Hi Goddesses
I promised you that today I would take you through one of my Recycled Nails manis in detail. The final design was a very popular post from a few weeks ago - Patriotic Tigers!
What I loved about this mani was how it evolved, and how I loved each and every stage (which isn't always the case). Quite often, the middle stage of a Recycled mani can be a bit "meh" on it's own, but this was a total winner.
The first layer of this mani was a swatch of Nails Inc All Saints Road, a luscious bright blue which I wore because I didn't want to sell my daughter to buy Baker Street lol.
I haven't posted the swatch yet, but it's in the vault, waiting, with a few other Nails Inc buddies.
I've been on a glitter kick recently and a colour clash kick, so I wanted to pick a glitter that would really strike the eye. I settled on Animate from the LA Girl Glitter Addict range (one of my favourite brands of glitter full stop).
Again, this hasn't seen the light of day yet, but it will, probably in some sort of layering post. I really love this combo.
I then decided to stamp over it (just because I could) and white seemed the best colour choice, as nothing else would have been able to compete with the red or blue. I wasn't particularly looking to do tigers, but the pattern seemed dense enough to stand out, whilst also letting the base peek through.
It was also a very unintentional red, white and blue mani - but I loved how they turned into Patriotic Tigers.
The other thing about Recycled Nails is how much FUN it is. It's pure experimentation, and it needn't ruin your mani for the next day.
This is how it should work - wear the base colour, and then the night you are due to take it off, play with it. Add a glitter or a gradient or dots, or something else. If you hate it, you were about to take it off anyway, but if you LOVE IT, you've got another day's wear out of your mani.
Recycled Nails will not be for everyone, but they're a great time saver AND a great way to build your skills, explore your comfort zone and HAVE FUN. Remember girls, polish is the grown up equivalent of a colouring book! It Should Be Fun.
And with that, enjoy xx :) Tomorrow sees a review of where The Crumpet is right now and a look at my numbers.