Shellac Water Marble: Neutral Colors

Shellac Water Marble.

This is another example of normal polish sandwiched between Shellac color and top coat.  Even with the water marbled layer of normal polish, the manicure lasted almost 3 weeks!

After applying and curing CND Shellac base coat, used 2 coats of Shellac Cityscape.  After curing the second layer of Cityscape, I wiped the nails with acetone so that they wouldn't be sticky.

I then used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White On and Stony Creme to do the marbling.  For a photo tutorial of the water marbling process see ChloesNails.blogspot.com.

Finished off with a coat of CND Shellac Top Coat.

Star Trek Nails

Star Trek Science Officer Nails

Star Trek The Next Generation, to be precise.  Think Counselor Deanna Troi, on the few occasions where she was actually in uniform.

Below I've outlined a step-by-step guide for this manicure:

1. Paint the nails with CND Shellac Base Coat and cure in UV lamp for 10 seconds.
2. Paint entire nail with 1 coat of Harmony Gelish Ooba Ooba Blue and cure in UV lamp for 2 minutes.
3. Mix Harmony Gelish Ooba Ooba Blue and CND Shellac Hotski To Tchotchke in a 6 to 1 ratio.  Use this to paint 2 coats over the entire nail. Cure each coat in lamp for 2 minutes.
4. Use nail tape to make an angled line at the tip of each nail.
5. Paint the tips with one coat of CND Shellac Shellac Asphalt (a black color would have been ideal for this, but I don't have one!), using a small angled brush, being careful not to go too far over the tape line.  Before you paint each nail, be certain that the tape is firmly against the nail, especially at the edges.  Cure for 2 minutes in the lamp.
6. Use a dotting tool or nail pen to make the gold dots for the rank insignia.  Dip the end into CND Shellac Bronzed and then dip into gold glitter, picking up a small amount of each.  Then place the dots on the nail appropriately.  Complete step 7 before curing in lamp.
7. Using the nail pen or a fine brush use the same combination of CND Shellac Bronzed and gold glitter to draw the oval shape for the communicator badge on the ring finger.  Cure in lamp for 2 minutes.
8. Use a fine brush to draw the upside down "V" shape for the communicator badge on top of the gold oval, using Harmony Gelish Sleek White.  Cure in lamp for 2 minutes.
9. Overlay the white with CND Shellac Top Coat mixed with silver glitter.  Cure in lamp for 2 minutes.
10. Paint all nails with CND Shellac Top Coat and cure in lamp for 2 minutes.
11. Wipe nails with acetone and apply cuticle oil.

Products used are shown below.

CND Shellac Cityscape and Rock Royalty.

CND Shellac Cityscape and Rock Royalty.

After applying CND Shellac Base Coat, painted 2 coats of Shellac in Cityscape over the entire nail.

Then used a small angled brush to paint the tips with Shellac in Rock Royalty (2 coats).

Finished off with a strip of holographic nail tape across each nail and 2 coats of Shellac Top Coat.

Pink "High Voltage" Tips

Gelish "You're So Sweet You're Giving Me
a Toothache" and "High Voltage".

Started off with CND Shellac Base Coat followed by 3 coats of Gelish in "You're So Sweet You're Giving Me a Toothache".

Then painted 2 coats of Gelish "High Voltage" on the tips with a narrow angled brush.

Finished off with pink nail tape at the base of the tip color on all except ring finger which has rhinestone accents instead.

Used 2 coats of CND Shellac Top Coat to really make sure the edges of the tape stayed down.

Hotski to Tchotchke and Sweet Chocolate

Shellac Hotski to Tchotchke and Gelish Sweet Chocolate.

Started with 2 coats of CND Shellac Hotski to Tchotchke on all except ring finger.  Then sponge painted 2 coats of Harmony Gelish Sweet Chocolate on the tips fading inward.

Ring finger is 2 coats of Sweet Chocolate and then a diagonal 2 coats of Hotski to Tchotchke on top with rhinestones down the center.

Although in the photo it looks like there isn't quite enough coverage of the Hotski to Tchotchke on top, in person it does not look that way.  Just the same, if I did this again I would use 3 coats on top.

I also used 3 layers of top coat over the rhinestones to make sure they really stay in place.

Holiday Nails

Gelish Queen of Hearts with gold glitter.

Unfortunately I waited over a week to take a picture of this one, so there is definitely some visible wear and growth in the photo!

The red is Harmony Gelish in Queen of Hearts and the green rogue nail is Harmony Gelish in Bronzed mixed with green glitter (3 coats).  Tipped each nail with CND Shellac Top Coat mixed with gold glitter.

CND Shellac Cocoa with glitter

CND Shellac Cocoa with silver glitter.

This is CND Shellac in Cocoa with silver glitter starting at the cuticle and faded outward.  Since this person broke a few nails since the last manicure, we wanted to try this as a way to detract attention from the length of the nail.

Gelish Elegant Wish

Gelish Elegant Wish with Bronzed, gold glitter, and decals.

After applying CND Shellac base coat, applied 2 coats of Harmony Gelish Elegant Wish, and on top of that 1 coat of Harmony Gelish Bronzed.  Next, I used CND Shellac top coat and dipped the brush into gold craft glitter to paint the tips (using quick strokes away from the tip of the nail to create a slight fade effect).  I applied the decals next, and after that more CND Shellac top coat.

CND Shellac Cityscape with Accents

Shellac Cityscape with Asphalt and Gelish Coba Coba Blue accents.

This stunning look is actually quite easy to do if you have the right brushes. Base is CND Shellac in Cityscape and accents are Harmony Gelish Coba Coba Blue and CND Shellac Asphalt. I used a small flat brush to swipe the blue across the corner of each nail tip. The Shellac Asphalt was applied using the smallest, narrowest brush I had. Although the photo doesn't reflect this, the blue looks like a very bright neon blue when viewed in direct sunlight, but appears as a deeper blue indoors.

CND Shellac Asphalt with Cityscape Tips

CND Shellac Asphalt with Cityscape tips.

This was a little tricky to do on my own nails, but the color scheme is nice despite the imperfections.

I used 2 coats of CND Shellac in Asphalt over the entire nail, then 2 coats of Shellac in Cityscape for the tips.  The red line is "My Forbidden Love" by Harmony Gelish, painted on with a very fine brush.

CND Shellac Cityscape

CND Shellac colors: Cityscape, Rosebud, & Asphalt.

CND Shellac Cityscape with rogue finger accents in Rosebud and Asphalt. Accents created using nail art pens.