Here's how I decided to show my Olympic spirit throughout the Games.
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| Olympic Medals |
The Polish:
- Gold: Studio M - Gold Glitter
- Silver: Sinful Colors - Queen of Beauty
- Bronze: OPI - Warm & Fozzie
- Red: Art Club Striper - Red on Red
- White: Sally Hansen - White On
- Blue: Art Club Striper - Electric Universe
The Process:
Medals - Paint a nail gold, silver, and bronze, duh. Although to make it a little easier and to avoid a really thick layer of glitter polish, I would suggest using a similar color of an opaque metallic first then layer the glitter over it.
U.S. Flag - First, I painted the whole nail white. Next, I used the blue striper to create a square in the corner of my nail. I then followed up with a red striper on the rest of the nail. To finish, I used a very small dotting tool to create the white "stars."
Union Jack - First, I painted the whole nail white. Using the red striper I created the cross in the center of the nail. Then, I added the diagonal red stripes. Finally, using a blue striper I added little blue triangles next to each red stripe. To be honest if I ever do this again I would go about the process completely differently. I would paint the whole nail blue, paint a large white cross and white diagonal stripes, and then add the red stripes in the center of all the white. I think that would make the design a bit cleaner overall.
The Polish:
The Process: Let me just start by saying I don't think I will do anything like this again. I know it seems fairly similar to a half moon mani, but somehow it was a complete mess and I mostly blame it on that crappy yellow that I don't like that much aslfjl;asjdfiofoajsdohfoej. Rant over. I started by painting each nail the color of an Olympic ring and let it dry. Then, like the half moon mani, I placed those hole reinforcement stickers around my nail where I wanted the color to show through. Next, I painted over the whole nail with a white polish. This is where it got really messy. I'm not sure if it was because my white polish was getting old so it was goopy or if I was trying to go too fast and the layers weren't dry enough, but regardless white got everywhere. The other big problem was that the yellow reacted with the white so that it wasn't white anymore. I ended up adding a layer of top coat and then layered more white; if you're keeping track there are about 10 layers of polish on my thumb at this point (strengthener, base, 2 color, 2 white, top coat, 2 white, top coat).
Medals - Paint a nail gold, silver, and bronze, duh. Although to make it a little easier and to avoid a really thick layer of glitter polish, I would suggest using a similar color of an opaque metallic first then layer the glitter over it.
U.S. Flag - First, I painted the whole nail white. Next, I used the blue striper to create a square in the corner of my nail. I then followed up with a red striper on the rest of the nail. To finish, I used a very small dotting tool to create the white "stars."
Union Jack - First, I painted the whole nail white. Using the red striper I created the cross in the center of the nail. Then, I added the diagonal red stripes. Finally, using a blue striper I added little blue triangles next to each red stripe. To be honest if I ever do this again I would go about the process completely differently. I would paint the whole nail blue, paint a large white cross and white diagonal stripes, and then add the red stripes in the center of all the white. I think that would make the design a bit cleaner overall.
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| Olympic Rings |
The Polish:
- White: Sally Hansen - White On
- Yellow: China Glaze - Sunshine Pop
- Blue: Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue
- Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather
- Red: Sinful Colors - Ruby Ruby
- Green: Essie - Mojito Madness
The Process: Let me just start by saying I don't think I will do anything like this again. I know it seems fairly similar to a half moon mani, but somehow it was a complete mess and I mostly blame it on that crappy yellow that I don't like that much aslfjl;asjdfiofoajsdohfoej. Rant over. I started by painting each nail the color of an Olympic ring and let it dry. Then, like the half moon mani, I placed those hole reinforcement stickers around my nail where I wanted the color to show through. Next, I painted over the whole nail with a white polish. This is where it got really messy. I'm not sure if it was because my white polish was getting old so it was goopy or if I was trying to go too fast and the layers weren't dry enough, but regardless white got everywhere. The other big problem was that the yellow reacted with the white so that it wasn't white anymore. I ended up adding a layer of top coat and then layered more white; if you're keeping track there are about 10 layers of polish on my thumb at this point (strengthener, base, 2 color, 2 white, top coat, 2 white, top coat).
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| Butter London - The Black Knight |
The Black Knight - Ok it's not exactly Olympics-y but I thought the fact that it was a Butter London polish made it fit with the theme. And besides aren't those red, white, and blue glitters..... well no, they're actually pink, blue, and gold, but still pretty. I honestly couldn't get a picture to really show how much the glitter shimmers. The glitter looks kind of grainy in the pic, but in really life it's all sparkle. From my previous experience with Butter London, I thought I would be proactive and just start with an opaque black and then add the glitter over top. I did two coats of CG - Liquid Leather and one coat of The Black Knight and it worked great.
