Pastel Color Blocking

I did this manicure back on May 16, but it was my entry for Amandalish's Nail Art(ish) contest, and she asked that I not post it to my blog until after the contest was closed, so this is scheduled to post on Monday, May 28. :) Though I didn't design it thinking of that contest, after it was created, it just screamed "Spring!" to me, so I decided it was my entry. There are rare times when what little girly-girl I have inside of me peeks out. This would be an appropriate manicure for a baby shower, I think, though it really wasn't my intention when I started out. I just sort of wanted pastel color blocks, and this is what came out!

First off, I have to point out that there are twelve layers of lacquer on these nails. And that's *before* adding the flowers with a dotting tool. Seriously, twelve. That's what I get for having every color I picked out for this be ridiculously sheer.

First, I start out all manicures with two coats of Haken Nail Magic. I've only been using that for a few weeks, so other than saying it's far better than the Nail Life strengthening base coat I picked up at Sally Beauty last month, I'm not ready to review it yet. I wouldn't normally mention the base coat when talking about how many coats of polish I used, except that in this manicure, they just kept adding up. My normally paper-thin (admittedly, stationery thickness rather than notebook paper, but still, that thin and *that* flexible) nails will not bend or flex right now, except maybe at the corners. You thought those scrapbooking stickers looked like nail armor? This may not look like it, but I nearly have plate mail on these puppies! ^_^

So, okay, two layers of base coat. Then we have three coats of China Glaze Innocence. And if I were doing anything that didn't cover my tips, I would've needed a few more, as I still had not only visible nail line, it was still actually translucent. Then I added a layer of Seche Vite so I could use tape to do the color blocking...and no matter how dry my polish is, I don't trust it not to pull up with tape, because I've had it happen on a manicure that was two days old! So, tape. Then I added two coats of Sinful Colors Purple Diamond. Another layer of Seche Vite, and tape again, followed by two coats of Sinful Colors Cinderella on my tips, followed by yet another layer of Seche Vite! That's twelve layers of lacquer there, peeps.

With how many coats of polish I'd done, and how long I had to wait for all of that to dry, I decided not to add artwork to it that evening, because I only had a few hours left until I needed to go to bed, and I wanted, if at all possible, to avoid sheet marks. Somehow I managed it, yay!

The next evening I mixed together China Glaze Frostbite, Pure Ice Strapless, and Pure Ice Splash, and used a dotting tool to make flowers. I only mixed up tiny bits at a time, and added another drop of one polish or another between each flower, so they're all slightly different colors. I tried adding some Milani Whitest White a time or two, and I even threw in some China Glaze Sea Spray once, but I didn't like the color that resulted from either of those, so most of the flowers are some varying mix of Frostbite, Strapless, and Splash. Then I used my go-to single coat white, Milani Whitest White, to dot the center of the flowers and random curvy patterns around them. Yet another coat of Seche Vite (that's thirteen layers, now, not counting the flowers! Technically, that's fifteen layers at the center dot of each flower! :) and I was done, and really happy with the way they turned out, too!