Hidden Hearts Underside Mani

Hey y’all!  My nails are pretty long at the moment so I thought why not do another one of my ‘underside’ manis!  I’m shocked at how long they got considering about a month ago I did a review of Duri Rejuvacote and it broke a bunch of my nails.  I had to file them down and I lost some length.  But then I started using my old bottle of nail hardener by Sally Hansen and that has helped a lot.  Plus, my nails have been protected by my Incoco nail strips for a while so they’ve been pretty healthy.  Fingers crossed!  Pssst- Don’t miss my Incoco giveaway that runs til March 1st 2014– you can tweet everyday for extra chances to win!

For this underside mani I’m wearing Incoco french tips in Giftwrapped Tips, and then I painted the underside with a mini bottle of red Sample Sale by sephora by opi.  Then I made the underside shiny with some seche vite topcoat and I stuck some heart-shaped rhinestones under there.  I like that they’re ‘hidden hearts’ that don’t really show since they’re tucked under my nails.  It’s kinda like a sexy secret!

My other underside manis can be seen on my Gallery page.  Have a great day!

Studded Underside Mani

Day 28 of the nail art challenge is upon us!  The theme for today is ‘inspired by fashion’.  I’m pulling my inspiration from Christian Louboutin and the trendy ‘Louboutin manicure’.  Last time I did a Louboutin manicure on myself I absolutely loved it!  You can view my louboutin mani here.   That’s when I fell in love with the idea of painting the underside of my nail with a pretty color!  That makes sense when you think about it- especially for ladies with very long nails. We work hard to grow our nails this length- why not show them off?  We make the top all nice and pretty but then the non-painted underside looks so blah?  Well, I don’t think so!!!  This underside mani is dedicated to all the fashionistas out there that want pretty nails from top to bottom!  It’s a 360 degree manicure and I love it!  I haven’t really seen too much of it online so here’s my version of a studded underside mani!

To create this look I did a quick coat of Orly Ridge Filler on top and under my nails.  After that was dry I applied 2 coats of Elephantistic Pink from OPI.  When I painted, I did the underside first… then the top of the nails.  But I don’t think the order really matters, especially if you’re using the same color on top and bottom.  Then I applied a topcoat of seche vite (on top and underneath my nail) and waited for that to dry.  Lastly, I dotted some clear polish and applied black studs from Claire’s Cosmetics.  I’m glad I was able to fit exactly two studs on the underside of each nail so it looks symmetrical.

The idea of painting the underside of my nail is not really new to me.  When I apply nail strengthener as my basecoat- I apply it under the free edge of my nail (the underside) and I also make sure to wrap my tip well.  I do this each time I start a new mani.  I think this is a great way to protect your nails and help them grow nice and long.  If I go through all that then I might as well paint them pink and add studs too, right?  So what do you think of my pink underside mani?

Copycat: Adele’s Silver Louboutins

I love when celebrities show off their cool nails!  Like Katy Perry, Rhianna, Fergie and of course Adele!  I just love Adele’s Louboutin Nails from last year’s Grammys.  We’ve seen a lot of the black and red Louboutin nails… so I really like how she mixed it up by pairing the red with a glittery silver polish instead.  I will probably never own a pair of Louboutins- so why not try the nails out for a spin? Sure, I’m a year behind…but that won’t stop me.

I found this Adele pic from a seventeen magazine article. You can click on the photo to read the full article.  Seventeen reports that Adele’s nail stylist used Ciaté Paint Pots in “Jewel” and “Mistress” to create this mani.  My stash is not that expansive and I don’t even own one single solitary bottle of Ciaté polish.  So to copycat her look I had to get creative.  Not including top and base coats, I used 6 different polishes for this mani!  I did the red first, and used a few different mini bottles of polish to get the shade right (I loved using the teeny mini brushes for painting the underneath).   I also put some seche vite on top of the red since I wanted to make sure it dried properly.  Then I painted the top of my nails next.  To simulate Ciaté Jewel I did two thin coats of a light purple called Revlon Charming, then a coat of silver holographic polish to make it glow.  Then I topped it off with two different holographic glitters and some seche vite.  I think I have 7 layers of polish on the top of my nails and 5 layers on the underneath!  No one said being beautiful was easy.

I hope the underside of my nails don’t stain too bad.  I used some creamy white Orly Ridge Filler before I painted on the red to help prevent staining.  There was somewhat of a mess with the red, but that was expected.  I used some ‘manicure swabs’ for cleanup which worked pretty well.  Manicure swabs are handy for intricate cleanup because they’re essentially pointed cotton swabs.  So glad I found them at Harmon – they’re perfect for paint jobs like this one.

I’m really enjoying having this mani on!  I think it’s cool to glance down and see my nails painted from every which way!  What do you think of this look?  If you’d like to see my other Louboutin manicure- here’s the link!