My daughter was very excited to help her dad make some blueberry jello yesterday morning. They decided to add a layer of red currents to the top of the bowl before placing it in the fridge. I personally find blue food a little unsettling, but I was pleasantly surprised when the mold was released. Onto the plate jiggled this intense cyan jello that reminded me of beach shores in its ocean-like quality. All of a sudden I found myself in vacation mode. I knew I had to go put on some blue polish right away, especially with it getting closer to the end of summer. After all, doesn’t everyone match their nails to their dessert?
I decided on Hedy’s Ma.Nish.Ma in Bolts of Blue (a bright, matte neon-blue). I applied two coats and touched up a few fingers with a third to even out some bald spots. Since it was a matte it allowed me to quickly re-dab without any streak lines. This formula was very forgiving and fast-drying. I finished with a matte topcoat, NYC Matte Me Crazy.
Since I am usually a skin-tone polish wearing gal (think of mannequin hands), this was a bit of a change for me. It sure was bright and eye-catching! It’s astonishing that I liked it so much because it really stands out against my wardrobe which is generally neutral as well. I loved the feel of the polish on my nails. This is the only matte in my collection so far, but certainly not for long.
REVIVAL: In a previous masking post (Shredded Accent Nail Art with Wet ‘n Wild Chrome “Steel the Spotlight”), Joyluscious had used Scotch tape to help achieve her look. So I went for it too (my first attempt at masking).
Well what do you know, we must be the only household in America without transparent tape in stock. Deciding not to make a special trip to the store just for said item, I decided to raid my medicine cabinet instead and came up with these square rounded-corner bandages. I began by cutting them into even pieces (four per bandage). I placed the curved edge towards my nail tip about halfway in length on each finger and gave it a layer of Out The Door, a shiny topcoat polish (suggestion: make sure all the edges on the actual nail are adhered before painting and careful with repeatedly lifting the bandages as they will eventually become distorted). I pulled them off immediately and was quite impressed with how fast the whole process took compared to my usual method of freehanding a french tip.
I had also been inspired by Adele’s nails at this year’s Grammys after a fellow mom had suggested the “paint under the nails” look to me. In true ode to the blue jello, I chose OPI’s Rock It to represent the red currents. Although it doesn’t look very bright in the picture below, it did give a nice shimmery-ness in direct sunlight. It was a bit of a mess after I finished painting, but nothing a shower couldn’t take care of (suggestion: don’t try this look just before you have to leave the house).
All of a sudden I have an admiration for blue food like never before. Here’s to enjoying the last few weeks of summer—before all the fun, bright nail polishes go into hibernation.
—ManHands
