So I've recently purchased a bunch of patriotic themed polishes and honestly, I really don't want to swatch them. I want to make something of them. I'm not a chosen swatcher so I don't feel obligated to do so. I also didn't want to do something cliche of stars and stripes. Not that there's anything wrong with that don't get me wrong, but to me, 4th of July means family and get togethers and BBQ's yada yada. So this is what I came up with.
I'm not 100% thrilled with my craftsmanship, which is funny because I teach my student (Elementary Art Teacher over here) that I hate perfection and not to strive for it. To me in elementary school, I want them to focus more on the skills and processing that I'm teaching and at that age they drive themselves nuts striving for perfection instead of enjoying art. Anyway that's getting away from the point. So I'm not thrilled, I smeared the stamping a little bit with my top coat, I waited too long well pulling off my vinyls, and a various amount of other things. I used a variety of tools and products to create this mani and I will be showing close ups of each finger and list the products used in each close up. In case you only like one finger you don't have to read an entire novel. :)
Thumb
So here's a close up of my thumb.
There's a small smudge at the top of my thumb to the left of the fire. If it wasn't for that, I think the thumb wouldn't be so bad. Note to self: Learn how to put on top coat properly. D'oh!
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to dry the base color to prep for stamping)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- I Peel Good (pear scent)
Winstonia Stamping Plate- Summer Cookout Plate
Painted Polish- Midnight Mischief (stamping polish)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Clear Jelly Stamper
Bundle Monster- Plastic Scraper
Winstonia Bamboo Brush (not sure the number, was in a set of 5)
Nail Bees Nail Art Brush- XS
OPI Color Paints- Primarily Yellow, Chromatic Orange and Magenta Muse
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in that baby!)
I wanted to add some color to the stamp instead of leaving it just plain black and white-how boring. I used the brushes and the OPI Color paints to add the pizazz. This is actually one image that I stamped on 3 times! I was feeling bold.
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to dry the base color to prep for stamping)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- I Peel Good (pear scent)
Winstonia Stamping Plate- Summer Cookout Plate
Painted Polish- Midnight Mischief (stamping polish)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Clear Jelly Stamper
Bundle Monster- Plastic Scraper
Winstonia Bamboo Brush (not sure the number, was in a set of 5)
Nail Bees Nail Art Brush- XS
OPI Color Paints- Primarily Yellow, Chromatic Orange and Magenta Muse
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in that baby!)
I wanted to add some color to the stamp instead of leaving it just plain black and white-how boring. I used the brushes and the OPI Color paints to add the pizazz. This is actually one image that I stamped on 3 times! I was feeling bold.
Index
Next I used the image "Kiss The Cook" for chuckles. I added some color just to make it pop. There was no rhyme or reason, just color haha.
I'm really digging the Nail Bees nail art brush in XS. It is SOOOOOO tiny and was able to easily fill in the words in the stamp.
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to dry the base color to prep for stamping)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- I Peel Good (Pear Scent)
Winstonia Stamping Plate- Summer Cookout Plate
Painted Polish- Midnight Mischief (stamping polish)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Clear Jelly Stamper
Bundle Monster- Plastic Scraper
Winstonia Bamboo Brush (not sure the number, was in a set of 5)
Nail Bees Nail Art Brush- XS
OPI Color Paints- Landscape Artist and Turquoise Aesthetic
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in the baby!)
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to dry the base color to prep for stamping)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- I Peel Good (Pear Scent)
Winstonia Stamping Plate- Summer Cookout Plate
Painted Polish- Midnight Mischief (stamping polish)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Clear Jelly Stamper
Bundle Monster- Plastic Scraper
Winstonia Bamboo Brush (not sure the number, was in a set of 5)
Nail Bees Nail Art Brush- XS
OPI Color Paints- Landscape Artist and Turquoise Aesthetic
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in the baby!)
Middle
Pardon me, but no I am not flicking you guys off. I would never! If I didn't wait so long to pull off the vinyls, this would be spot on!
Just a weeeeeeee smudging on the bottom red wave chevron.
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to dry the base color to prep for the vinyls)
Living Dead Lacquer- Wavy Chevron Vinyls
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- I Peel Good (pear scent)
Winstonia Bamboo Brush (not sure the number, was in a set of 5)
77 Lacquer- Apple Pie (July Nail-ed It Kit)
Turtle Tootsie Polish- Bang Bang Blue (July Nail-ed It Kit)
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in that baby!)
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to dry the base color to prep for the vinyls)
Living Dead Lacquer- Wavy Chevron Vinyls
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- I Peel Good (pear scent)
Winstonia Bamboo Brush (not sure the number, was in a set of 5)
77 Lacquer- Apple Pie (July Nail-ed It Kit)
Turtle Tootsie Polish- Bang Bang Blue (July Nail-ed It Kit)
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in that baby!)
Ring
This is the only one that didn't smudge...that's because I didn't add any nail art on top to ruin haha.
This one I kept simple because I really wanted to show off the polish itself.
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Spellbound Nails- Fireworks Ready (July Nail-ed It Kit)
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in that baby!)
I wasn't thinking and had already put down 2 coats of White On which didn't really hurt because then I only had to put 1 coat of the polish (which was a white crelly anyway) so no harm no foul.
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Spellbound Nails- Fireworks Ready (July Nail-ed It Kit)
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in that baby!)
I wasn't thinking and had already put down 2 coats of White On which didn't really hurt because then I only had to put 1 coat of the polish (which was a white crelly anyway) so no harm no foul.
Pinky
Haha pinky. What a funny word.
Fantastic! You made it all the way to the end. Phew! So there's a bit of smudging going on here. At this point I was hot and tired and ready to be done. Is that a bad thing? Tell me if it is then I have some soul searching to do...
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to dry the base color to prep for stamping)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- I Peel Good (pear scent)
Winstonia Stamping Plate- Summer Cookout Plate
Painted Polish- Midnight Mischief (stamping polish)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Clear Jelly Stamper
Bundle Monster- Plastic Scraper
Winstonia Bamboo Brush (not sure the number, was in a set of 5)
Nail Bees Nail Art Brush- XS
OPI Color Paints- Primarily Yellow, Chromatic Orange, Landscape Artist, Turquoise Aesthetic, Magenta Muse
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in that baby!)
Don't forget at the end of your mani BEFORE final top coat, to clean up around the nails and cuticles (I used the ELF Concealer Brush) and to HYDRATE your cuticles (I used Lilly Anne's Garden cuticle oil in Black Currant Pear. If you followed my Instagram, you'll know I LOVE this stuff!)
Any way, here are the sites for all the products I've mentioned above. I hope you enjoyed the mani, keep polishing, and I'll see you in my next post!
Products mentioned above:
www.sweetandsourlacquer.com (base coat, stamper, liquid latex)
https://www.amazon.com/Sally-Hansen-Dl44860-21-Xtreme-Polish/dp/B0087OS9PE/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1467077849&sr=8-2&keywords=sally+hansen+white+on (White On)
www.nailartkit.bigcartel.com/ (spellbound nails, 77 lacquer, turtle tootsie polish)
www.livingdeadlacquer.storenvy.com (wavy chevron vinyl)
www.winstonia.com (stamping plate and bamboo brush)
www.paintedpolish.com (stamping polish)
www.bundlemonster.com (plastic scraper)
www.nailbees.com (XS nail art brush)
www.glistenandglow.bigcartel.com (top coat)
https://www.amazon.com/OPI-Color-Paints-Lacquer-Pieces/dp/B00WZZV9WG/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1467078057&sr=8-4&keywords=opi+color+paints (OPI Color Paints)
www.eyeslipsface.com (Concealer Brush-Clean Up)
www.lillyannesgarden.storenvy.com (cuticle oil)
Products in order:
Base Coat- Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Sticky Sauce
White- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- White On
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to dry the base color to prep for stamping)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- I Peel Good (pear scent)
Winstonia Stamping Plate- Summer Cookout Plate
Painted Polish- Midnight Mischief (stamping polish)
Sweet and Sour Lacquer- Clear Jelly Stamper
Bundle Monster- Plastic Scraper
Winstonia Bamboo Brush (not sure the number, was in a set of 5)
Nail Bees Nail Art Brush- XS
OPI Color Paints- Primarily Yellow, Chromatic Orange, Landscape Artist, Turquoise Aesthetic, Magenta Muse
Glisten & Glow- HK Girl Top Coat (to seal in that baby!)
Don't forget at the end of your mani BEFORE final top coat, to clean up around the nails and cuticles (I used the ELF Concealer Brush) and to HYDRATE your cuticles (I used Lilly Anne's Garden cuticle oil in Black Currant Pear. If you followed my Instagram, you'll know I LOVE this stuff!)
Any way, here are the sites for all the products I've mentioned above. I hope you enjoyed the mani, keep polishing, and I'll see you in my next post!
Products mentioned above:
www.sweetandsourlacquer.com (base coat, stamper, liquid latex)
https://www.amazon.com/Sally-Hansen-Dl44860-21-Xtreme-Polish/dp/B0087OS9PE/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1467077849&sr=8-2&keywords=sally+hansen+white+on (White On)
www.nailartkit.bigcartel.com/ (spellbound nails, 77 lacquer, turtle tootsie polish)
www.livingdeadlacquer.storenvy.com (wavy chevron vinyl)
www.winstonia.com (stamping plate and bamboo brush)
www.paintedpolish.com (stamping polish)
www.bundlemonster.com (plastic scraper)
www.nailbees.com (XS nail art brush)
www.glistenandglow.bigcartel.com (top coat)
https://www.amazon.com/OPI-Color-Paints-Lacquer-Pieces/dp/B00WZZV9WG/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1467078057&sr=8-4&keywords=opi+color+paints (OPI Color Paints)
www.eyeslipsface.com (Concealer Brush-Clean Up)
www.lillyannesgarden.storenvy.com (cuticle oil)