Did Someone Say Chrome?

This is a picture from their site. 

All the rage right now are the chrome powders to mirror finish nail application systems, which means of course I had to get a set.

In your little box, you get 6 colourful chrome powders a base gel, a top gel, and a fancy crystal filled applicator.  See below. I also purchased an extra chrome powder in silver, as the silver does not come part of the standard kit.



My overall impression is that this is so much fun, they look gorgeous, and I am so pleased. Application takes some time to perfect and patience, but it is worth in the end as the results are gorgeous.

And because I like to experiment I have some tricks for you.  These kits all recommend using a base of black gel, no rub polish. Which I did not have.
I started out using my OPI Nail Envy base coat, with a coat of OPI black (non gel) polish. I painted all of my nails then did some with the base gel and some without. Nail Gel Test 1 (this link may or may not work for you), this is a video of my first experiment.

It worked GREAT on a couple of fingers, but sadly as we have learnt before gel topcoat on regular polish results in crinkling, you can see a bit if the video. I wore them for a day, it was a long day, the house was painted, and my nails SUFFERED. If you are going to stick to regular polish, remember my golden rule wait at least 12 hours before applying gel top coat, it will save you some grief. I also tried one nail with Seche Viete UV top coat, and it crinkled as well, will it crinkle a day afterwards? I have yet to try this. My pinky nail is still in perfect condition, it did not crinkle either, but I think it is the nail that gets the most time to dry.

I then tested with Gel. I used Gelish Uno, and a Finger Paints Gel. The Uno cures without without the sticky layer, FingerPaints has a sticky layer, but I got that off and moved on.

Make sure the layers are thin, and are applied smoothly, any ridges, bumps from either the nail polish or the nail will show up when you come to put the chrome on.

After your base colour is applied you apply the base gel.

Left Hand

On my Left hand, I applied to the ring finger the base gel, and to the other 3 fingers I did not. I honestly cannot see any difference, and having worn them for 2 days I cannot see much of a difference at all as to how it wears.
Not sure if you can tell, but I blended about 4 different chrome powders on my ring finger, I wanted to see if I could get an oil slick appearance.

Right Hand

On the right hand the only one that has base gel on it was my thumb, and again it made no difference to application. Actually I might go so far to say that application was easier without it.

Then I applied the supplied top gel and away I went. To bed.

I do want to try Sech Vite's UV top coat with the Uno gel to see where that leads me, and see if you must use their UV top coat.

I know that using a normal top coat is a NO NO. As it makes the chrome powders cloudy and there is no mirror finish, which defeats the purpose.

I am super happy with the finish, and really glad I own them. I cannot wait to start playing. As it is micro powder, they are a bit messy, but you just need to lay down a cloth before you start and wash your hands afterwards. Lets see how long I can wear them before a) chipping b) peeling c) tip wear (this is my curse).

As for removal, I will continue to recommend the bowl of boiling water, with a bowl of acetone set in it, then soak your nails in the acetone and rub the polish off with a remover pad, or an orange stick depending on how stubborn it is.

Getting Your Manicure to Last

When I decided to start painting my nails again (after the removal of my acrylic's, this was necessary, they were weak, brittle and splitting in several places) I had to come up with a solution to get them to last at least 5 - 7 days, otherwise I was not going to bother. So I bought the gel manicure system, which was probably a good place to start, as the curing does aid in making the nail feel stronger, but if you read my other blog on this: "Nailed It'. I know I promised pictures, I will see if I can do them during the break. You will know that removing this is less than satisfactory to me. It is the scraping, I cannot abide the scraping, my nails hate it.

If you read Loodie Loodie Loodie, which I recommend you should, she is all about healthy nails. And I agree 100% start with healthy nails and your manicure will last far longer than on sad nails, which is where the gel is good because it will still last on sad nails. But having to cure the gel top coat in the morning instead of at night was getting to me, and the scraping, oh the horrors.

So, once you have attained your healthy nails through OPI Nail Envy, Essie's Grow Faster, Essie's Grow Stronger, Wtichcraft, Trind, or any of the Sally Hansen nail growth systems, and my personal favourite base coat with minced garlic added you are on your way to success. That and starting with clean nails that are free of oils, so start to paint right after you have removed your old polish, don't run your hands through your hair, or moisturize...wait and do the moisturizing at the end. If you are going to file and buff your nails. File your nails before the old polish comes off, then remove polish, buff nails and then re-acetone your nails before the polish application. I have used OPI's chip skip, and it is doing the same thing as the acetone, just with a brush instead of a cotton pad, your choice really. Buffing aids in removing any splits or imperfections in the nail and also gives the nail a slight grittiness, you cannot feel it, which gives all this polish a place to grab onto.

Currently because I live in Calgary and it is so dry here the process is:

1. Garlic base coat,
2. One of my base coats that is creamer looking, I have convinced myself they are moisturizing, one of them must be because it is working. Let all this dry.
3. Paint the free edge of my nail, underneath my nail, and then the top 1/2 of the front of my nail, do this on all fingers then let dry. 
4. Apply polish to the full nail, free edge and back of nail, the back of the nail is only really necessary if 
1. you have nails that are longer than your finger ends,
2. it really bugs you to see the the white colour of your nails, which it does for me and I find polish lasts longer when I do this, so I keep doing it. Then let that dry 
5. Repeat step 4. Let this dry a little bit longer than the last coat.
6. You now should have perfectly covered nails. Then finish with your top coat, right now I am using a CND in a large round bottle. Remembering to cover the free edge 
7. Repeat step 6. 
8. Once your last top coat has dried for a tiny bit, grab your favourite cuticle oil or an olive oil and brush it over your cuticles allowing the excess to run down to the tip of your nail from the cuticle. This creates a barrier between your nails and some of the outside world. It is also at this point that I will carefully apply a moisturizer to the rest of my hands. 

Then I read for about 20 - 30 minutes and then pass out with my hands clasped together hanging over the edge of the bed to prevent sheet marks. I do all of this while sitting in bed, it saves moving later on, and I have m laptop in there with me so I can watch a DVD or something on you tube, it helps the time to pass and makes the process feel a touch less tedious.

Also yes you did read that correctly. We are at about 7 layers of nail polish. Now if you have a really thick formula you might just need to do 2 coats, but I usually do very thin coats so it has always worked. Then If you want to keep your nails looking shiny, you can after three days add a layer of top coat, but stay thin. This way I can do my nails on a Sunday and by Saturday evening they are still in a condition where I feel that I can go out without people, and ten remove and repeat.

On the left hand side of the screen is a picture of my nails finished, after I did them Saturday morning. The picture on the right is a picture of them 6 days later. The only wear is on the pinky, and that is because if I am having a stressful week it is the only nail I will allow myself to gnaw on, so if it weren't for this then they would be perfect. Also I was going for a turquoise stone effect, whether or not I achieved it is debatable. I could not get water, hairspray or rubbing alcohol to form veins n the water bath to dip my painted nails into.



See you

-A

Caviar Nails

Yes, that is right. So I tried these when they first came out, and never really thought about them that much until now. So, they are a good idea in theory. In practice not so much. I had little tiny beads rolling around my desk for the next 24 hours, stuck in the key board, and although not a nail bitter occasionally when I am nervous or need something to do with my hands I will have a bit of a gnaw, if you will excuse the expression, this leads to then wondering why in the world you have some crunchy in your mouth.

Don't get me wrong, really cool as an optional idea, or a night out at the Eddies or something fantastic, red carpet perhaps.

But if you do sensible things with your hands for a living, AKA lifting boxes, typing on your computer, shuffling paper etc, just back away slowly and get some sand polish instead. Fairly similar effect, but not quite so raised off the nail so you get a longer lasting result.

Peace Kids.

AJ

Almost Can't Believe it

So do you remember this picture?

When they weren't too bad, but still a tiny bit too short for me.

Well, would you believe this:

Right Hand

Left Hand

I would not have, there is some serious growth going on here. The only thing that I have changed is adding the garlic, base coat, nail polish concoction to my bi-weekly manicure session.
These puppies are strong like heck, but not so strong that they snap instantly if you jam them on something.
And for this week just to let them all catch up, the nails that were long enough I used just base coat, the rest got base coat with garlic.

Also it is Tuesday now, and this polish was applied on Thursday, 5 days, no chips not to shabby. Fingers crossed that I can make it a full 7 days this week, as I am not around.


Moral of the story, put some garlic in your nail polish and enjoy.

A