This is only my third go at floral nails. My very first nail art manicure was floral, and well, it was my first time. My second attempt was my Days of Stripes and Roses, which is still one of my favorites. The roses were fairly easy, especially since I followed a tutorial. This time I wanted to try something I haven't seen before. something more challenging, to really test my skills. Well, as you can see, they were really tested! But now I feel like I have that much more experience under my belt.
I've been having a lot better luck avoiding shrinkage with my Seche Vite top coat lately. Last night though, it screwed me. I had the polish around my cuticles at a perfect edge. Then overnight they shrank and left it wonky. I know, nail problems.
What I used:
OPI No Bees Please- white/nude micro shimmer base
Essie DJ Play That Song- purple
Jenna Hipp I Can Afford It- darker purple with blue shimmer
Barielle Banana Drop- yellow
It's So Easy Stripe Rite- black
Seche Vite top coat
p.s. Sorry for my nasty cuticle, I had a little accident. If I was more deft with my photoshop skills, I would have fixed it.
Today's floral theme was inspired by one of my favorite flowers, African Violets. Or more correctly, (as I just found out), Saintpaulia. I'm pretty sure I'll never call them that. It doesn't sound nearly as exotic. Kind of like how I will only call Amaryllis, "Naked Ladies", because it's way more fun.
One of the challenges here was to decide on the arrangement. Since they grow in a group, I wanted to have at least some representation of that. I felt it would look too busy to have that on every nail. So I spread them out and did more of a close-up on the other nails.
I've been having a lot better luck avoiding shrinkage with my Seche Vite top coat lately. Last night though, it screwed me. I had the polish around my cuticles at a perfect edge. Then overnight they shrank and left it wonky. I know, nail problems.
These flowers remind me of home. Not in Africa.. we just always had these in our house.
What I used:
OPI No Bees Please- white/nude micro shimmer base
Essie DJ Play That Song- purple
Jenna Hipp I Can Afford It- darker purple with blue shimmer
Barielle Banana Drop- yellow
It's So Easy Stripe Rite- black
Seche Vite top coat
p.s. Sorry for my nasty cuticle, I had a little accident. If I was more deft with my photoshop skills, I would have fixed it.