Going Green!

Hello Dahlings!

My stamp camp project prep is done & I only have 2 lil things left to do for tomorrow...so time for some new nails! I'm on GREEN for my personal Rainbow Challenge.

Tonights line up is a Sally Hansen green fest of Lime Lights, Resolution & Jumpin' Jade.

This is 2 coats of Lime Lights. Yep, it's really sheer. I figure 5 coat minimum for opacity & you still might have VNL. White or nude undies are a must with this one or you can use it as a top coat to add green shimmer to another polish. Since I knew I was going to be sponging over the nail line, I didn't worry about it.

I really do love gradients! I start by painting my nails with 2 coats of the lightest color I'm using, wrapping the tips.  Then I take a piece of sponge approximately 1/4" x 5/8" (to fit my longish nails, you may want a piece 1/4" wide but shorter or longer to fit your nails) & paint a stripe across the 1/4" width of each color starting with the darkest on one end & the lightest on the other with the middle value color inbetween. Then starting at the tip of the nail, with the darkest color lined up at the tip, I begin patting the sponge side to side across the nail. After I get good coverage at that spot, I move the sponge up towards the cuticle a smidge & repeat the side to side patting. Depending on the length of the nail I may do a 3rd pass a lil higher. I then pat my way back to the tip to even out the color & blend the demarcation lines. I could have blended this mani a lil better, but I know the next step would hide any badly blended lines.

To finish off the colors I added a coat of China Glaze Oxidized Aqua crackle polish. I've had this aqua blue & green theme going lately to match my hair & I figured this mani is probably the last one as I'm changing my hair color in the next week or so. By popular demand, here's a pic of my blue hair with tonight's nails:

I dyed it using Ion Brights Aqua on September 25. That was over 6 weeks ago & I still have lots of color left! I think part of the longevity of this dye job is my using the sealer differently than the directions say I should. The words on da bottle say to use the sealer after the 1st washing with shampoo. I lose a ton of color in the 1st washing & the color bleeds until I add the sealer. So I came up with my own method that works better for making my color last & is good for my hair too. I apply the sealer right after I finish rinsing the excess dye from my hair, comb it thru thoroughly & leave it in at least overnight. I left the sealer in after applying the aqua for about 36 hours. The sealer has conditioners in it & acts like a leave in conditioner to help compensate for the 2 washings without conditioner & the bleaching. So say Hello & Good Bye to my blue hair! It's been fun but it's time for something new. If you want to see what color I do my hair next...leave a comment please! Of course I'll be doing manis to match my new hair. LOL

Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky