Today's mani did a weird thing in my head, I have to be honest. I knew exactly what I wanted it to look it and basically exactly how I was going to do it, which absolutely should have made this easier, but it actually ended up throwing up a sort of block that almost meant I didn't even try. This, my friends, is one of the super fun things about executive dysfunction - as soon as I feel a little overwhelmed, my brain tends to just shut down entirely. Reverse stamping can sometimes feel really daunting to me and as a result I sort of tend to avoid it, especially when the entire mani is going to need to be reverse stamped. I waited this one out and pushed through, though, and I'm so glad that I did because I love, love, love the way this turned out.
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When choosing the color story for this mani, I knew three things going in. The first was that I was going to need three colors for this mani. The second was that I wanted to find a way to use all three colors on all of my nails. And finally the third was that I really, really wanted to use an acid green indie with some great texture to it as one of those three colors. Ultimately, I decided that combining that acid green I was so married to with a gorgeous smoky blue that also had some great texture and a hint of starriness to it was exactly what I needed. And finally, I grabbed for a super soft grey polish that brought some subtle contrast to the look for certain specific components.
To start, I applied one coat of the light grey to all of nails as a base and let it dry while I worked on the reverse stamping.
Honestly, I felt like this was either going to knock it out of the park or be a complete shitshow, so I'm happy that it went more in the former direction than the latter. I used three different stampers to do this mani - probably should have used four, but it actually worked out pretty well, I think - and I filled in those images all at the same time. It was important to me to get all three shades into each image to really keep everything cohesive and give this mani a real feeling of story. To fill in the image I used a combination of a dotting tool and a nail art brush to make sure I got a really clean fill and then I left the images to dry on the stampers until they were dry to the touch but still flexible. (Admittedly, probably could have used another 10 minutes, but it all worked out in the end.) I applied a thin layer of sticky base coat to one nail at a time, giving it about a minute to get tacky before transferring the image to the nail directly from the stamper.
I used a cuticle tool and a clean up brush to remove the excess and crisp up the edges of the design. Finally, once all of the nails were finished, I sealed in the designs with a water based top coat before finishing with a glossy top coat for shine and volume. And voila!
All Products Used
Different Dimension - Come One, Come All
Different Dimension - 500 Festival
Picture Polish - LakoDom
Whats Up Nails - Neither Noir
Orly Bonder Base Coat
Maniology Smudge Free Top Coat
Cuticula Limitless Quick Dry Top Coat
Whats Up Nails B054 Haul 'r Win Stamping Plate
Whats Up Nails Magnified Clear Stamper
Beauty Big Bang Clear Stamper
NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool**
Small Nail Art Brush
Pueen Liquid Peel Off Cuticle Guard
** PR Gifted from NailStuff.ca - use affiliate code TRYSH for 10% off your first order.
Considering that I'm someone who tends to throw the kitchen sink at my nails, I do admit that it's probably a little bit weird that something like this could be so overwhelming to me, but it is what it is. And ultimately, I'm so, so thrilled with how this turned out that I kind of can't stop staring at it. Definitely, definitely worth it in the end, I think.
Be sure to check back here on the blog every day in October for more Halloween themed nail design and head over to @pblnails to follow all of my nail art and see video tutorials for this and all of my other designs.
Thanks for reading!
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