Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Untried Polish Challenge Day 4: Neutral

Hello everyone! I am super excited to share my newest manicure with you today. Day four of the untried polish challenge calls for neutral polishes. I went to my good ol' Ciate miniatures and picked out Cookies and Cream as well as Angel Wings. My first thought was to do a jazzed up French manicure but then I found some feathers in my dad's old hobby room. The colors matched so well with Cookies and Cream that I decided to attempt to do a feather manicure. This is the first time I have done this manicure and I'm hooked. I am so in love with it that I plan on keeping it more than a day or two! I'll attempt to walk you through the technique I used (it's really quite simple) and, as always, there will be pictures. Lets begin (THIS IS PICTURE HEAVY TODAY).


Cookies and Cream on the left, Angel Wings on the right


First, I painted my nails with three coats (all of right hand and ring finger, pointer finger, and thumb of left hand) of Cookies and Cream. On the other two fingers (ie, middle and pinkie of left hand) I painted three coats of Angel Wings. I let this dry pretty much completely. I then used a bobby pin (because I don't own a dotting tool) to place dots of Cookies and Cream to the two fingers painted in Angel Wings (see pictures below). After I got the easy stuff out of the way I began adding the feathers.

Adding the feathers was much easier than I thought it would be. I used a liberal coat of clear polish (not fast drying though) to the nail I wanted the feather to go on. I immediately placed the feather (gently!) the way I wanted it onto the wet clear coat. After about 30-60 seconds I gently pushed it down using a bobby pin (tweezers would also have been a good idea) to secure it in place. After I waited a few minutes I used a liberal coat of Seche to lock the feather in place. I then proceeded to wait about 5 minutes before I trimmed the excess feather off, like so:

Right hand (no dotting) PC with feather overhang

As you can see, the edges of the feather are rough and uneven. After the Seche layer is dry (just be patient because it's worth it) you can try and trim more of the overhanging feathers off. It's going to be pretty damn hard to get it all, so once everything is dry and cut as short as you can, it's easy to file the rest to match the length of your nail (I found that if I used enough Seche that the feathers became stiff after it dried, which made filing so easy). Once it's filed the way you want you may see some edges that aren't perfectly smooth. That's easily taken care of with more top coat. The result should look like something like this:

Left hand PC with filed tips

After you've filed and gotten everything as smooth as you can, just simply proceed with normal clean up. I currently use cotton swabs and pure acetone. Then wash your hands, use lotion/cuticle oil (because acetone is horrible, as you all know) and enjoy your awesome feather manicure. Here are a few more images to show you:


Left hand after clean up. Notice how my pointer has changed. I may have ruined it at work before I had a chance to get good, sunlit pictures

Slightly different angle


Thumb of right hand (the nails that never grow)


Rest of right hand


All three pretty feathers together

Alright that's all of them! I am so in love with these. I definitely think this is a really easy way to spice up a neutral manicure. With the right amount of top coat (don't be shy about using more than normal) you won't even feel the feather on your nail. Every time I look down at my hands I can't believe how happy they make me. If you have any questions/comments, don't hesitate to ask! Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the blogs of the other wonderful ladies doing the challenge along with me:

Amy at Fancy Side
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Pie (who I accidentally posted the wrong link to last time. I apologize)
Jonochi at Just Add Polish
Masha at Lost in Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Sam at Polished Art

If I missed anyone or you are doing the challenge too and would link me to link you, let me know! Thanks for reading.








8 comments:

  1. HOLY CRAP! That is so freaking awesome. You get a gold...no...platinum star for this manicure. I love the feathers. I've always wanted to try that look and never have.

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    1. Oh thank you so much! You should try it. It's surprisingly easy :D

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  2. I adore feather nails!! That is an awesome way to do neutral and yet have an awesome fun design! I love it :D

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    1. Thank you! :) It really is a lot of fun.

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  3. I love feather manicures! I especially love how the colors all match so well.

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    1. I was so surprised when they matched that well. It was an added bonus!

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  4. I have yet to try the feather technique, butbi love it so much! I'll have to put that one on my short list!

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