Nailed It! #3

Holy molly, I haven't posted in so long! I'm truly sorry, but this past semester was hell (good news is: I actually passed all the subjects I tried to pass, so it was kinda worth it).
Anyway, I'm on summer break, now, so I should have more free time to post here.

I chose to do a nail "art" post for my return because, well, I just finished doing my nails and I thought they looked cute for short nails.
I didn't really take pictures step by step because I didn't decide to post it until I finished my accent nail (and I'm so lazy I only did one (1) accent nail, my right hand literally has no accent nail whatsoever). Regardless, I think I can explain what I did step by step.

when you stick your hand out the window for better light and still your silver holo still looks like whitish nude bs

This time I didn't bother to file my nails or anything because a) they are very very fragile at the moment (probably because stress) and b) they are already so short that if I try to file them, I'll file my fingers instead, so that's why they all have weird shapes.

I know these look like a lot of stuff but basically the amount of stuff I used doubled because of the accent nail

I'm postponing watching this week's Shadowhunters' and Will's episodes to write this post, so I'll go and turn this tutorial into a recipe to make it quick (and because, you know, I do what I want).

Ingredients (in order of appearance in the pic, left to right, top to bottom):

• Essence's Out of Space Stories 06 (silver holo particles, v smol, p cute)
• Easy Paris Cosmetics' 12 (fluorescent pink, it would be called opaque on opposite day)
• Golden Roses' WOW! 81 (dark purple, about as opaque as that pink)
• Cliché's Cancun (old af blue I rarely use, and happened to be the first blue I touched while looking for a blue)
• KIKO's Strengthener Base Coat
• Essence's All In One Complete Care Base & Top Coat
• Essence's Nail Art Pastel Ombré Top Coat
• KIKO's Perfect Gel Top Coat
• Sponge (real nail artists use make up sponges, I ain't got that kind of money, so I use kitchen sponges I... acquire without mum's knowledge, and then cut up)
• Clean up brush
• Stripe-y tape-y thing-y
• Acetone (not pictured)

Directions to achieve this cute & easy look:

1. I put a couple coats of KIKO's Strengthener BC (strengthener is such a weird word), letting the first one dry before putting the second on (because my nails are that bad). You may put just one, or any other base coat if you don't have nails as terrible as mine, but do put at least one coat of base coat because your nails need protection. Let dry.
2. Put one coat of Essence's Out of Space Stories 06, because this polish is so amazing you don't need more coats (you can put more, but why waste?). If you paint your fingers too like I always do, clean up with the brush dipped in acetone (it's easier if the polish isn't dry). Let dry.
3. Cover your accent nail with Essence's All In One Complete Care B&TC, because you'll be putting the stripes on next. Let dry completely (trust me, if it's not completely dry, you'll ruin the whole thing).
4. Cut three pieces of the stripe-y tape-y thing-y and (make sure your polish is completely dry, and then) place them on your accent nail however you think will look cool. Keep in mind that vertical lines make the nails look longer while horizontal lines make it look wider, kind of like stripped clothes work.
5. Take the sponge and generously paint one stripe of Easy Paris Cosmetics' 12 (the pink), one stripe of Golden Rose's WOW! 81 (the purple), and one stripe of Cliché's Cancun (the blue). If they overlap, it's cool, it'll even help them blend. Dab the sponge on your nail. Repeat if necessary. (Of course, you can use other colours, i just always go for the bisexual flag when in doubt.)
6. Carefully peel off the stripe-y tape-y thing-y's pieces while the polish you dabbed is still wet (for cleaner lines).
7. Clean the excess polish with the clean up brush dipped in acetone.
8. Let dry.
9. Cover your accent nail with Essence's All In One Complete Care T&BC (since you'll be adding a coat of a special top coat that works best in smooth surfaces)
10. Paint your accent nail with one coat (or however many you need to achieve the pastel-ness you desire, just make sure to let each coat dry before you paint the next) of Essence's Nail Art Pastel Ombré TC. Let dry.
11. Finish off with a coat of KIKO's Perfect Gel TC. Let dry.

Step #10 only happened because I found those colours too bright for the light silver of the others, and since I hadn't used that top coat in a very long time, I decided to give it a shot.

Did you like this look? What do you think I should try next? Let me know in the comments below!

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