So I just took my holo and chrome nails off....

So I just took my holo and chrome nails off. They definitely stuck better with proper application. I'm not sure if it's because I used cheap gel or what, but I had noticeable tip - wear within a few days. I dealt with it for all of this time because I didn't have time to take them off properly. They started chipping, though, so that was my cue. I knew I would pick at them and ruin my nails if I didn't get them off ASAP.

Well... about half of my nails sustained more than minor damage during removal. 🙁 It was my fault, of course, but it's hard to be that patient when your fingers are wrapped up in foil and you can't do anything. 😕

Overall, I think I would do it again if I wanted temporary chrome or SUPER DUPER HOLO nails, but I'd use a peel - off base coat to save myself some time, trouble, and damage. I would just do it knowing that they wouldn't last long. It was definitely a neat experiment and I'm glad that I have these options, but I honestly prefer working with regular polish.

Now I'm off to try to salvage my nails. I've got peelies and craters and all kinds of bad junk to smooth out. 😕

Yes, I actually spent money to own this.

Yes, I actually spent money to own this. If you don't know what Simply Nailogical is, you need to fix that. Sooner rather than later. 😛

Y'all. 😳

Y'all.  😳

So I did my nails again last night.  My first application of gels on myself was a complete fail, as all but 3 had pathetically peeled off within in a few days.  Since I am a bad person and did not remove all but those last 3 properly my nails took a little bit of damage, but nothing major.

I'd cut my nails down after the photos of the scale chromes because I figured I wouldn't be taking pictures for a while.  Well, obviously I was wrong.  So, bask in the glory of my silver chrome and holo nubs!  LMAO  Seriously, the chrome is so reflective you can see the reflection of the rainbow from the holo nail next to it.  WHATTT?!?!  😳

I took my time and did it correctly last night - buffing and all.  I used SUPER thin layers of polish so that I didn't flood my cuticles and overall I think this is better.  Hopefully this time they will stay on for more than a few days.

Y'all know I can't just have a hand full of matching nails, so I tried out my new holo powder as an accent nail (ring finger, if it isn't obvious.  LOL)  All I can say is "DAMNNNN."  I have some holographic polishes, but NONE of them compare to the strength of this powder.  I am in shock and awe.  The holo is even visible in regular lighting inside the house, which isn't always the case for holo polish.  Also, it's not completely visible here (because certain angles turn it back into a rainbow), but the center line down the holo nail looks chrome to my eyes IRL.  I just don't even have words for how amazing I think that is.  😳

Another great thing about the powder is that it can be used over any color (as can the chromes, actually), but I only have black gel for now, so that's what I used last night as a base for all.  I've seen photos online that show the base colors peeking through when used under the powders, so that is something to try another day.  I also need to see how I can mix and match gel with regular polish to extend wear, but I don't have the time for that right now, unfortunately.  😕

ANYWAY.  It was super hard not to stamp over these because that is just what I always want to do, but I think that my scale stamping actually took away from the beauty of the chromes on my last paint job.  Who would ever guess that less can be more?  LOL  Since these are true gels TECHNICALLY I should be able to stamp over them and even straight up paint regular polish on top of them and then be able to remove it with non-acetone remover without damaging the paintjob pictured.  When this mani starts wearing out I might try it just to confirm.  But not yet.  SO NOT YET.  I'm hoping to enjoy this one for some days.  😃

Research

Gel Nail Chrome Scale Fail.

Gel Nail Chrome Scale Fail.

Try saying that 3 times fast!

So these were done with the chrome powders I got last week. Chrome powders only work on certain types of gel polish, so that's what got me to FINALLY try gel polish.

UNFORTUNATELY I haven't had much experience with gels... literally, this was my first attempt at using real gel polish. I did a good bit of research on it several weeks ago, but by the time I sat down to try it out last night I guess most of what I'd read had gone out the window. 😕

First, I forgot to buff my nails. Then, even though I knew that thin coats were better when using gels - old habits die hard. I did ok, but gel flows easily and I flooded my cuticles. 😕 With regular polish I would just use an angled brush dipped in acetone to fix that, but that doesn't work on gels once they are cured.

So... my terrible solution to that was to clip the polish off me with cuticle nippers... while I was tired. Hence the chunk missing from my ring finger. LOL Since you can't just swipe a gel off and start over, it's on there for now. I'm sick and I have to study for another Calculus test, so it is what it is and that's ok.  Gotta keep my priorities straight (yay for adulting).  😛

I mostly wanted to try out my new stuff and now that I see how beautifully chrome and color-shifting these powders actually are, I'm happy.  I have never seen a nail polish that can achieve this effect quite so well, so these are pretty cool.  Also, if you're experienced in applying gel polish the chromes were super easy to apply.  You just buff it into your gel topcoat and seal!

Pardon my wonky camera angle, but it's hard to get a good pic when you have an interesting finish.  There were 8 powders in the set I bought.  These were my favorite 5 all used over black.  I also bought a silver for Shaun, of course.

Research;
Chrome Powders

😳

😳

This chrome!!!

Pics tomorrow. 😃

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. 😂❤️