty while it lasted.

In case you all want to run out and try foils now (I mean - who wouldn't after how fun I made it sound?) this is where I got them:

http://www.dollarnailart.com/cat_pages/foils.html

I ordered this abalone-looking stone print a long time ago so I don't know if they still have that, but it looks like they have a ton of cool stuff.  If you have the patience to work with foils I'd say give it a shot.  The rest of my nails are intact, so I probably lost the pointer finger because I was typing a super lot at work today.  I would say that if you wanted a foil manicure to last a week or so you would probably be disappointed, but usually if you wrap your tips, you're good to go for a couple of days, at least.

Nail Foils

We're getting ready for bed.

We're getting ready for bed. She's putting away her stuff, too. 😂❤️