Hi everyone! Lately I've been feeling kind of stumped for nail art ideas, so the other day I did a search for this season's nail trends, and came across LOTS of bright half moon manicures (moonicures?) Most of the half moons were two-toned pastel yellows and peaches, with the moon comprised of the lighter color. Since I don't have multiple shades of yellows and peaches, I improvised with two shades of blue-toned purples, which are still in keeping with this season's vibrant colors.
This look is SUPER easy, and can be achieved with two colors of polish and some circular stickers.
Step 1.) Apply a basecoat and paint your nails with the lighter of the two polishes. Try to be extra careful when painting near the cuticles- this look is very simple, but can easily look sloppy if the polish application isn't perfect.
Step 2.) Next, use circular stickers to help make the half moon shape. A lot of people use paper reinforcement stickers, but I found these laying around the house and figured that they'd work just as well.
Frame 1: Once the lighter polish is completely dry, press a sticker firmly onto the nail. The highest point of the circle should be about 1/4 of the way down the nail. Before you move on to frame two, make sure that there are no gaps between the sticker and the nail.
Frame 2: Paint on one thick coat of the second color. Be sure to paint the free edge of the nail to ensure that none of the lighter color peeks through.
Frame 3: Immediately peel off the sticker. When doing this, carefully peel towards the tip of the nail instead of towards the nail bed (you're more likely to get a perfect edge this way).
Step 3.) Seal with a topcoat to extend the wear of your moonicure!
Products Used:
Urban Outfitters "Bandeau" and "Crowded"
Base and Topcoat: Orly Bonder and Seche Vite
Lastly, here's a sneaky end-of-post extra...
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN NAIL POLISH
Okay, I couldn't resist- the fact that half moon manicures are popular again reminded me of the style that women wore on their nails when nail polish first became widely available. The nails were left bare on the tips and on the natural half moon shape of the nail plate, while the centers were painted with shades of rose, bright red, and coral.
I gave this 1920's/30's style a shot on my right hand:
Anyway, modern nail polish first got its start in 1920's France when makeup artist Michelle Menard came up with the idea of coating the nails in an enamel similar to automobile paint. Before, nails were stained red with various oils and waxes and then buffed to a shine.
While the idea of using an enamel instead of a stain was brilliant, the problem with automobile paint was that it was too rigid and flaked easily. A few years later, American brothers Charles and Joseph Revson had a similar idea that entailed using pigments in nail polishes instead of dyes. In 1932, the pair teamed up with chemist Charles Lachman to develop nail polish that is extremely close to what we use today.
The nail polish was marketed under the brand name "Revlon" (sound familiar?), which was created by replacing the "S" in Revson with an "L" for Lachman.
Aaaand that's it! Congrats if you made it to the end of this post- I get really excited and start to ramble a bit when it comes to cool historical things (well, they're cool to me at least). Have a lovely day!
No comments:
Post a Comment