Anyway, yesterday she posted a new tutorial for this really cute colored checkers manicure she did a few days ago. I looked at it and thought - hmm... that doesn't look hard. I can do it! No problem! So I tried...
What can I say... easy - is NOT the word for it... It is SO hard to keep those lines straight. Well, maybe if you're already experienced with the tape mani, then it's a piece of cake for you. But I have to say it was a long and frustrating fight, and with each new cube I removed the tape (immediately after applying the polish, like Sophie said) and found new bays and lagoons of one color into the other...
This is what I managed to come up with:
So I am not happy at all. I will however keep the little color map I made for this, and will give it another try sometimes!
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| My color map |
While at it however, I (kinda) swatched the polish I used: a couple of my Bootie-Babe nail polish. From right to left - Pinky and ring is Blue Baboo,middle finger is Mean Tangerine, index is Dreamy Greenie and thumb is Slinky Pinky. (by the way, for the mani I later replaced the ring base to Essie's Blanc).
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| Artificial light |
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| Sun light, indirect |
Now here's the real scoop: all colors in this swatch except the orange are ONE coat! Yes my friends. 1 coat only and no top coat!
Those milky colors are simply gorgeous! They are smooth, very opaque, not bubbly, not runny, not sticky... simply pure perfection.
The orange is a neon color, and as such - it is much sheerer. Basically it requires some white under it I think. In this picture there are 4 coats of it, and even in 4 coats the nail line is not completely hidden. But then again - it's a neon.
Drying time for all of them was very very fast and having this creamy formula was a big plus on the removing department as well. this series has some real awesome colors. I haven't checked them all yet, but I believe the most of them would be one coaters.
In fact, as hard as I tried I couldn't find anything wrong with them - except... and unfortunately it's a HUGE except - their brush is super tiny. Well, not exactly the brush itself but the holder for it. In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the picture of those bottles:
The height of those boxes is 5 or 6cm (that would be about 2 inches maybe for you American beauties) and you can see how "large" this cap is... If you have rather long nails, it's almost impossible to use! It keep slipping and rolling and it was SO annoying...
Now here's what's even more annoying: I wrote to those Bootie Babe's company and said how perfect I think their polish is. But that the brush is a serious problem. I then pointed out that I saw their future metallic collection and saw that they improved the caps drastically, so I suggested that they will let those who bought the first series, purchase a set of the newly designed caps, and that they will add those newly designed caps to future sales of this series.
I got this reply:
Hi Jin, thanks for contacting us -
It's funny you mentioned this issue. Check our our facebook page to see the new bottles:
http://facebook.com/bootiebabe
enjoy!
I don't know, maybe I am just being silly, but personally I think that replying without even reading the entire mail is... to not be blunt i'll say "un kind".
What do you think?
And most important - what are your tips and tricks when working on tape mani's? :-)
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8 comments :
I think the checkers are adorable! The reply letter is annoying, but it's very common for companies to have generic replies which they send to everyone. I hate that :(
I like you checkers!
I'm not a pro with tape manis, but the biggest help for me is to put down a coat of SV before you tape. If you don't follow her already, Chloe's Nails (http://chloesnails.blogspot.de/2010/12/checkers-anyone.html). She is a complete genius with tape manis and I adore her writing style. Anything I know, I learned from her. With the tape mani I did yesterday, I painted my base color, did a layer of SV, taped off what I wanted to paint, and then slowly peeled the tape off as soon as I was done. The SV really evens everything out and prevents the polish from seeping under the tape because the tape can smoothly adhere to the nail. The link I gave you above is directly to her checkered nails tutorial. I tried the checkered nails once about a year ago and I was so traumatized, I haven't tried them again. Yours look great! And maybe it's just the picture, but they don't look like you had any imperfections or issues with the tape. :)
Oh, and I would be seriously annoyed by that response to your e-mail. Perhaps you should write again and point out that if they had read your WHOLE message, they could have given you a better response. Customer service my patootie!
First - thanks for the tip and the link!!! I will check them both!
The mani itself looks ok just in the picture LOL Maybe it's the angle or something. Trust me - there's not even one completely straight line in there! ;-)
And the customer service? yeah, I think patootie is a good word. LOL
I wrote back saying that replying without even reading is not kind.
I never heard back again... Oh well...
Thanks!!!
yup, I hate that too :-(
:-D Thank you!
The checkers are cute! Gosh, sorry about the generic response you got. It sucks when companies don't take the time to read an email thoroughly. ><
~ Yun
When I do scotch tape manis, I do my base color the night before. If I do it the day of I'm always worried of denting or pulling up polish. When I'm ready to go I use clear tape and stick it once to my palm. Then I lay it down and press down on any air bubbles that may remain. I layer on a coat of polish and slowly remove the tape to prevent seeping under, as removing quickly can do.
Good luck! I love this color combo :)
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