MANI MONDAY: Cozy Minimalist Sock Nails ft. ASP Long Wear Polish
As I was swatching the ASP Long Wear Polishes*, I definitely found myself wanting to pair basically all of the shades I got to try out together in one nail art look... but I think that's excessive even for me, so I decided to reign myself in a little bit. I had a sort of vague idea of what I wanted to do, inspired by a lot of other nail artists who've done this kind of speckled, color blocked minimalist nail art. I feel like 2020 has really brought some great designs and techniques for minimalist nail art that's still excites my nail-maximalist heart. Anyway, this mani sort of came together as I was doing it and I changed course a couple of times in the process, but I love the final result - and the fact that it very much gave my cozy sock vibes!
Keep reading to see how I did it!
I really wanted to start with a fairly nude base, which I think is key for keeping the look kind of minimalist even though I went in with a bunch of colours as well as stamping, so I started by applying two coats of Wink* to all of my nails. This is sort of a perfect neutral pink nude on me - and I think in the context of this mani it actually ended up looking quite a lot more beige than when just swatched.
Once my base was dry, I went in with my colour blocking. I am definitely not a solid hand painter when it comes to nail art, so I kept it really, really simple with this one and just applied a solid block of colour to the tip half of each nail. I just used the brush from the bottle and because these brushes are pretty perfect, it ended up being really, really easy to get a crisp line. It also only took one coat to get opacity on the tips, which was great.
Once the base was dry, I really wanted to go in with a sort of speckled design, but I didn't want to use a dotting tool or nail art brush just because I knew I'd mess it up and I was so happy with how the colour blocking turned out that I didn't want to do that. So... stamping! I recently got the Nicole Diary L16 Stamping Plate, which had this sort of grungey, but sparse image that I thought would work perfectly for what I was going for. I went with white stamping polish from Clear Jelly Stamper to keep it really soft and applied the image to all of my nails.
To finish, I started by sealing in my stamping with a water based top coat and then followed with the Quo Flash Dry Matte Top Coat to take down the shine and voila!
All Products Used
ASP - Wink*
ASP - Taupe To Me*
ASP - Grey vs. Gray*
ASP - Whisper*
ASP - Dark Storm*
Clear Jelly Stamper - Jenny's Gonna Love It
Suncoat Water Based Top Coat
QUO Flash Dry Matte Top Coat
Nicole Diary L16 Stamping Plate
What's Up Nails Magnified Clear Stamper
Pueen Liquid Peel Off Cuticle Guard
It wasn't until I was finished that I looked at this mani and thought, "It looks like cozy socks!" It wasn't necessarily my intention, but in the end I think it turned out pretty cute. Like I said, I tend to be a bit of a maximalist when it comes to nail art, but I think that sometimes you can do something really interesting while still keeping it pretty simple.
It's our last #CBBxManiMonday with our Fall Shades theme (next week we're bringing the Halloween for the whole month of October) so be sure to head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World In PINK to check out their fall themed mani's this week!
Thanks for reading!
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