Summer Tutorial: Dotted Line

     Today is going to be the first tutorial on my blog. I’m so excited and I hope to do more in the future. There were some things that I have learned as a result of my first ever nail tutorial and hopefully I’ll do another one that shows improvement. 

     This blog is all mine, I take the pictures, design the layout, and paint my own nails. I came across a problem when I had to take pictures with one hand shown and another holding the various tools. That said I had to create a very odd contraption that would allow me to take pictures without using my hands. If only you could see behind the camera; tape and string scattered all around. To take the picture I had to use my mouth. I know that sounds very strange but since my camera is the iPhone, the touch screen was convenient and I could just tap the capture button with my mouth. That all said, this nail tutorial took a lot of effort, but I think it was worth it. Everything came out decent and for my first ever nail tutorial I think I did pretty well. Like I said, I hope to do another one and the quality of everything improves. Anyways, since this is a nail tutorial, I think I should actually go onto how to achieve this look.

1. Apply base coat
2. Using one of your main colors apply to the entire nail – Let it dry completely
3. Take a strip of scotch tape and align it a little lower than half the nail –   You are free to change it up and go higher or lower than I did. I would advise you to set the tape parallel to the tips of your nail instead of the nail bed otherwise you run the risk of the dotted lines being in all different directions. *** Before you put the tape directly on the nail, I would suggest you first stick it to cloth like a t-shirt. If the tape is too sticky it could take off some of your main nail polish in the tape removal***   
4. Using your second color, apply an even coat from the tape to the tips of the nail. – Let it dry. For this nail polish I found that 20 minutes was a good time.
5. Remove the tape
6. With a toothpick and the accent nail color dot a line between the two colors
7. After letting the nails dry, seal everything with the top coat of your choice.

Tips that I have learned: 

• Don’t remove the tape too early. When drying, the nail polish becomes tacky and wants to stick to the tape resulting in a messy line. 
• When dotting the line, after every couple of dots wipe off the nail polish on the toothpick. The polish dries on the toothpick and you might find your dots getting significantly bigger *hint: look at the middle finger*
• Don’t get too eager and apply the top coat a couple of minutes after dotting the nails. Your dots might look like they are melting instead of a clean look

Review: OPI Fiji WeeJee Fawn

 

♥ Consistency: Definitely more on the thinner side than not

♥ Application: I first layer was pretty thin so I added a second coat. The second coat was quite opaque but as you can see from the picture, the nail line was pretty visible. The third coat seemed to do the trick and I stopped there.

     One thing I didn’t like too much when it comes to application was the stroke lines. Every stroke of the brush can be seen so this is not a color that you can quickly apply in a couple of minutes. This polish needs patience and concentration to look nice and even. I am not a pro at applying nail polish and up close you can see slightly curved lines.

♥ Color: On the nails the polish catches the light much better. It seems to give off a pretty glow that the bottle does not show. Wearing nude nail polish can be a bit of a challenge because there are some shades that look bad with your skin tone and can make you look like you have mannequin hands, but this one seems fine for all skin tones. The subtle shimmering glow makes it evident that you are wearing nail polish.

♥ Longevity: Similar to the last post, this polish lasted a whole week.    

♥ How Many Coats:  I would suggest three

♥ Top Coat/Base Coat: Sally Hansen Mega Shine Top Coat/ Julep Nail Therapy 

     I would highly recommend that you use a top coat. Without the top coat the brush strokes and unevenness in your nail are very visible. It also doesn’t have a smooth glossy finish if a shiny top coat is not applied.

♥ 7-Day Wear: