Mani Monday: The Blues Mani

Hello all :)

This Mani Monday I decided to make use of this gorgeous electric blue nail polish and used some caviar beads and dotting  designs for the nail art detailing.

I used x1 coat Sally Hansen Instant Strength as a basecoat, x2 coats Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Blue it (I love this colour, kicking myself as to why I haven’t used it sooner as it’s totally gorge! This is the first time I’ve used it for a mani since I purchased it a few months ago!), silver tiny craft beads to achieve the caviar bead effect, x1 coat Essence Nail Art Stampy Polish in Stamp me! Silver for the silver dotting design and Essence Studio Nails Better than Gel Nails Top Sealer as a topcoat. I love the contrast of the deep, electric, shiny blue against the sparkly silver…it’s a welcome departure from all the bright colours trending at the moment! If we had White Christmas's in South Africa, then this is the sort of mani I would sport for the holidays for sure! 

You will need:

• Base coat nail polish
• Base colour nail polish (I chose electric blue)
• Nail polish for the dotting design (I chose silver)
• Clear nail polish
• Tiny craft beads or caviar nail art beads
• Orangewood stick/dotting tool
• Top coat nail polish

Method:

1) Paint base coat onto nails, wait for it to dry completely

2) Apply base colour nail polish (electric blue) x2 coats, wait for it to dry completely

3) Work on ring finger caviar beading now, apply clear nail polish to ring finger nails and while the nail polish is still wet hold your finger over a small bowl and pour the tiny silver craft beads onto the ring finger…the tiny craft beads will start sticking to the nail due to the wet nail polish (you want this to happen!)…there may be spots where beads haven’t stuck to…if that is the case just pour more onto it or gently press a few into the gaps. You will then gently press down on the beading so that the beads are spread across the entire nail and are not sitting on top of one another in clumps, you want a smooth layer of beads. Make sure you collect all the left over caviar beads to keep for your next caviar mani! Caviar beading technique also discussed here with photos.

4) Now, start working on the dotting nail art on the other nails. Pour a small pool of silver nail polish onto a scrap piece of paper…then dip the sharp end of the orangewood stick/dotting tool into the pool of nail polish and dot on the silver nail polish onto your nail in a single line along the tip of your nail, as if creating a french tip out of dots. Complete this on all nails

5) Wait about half an hour for the beads to set properly before attempting to do anything, however be warned the beads do start falling off due to the wear and tear of everyday life. I can only wear a caviar bead mani for a maximum of 1 day. Even after a couple of hours of drying time the beads do still fall off when my fingers/nails rub/knock against things, so I don’t find caviar manis to be practical for long wear. However it works well for a party/event for a wow factor mani…just try not to touch anything or do anything haha! Just be still, chat and be pretty showing off your stunning caviar mani :)

6) Wait for all silver dotting nail art to dry

7) Apply top coat to all nails except the ring fingers which has the caviar beads on it. I know others have recommended lightly applying or patting on a top coat onto caviar bead manis. However I don’t do this as when I have tried this, the colour of the beads are stripped and you are left with silver beads (which is fine for this mani since you want silver beads)…however when it’s red or lilac caviar beads you are using…it spoils the entire mani. Furthermore I find with a top coat the caviar beads lose the bumpy, caviar effect and the top coat leaves an untidy, clumpy, messy finish as it can’t be painted on smoothly due to the beads.

8) Go rock your blues mani at a party these holidays or to get into the festive mood of a White Christmas or just because…who needs a reason for pretty nails!

*(I would totally say let's all go listen to a blues jam but hey let's not lie to each other...I'm not really huge into the blues scene, well more like...not into it at all and couldn't name a single blues song even if you paid me!)*

Don’t judge me, it’s definitely not too early to be thinking about Christmas and the holidays especially since it’s already November! :) I have been known to start a Christmas countdown in July trying to persuade friends and family into the festive spirit haha! My love for the holidays extends year long! December is officially my favourite time of year, my birthday, Christmas, quality time with friends and family. What can beat that! :)

What are your plans for the holidays and Christmas ?

As always, linking up to Mani Monday below, with the fabulous Heather and Heather! I will also be joining the ladies over at The Nail Files.

Join the fun side of life and link up to Mani Monday and The Nail Files below :)