Thursday, September 16, 2010

Simple Vintage Style (and how to)

  A look that is taking off like wild fire is the Half Moon Manicure.  I like that it is a simple thing you can do at home.  All you need is a little time in the evening after the kids go to bed.  Have a talk with your cat to make sure he understands that lap time will start after the nails are dry. For a little history on this particular look check out this article.  My example may not be the most authentic, but for a first time out, here is how it went.....

1. Step one, get your cuticles in check.  Do a little maintenance with cuticle remover and an orange stick.  Then you can either apply  a clear base coat  or add a color if you want a "colorful" moon.  I used white.  I thought a good contrast would be fun.

manicure

2. Find a guide to help you. Unless you have a very steady hand, then freestyle it! I however need all the help I can get. These are pretty inexpensive, you get lots of "guides", and they are very helpful. You can find them at any office supply store, or other store that has a decent office supply section.

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3. Apply your guide strips to nail. Make sure your nails are COMPLETELY dry. These will peel off and on without taking your polish off. You will need to play around to see how big your want your moon to be. For a first timer just do the best you can. The more you try this, the more comfortable you be a finding your placement. I mean look at mine, anyone who has done this would probably have a chuckle, but we are LEARNING here! And having fun!!

manicure

4. Finally apply your color coat. Allow for it to completely dry and then remove your guides. Then apply a clear top coat. Wow, look at what you did!! Of course you can do this all sorts of ways. Be creative and play around with color. A more authentic approach would be to also have the tip of the nail the same as the bottom. Only the middle of the nail would have polish. For a beginner, I thought is was easy just to tape off the bottom and paint all the way up. As you get more skilled tape off top and bottom and rock that vintage look!

manicure

  Enjoy!!

1 comment:

Carrie said...

Awesome. Reinforcements eh? good tip!