Hello ladies,
As promised, I have a manicure using a design from the Coraline Stamping Nail Art Set A. Starry Coraline inhabits plate C05. I stamped her image with Konad special polish in silver. The base color for the design is Chanel's Nuit de Russie, a blue black shade with turquoise micro shimmer. The funky french was painted with Star Struck from Claire's. Placing those two brands together on my nails amused me endlessly.
Above is the persistent face of Morgana, the store cat, awaiting treats. She had taken over my chair and sat upon it for ransom. She is an all white beauty with perfect hearing and a mutable disposition. If the word treat is uttered, she will appear seemingly from the mists. She is catching on to the spelling: t-r-e-a-t. Morgana looks a little blurry here. Sorry about that! I loved her expression and I wanted to share.
The application of Chanel Nuit de Russie was flawless. One slowly painted coat nearly provided full coverage and needed minimal clean up. I am used to doing at least two coats with most brands. I went with a light second. I imagine someone with less nail length could apply one coat and touch up any areas still requiring more polish to reach opacity. The color is brighter than the average blackened blue. The shimmer is so reflective it looks like microscopic pieces of turquoise foil. Of the three colors in the Chanel Moscou collection, Nuit de Russie places third for me. While I don't regret purchasing it, I wouldn't recommend it as a color worth tracking down at ebay prices.
Claire's Star Struck was a fussy diva! It's practically impossible to paint the stars on with a standard nail polish brush. I achieved the look by swiping the glitter polish without the stars into the form of a French tip. I used the pointed end of a small orange stick (included with a rhinestone carousel) for star placement. Tweezers would be effective as long as care is taken not to damage the stars by accidental bending or scratching. I swished the brush in the polish and picked up as many stars as possible. Most of them settled on the stem. I removed each star and added them starting at one side of the nail, working across. Two thick layers of topcoat sealed the holographic stars to the nail. There's a textural feel, but no protruding star points.
I did this manicure as a zen activity after a day of errands. This is not the look to attempt while rushed. I had great fun with it and received many compliments throughout the day.
Happy painting, ladies!