Inspiration in Unusual Places

I have to admit I've been a tad uninspired lately. I was so happy my nails had gotten so long & pretty but the inevitable happened, one by one they got chipped & cracked. A couple I was able to fix with the teabag method (which the next time this happens I'll document now that I'm a tad more confident using it) but it got to the point where I only had two nice nails and had to file them down. Some people like short nails & that is fine but I just find them a tad sad. I have a few ideas floating around in my head but I feel I don't yet have adequate canvas space to really do them justice.

I'll try to be positive though. My new nails growing in look much healthier & feel stronger than my old nails. My old nails I could easily bend if they didn't have polish on & the tips would flake a lot. So perhaps my older nails breaking off so new, healthier ones could grow in their place is a good thing. I've also noticed since I started this blog manis don't take me hours anymore. I have less cleanup (even on my left hand!) & can get through a whole mani without completely having to redo a few nails.

I give credit to my nail vitamins for my stronger nails

So a week or so ago I got one of those Victoria's Secret flyers in the mail with a free underwear coupon. I was pretty stoked because who doesn't love free underwear - nobody that's who! So the other day I went in before work & picked out a really cute pair that was pink with white polka dots. Then it hit me - I want this on my nails. Since I hadn't used my dotting tools yet this seemed like the perfect idea to pull me out of my uninspired rut.

For this mani I used Essie Off the Shoulder & Sinful Colors Show Me White. This was the first time I used an Essie polish besides Shine of the Times & I was really happy with it. It went on smooth, the color was true to the bottle & it dried nicely & quickly. In this picture you can also see my dotting tools. They came as a set of five with a different size dot on each end. They were less than five dollars with shipping on Amazon & I was really excited to have some other size dots besides twisted bobby pins especially since I need those bobby pins for work.

Polka dots are fun but they aren't too flashy so I decided to do an inverse accent nail just to make this mani pop a little bit more. I made sure that the base colors were completely dry before dotting them, I was nervous enough about smearing the dots I didn't want to smudge the base colors too.

For the first couple dots I tried painted it onto the tip of the dotter but I found I achieved better, more even dots by just dipping the dotter into the polish. I was so nervous to do the dots but I was surprised at how easy it was! Just press it lightly onto the nail & there you go! Only a couple dots came out warped and those were on my right hand so I was expecting that. The dots looked a tad bumpy until I used my top coat, then it had a nice smooth look.

I am very happy with these, I feel super cute wearing them! I'm really happy to know that dotting was easier than I thought - now I just need to start playing with my nail stamps.