For the Movie Poster challenge, I got it in my head to change out my manicure for each outfit. At first I had plain solid colors planned... but then thought hey wouldn't it be fun to do a little extra? This turned out to be a very (borderline overly) ambitious plan, ladies! I did each manicure the night before; it was a really busy and tiring work week, and by the time I got around to doing the nails each night it was almost bed time and I was pretty wiped out. But I persevered, somehow, and am pretty happy with how everything turned out. Plus I got some extra nail art practice in, and got to try some new-to-me techniques.
Here are the details about each manicure; the movie inspiration background can be found in each day's dedicated post. I've also included a photo of the polishes that I used along with a "recipe" for each manicure, for anyone who's curious. As a tip, if you're going to attempt something similar I highly suggest getting a good cuticle oil because nail polish remover is super harsh and drying on both nails and skin. I use Burt's Bees "Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream" on the cuticle, around the nail bed, and on the nail itself (both with nails polished and not polished).
Day 1 - Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (inspiration discussed in the day's WIW post).
This was the simplest and most straightforward manicure of the week. Color and go!
* OPI clear base coat
* 2 coats Sally Hansen "Golden-I"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat
Day 2 - Star Wars (inspiration discussed on the day's WIW post).
My original plan for this manicure was the blue base and the white star accent nails (which I should've used a thin brush for, the striper was tooooo thick), but once completed it didn't feel finished enough. So I decided to try a technique that I hadn't before, where you use a bit of make up sponge to dab polish on slowly to make a gradient (good tutorial here). I used a flake polish for the sponged bit, and did the sponging at the cuticle. It got a little tricky once I'd completed one hand since the flakes really caked on, so next time I'll cut two sponge bits and use one per hand. Unfortunately, this blue polish stained my nails even through the base coat!
Base (ALL, including accent):
* OPI clear base coat
* 1 coat Sinful Colors "Why Not"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat
Flakes:
* 3-5 passes sponge gradient with Sally Hansen "Glass Slipper"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat
Accent:
* freehanded star with L.A. Colors Art Deco striper "White"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat
Day 3 - Breakfast at Tiffany's (inspiration discussed on the day's WIW post).
This manicure's original plan called for taping off the blocked sections, so the lines would be really crisp. But I wasn't able to start it early enough to allow for the necessary dry time, even using a quick dry oil. So I decided to risk free-handing the color blocks which I have very little practice doing. The orange is called a "jelly" polish in the nail blogging world, which is a polish that is very sheer and needs many layers for full opacity if it can even get there at all. They can also be unforgiving to layer with because you can see the entire lower layer through it. I think this turned out alright freehanded, but certainly would've looked better if I'd given myself enough time to do the taping properly.
Base:
* OPI clear base coat
* 1 coat Sally Hansen "White On"
* Sinful colors Quick Dry oil
Blocks (freehanded):
* 2 coats OPI "Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?" (orange)
* 1 coat Sinful Colors "Ruby Ruby" (red)
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat
Day 4 - Metropolis (inspiration discussed on the day's WIW post).
I had a more elaborate plan for this (a black-to-silver sponge gradient), but after a suuuuuper long day I was just too tired to do it. *looks around* I'll let you in on a little secret: I was too tired to even remove the previous manicure so I just painted right over the top!
Base (ALL, including accent):
* (previous day's manicure, but I'd normally use my OPI base coat)
* 1 coat Wet 'n Wild "Black Crème"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat
Accent:
* 1 coat Sally Hansen "Celeb City" (silver)
* freehanded stripes with L.A. Colors Art Deco striper "Black"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat
Day 5 - Vertigo (inspiration discussed on the day's WIW post).
The most complicated manicure of the week, and happily I allowed myself enough time for it! Initially I was going to have it be just red with white stripes, but my taping skills aren't quite good enough so I used the black striper to "hide" the uneven tape lines, although I could've used a white striper and stuck to my original plan. The red polish here is actually full of sparkly little glass flecks, but I have the hardest time getting them to show up on camera!
Base:
* OPI clear base coat
* 1 coat Sally Hansen "White On"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat
Red (do these ONE nail at a time):
* tape on the diagonal, blocking bottom half
* 1 coat OPI "The Spy Who Loved Me" (red)
* slowly remove tape
Stripes:
* freehanded with L.A. Colors Art Deco striper "Black"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat
After a week of changing up my nails, I was quite happy to be able to wear Friday's manicure for more than a day. In fact, they stayed on in perfect condition until the following Sunday. Although it was tough to muster the energy to change these daily, it was like a crash course in improving my nail skills. The one big takeaway, stylewise, that I got out of this is that I really enjoy coordinating my outfit with my nails. So I am going to try to pay more attention to that in the future.
Whew! Long post, hopefully some of you found it interesting/useful ^^ Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!
