I have finally made what I like to think is a successful opal manicure! Keep reading to find out how I managed to get this cool look.
In the past, I have tried to do some opal nails before, but I just couldn't get them quite right. Something about flakies and a pale base just don't get along in a way that is conducive to an opal look. But trying to do a black opal, on the other hand, works MUCH better!
For this look, I knew I wanted to actually put some 3D black opal creations on my nails. So a few days before I did this mani, I sat down and made some myself. I kinda made it up as I went along, starting with a small oval using black polish. When that was dry, I layered various amounts of Colors by Llarowe Davros, Sweet Color #1, The Nail Smith Campfire Smoke (a sheer black), and IBD builder gel. I would wait for the polish layers to dry completely before applying a layer of the gel and curing it. You can see how nice and sparkly the "opals" were below!
Before I applied these little gems to my nails, I wanted to make all of my nails look somewhat like black opals as well! I started with two coats of my Campfire Smoke sheer black that I made myself. Then, I dabbed on a bit of Davros and Sweet Color #1. When that was dry, I applied another coat of Campfire Smoke to add some depth.
As that layer was drying, I masked off my cuticles with liquid latex and sponged on a gradient of Campfire Smoke and black polish. I did this a few times, and when it was dry I used a great water spotting cheat. I used an image from hēhē stamping plate 081 and some black polish to stamp one of the water spotted images onto all of my nails. This gave a nice little "peek" into the flakies that were a few layers deeper!
After that, I topped all of my nails with topcoat, and waited for it to dry. Then, I applied a very small amount of nail glue onto my middle finger to secure the black opal I had created (one for each hand). I wanted to make it look like a little jewelry setting, so I added some new caviar beads around the edges, also using nail glue. These particular beads are ones I had purchased from Born Pretty Store, and they can be found HERE. I really love them! They have really pretty yet subtle color differences that show up great over black, and they look like tiny little bubbles!
I seriously love how well these turned out. They ended up having so much depth to them, and they made me feel so elegant too! I absolutely love how the opals caught the light, which can be seen in the video below. I would love to try this technique to make little gems of other colors too!
Materials Used
Wet n Wild Black Creme
Colors by Llarowe Davros
Sweet Color #1
IBD Clear Builder Gel
Stamping plate hēhē 081
Born Pretty Store caviar beads
So, what do you guys think? Was this a success or should I keep trying to perfect my opal nails? Personally I was really happy with these, but I'd love to hear what you think, too! Thanks for stopping by!
No comments:
Post a Comment