Materials I used:
Superchick Lacquer 'Bring it On' basecoat
Baroness X 'Santa Monica Mint'
Pueen image plate 01
Mundo de Unas 'Pastel Pink' stamping polish
Fabur Nails XL squish stamper and scraper
Pretty & Polished 'Cosmopolitan'
Small dotting tool or brush
Superchick Lacquer 'Marvel' topcoat
The base coat of Baroness X 'Santa Monica Mint' applied so smoothly and was easily opaque in two coats. Can you believe, that there are no white undies under this pastel neon green?! Hard to believe, I know, but it's true!
There are a couple of features the Baroness X bottle had too that I thought were worth mentioning. One is this nice little button swatch on the top of the handle. I know many people keep their polishes in helmers or drawers, this feature makes it easier to see the colors without having to pick it out of a drawer. I also appreciated the nice wide applicator brush, this brush was wide enough that I could paint an entire nail in just two strokes. I love anything that speeds up the polishing process.
Because I was so in love with this neon, I thought it might be fun to stamp a heart image over top of it. I found a heart image that I liked on Pueen Image plate 01, and decided to practice some reverse stamping. I believe this is only my second time reverse stamping and the first time with my newer stamping supplies.
Reverse stamping, for those who are unfamiliar, is the process of creating a decal using a stamped image. This technique is great for those who are having trouble mastering stamping, or if you want to create a more intricate image with more colors. I decided to keep this a little simple, I did fill in some of the hearts but I have seen artist create some really phenomenal art with this technique.
The process is not tremendously difficult and with some practice can be mastered. Start by picking up an image on a stamper. Instead of transferring the image onto a nail, leave it on the stamper. Using a secondary polish, and a small dotting tool or brush fill in areas of the image that are voided. For my image I filled in the open hearts. Then apply a quick drying topcoat over the complete image. When the topcoat is dry, use a pair of tweezers to peal the image off the stamper. With wet polish on the nail (either a second coat of base color, or a clear coat), place the stamped decal. Very gently tap the decal down, do not put to much pressure because you may tear the decal.
Use cuticle scissors or nail clippers to trim the excess decal away. Then finish up using acetone and a brush to carefully remove whatever excess decal remains. After cleanup is complete, apply a final layer of quick drying topcoat. I went ahead and added an individual heart on the corner of my pointer to complete this look.
I had a few minor issues with this but all in all I love the way this turned out, the pink and green really complement one another. This is also one of those rare times when my cindy hand turned out better than my swatch hand.
After, I completed this nail art design I decided even thought this green is beautiful that it was a bit distracting. To tone it down just a little bit, I changed the pinky and thumb to the secondary dark pink that I used in the stamped image, Pretty & Polished 'Cosmopolitan.'
I feel by changing a couple fingers to a darker but still bright color and a different texture, helped to balance the neon crème.
Pretty & Polished 'Cosmopolitan,' is a very deep berry pink that has a slight texture to it. It was almost completely opaque in one coat, but I used two coats to be certain. It has a beautiful purple pink holo glitter in it that makes it very pretty and unique.
I love neon cremes, I love reverse stamping (now that I've figured out stamping), and I love this nail art design. It was also really interesting to see how changing a couple of fingers to a different color and/or texture changes the entire look of the design too. I'm curious which combination do you like the best, neon green alone or the neon green/pink combo? Whichever, is your favorite I hope you enjoyed this nail art design, and tutorial. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.
Your Fellow Plebe,
