What if you feel already bored by your manicure or you’ve just tried a new trend that isn’t really ‘you’? This is how I would change the game: this is how to refresh and make your second-day manicure totally anew!
With polka dots, glitters learn how to refresh your second-day manicure and create new designs while hiding spots and fingerprints!
You need a couple of things and little time to get started, while just a small dose of creativity is necessary.
Start: look at your nails, done? Say goodbye to the old style because it won’t be the same anymore. But, before you go into action, I have a suggestion for you. You may be tempted but: don’t add another layer of your previously worn nail polish. You’ll end up messing everything up. Try a nail polish smudger or corrector, otherwise a regular clear top coat.
Let’s get started with some funny polka dots!
Over a pure white nail polish (the one I was wearing comes from the Avon Nail expert French kit) all colours will pop. Start with a white base first. For this tutorial, I used both pale and dark nail lacquers plus a neon shade.
For the first manicure, I just picked some crème nail polishes. If you do so, all your attention will go to different tones, no distracting shimmers.
The nail lacquers I used are: Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Lemon Sugar, O.P.I. Suzy Says Feng Shui, Eyeko Vintage Polish, Yamamay beauty fluo orange and Avon Color Trend Vixen… cute, right?
After selecting your creamy colour palette, you’ll need some tools:
dotters, (the double end tool comes from Avon, the smaller one was part of this haul), a piece of tin foil, some paper towels and nail polish remover.
Start with one nail colour at a time: place a few drops of nail lacquer over a piece of foil, dip your dotter, and go creating your polka dots.
(Here I used two dotting tools to achieve different dimensions.)
After a couple of dots, quickly clean the point of your dotter by rubbing it over a paper towel in order to use less nail polish remover as possible.
When you are ok with the result, thoroughly clean your dotters with acetone and continue with the other nail lacquers.
I know, this process sounds quite long but believe me, it’s better to work per colour as some nail polishes tend to dry faster than the others, then get goopy and gluey.
I created a gradient effect by painting bigger and more dots around the tips of my nails, lesser and smaller nearer the cuticles: it’d a waterfall of cheerful confetti!
Finish off your manicure with a gel-effect top coat or leave it ‘au naturel’ – as I did – for a cool 3D effect.
The second way to revamp your ‘old‘ manicure is with extra shine and blings! Is there anything instantly funnier than glitters? I don’t think so and if you agree with me, you’re going to love this manicure!
I applied one coat of Technic Carnival all over my nails, then I sponged it starting near the cuticle and stopped at the centre of the nail. I created another gradient effect, then I smoothen the surface with Avon Smudge Fixer. So: take a glittery topper and sponge it from the cuticle until the centre of the nails. Dab with a latex sponge again to emphasise and add more glitters.
Technic Carnival is a party in a bottle: it’s a clear base loaded with 1mm and 1/2 mm gold, cherry red, silver, blue and green hexagonal glitters, but this wasn’t enough for me…
While the topper was still fresh I’ve randomly applied with a waxy pencil some Born Pretty Store emerald #12, acid gold #7 and antique rose #9 glequins, sealed with a top coat. These are less than 2 mm large and can be found at Born Pretty Store at 1,99$ each: a real bargain!
To use polka dots, or to use glitters, that is the question. Have you got the same Hamletic doubt?
