Thursday, September 8, 2011

Mani of the Week: Chocolate Covered Strawberries

By the time I posted my Anniversary mani, I was getting lots of annoying tipwear. Weird. But I'm using the Seche Vite topcoat so maybe that's the difference? Anyway.

Getting off the Swarovski crystals was just a little difficult, not as bad as cemented glitter *shudder*. And they are reuseable! So if you want a little bling on your nails, investing in the Swarovski is not a bad deal.

On to my new mani....I knew what polishes I wanted to use and had a pretty good idea the design. It didn't come out the way I thought--BUT I think it looks way better than I wanted! Booyah!




I am still working on the fine art of photographing nails--my husband is the one who does it (my hands shake too much). But they look way better IRL than in the photos, I swear! Disclosure--yes. I paintshop my photos. Drives me nuts to work at my nail edges/cuticles and then when I blow up the photos, I'm like GAHHHHHHHHHH! So.

Basecoat: Trying out my new Julep base--it goes on very easily and my nails look like glass after. Gorgeous! If you've got good looking nails you could stop there.

Next I applied Orly's Pink Chocolate. Yes I got this polish because it's pink and the name. Only it's not pink. 2 coats and it looks more like a browned coral. Really a meh color for me. But knowing I was going to be adding more kept me from scrapping the whole thing. Application was really smudgy and streaky. Next time I'll add some Zoya Renew to it. If you were going to wear it alone, I would say 3 coats to be completely opaque.

After applying a strip of tape, I quickly put on 2 layers of Nubar's Chocolate Coffee Bean from the Chocolate Truffle collection. Applies like a dream--if a little thin, but not really a problem. It's a gorgeous dark brown with a hint of copper glitter that peeks thru, really added a nice depth. I wish this was scented, it looks like liquid chocolate. Normally I wouldn't speed coat 2 layers of this but I didn't want it to dry too much with the tape on.

I didn't have problem taking off the tape where the Chocolate was concerned but did have a little bit of the Orly pull up. A quick patch and on to the next step--using Nubar's Sugar. It's a gorgeous pink holo hex glitter with tiny holo flecks in a rosy base. What I like about this is it's not jam-packed with glitter so it makes the perfect top layer, adding just a sprinkle of bling. 2 coats of this added just enough to make it shine.

Then I finished it off with Seche Vite. I did get some minor smudging on 2 tips that I needed to touch up today. I know I was just working too quick and didn't let everything dry well enough. You know I'm tired when I have to think about needing 2 days to finish a mani :X

I originally wanted to put a stripe of Sugar between the Orly & Nubar Chocolate but as I said, it's not a thick glitter like OPI. And I like this MUCH better. It's now one of my favorite manis to date! And it passed the approval of JudoQueen, so you know it's just right. Not too pink, not too sparkly.

A note on the Nubars--I am not a brown polish person, but I *love* the Truffles collection. Although I haven't swatched them, they are all different enough to get the whole collection (which also includes Nubar base and Diamont topcoat which is *awesome*). And the case is reusable with a little handle and closure latch. I'm thinking good for storing art brushes, nail decals, etc.

Sugar looks a lot like OPI's Katy Perry Teenage Dream but that one is much lighter and has more glitter that could be worn alone. Sugar is perfect for layering over other colors as it is far too sheer to ever build up enough color/sparkle on its own. And I really love Nubar's bottle, brush and formula. The cap has enough texture on it to be able to loosen it with wet nails. OPI, in comparison, gives me fits, esp the shatter bottles because it's just a plastic cover with the shatter design.

Here's a tip for tight/slippery caps: get a large rubber band, wrap it around the cap a few times--voila! Instant grip. Great for when you have wet nails or, like me, arthritis in your hands. I keep one in my manicure basket now.

Hope you like it! I definitely keep looking at my nails and smile...and then wonder if there's any chocolate in the house......

2 comments:

  1. This is so cute! I love the glitter on top, really gives it something extra.

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  2. Thanks Jane! And thanks for the follow :) I really *love* Nubar's Sugar because it's not jam-packed with glitter, adds just enough sparkle to accent your nails but not so much to cover what's underneath (like OPI).

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