Hi guys! So I came up with an awesome new mani yesterday! Here it is:
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| This picture was taken in the sunlight. |
Ok, in the picture it doesn't look that spectacular, but I assure you, it's glorious.
I used two polishes: The blue is Essie Lots of Lux (part of their winter 2013 Encrusted Treasures collection) and the silver dots are Essie No Place Like Chrome (from their Mirror Metallics collection).
So first, let's start off with the review! Essie Lots of Lux is actually a textured polish! The finish is similar to that of OPI's Liquid Sands, meaning that the finish looks like liquid sand! (You don't say!) It's a medium-dark blue polish and the "sand" is a medium blue. It dries to a matte finish, but there are flecks of different colors in it as well that sparkle and glint beautiously! (I know, that's not a word, but...) The most prominent sparkles are light blue. The next most visible sparkles are yellowish-green. I know, it sounds kind of weird to have that color in a blue polish, but it actually adds some really nice, subtle contrast. There are also very few green sparkles in there, but I'm not sure if those are just the yellow ones in a different light.
Here's a picture of the bottle. I made it blurry on purpose so you can easily see the different colored sparkles.
Here's an in-focus bottle shot.
If you see any other colors in there that I missed, great! Let me know in the comments.
Ok, let's talk application now. This polish is very thick (because it's textured) which made it a little tricky to apply. It spread out on the nail ok, but the strokes were a little hard because the thickness of the polish "grabbed" a little. It dried pretty fast, though!
This polish is not intended to be used with a topcoat, so I didn't apply one. However, the next time I use this polish I might! Check out the Polishaholic's swatch of Lots of Lux with a topcoat here, along with the other polishes in the Encrusted Treasures collection!
Now, let us explore nail art possibilities.
I call this mani the Faux Stud manicure, and you will see why.
Check out this picture again. The dots are not just dots! In actuality, they are the "faux studs!" You have probably seen a LOT of studded manis floating around online lately, because nail studs are a HUGE trend right now! However, if you're like me and want to take part in this trend but don't have the studs, read on!
You will need two (or three) polishes to achieve this look. The first one must be a matte polish. You may use a regular polish with a matte topcoat if that is what you have, though (this is where the third polish would come in: the matte topcoat). The next polish must be a chrome polish. Chrome polishes are usually very opaque and leave a smooth, metal-like finish. I used Essie's No Place Like Chrome.
This manicure is really simple. Just paint your nails with your matte polish and let it dry. Then, take a dotting tool and make three dots with your chrome polish on either side of your nail, on all of your nails. If you don't have a dotting tool, I have two alternatives for you. First, you could use a toothpick, just make sure you pick up a sufficient amount of polish so the dot isn't too small. Second, you could take a regular pencil and stick a straight pin into the eraser! This is actually what I use, I just took a number two pencil with the eraser intact and stuck a pin in it. Quite easy, really.
Don't finish off with a topcoat on this design, as you want to keep the matte matte and the chrome shiny.
I can think of some really cool color combos for this mani! A cool one would be matte navy blue (such as Essie Bobbing for Baubles with a matte topcoat) with copper dots (maybe with Essie Penny Talk) to imitate jeans! That would look pretty slick. Or for a punk biker look, opt for a matte black (like OPI Black Onyx with a matte topcoat) with silver dots (using Essie No Place Like Chrome). Or, get creative and use whatever polishes you have! You really can't go wrong with this simple but chic mani.
Well, that's it for this post! See you soon!
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XOXO
Is
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