Considering that I am a newbie at French manicures, I decided to be unambitious and limit myself to two colors. I chose Zoya Caitlin, a dusty blue-leaning purple (which I will review independently for you later this week) and OPI DS Coronation, a scattered silver holo. I didn't have any French guides on-hand, so I looked up alternatives online and at first I tried using band-aids as my nail guides. Keepin' it classy!
Well, after the band-aids wound up ripping off my polish when I removed them, ultimately I settled on tape for my second attempt. (Yes, it actually took multiple tries to make something this ugly.) The tape ripped off chunks of the polish as well so I did my best to touch it up and then resigned myself to the fact that I am simply horrendous at nail art. That being said, any small children, pets and sensitive adults should probably leave the room right now.
Needless to say, this came off immediately after the pictures. Sigh... I tried. I really did. I hope my fellow twinsies fared better than I did! Not that I set the bar high by any means haha.
Amanda: http://amandalandish.blogspot.com/
Anna: http://goingtotheshowing.blogspot.com/
Anne: http://grapefizz.blogspot.com/
Ashley: http://artevolve.blogspot.com/
Brandi: http://thecollegiatenail.blogspot.com/
ChiChi: http://beautystarr1009.blogspot.com/
Cordia: http://srslyswatched.blogspot.com
Jenn: http://allthatisgorgeous.blogspot.com/
Jenna: http://www.jennafroggy.com/
Katherine: http://hauloffame.blogspot.com/
Marisa: http://marijonails.blogspot.com/
Meredith: http://polishandcharms.blogspot.com/
Nory: http://fiercemakeupandnails.blogspot.com/
Rachel: http://topcoatit.com/
Sarah: http://seesarahswatch.blogspot.com/
Tara: http://polishyoftruth.com/
This is so cute! I really love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was a disaster from start to finish but I tried to conceal that in the finished product as best I could haha.
DeleteThis isn't bad :O) It looks pretty good to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I tried my best... *sigh* :)
DeleteI don't think it looks bad at all! "bandaids, keeping it class" cracked me up!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, that was my ghetto mani moment with the band-aids. And then after all that it didn't even work right!
DeleteI think it's cute! The glitter tip color is fun!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I was hoping the sparkles would at least be a small saving grace. :)
DeleteOooh. I am a big fan of dusty/neutral/earthy tones with glitter. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I liked the color combo, I just wish my execution was a bit more up to par. I'm glad you liked it though!
DeleteDude. This is not bad! I like it! :)
ReplyDeleteYour keeping it classy comment cracked me up!
Thank you! I need to practice more but I'm not sure I have the patience too haha. And yeah, I'm a classy gal, painting my nails with band-aids on. It looked like I'd been in some kind of industrial accident haha.
DeleteLove your color combo! I laughed at your keeping it classy comment too!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was a pretty janky moment for me when I had to bust out the band-aids haha.
DeleteI actually like it! I think it came out great.
ReplyDeleteI hate when a mani just won't cooperate! Band aids is a clever alternative. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I knew it was going to be a disaster but I just didn't know how BIG of a disaster. Pretty much everything that could go wrong did. Oh well. :)
DeleteI dont think this was bad at all!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteLol. Love the color combination.
ReplyDeleteI learned a handy trick from Chloe's Nails. The key is to put the tape on your hand so the oils on your skin make it less sticky. It works like a charm. Good luck on your next try!
Thanks for the tip! That sounds like a good strategy. I'll have to try it next time!
DeleteI don't think it was bad. It was much better than my freehand attempts. "Stay Classy, San Diego" lol
ReplyDeleteThank you! I came THIS close to freehanding it with my lines but I knew that would just be horrendous, given my lack of artistic skill.
DeleteDon't worry you'll get better. But next time you should try to only cover the tip of your nail and polish the rest. Then take the tape (or to keep it classy band-aids) off the tips and polish it with your color of choice. I found things easier that way. You're nails look great btw.
ReplyDeleteThanks! That does sound much easier! I figured there were handy tricks like that but I just didn't know any. I will have to try again sometime!
DeleteThis looks really great to me. Don't worry, I'm unsuccessful with using tape for French manis too. even after sticking it to my hand.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, I just couldn't get anything to cooperate and I got too impatient I think.
DeleteI love the OPI! So pretty!
ReplyDeleteI completely understand you when you say it took multiple attempts to get that. While I think yours is 10x better than mine, I'm in the same boat :/
ReplyDeleteYour lines looked WAY better than mine! I wanted to tell you that but Disqus won't cooperate with my computer right now for some reason. It's good to have someone in the group who is equally baffled by nail art though hahaha. We can commiserate together. :)
DeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteI think this came out fairly well! You're hysterical. Each time I read your posts I end up laughing multiple times! I've never heard of band-aids as guides, that's pretty interesting :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I hoped my attempts at humor would make the post a little more entertaining since the end product was not that interesting to look at haha. I'd never heard of it either but it was pretty much the only thing suggested that I already had on-hand.
DeleteYou're being really too hard on yourself! I like doing funky frenches like this, and I think it turned out great =]
ReplyDeleteBand-aids seem like they would really be a good idea now that you mention it, but I won't try it now that I know it rips off polish lol
Thank you! Yeah, the band-aids both ripped the polish off and then the kind I used had the little perforated holes in them so a little bit of polish seeped through--didn't matter though since the band-aid ripped everything off in the end haha.
DeleteThis is not that bad! Too bad you guys didnt dedicate this challenge to me! Hahahahaha!, it just takes practice to free hand it.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I actually thought of you while doing this!! I wish I had your skills.
DeleteYou're too hard on yourself! It looks great!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I tried embarassingly hard at this haha.
DeleteLOL on the Band-Aid! You need to practice keeping your hand with the brush level and just rolling your finger/thumb on a flat table to do your tips. But for beginning - it looks amazing!
ReplyDelete