Green and Gold Nails

Shellac Pretty Poison and gold glitter fade.

CND Shellac "Pretty Poison" is such a deep green color that it tends to look black in most light, but in direct sunlight you can see that it is a very deep olive/sage green color.

For St. Patrick's Day, we topped this one off with three different types of gold glitter and some gold rhinestones as well.

St. Patrick's Day Nails

Custom Gelish Avocado Green with Sleek White accents.

The Avocado Green color used in this manicure was a custom mixture of Gelish "You're Such a Sweet Tart", Shellac "Pretty Poison" and Gelish "Sweet Chocolate" in a ratio of 9:2:1.

Used striping tape and Gelish "Sleek White" (2 coats) on ring fingers and then dotted with custom color.

Finished up by dotting all other nails with Sleek White at the outside corners.

Rose Bud and Tumberline Violet

Shellac Rose Bud and Gelish Tumberline Violet.

This was a super simple, sweet looking manicure.  1 coat of Harmony Gelish in Tumberline Violet over 2 coats of CND Shellac Rose Bud.

Shellac Water Marble

Shellac Cocoa with water marble accent nail.

The trick to water marbling with gel nail polish is not to use it for the actual marbling!

For this manicure, I painted 2 coats of CND Shellac Cocoa over all nails, then wiped with acetone. After that I used regular nail polish for the marbling (ChloesNails.blogspot.com has a great photo tutorial on the water marbling process).  Dried the nail polish in the UV lamp for about 6 minutes -- this will probably vary depending on the polish used. After the nail polish dried, painted 2 coats of CND Shellac Top Coat over the regular polish.

Water Marbled Nail.

Since I have never had any luck water marbling with CND Shellac or Harmony Gelish gel nail polishes, this seems to be a great alternative.  Having Shellac color underneath the regular polish and Shellac Top Coat on top -- this manicure will wear just like any other gel nail manicure.

Dotted accents on nails are in Harmony Gelish Sleek White and Sweet Chocolate.

Valentine's Nails

Valentine's Nails using Shellac & Gelish.

Used a dotting tool to make the designs, then sponge painted the pink gradient at the tips.

Colors Used:

• Harmony Gelish Sleek White
• CND Shellac Rose Bud
• Harmony Gelish Queen of Hearts

White with Gold Glitter Fade

Gelish Sleek White with gold glitter fade

This is a very simple manicure but gives very striking results!  I used three different gold glitters in different hues and textures over Harmony Gelish Sleek White.  I've found that using multiple types of glitter gives much more depth to the look than using only a single type.

How to do it yourself:

1. Paint nails with CND Shellac base coat, cure in UV lamp 10 seconds.
2. Paint nails with 3 coats Harmony Gelish Sleek White (2 coats will be fine if you are using a darker color instead), cure in lamp 2 minutes for each coat.
3. Dip a small angled brush in CND Shellac Top Coat and then dip in very fine or ultra fine glitter of your choice. Brush on to nails starting at the tip making quick light strokes inward about 2/3 down the length of each nail.  Cure in lamp 2 minutes.
4. Repeat step 3 using your largest glitter, making sure that the glitter is sparse enough that you can still clearly see the first glitter.
5. Dip a small angled brush in CND Shellac Top Coat and then dip in fine or medium fine glitter of your choice. Keep this last glitter coat more towards the tip of the nail, going only about 1/3 down the length of each nail.  Cure in lamp 2 minutes.
6. Paint nails with CND Shellac Top Coat and cure in lamp 2 minutes.  
7. Wipe nails with pure acetone.

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.