Bandwagon

What is up, lovelies? Kali here, finally getting around to a little nail art tutorial! My inspiration? The Superbowl. If you know me, this may be shocking, because I am in no way interested in sports, and am usually pretty ignorant to them. I am going to blame a combination of the fact that I live in Boston (the Patriots are in the Superbowl, in case you're as uninterested as I am), and my co-worker Anna challenging me to try some Patriots nails! I very confidently responded to her "I can totally do that", and once I got home from work tonight, got down to business. So here I am, jumping on that Pats bandwagon!

 I try to pull all of the colors I need before I get started, so I am not trying to reach into my bin of nail polish with wet nails. In baking/cooking, I would equate this to getting my mise en place! I always use: nail polish remover, cotton swabs, a cuticle tool, cuticle helper, a nail file, base coat, and top coat. You can get all of the tools I listed above, at your local CVS or Walgreens.

My most recent discovery in the world of nails, is making sure to use a base coat. I was having trouble getting my nails to stay in tact for more than a couple of days, and once I realized I could use this base to keep everything in place, I could get them to stay for at least a week! Double Duty from Sally Hansen works as a base coat, and a top coat (I only use it for the base), and is currently my go-to.

After applying my base coat, I decide what color I want each nail to be, and go ahead and paint them! I always go back and do a second coat, even if the polish is pretty thick. The colors I used today are: Essie- Aruba Blue, Essie- Shake Your $$ Maker, and Cover Girl- Toasted Almond. (Don't mind my Valentine's day newspaper ads that I am using to protect my dining table from getting polish all over it!)

People ask me all of the time "how did you do that?", when I show them my nails. Here is the secret weapon! I found these Stripe Rite polishes at Sally's Beauty Supply a couple of years ago, and they are the only way I could ever do any designs on my nails! I have probably 8 different colors, and the brush is so tiny, that I am able to do very specific details. I'm telling you, go buy these now, they're my savior.

So, I started with my green pinky nails, and used my white striper to create the look of the yard lines on a football field (no one correct me on my poor use of sport's terms). Since my pinky is so tiny, there was not much room for any other details here. If you were using a larger nail (like your thumb), you could have actually included the numbers that mark the yard lines.

Next, using the same white striper, I hit the nails I painted brown, and with some very simple lines, made them resemble footballs. To me, nails that have a more basic design, but are super easy to identify, are the best ones! There is no mistaking that these babies are footballs!

Here comes the tricky part, and where I used my life mantra, 'fake it 'til you make it'. To attempt this Patriots logo, I started with the white striper, and painted an outline of the whole thing. Then I went back with the other colors (red, blue, silver), and painted the details of the face, or at least I tried to! I went back with the white again, and touched up the edges. As long as your design has the general shape and color scheme of what you're trying to achieve, it does not have to look picture perfect for you to get your point across. Personally, I think Bostonians will recognize these Pats logos from a mile away!

Finally, I decided to just hit my thumb nail with some silver glitter, the one I used was Essie- Set in Stones. Before I go back over with my top coat, I always make sure EVERYTHING is dry. The white striper always gets me, and if you paint a top coat over it before it is fully dry, the white will smear, and all of your beautiful work will be ruined. I have been burnt many times by the white striper, don't let it happen to you! Be patient, and once you are confident everything is dry, apply your top coat. I just started using Sally Hansen- Miracle Gel Top Coat, which does not need to be used with another Miracle Gel polish! They sell it as a two-step process, but all you really need to get your new manicure to last is the top coat. You can always do two coats of your top coat for good measure, and once that is dry, you're finished! 

Now you can all enjoy your favorite football teams, with some adorable nails at the same time! (Or you can just sit around in your pajamas, watching Modern Family, which is what I am doing above.) Who would have thought these two hobbies could go hand in hand? I really hope that this tutorial was helpful, and would love your feedback! Let me know what you think, and I will keep these little nail lessons coming on a weekly basis. Happy nail painting, ladies!