A few posts back I introduced you to Simples, a nail art group on facebook that's lead by Debbie from The Crumpet blog. Debbie's aim is to teach various simple nail art techniques and help us master them. The group is really laid back and with only one tutorial to try out per week, it's really easy to join in. There's no obligation to do the week's mani every week and you can join in at any time! Debbie's videos are very informative and she even shares her tips and tricks with us! Really, come on over and join - you can lurk if you like, but I would love to see all your creations after a tutorial has been posted!
For the third week the theme was ombre nails. I've seen them done up on other blogs so beautifully, but never tried it myself. For this mani I chose to use the original shade of Sinful Colors called Dream On. My thumb nail is the original color and then moving from index to pinky I made that polish into an ombre by adding more and more drops of white to the polish for each nail. I used tin foil to mix on, but any durable surface will work. So, how'd I do?
Afterward I took a cue from Jenna, who added shimmer to her ombre, and topped mine with Pure Ice Busted and then a matte top coat.
The fourth week's theme was the saran wrap mani. Depending on the technique you use, this one may have fine marks from a tight crumple or more of a smooshed look from a loose crumple. You can also control the amount of polish picked up off the top layer by how many times you dab the wrap. Alternatively, a plastic bag or bubble wrap can be used or perhaps stiff tissue paper or gift wrap. Anything that crumples fairly easily.
The saran wrap mani was a bit daunting to me at first, but I dove right in. When planning out my mani for this, I cut and crumpled a different piece of wrap for each nail to help minimize clean up but you can use the same piece if you prefer. I used Nfu-Oh 51 for the base color and Dance Legend 12 (Android) for the effect. I was shocked at how much I loved my result and how easy it was to do! I took eleventy billion pictures of the mani, but I'll spare you the load time and just share my favorite three. :)
For the fifth week, which just began Saturday, the tutorial is the dotticure. I had fun following Debbie's video tutorial which was very easy to follow with step by step instructions. She also shows you how to avoid stringy, hollow, and misshapen dots.
For mine, Jason chose (he's my man, and this is also for the "he picks my polish" group!) Elevation's El Cap II as the base color which is light blue with purpley shimmer which makes it look periwinkle, or is it blue..hmmm... and Sinful Colors Unicorn for the dots. I jokingly called this mani "Unicorn on the Mountain" in my post at the group. -snortle-
I love how this turned out, but I'm a little distracted from my results by the Elevation polish. If you don't have it, you need it. If you've not ever tried Elevation, you neeeeeeeed to! The polish goes on like syrup. It's so easy to control that I didn't need to do any clean up - and for me, that's rare! :D
The Simples group is so much fun! I've enjoyed it so far and look forward to learning even more! I'd love it if you join and show me your results!
#hepicksmypolish
