Black Lace and Cafe Au Lait

First of all... I hit 100 followers last night!!! Thank you all SO much for encouraging me with your wonderful comments! Just to let you know, I read every single one (even on old posts).

Anywho...
I got this idea from Deniz's pseudo lace nails (who in turn got it from Beautopia's idea here). Unfortunately, I don't have Konad plate m71, so I had to make do with a rose design from plate m65. The lace net is from plate m57 and I used Wet'n'Wild Black Creme for the stamping.



I actually like how it turned out with the roses, but I just don't know how those girls got their lace to look so PERFECT!

I love the look of black lace manicures, but I'm not sure which "version" I like the most. The Sally Hansen Salon Effects one looked nearly perfect, except for that the base color was way too pale for my skin. It would have lasted for week and a half most likely, but I don't usually wear one mani for that long anyway. I've never tried a "real lace" manicure, but I have a feeling I wouldn't have much patience for the texture and lifting of the lace edges. I think this one may be my favorite because you can customize the lace to look how you want it - you could put any Konad flowers you want over the lace net or maybe do some lacy french tips.




The base I used was Cafe Au Lait from the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line. I think this is the closest polish to my skin color that I own, but it's still not perfect. It's a tad too peachy-pink on me. Although it doesn't show in the pictures, it matches the pads of my fingers, but the rest of my hand looks a bit more yellow-brownish (in a not so yucky-color way than it sounds). I have a feeling it would match perfectly to someone whose skin had a tad more pink in it. I just saw a swatch of Knotty from China Glaze Anchor's Away that makes me think it might be a wonderful nude color for me during the summer when I'm slightly tanned.

What is your favorite nude color? Do you have one that perfectly matches your skin? Have you ever tried real lace for a manicure?

Sally Hansen Salon Effects - Laced Up

I was so excited when I found these unexpectedly at Walgreens the other day. This is from the new Salon Effects line my Sally Hansen. Pictured here is Laced Up.



These apply pretty much exactly like Incoco, though I haven't gotten a chance to try Incoco's new Design line yet to compare. My Incoco review and mini-tutorial is here.

What I REALLY like about the Salon Effects vs. Incoco is that each "hand" of stickers comes in its own package. If you have shorter nails like I do, you can use only ONE pack at a time by cutting them in half. Of course, I ended up having to trim a couple strips to the correct nail size, but it's worth the extra effort to get double the number of manicures from each one (especially at $8.50 - $9.99 depending on where you get them)! My mom and I actually got a bunch of designs and split them up so we each had a package of all the designs. Also, I love how readily available they are. I found some at Walmart and some at Walgreens (which had a bigger selection).

They claim to last up to 10 days and I REALLY wanted to test it since I've had Incoco last 11 days for me once, but I was so anxious to try some new transfer foils that I HAD to take them off today. This was day six and they still look wonderful, although I did file some minor tipwear off on day four. I'm guessing these definitely could last for 10 days on some people.



Have you tried any of the "stick-on" nail polish like Incoco or Salon Effects? Do you like them?

Black Lace French Mani

I decided I really like some of the Konad designs I've seen, but I'm not very good at it, so I should practice. Again, inspired by Chloe, I tried to make a similar mani to her Lace Funky French Mani. I loved the Konad design she used, but I don't have that plate, so I had to use a different one. This one is really fun to wear, and I'm definitely going to try more Konad and Scotch tape mani's soon!