26 Great Nail Art Ideas Presents ~ Pond Manis!

Hello Dahlings!

This time we have ideas for Pond Manis.

What's a pond mani, you ask?

It's when you layer stamping or other nail art

between coats of translucent colored polish.

It's supposed to give an illusion of depth to your nails.

I did this...

 See how the stamped image is darker near the cuticle

& each band of stamping is a bit lighter than the one before?

That's how it works.

I'll 'splain...

 After my base coat dried, I added a thin coat of OPI Indigo Motif.

(We're just going to assume that I let each polish layer dry

before moving to the next step. K?)

Next came a coat of 365 Days of Color After All This Time.

(Sunny's Body Products is still open,

she just doesn't make polish anymore.)

Then I stamped the design using Hit the Bottle Holo There Beautiful!

& Sugar Bubbles plate SB 041

I used a clear stamper for easy placement.

Next came a thin coat of OPI Turquoise Aesthetic.

Then I stamped the 2nd row & added a 2nd thin coat of OPI TA.

I repeated this a 3rd time.

For the 4th row, I just stamped the image at the tip of my nails

& then applied fdtc to the whole nail.

You can stamp or other wise create an all over image

or random small ones. Your choice!

I went with the bands of stamping as random is hard for me to do well

& all over images can get visually confusing as you add layers.

You want a translucent polish that you can easily see thru.

OPI Color Paints are what I used.

Some other brands are Sally Hansen Triple Shine

& Esmaltes Da Kelly Sugar Bubbles.

Your looking for a tinted polish,

like you would use for the lead lighting technique,

or a rather sheer jelly polish.

You don't want a sheer polish with a lot of shimmer or flakies/glitter.

These tend to build opacity with each layer

& could obscure your design.

Why did I add the layer of After All This Time?

 Duh! LOL

I was impressed that it showed this well

thru 3 layers of tinted polish & stamping.

>^. .^<

What? I wasn't going to dive bomb Luna...Honest!

Thanks for stopping by &

Please visit the others

to see the ideas they have for you!

~ Inky

An InLinkz Link-up

26 Great Nail Art Ideas Presents ~ French with a Twist!

Hello Dahlings!

This time we have ideas for French manis, but with a twist!

Let's be realz here...French manis can be very...shall I say...dull?

The traditional pink & white have been done to death,

so we decided that new ideas were needed.

I did this...

 This is a funky French mani using magnetic gel polish!

You can do this same concept using regular magnetic polish too.

Apply your base coat to all 5 nails & let dry.

Apply the 1st coat of magnetic polish to all 5 nails

& cure for 1 minute in LED.

(follow the instructions if you use a different brand)

Apply the 2nd coat of polish to just one nail,

then hold the magnet over just your free edge for 45 seconds or so 

then pop that finger under the LED lamp for a minute.

Do the rest of the nails on that hand the same way.

Apply no wipe top coat, cure for 30 seconds.

Do your other hand the same way & you're done!

 I used Madam Glam gel polish products

& a magnet from a set off Amazon.

Peel Off Base Coat

Round The Clock Cat's Eye magnetic gel polish

After Dark glow in the dark gel polish

Thin No Wipe Top Coat 10ml

 While I like Madam Glam products in general,

I'm not as impressed with their glow in the dark toppers.

Methinks I'll be using my usual polish toppers for the most glow.

(Yes, you can use regular polish over gel polish.)

>^. .^<

Look...Diva with a twist!

He's discovered the gas fireplace this winter & he LURVS it!

When it's on, it's a cat sedation device. LOL

Thanks for stopping by

& please check out

what the others have for you!

~ Inky

An InLinkz Link-up

26 Great Nail Art Ideas Presents ~ Using a Mat or Plastic for Nail Art!

Hello Dahlings!

This time we have ideas for you on

how to use a mat or plastic to create nail art!

I had an idea I wanted to try, so I did this...

 I've never seen glitter polish used to water marble.

I would think the glitters would sink & defeat the purpose.

I also realized that I've never seen glitter polish used to dry marble.

It works!

It's not as defined a pattern as when using crème or shimmer polish

& you may want to use undies if the polishes aren't tinted

or glitter bombs.

 Mr Inky brought these Chinese polishes home to me

from Taipei, Taiwan recently.

They aren't readily available in the US & only have numbers.

Solone 08 (pink) & 74 (lavender)

Magic Shop 115 (chunky & fine silver holo in a bright blue base)

I did 3 coats of each.

You can use any fine glitter or glitter in a tinted base

to do the drag marble on your nail art mat or a plastic lid or bag.

I painted a layer of clear polish first, let it dry,

then painted 3 rows of each color so they alternated.

I then lightly dragged a pointed dotting tool

through the polish to make the design.

(don't let the tip of the tool touch the mat

or you'll make grooves in the polish)

Let it dry until you can peel it off without it tearing,

but don't let it sit so long it dries out & becomes brittle.

Apply a thin coat of the clear polish

& while it's wet, stick the decal to your nail.

Gently press the decal to firmly adhere it & remove any bubbles.

Smooth it to the edges of your nail & trim with small scissors.

Use a clean up brush dipped in acetone

to bond the edges of the decal to your nail

& remove any excess polish.

Finish with a glossy or matte top coat.

This is the half of the decal I made that I didn't use.

In the upper left area,

you can see where I let the tip of the dotting tool drag on the mat.

Don't do this. LOL

While it did work, dry marbling with glitters is a more subtle look

than when opaque polishes are used.

The glitters spread into each other a wee bit & defuse the pattern.

Give it a try!

>^. .^<

What do you mean I'm not allowed on the table?

Define "on"?

Thanks for stopping by

& please check out what ideas

the others have for you!

~ Inky

An InLinkz Link-up