Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Polka Dots with Red Carpet Manicure

Sooo... it's spring!  But is it spring-like for anyone else?  It's certainly not here! I feel like I always complain about the weather on this blog, but it seriously has been snowing or raining for pretty much the last two days.  I don't think the sun peeked out for more than a minute any day.  Hence, I didn't do to well trying to get photos of my current nails.

The more that I look at my nails, though, the more I realize they weren't such great colors for spring!  Considering all the snow we've been having, the polka dots I made kind of remind me of snow against a dreary grey blue sky....




The colors I used are Red Carpet Manicure's "Love Those Baby Blues" and "White Hot" for the polka dots.  The glitter I used is from the Born Pretty Store, it's one of the 12 colors I got in the pack of  1.5mm glitters. 

"Love Those Baby Blues" may look a little misleading in my pictures... since I had no sunlight to shoot in, my photos have either an artificial flash or a bright (but extremely blue) tint due to the snow outside.  The photographs show it as very bright, almost sky blue.  It does show that way in some lights, but it also has a lot more of a grey base to it, which you can kind of see in the second picture.  I think of it as kind of a periwinkle, but my photos tell me otherwise! It actually kind of looks the sky has looked lately--you know, when the clouds have blocked out any semblance of sun, and the sky takes on a very saturated grey-blue color?  I tried to get an indoor picture with no flash to show you, but it came out pretty blurry:



Anyway, as for the formula, it's very thin. It took me three layers to build up this gel polish, which honestly is about my usual for cremes, but the first layer was very, very sheer looking.  As I was painting it on my nails, I was forcing myself to remember, "it's gel, it's supposed to go on thin and build up".  It also took a lot of shaking and swirling my brush to mix up the color before I used it.  I'm not sure if all Red Carpet Manicure colors are the same way, although I have heard that they are a little thinner compared to the Gelish colors they coordinate with. 

I was pleasantly surprised with "White Hot", when using it for detailing this time, though! Considering the thinness of this gel polish, too, the polka dots looked great with just one dab on the nail, even if I happened to be wobbly with my hand.

I also did a video, which is kind of a "tutorial" to show you the two ways I accented my nails, although I'm still trying to work on my camera.


I must admit I love the polka dots, but next time I'll try to be a little more spring-like!

Update 4/14: I think this color may be the RCM "dupe" for Gelish "Up in the Blue", but I do not have the Gelish color to compare.  

4 comments:

  1. You have a cute blog.:-) I've been just getting into soak-off gel polish lately,and found your blog through google's search engine. I like the dots.I've heard some people use toothpicks,bobby pins,or anything with a slender end to do dots.Yours turned out well.

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    1. Thank you! I know I've seen your blog around too, and admired it before. :)

      For sure there are a ton of easy nail art "tools" to be found around your house You don't even need to shell out the $5 it takes to get dotting tools, unless you really want some dedicated single-usage tools. I've even heard of people using straws to create hollow circles!

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  2. Your nails have grown some since you started your blog.My right hand nails are growing out nice,but my left hand nails are "retarded" or something. They are so slow in growing out the length. I have been using Gelish Foundation and Top It Off.Sometimes I don't want color. I have splurged alot since November. I counted my stash today,lol,and I have 17 RCM polishes,two Sensationails,one Ink,and one Gelish polish. The last time I was at my local discount beauty supply, the young lady who runs it,discouraged me from buying Ink,and opened the bottles I picked and said they were thick and goopy. So I put one polish back,lol. Ink has some nice colors,and they're only $8. Daisy Gel is $6 at that store.

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    1. One hand of mine always grows faster than the other, too! I think it's partially due to how much I use each hand. I'm also starting to try to fix my breaks with thin "fabric" and nail glue, which lasts really long in combination with gel polish. Gel polishes in general help my nails grow out longer without getting torn so easily!

      I don't even want to count my stash, haha. Have you used your Ink polish yet? They make a lot of neat glitter colors I've noticed, but I have no place to check them (or Daisy Gel) out "in person". Sometimes thicker can be better, as long as the gel doesn't bead up or withdraw from the edges of your nails.

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