Lace Wedding Nails

It’s wedding season! I know that classic light pink and white French manicures will be popular among brides on their wedding day, but how about extending the lace or tulle of a wedding dress to nails? First, I cut pieces of white lace to the size of each nail. Then I applied my base coat and three coats of Orly Lift The Veil (which was pretty much made for wedding day nails). Last, I applied OPI Top Coat to one nail then immediately applied the pre-cut lace piece to the corresponding nail and repeated that for each nail. Unfortunately, I couldn’t apply another layer of top coat to seal the manicure because it made the lace translucent instead of stark white, so that one coat of OPI Top Coat will have to do. Not sure if any of the folks who see my blog are brides-to-be, but I’d love to hear if you tried it out. 😀

Snakeskin Nails

The snakeskin print is HOT for Spring/Summer 2011, but this isn’t your grandma’s snakeskin. Designers have updated its look for the warmer months and made it much more youth- (and yet still not PETA) friendly. Just check out this collage pic from The Sche Report’s blog about the popularity of “Predator Prints” at Spring/Summer 2011 fashion shows internationally.

These snakeskin accessory snapshots are from the Spring 2011 runways of Lanvin, Thakoon, Rochas, Mark Fast, Pucci, Burberry and YSL. Well my interest was piqued! I’d encourage you to check out The Sche’s Report’s Predator Print blog post in its entirety AND browse their site if you need some fashion inspiration. http://theschereport.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/springsummer-2011-top-10-trends-9-predator-prints/

The snakeskin trend even crossed over into the nail art realm. In this post from Allure.com, they found a nail salon that is actually offering customers a pedicure that uses real snakeskin…for $300!

http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/blogs/daily-beauty-reporter/2011/03/the-snakeskin-pedicure.html

I don’t know about you guys but I’d like to spend just a little a whole lot less on my manicure/pedicure needs, especially if it’s just to follow a trend. So I came up with a way of mimicking the snakeskin print on nails using 2 different nail colors and a small piece of tulle from Jo Ann Fabrics. I applied my base coat then two coats of China Glaze Oxygen (very pale pink) and let that dry for a bit. I then applied 1 coat of China Glaze Liquid Leather (black) and while it was still wet, I made an imprint with the tulle on my nail then quickly peeled it off. Add 1 coat of top coat and Voila!

Vintage clutch swag…

Disclaimer: For any PETA people out there reading this – I love snakeskin, sorry. That said, to those who are ready to jump on the snakeskin trend bandwagon, I’d recommend checking out your local vintage and thrift stores before buying a brand new snakeskin bag, shoe, or belt. Not only will you save money but it’s a great way to reuse the fashionable pieces already out there. Style is cyclical. Grab some trendy pieces from yesteryear.

Let me know what you think! Don’t be scared, that’s what the comment section is for :-D!

Luxe Lace

I’d like to show the nail design that took the most time to perfect and thus the one I’m most proud of so far…Lace. The only tutorials I’ve found for affixing anything to nails involves nail glue, but I don’t believe in possibly damaging the natural nail for a temporary look. This design was achieved by carefully affixing the lace pieces using OPI topcoat (a staple in any nail polish fiend’s collection). The color underneath the lace is Orly’s Winter Wonderland from their most recent holiday line…I feel it’s a great alternative to a classic pearl white. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed wearing it…