Nail Art | Geek Life: Augmenting Reality

Are your nails blue, because its absolutely freezing outside, instead of some fabulous nail polish colour? I am so very much done with winter, and really need spring to make an appearance, like yesterday (literally, yesterday was way too frigid for my bones.) That's why when #CollectiveBias Social Fabric® made a call for spring-related nail-art, I jumped at the chance to get creative and flex those wannabe-artsy muscles that I haven't paid much attention to since Christmas. If I can't have the sun beat directly on my face with a dash of heat for another month or so, I'm going to do the next best thing and create some warmth-inspiring art on my nails. It's a good thing that I love picking up the nail polish supplies at the neighbourhood Walmart, 'cause I honestly didn't want to venture out any farther. With how cold the weather has been lately, this gal has been sticking closer to home more often than not, brrr. I foresee many walks through High Park, Toronto the moment we're back at above zero temps! But, also? I well and truly love the Great Wall of Nail Polish at my Walmart. It's practically impossible to not find the exact colour/pattern you need from our favourite brands, like essie, Sally Hansen and KISS! The Great Wall of Truly Inexpensive Nail Polish at Walmart. See that sticker for only $2.47? That means I'm picking up one of each pretty bottle in Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear collection. I'm also picking up one of those Shiny Top Coats, 'cause the one I used for this post made a mess around the cuticles. #pout So after bee-lining it directly to the beauty section, and then the cashier, I had the colours I wanted in hand and out the door in 10 minutes flat. I don't think I ever "got the job done" quicker, 'cause I knew exactly what I was looking for. These are my new bits of spring that I desperately hold in one hand, while I inhale my super-warm hot chocolate with the other (gotta love time-delayed photo taking when your hands are full!) Sally Hansen - Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in Big Teal Sally Hansen - I <3 Nail Art pen in yellow Sally Hansen - I <3 Nail Art pen in magenta L'Oreal Nail Color - New Money I love them all, they're so preciously spring inspiring for me. Particularly thinking about ultra blue skies, fresh green grass and flowers in bloom. The pens in particular are a blast to work with! I love how easy it is to just doodle around with them until you've got the image you want. After applying a couple of coats of blue and green polish to each nail (and letting them dry of course,) I was able to then paint over the coats with the two pens freely. If I made a mistake? Simply wiping it away with a piece of tissue (with a tiny dab of nail polish remover if it set in too much,) and I had a clean slate to work with again. One thing to note about these pen polishes though, is that they don't entirely set properly with certain polishes (like the shiny L'Oreal colour,) so you really can't go without a top coat of clear polish once your design is done. I made a really nice flower on my thumb while testing out the pens, and was a little confused when I noticed it had entirely disappeared a couple hours later! I still don't know what I rubbed the polish up against for the utterly complete transfer. What I really love about these pens, is that you can doodle on scrap paper before you even try the design in mind out on your nails. I also found that I needed some scrap paper (or sticky notes in this case,) to occasionally get the polish to fill the fine tip of the pen; it made for less instances of accidental markings on my nail designs by ensuring the polish was flowing nicely first. Spring inspired doodling. Live action doodling. So here's what I wound up with on my nails... I just had a lot of fun doodling different designs as you can tell. I'm thinking of starting over (with a better bottle of top coat this time, and) with just a few of these doodles instead of all five in play. I really enjoy each of them, especially the lone flower on my pinkies. Not sure if its apparent, but I tried doing a "photo-negative" effect by switching the colours around for each hand (ie. where it's blue with lots of pink on one, it's green with lots of yellow on the other.) Are you in the mood to get creative? What events are inspiring you right now to add some extra colour into your life? Or what colours are in your must-have right now list? The moment the weather warms even just a little bit, I'm heading right back to Walmart to pick up Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Coral Reef and Sun Kissed! #wants

Tag: Nail Art

I Need Spring In My Life And On My Nails (nail art)

Technology. Collectibles. Travel.

Technology. Collectibles. Travel.