I have to say, it does take a bit of practice. It isn't as hard as running regressions using Stata (haha!) but it requires a LOT of attention to detail and patience. I didn't use nail glue for these. I just used a pair of tweezers and popped the crystals onto my nail when they were still wet, then sealed them in with two coats of topcoat - I used a random slow-drying one under Seche Vite to prevent shrinking while still ensuring a fast dry time. For me, the really difficult part was positioning the crystals on your nail in the right spot, and nudging them to where you want them to be without messing up the still-wet polish on your nail.
The base is Nails Inc Dover Street Market, a much-vaunted medium-to-dark purple creme, and I can see why this is so popular among nail fanatics, and was all the rage like a year back. It's smooth, gorgeous, and applied well. The crystals were some random no-brand plastic ones my friend brought over from Asia because they're a lot cheaper in Asia than elsewhere for some reason - thanks Rachel! I just chose a simple pattern of three crystals down the nail, like coat buttons, because I didn't feel up to doing intricate flowers and hearts and shapes, since it was the first time I was trying them out. I really really want to try making shapes one day though.
Here's the NOTD pic. So, how'd I do? Fail, or yay?
As you can see from the picture, when I was moving the crystals around on my ring finger, I accidentally got some purple polish onto the crystal, which is why it doesn't look white like it should.
While I'm not really a nail art fanatic (the really intricate nail art is too impractical for my lifestyle, which involves lots of typing and cleaning my own toilet LOL!), I'm really liking these. In fact, I LOVE them, and for the past two days I've been shoving my nails in the face of all my friends. So far, I'm on my third day of wear, and the crystals are still holding up fine, even though I haven't refreshed my manicure by putting on an extra layer of top coat. I think the key is to seal them in with two layers of topcoat - one didn't seem quite enough to me.
I know this bling isn't quite everyone's cup of tea, but I'm really loving this one! Have you ever tried using nail crystals? Did you like how they turned out?
Oh lala! I like it! I would have done more than one too, it's more fun!
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xox Laura Beth
Really liking this. Big thumbs for this notd. I can’t believe this is your first attempt: it looks pretty damn good and I love the color theme. There is no way I could do this, and I think it would be too fiddly for me. I don’t think I could apply it when the nail varnish is wet anyway: that is MAJOR skill to me. I think I’d be tempted to apply it them nail glue for some reason (cos I don’t own any other glue) once the polish is completely dry. I think what fascinates me the most in this is how on earth you managed to pick the stone with a pair of tweezers. I can’t even pick a bigger rhinestone to put it on my face, let alone a delicate thing like that. I’d like to know more about what people do: for some reason, it looks like they take a tooth pick or something, that somehow the tooth pick adheres to the top outside ‘facet’ of the stone and that they drop it in place and that by magic it will drop there and not stay stuck like a piece of paper under your shoes. I think if I used a pair of tweezers 1. I can’t grab the thing 2. I’ll drop it even before getting near the nail 3. I’ll make a mess when ‘dropping’. I am in awe of your first bling notd.
ReplyDeletebling bling for sure
ReplyDeletetruly beautiful. love the color combination
ReplyDelete@liloo: Yup I use a tweezer to pick them up by the sides...It's actually not that difficult! I'm not sure how people use a toothpick though, from what I've seen they wet the tip of the toothpick first, then touch the top of the crystal with the toothpick. My impression is that the water somehow makes the crystal 'stick' to the tip of the toothpick, weakly, and can be placed on the nail. I'm not sure how exactly it's done though, I need to try it out one day.
ReplyDeleteOh, and when you place the crystals on the nail, usually (for me at least) they're a little out of alignment. Then I use the tweezers to gently nudge them into place. Of course, it helps a lot to be as accurate as possible to begin with, so you have less nudging to do, because too much nudging ruins the wet nail polish and gets it all over the crystal...
I LOVE bling! :D :D :D
ReplyDeleteAnd dude, you totally need to try the toothpick thing. Or, I use the pointy side of orange sticks. You wet the tip first and the surface tension of water holds the gem to the toothpick until you stick it to something that adheres stronger (e.g. nail polish). It's WAYYY easier than using tweezers because you can position them exactly where you want.
i love doing my nails and pasting on some rhinestones :D
ReplyDeletebut yes, sometimes, it's just annoying when one of them falls off (maybe due to lack of top coat) :P