Show Me Your Nails 2.0

[Tamara76]

Due to some technical glitches with the original Show Me Your Nails Thread, I am starting a new thread with @vegchililover78's blessing (She says "hello," by the way!).

Please share your nail looks, nail art and manicures!

...And don't forget to check out @Beadshopgirl's Nail Stamping Thread for stamping inspiration! ❤️  

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Nailed-It/The-Nail-Stamping-Thread/m-p/3328865

[Mellmars1185]

@ather @ They look great to me but i know the feeling!

[RGbrown]

Purposely ignoring the first day of fall because it's been back up in the 90s here for the last week or so (until today, now it's 70...guess I angered the gods and they are trying to remind me of my place ‌😂‌)

Hopping in the wayback machine for a trip to 2015 with OPI Color Paints! I found the 6pc mini set at NailWholesale and desperately wanted to give OPI's jellies a shot. ‌❣️‌

The full collection had 8 jellies and a silver foil to use as a base; the mini set I picked up has 5 of the jellies plus the silver, aka the perfect amount for a fun skittle set. I decided to do up some simple art to showcase all of them, both with and without the silver base.

All nails have two coats of the jellies over a clear base coat. Let that dry, then I just used the bottle brush to draw three stripes of silver side by side, each a little shorter than the one next to it, and then repeated the same thing with the jellies over the silver, just a little lower.

Shades used:

Pen and Pink

Turquoise Aesthetic

Chromatic Orange

Purple Perspective

Primarily Yellow

Silver Canvas

Pink, orange, and yellow are *amazingly* smooth and easy. Flawless color distribution, zero streaks or fussiness of any sort. You'll never build to full opacity with these, but the level of pigmentation is amazing nonetheless. 

Purple and turquoise were not so nice. Streaky and difficult on the full nail, I finally just dropped a blob near the cuticle and hoped for the best, knowing that would be all that showed anyways. There are streaks over the silver too, but it becomes more interesting and less of a headache there, since I wasn't worried about coverage at that point. These could probably be built to full coverage, or close to it, even without a base, as they get pretty dark pretty quickly. 

Full size bottles with bigger brushes might have helped these two a bit, but I perused a few blog posts from 2015 reviews, and they were pretty universal about them being problem children.

The silver is just a silver foil. Not particularly noteworthy or something to seek out specifically. It's a bit streaky, even just doing short lines like this I had to patch a few spots, and I'm sure I have better silvers in my existing collection.

There are three more shades in the collection, a deeper red-pink, a bright grass green, and a deep blue. I spent a little time looking for them last night and assembled a cart...am holding off for now, but they're rolling around in the back of my mind ‌🤔‌

[Saradestin]

Wow! Such a stunning mani! You always bring the most gorgeous designs and color combinations @RGbrown ! Spectacular! ❤️❤️❤️

[RGbrown]

@Saradestin 

Thanks so much! This was fun to do (and easy too, which is always a plus 😁) 🌈

[Saradestin]

That doesn’t look very easy to me @RGbrown  😅😅😅

[RGbrown]

@Saradestin 

This one falls under "looks more complicated than it really is"...it's literally just three straight lines with the brush, each a little shorter than the previous one to create the wave pattern. Super easy, I swear! ❣️

[Cissy63]

They are beautiful @RGbrown!  These colors are terrific w/w/o the silver.  Very creative mani!

[RGbrown]

Thank you @Cissy63! It was a fun set to make 🌈

[CookieGirl1]

Oh my gosh, @RGbrown, I LOVE that!!!!  

[RGbrown]

Thank you @CookieGirl1! ❣️

[Samtian]

@RGbrown Those are so dope!

[RGbrown]

@Samtian 

Thanks so much! ❣️

[ather]

@RGbrown  These nails are definitely giving me summer vibes! Or 80s vibes either way I’m here for it!!

[RGbrown]

@ather 

Ahhh, yup, I see that! I'm totally getting 80s movie theatre vibes here...I think one of ours had some sort of decorative arch with a similar design on either side of the doors 🎥

[ather]

@RGbrown  I think I remember that too!! 

[Mellmars1185]

@RGbrown This artwork is beautiful. The colours with the silver in the middle are really cool! You are so creative!

[RGbrown]

@Mellmars1185 

Thanks so much! And nah, not creative, just mimicking a design I've seen a few times over the years but had never gotten around to trying myself (it's super easy, give it a go if so inclined!!) 🌈

[CynthieLu]

Your nail art is always so impressive @RGbrown this pattern and colour choice is so visually beautiful. Even with the hiccups with the polished I can barley notice at all.  Question thou,  I can't tell by looking.  Are you designing your own nails or is it the kind you decorate and then and put on after? How do you do this magic? 🤩🤩🤩

[RGbrown]

@CynthieLu 

Aw shucks, thanks so much!

These are my natural nails! I don't mess with extensions or press-ons of any kind. That's why mine are frequently all different lengths or even one or two with different shapes...I don't like losing what I've worked hard to maintain, so I never cut them all when I break one 😅

[CynthieLu]

Sorry i couldn't tell the differnce @RGbrown  (😅 I'm a nail noob obv.)

Your nails are so amazing,  they are in great shape! And wow so naturally long 😄 What are your secrets 😋 to these beautiful nail lengths?

[RGbrown]

@CynthieLu 

Nah, there's nothing to be sorry about! There are lots of talented folks out there that do amazing work with extensions and such, and it's nearly impossible to tell from a pic, so "are those real?" is always a valid question 😊

I've got four things I try and keep up with:

1. Jojoba oil! It's the one closest in composition and size to our natural sebum, and from what I've read, it's the only oil capable of penetrating the nail plate itself. Other oils are great for the surrounding skin, but for a cuticle oil to have any effect on the nail, it's got to have a good bit of jojoba in it. Dry, brittle nails that are prone to peeling or splitting need replenishment to keep them healthy and flexible, and jojoba is the best way to do that. Multiple times a day is best!

2. Water is the number one enemy of your nails, so avoid it whenever possible. It swells up the nails, causing the multiple layers of keratin to weaken and eventually split, and dries them out as it evaporates, all of which leads to peeling and brittle nails. I use dish gloves for any tasks where I'll have my hands submerged for more than a minute or two. 

3. Watch what you do with your hands, and don't use your nails for prying/scraping/cutting etc...nails should be "jewels, not tools" if you want to keep them in good shape! This is the hardest one for me...my nails are on the thin side to begin with and I'm naturally a bit of a klutz and break nails doing stupid things all the time lol; I'm also single doing all of my own chores and dishes and yardwork, plus I help my sis and parents with some diy projects from time to time, so...I still break some here and there. But paying more attention to what I do with them has helped cut down on that fairly significantly. 

4. Always keep them polished! Layers of polish can help block out water and seal moisture in. Even if you don't have time for a full color mani, a layer or two of base plus a top coat can help keep them in good shape. 

I'm always happy to chat about nail care, so don't hesitate to ask! ❣️