Fun With Top Coats!

*Sigh* ... So I already wrote out almost this entire blog (and it's a long one!) before it randomly deleted itself. So this a re-write, which means it will probably miss some of the excitement of the original draft because I'm upset about re-writing lol. Despite the frustration, I will try to still maintain the level of information that was in my original post so that you, my reader, won't miss anything. I do warn you that I may end up adding on to this post in the future if I end up remembering something that I wrote earlier that I forgot to mention this second time... ANYWAYS....!!!

The purpose of this post is top coats!! I had a major exam this morning, so I knew I would need some "me" time afterward. PLUS there was *supposed* to be a blizzard today so I was planning on inside projects to keep me occupied. Anyways, I went to Walgreens and Sinful Colors polishes were one sale, PLUS I found this gem which intrigued me:

I had seen pictures similar to that on the bottom right of the box, and I was interested in trying it for myself! But having all my nails all black (even with subtle shine differences) didn't interest me enough. So, I figured I'd try out a palette and see what effect these top coats have on them. Here is my index card that I used to test them out::

And so here are the base colors for my left hand nails:

(Thumb to pinky) Nina Black; Sinful Colors A Heart For Art; Sinful Colors Slate; Sinful Colors Out Of This World; Finger Paints Hue Left A Message?

Right hand base colors:

(Thumb to pinky) Sinful Colors Out Of This World; Nina Exceptionally Gifted; Nina Black; Finger Paints Hue Left A Message?; Sinful Colors Slate

Then... What to do on each nail? 

Starting with my left hand:::

*On my thumb, I decided that since black shows the matte finish the best, I would do a zigzag design with the Matte top coat! It didn't turn out perfect, but you can certainly see the difference!

*For my pointer finger, I decided to do a gradient. After my Finger Paints A Heart For Art, I painted Sinful Colors Dancing Nails over the outer half, and then painted the tip with Finger Paints Hue Left A Message? I topped it off with the Gloss top coat.

*My middle finger I made stripes with Sinful Colors Hazard and then later did strips with Nina Black. I coated the whole nail in the Gloss top coat. Then when it was dry, I used the Matte top coat in the large Slate square, the tiniest one, and the one in the corner of the nail as well (it went diagonally). So there's some contrast on this nail, it's just not outright noticeable and *really* tough to see in the pics. (I tried to catch the light so you can see where it reflects and where it doesn't...)

*My ring finger I ended up deciding to paint half of it with Sinful Colors Dancing Nails and then part of the outer tip with Nina Black to create a sectioned effect. Then I painted the whole nail with the Gloss top coat and then later went over the Black section with the Matte top coat to add some contrast. So all of it is shiny except for the small black part.

*My pinky finger I left alone with the Finger Paints Hue Left A Message? since it's sparkly enough :)

Here are the pics of my left hand ::

And for my right hand! 

*On my thumb, I did stripes with Sinful Colors Hazard and Nina Black. And then used the Matte top coat over the entire nail. I tried taking pics to show the difference between an entirely matte nail and a glossy nail, but that didn't work out so well.

*On my pointer finger, I did "drips" of Sinful Colors Out Of This World from the tip of my nail. 

*My middle finger is where I first used the Shimmer top coat. I put the Shimmer to coat on in two stripes toward the middle of the nail. Then I put the Gloss top coat over the whole nail. Then I painted the Matte top coat over the outer sections of the nail. This is the toughest to see in the pictures and I don't think you can see at all what it actually looks like, but it's cool in person 'cuz you can see how all three top coats look on one nail.

*On my ring finger, I decided to do another "drip" effect with my Nina Black. After that was dry, I painted the whole nail with the Shimmer top coat. It doesn't do much with my sparkly polish, but it added some color/shimmer to the black "drips". Then, in addition to that, I decided to use the Matte top coat over the black/shimmery "drips" to add to the contrast. Again, this is really tough to see in the pic. 

*For my pinky nail, all I did was add a diagonal section toward the end with Sinful Colors Dancing Nails. I eventually decided to paint the Dancing Nails section with the Matte top coat as well. 

Here are some pics of my right hand:

It's really tough to see the difference the top coats make on some of these nails, but they really do make a huge difference! I'm loving the Matte effect on some of my nails and on some sections of my other nails!! 

I certainly recommend picking up a Matte top coat to play with!

Have Fun!!

Nail Designs Using Shapes From A Ziploc Bag

Today I tried another technique I found through Pinterest from ChitChatNails. This site gives a nice tutorial if you want to check it out. But basically you paint two coats of polish on a ziploc bag and let it dry overnight. Then you use a butter knife to peel it off in one sheet. Then you use scissors to cut out shapes and put them on your nails! Easy-peasy!! I used Sinful Colors Winter Wonder and China Glaze Ruby Pumps :)