X-Men: Days Of Future Past Manicure

     Okay, so I know I've been MIA for a bit but I've been kinda busy with getting ready for grad school and being the host of viral plague (Okay not really. But what else do you call a sinus/ear infection. That even though I am medicated is still kicking my butt pretty hard?). In fact I am on day two of antibiotics and I still keep getting hit with the dizzy spells from hell. I have a couple minutes of not gross mixed with a lot of moments of gross.

     This manicure I'm about to show you took 3 days to complete. And yeah I probably should have been resting the whole time. But I painted a nail took a break, painted a nail took a break. Hence the whole 3 days to finish. It's also kind of an experiment. It's a mixture of gel and regular nail polish: The woman at Sally Beauty Supply said would never work. Well as you are about to see it does work, as for longevity...only time will tell but for now it looks lovely. I will update later on how long it lasts with this combo.
     So now that's out of the way lets talk about X-Men. I don't know if you guys know this but I am a huge X-men fan. Like super huge, mega, nerd about it (for which I will never be sorry). I've been waiting for this movie since the last one. And yes I'm already excited for the one after this one. Now I would have seen it Friday...but instead I got to go to the doctor (Believe me I was beyond pissed about it). But I am going tonight come hell or high water, because I won't be contagious, and every day I wait to see it, is killing me inside. Seeing it will make me happy, being happy helps you get better faster ergo I must see it to get better...well at least that's what I'm telling myself. So here we go: My X-Men: Days Of Future Past manicure.

Pictures:

Left Hand:

Thumb through pinkie: Professor X, Rogue, Wolverine, Shadowcat, & Storm

Right Hand:

Pinkie though Thumb: Jean Grey, Mystique, Magneto, Beast, and Professor X. 

I tried to strategically place the glitter like her scales) on the Mystique nail but yeah...that didn't work out well so I just went random on it. And two professor X nails because he ties everyone together. 

Closeups:

The links below are as follows: 1st links (X-Men Names) are comic character bios ( but be careful they may contain spoilers), 2nd link (the characters full names) are pictures of characters in the X-Men films thus far that I used as inspiration for this manicure. I do not own the characters, likenesses, or images (in the links), I am just an avid fan and wanted to pay tribute. I only own the picture of my nails and the nail art I did on them.

Storm (aka Ororo Monroe)

What I Used: 

Geláze - White On White

China Glaze - Liquid Leather

OPI - 4 In The Morning

Geláze - Top Coat

Shadowcat (aka Kitty Pryde)

What I Used: 

Geláze - White On White

Geláze - Diva Bride

China Glaze - Rich & Famous

China Glaze - Liquid Leather

OPI - 4 In The Morning

Geláze - Top Coat

Wolverine (aka Logan or James Howlett)

What I Used: 

Geláze - White On White

China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky

China Glaze - Liquid Leather

OPI - 4 In The Morning

Geláze - Top Coat

Rogue (aka Anna Marie)

What I Used: 

Geláze - White On White 

China Glaze - Lemon Fizz

China Glaze - Liquid Leather

OPI - 4 In The Morning

Geláze - Top Coat

Professor X (aka Charles Xavier) [both thumbs]

What I Used: 

Geláze - Liquid Leather

China Glaze - Icicle

Geláze - Top Coat

Jean Grey (aka Marvel Girl, Phoenix, Dark Phoenix) 

What I Used: 

Geláze - Salsa

OPI - 4 In The Morning

China Glaze - Liquid Leather

Geláze - Top Coat

Mystique (aka Raven Darkholme)

What I Used: 

Finger Paints - Who's the Em-Boss?

OPI - Ogre The Top Blue

Finger Paints - Heat Flare

Finger Paints - Soak Off Top Coat

Magneto (Aka Erik Lehnsherr)

What I Used: 

Geláze - Salsa

Purple - (all China Glaze) Mix 1 drop VII, 1 drop Grape Pop, 2 drops Gothic Lolita, & 2 drops No Plain Jane. 

China Glaze - Liquid Leather

Geláze - Top Coat

Beast (aka Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy)

What I Used: 

Geláze - White On White

China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky

China Glaze - Liquid Leather

Geláze - Top Coat

The Trailer: 

In case you've been under a rock and haven't seen it yet.

     So there you have it my gel+regular polish hybrid manicure dedicated to the X-Men. In stead of using all their comic outfits I decided to use the details from their clothing in the films. Not that I don't love the comics. Because I do (grew up with them). I love them a ton. I have just seen a lot on manicures that use their comic outfits so I wanted to do something different. And the accents on their movie outfits were a lot easier to pull off while sick.
     My favorite nail has to be the Magneto nail. For two reasons: one I painted it free hand on the nail with my left hand (I'm right handed!!!!!) and two I have a soft spot for Magneto (actually I have a soft spot for all characters or people who grow up without their moms, because I was one). Regardless I'm pretty proud of how awesome this whole mani turned out. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you guys what methods I used: taping, free hand (Magneto's awesome helmet), and self made decals (Professor X symbol).

     Also I'm sure you're all wondering who my favorite X-Man is. Well that depends. If we are talking about films then it's easily Wolverine (and not just because Hugh Jackman is man pretty, because if it was about who's prettier you know young Magneto, played by Micheal Fassbender, would be my favorite...cuz damn that man is gorgeous, even if he always looks slightly as though he's perpetually and intentionally up to no good). I like Wolverine because he is so deeply flawed but he tries to do better and that's all the more endearing because the cards are always stacked against him.
     However, my favorite X-Man in the comic isn't a man at all, it's Rogue (Storm and Wolverine are close runners up though, and Dark Phoenix is up there to) because she's totally bad ass, she's super strong, flies, has her cool borrowing powers ability, and never wines about her abilities she's like "Yeah, I'm bad ass! What are you going to do about it?" That said, they kind of crapped out on her in the films IMO (but Anna Paquin did a good job with what she had). That said I also rather like any version on Mystique as well because she's a total bad ass. Anyway that's all I have for you guys today. Until next time, stay classy, and stay polished.
XOXO

Iron Man(Icure)

    So tonight, I am going with to see Iron Man 3 and I am so excited that I had to do a mani. I freaking love Iron Man (he's one of my favorite Marvel Good guys. Not thee favorite but he's up there). I mean seriously he's snarky, sarcastic, has a penchant for getting in way over his head, and has lots of cool toys. Plus how can you not like Robert Downey Jr as the title roll. The man is perfect for the roll....could they have written a roll any better for him...I think not. Anyway, enough blathering on from me here's my Iron Man(icure). See what  I did there?

Left Hand:

Right Hand:

Glowing Elements:

Left thumb. Energy Source. 

Middle finger right hand. Energy blaster. 

Iron man mask 

What I Used:

OPI - Danke-Shiny Red

Color Club - winter Affair

China Glaze - Liquid Leather

China Glaze - White On white

China Glaze - Dandy Lyin’ Around

China Glaze - Ghoulish Glow

Striping Tape

The Trailer (in case you have been living under a rock and haven't seen it yet): 

And The Song (Because You shouldn't have to choose):

     Okay, so this mat be the single most thought out, and longest mani I have ever done. I designed it yesterday and applied it today. Total hours spent working on this (from conception to fruition) 10 hours. Also...let's just say that in test faze there were a lot of rejected designs, and I tried 5 different versions of the mask before deciding to split in up and have half on each of two nails. I used free hand, striping tape, and self made decals to create this manicure. And please, oh please, do not ask for a tutorial on this. I don't know if I have the patience to do this again (even though I love how it turned out)...even if it's for a tutorial. Anyway, are you guys going to see the movie or have you already? I'm super excited. I can't wait to see the shenanigans that Tony gets into this time. That's all I have for you guys today. Until next time, stay classy, and stay polished. 

XOXO

Rapunzel Nails Tutorial

     So I came up with this idea to do a latticed manicure with my duochrome polishes and after a swatch-fest and the help of my dear friend (and minion) Marcie (look over there ----> it's her fault if you don't like the colors.) I/we decided on the colors I would use for this manicure and since I haven't done a tutorial for ages I figured I would make this one a tutorial. First of all when I started this manicure I had no idea what I was going to call it but after discussing it with Marcie she said it reminded her of Rapunzel. I was like what???

But as it turns out she meant this...

And I was thinking this....

Yeah...I think I've seen the Shrek movies to many times. 

     Her idea made more sense after I realized we were thinking of two different versions of the same character and I thought "you know...why not?" I have a name for my manicure and after thinking about it I kind of get the connection. But enough of my blathering lets get to the tutorial.

Here's what you will need

A top coat (ORLY Won't Chip), a base coat (ORLY Bonder), OPI Just Spotted the Lizard, and China Glaze No Plain Jane.

You will need striping tape and tweezers.

You will also need some q-tips for clean up.

Start with clean dry nails, that are filed and cuticles pushed back. I still feel I should blur my nail nudity. LOL

Now apply a base coat.

Apply your base colors and let fully dry. I used 2 coats of each OPI Just Spotted The Lizard, and China Glaze No Plain Jane.

I reversed the colors on my ring finger for an accent nail. 

Cut striping tape into inch (varies depending on your nail length and width) pieces and apply to nail.

Make sure you really press down on the tape. If it doesn't stick well to your nail then there will be no design after you remove it. 

Apply 2 coats of polish over the striping tape. Allow about a minute to dry before moving to next step.

Remove striping tape. Use tweezers so you don't end up with polish where you don't want it.

And have something around to stick the striping tape to when you are done. I used an index card that happened to be lurking around my desk.

Clean up your cuticles.

Apply a top coat.

Swatches.

Indoor with flash.

Indoor without flash.

Outdoor in sunlight.

Outdoor in the shade.

     So there you have it the Rapunzel nail manicure. I hope you found this tutorial easy and helpful, and most importantly like you could do this yourself. I was thinking about posting some tunes with this post (i.e. a play list) becuase this manicure will take you a while. But to be honest I was just listening to the new Matchbox Twenty CD. If you haven't heard it you should it's freaking awesome and if you could't tell I'm kind of obsessed with it at the moment. Oh crap...I can't resist here is Parade.

     Thank for indulging my obsession of the moment. I also want to mention that I will most likely be MIA through the end of the week since my birthday is Wednesday (and no I won't tell you how old I am, so don't ask. A lady never tells and if you know and you tell, I will kick you in the shin for doing so). So, I will have several posts in the early part of the week but the second half I'll be doing birthday related things/shenanigans. Anyway that's all I have for you today, until next time stay classy and stay polished. 

XOXO

My First Tutorial

Yay! My first tutorial. So I'm sure you are thinking why not make a video rather than try to do a picture tutorial. That's a great question...without a great answer. It's a kind of a lame excuse/reason. My Nikon doesn't take very good video and the only other camera I have is my web-cam built into my lap top...yeah needless to say I didn't want to paint my nails on my keyboard. I'm strange that way. So picture tutorial it is. Maybe some day when my blog gets going I will reconsider and buy a digital camcorder for this purpose but for now I am only taking pictures and doing picture tutorials. 

I also feel I should warn you I was an idiot over last weekend and cleaned without rubber gloves and had nail malfunctions a plenty so my nails are pretty short at the moment. Since I go a-natural they are kinda stubby but they grow pretty fast so soon they will be back to my preferred length. So let this be a lesson to me about wearing my cleaning gloves. 

Okay enough of my blathering on and excuses for format. The manicure I am going to show is a taping manicure with rainbow underlay. It's time consuming but I think once it's done it's well worth the effort so lets get to it.

Here's what you are going to need...

You don't need these exact things. Base coat and top coat brand are your choice these just happen to be my   favorites at the moment and what I decided to use. You will need a black creme polish, any black polish will work but I love China Glaze so Liquid Leather was my choice. Plus it's possibly my favorite polish. (I just love the patent leather shine of it). Then three colors that are similar in consistency, but different in color. By that I mean have the same sheen to them but different colors. I chose these three because they have the same satin finish and a hint of pearl/metallic shimmer in them.  You will also need tweezers (to remove tape and any pesky pet hairs that try to foul things up), a pair of scizzors to cut the striping tape, and striping tape. I have seen some people use trimmed painters or scotch tape but I prefer the uniformity of width that you get with striping tape (There's my Virgo OCD again).

****A note on striping tape it can cost you a bit if you get it in the wrong place. I got mine on Ebay. I got 10 rolls for $1.31. It shipped from over seas, but was well worth the wait and it saved me a ton of money. But use what ever you are comfortable with.

STEP 1

Here are my naked fingernails...I feel like I should have a blur on them for their nudity. Start with clean, dry nails. Push back your cuticles and apply a base coat (don't forget the free edge).

STEP 2

 Paint a small stripe down one side of your finger nails. I started with yellow because...well because it was the closest bottle to me. I know really democratic, but hey it works for me.  

STEP 3

Paint a second stripe down the other side of the nail. Again I just grabbed the next bottle on my desk it was green. 

STEP 4

 Paint a stripe down the middle of the nail and wait for it to dry. And this part is really important. All three colors have to be really dry or it will foul up the tape removal later. I wait about an hour or so to make sure it's good and dry. But your dry time may be different depending on what brand you use and how many coats you apply. When you are sure the polish is fully dry, apply a top coat. This will help the tape not stick later. And wait till it's dry. This should only be a few minutes. 

STEP 5

 Apply striping tape (or other tape cut to the right width). Any pattern you like. I like the star bust design. So that's the one I am going to show you. Run your finger over the tape and make sure it's secure at the edges. If you have a loose edge the black polish will seep under it and ruin the whole thing. So push that tape securely down. But if your fingers look like the picture above you are on the right track. It also doesn't matter if they all look the same. They don't need to, it gives them a crafted quality, makes them wabi sabi. There's beauty in the imperfection. Embrace that chaos ladies, it makes them special and makes them yours. 

STEP 6

Here's the messy part. Paint entire nail surface with black polish. Use as many coats as you need to to make it opaque. I used two. Wait for black polish to dry to a semi tacky state. Don't wait to long or the striping tape will become part of your manicure. And that kind of defeats the point. Once the polish is tacky/semi-dry use the tweezers to remove the striping tape. Pull slowly from left to right (or right to left) trying to keep the tape at a right angle. The angle of the tape is important because it will give you a crisp line. It's also really important to pull slowly. If you pull to fast you risk  tear like lines instead of the crisp lines we are after and you could pull up the lower layers of polish if you pull to fast. Take your time, go slow and let the tweezers to the work (so you don't mess up your nails). It is also a good idea to have a paper towel or a napkin to stick them to as you pull them off. These guys will get everywhere if you don't have a surface ready to stick them to as you pull them off. 

Here's what I did with mine. 

And when you have removed all the striping tape it should look like the picture below. 

Now it's time for clean up. 

STEP 8

Clean up around the cuticles with nail polish remover. I use a combination of Q-tips and a nail art brush (dipped in polish remover) for this. Q-tips for big spots, nail brush for smaller detailed work. Once this step is done apply a top coat (and don't forget to get the free edge of the nail) so that this manicure lasts as long as possible.

FINISHED PRODUCT

To really appreciate this manicure you have to see it in the light so I walked myself out onto my balcony to do just that. I hope you enjoy this manicure and feel like you can try it for yourself. Until next time stay classy and well manicured.