My orientation of colors kind of makes it look like a rainbow manicure, as well!
Here's everything I used:
For the thumb and pointer finger, I used two notoriously sheer neons, so I used as a base Red Carpet Manicure "White Hot". I should have known the neon colors would be sheer, but I didn't think--so I didn't shake and prepare my white color well. As a result I had to use 2 coats for a base of creamy white that was just a tiny bit streaky. This base color helped to ensure that the neons I put on top of it would not be sheer at all.
On the thumb, I used Red Carpet Manicure "Show Me the Money" (which is pretty much the same as Gelish's "Amazon Flirt") over "White Hot". As with regular nail polishes, neon colors in gels can be kind of tricky--applying semi-sheer to the nail and having a different finish due to the pigments used (luckily this isn't a problem in gel, as you'll need to top it off anyway). Over a base of white, "Show Me the Money" was a semi-sheer highlighter-green creme color even after three coats, and looked rather splotchy when viewed up close in some lighting. You can kind of see this in my indoors picture where I was holding my cheap-o headphones, although I couldn't get a head-on view picture of my thumb. However, from arm's length and in sunlight, this color doesn't look so uneven, probably because it's so NEON I'm distracted by the glow!
On the pointer finger I used Gelish "Copacabana Banana". Again it's a bright highlighter-yellow neon creme that is semi-sheer, so I put it over the "White Hot". Luckily this one was much nicer--I think I only needed two coats to achieve a great, even color over the white with no streaks or unevenness like the green!
The middle finger has the only shimmery shade, Gelish "Orange Cream Dream". It's a great bright orange filled with gold shimmer. The shimmer is fine enough that it doesn't look too different from the cremes from far away, but the gold still pops out nicely in sunlight--you can see this best in the second photo. I used three coats, and there seemed to be a teensy bit of visible nail line up close, but nothing so noticeable I could even capture in a photograph!
On my ring finger, I have the only new brand of gel to me--that's IBD JustGel "Molly". It's an awesome almost neon fuchsia creme shade. I need to do all my nails in this color sometime! Three thin coats applied smoothly and evenly. Once again, with these bright shades, I felt like I saw a bit of visible nail line, but there was nothing so drastic I could even capture it in a photo.
My pinkie finger has the darkest shade, which is Gelish "Sugar Daddy". Only two coats needed on this one, because the polish was pretty thick on its own! It applied nicely even so, and it came out a bright blue creme color--like a cobalt with just a teensy bit of grey to tone it down. A color like this will work for any season, really.
The only major disappointment here was RCM "Show Me the Money", which I expected to be sheer, but not streaky! Luckily this past summer (2013, that is) Gelish reformulated some of their neons and released another neon collection, and with it is another green shade called "Sometimes a Girl's Gotta Glow". Hopefully that one applies better than this one--and maybe that will trickle down to the RCM line of gels.
Nice mani!
ReplyDeleteI really like IBD Molly, full mani please :-D!
It is gorgeous, and it's one of the cheaper brands of gel polishes, too! I don't know how soon I'll do a full manicure with it, though, considering I'm longing for so many dark colors lately! :(
DeleteHi! Your gels are looking great, since I first found your blog.I just started doing gel manis again.I am not sure why they don't seem to be as good as when I went to a salon once, about 10 months ago. The nail tech gave me a Gelish in Pink Smoothie.It was magnificent. My nails were hard and the gels lasted at least 3 weeks.Well I did mine last week with just Base coat and top coat.My nails are splitting just the same as if I hadn't done them at all.
ReplyDeleteThat sucks. :( Every few months some of my nails start to become weak from accidental bending/overuse too, and I find nothing cures that but sticking with polishing my nails and giving them time to let them grow out and become healthy again--that often also requires filing them down to lessen the amount of bending they take.
DeleteGels themselves are not quite as strong as something like acrylic, so it helps to build up layers on your nail--if your nails are being bothersome, maybe try two coats of each base and top coat. Or you could use a middle coat or two (although for colors I usually use three) of a sheer french manicure color to help build up thickness. I will sometimes repair bits with a tea bag and nail glue before putting gel on--which gives an extra layer of support, too.
For me, I'm continually getting better at doing my nails--so they're definitely not salon quality, but I'm continually seeing an improvement in how long my gel polish lasts and how long my nails can grow.
Maybe some of that will be helpful to you, if you choose to stick with it, too! :)