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

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

Last night I couldn't decide...

Last night I couldn't decide whether to use one of my new polishes or use the foils I got so long ago.  So, I decided to use both!  😃  The polish is from the new China Glaze Bohemian Luster Chrome Collection; Rare & Radiant is the name of it.  It's got this cool green / gold / sometimes orange-y sheen, so I picked a foil with colors I thought kind of went with it.  I only have a few foils, as I didn't know if I would like them or not, so I didn't have much to choose from.

For those who have no clue what I'm talking about, foils are kind of like those Sally Hansen nail wraps - it's a picture on a little sheet, but with the wraps, you stick the whole thing on and leave it.  Where as with a foil you transfer the image down with special adhesive.  As far as I know these are not popular in the USA and I have no idea where you would buy them besides online.  You can find some pretty cool images / patterns if you are interested.  This one, I think, is string.  It looks like woven string to me.  LOL  I've heard that foils have craptacular staying power, so I'll comment on how they wear in a few days.

I know my thumb looks a little rough.  This was my first go at trying foils and my topcoat wrinkled it up and then half-ass smoothed it back out.  Oh well.  I still like it.  🙂

Rare and Radiant by China Glaze;
Research Foil