cristimes

Friday, September 9, 2011

Tomato Festival Nails

I did these tomato nails to wear to the 15th Annual Kendall Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival! I am so excited because this is the first time in 6 years that I will be able to attend the festival, but not work at it as well. Yipee! The festival is an amazing celebration of tomato inspired dishes, wine, entertainment, and fun! I have a special sun dress picked out to wear with brown hues, so I wanted to do tomato nails, but something subtle to match my dress.

I only did the tomato pattern on the ring fingers of each hand. The design is simple and whimsical at the same time. I used a method that I see Leslie of Nail Polish Art Addiction use often, in which she paints with black first, then adds the color. That way you don't have to painstakingly outline each piece.

I got carried away while working on this nail and forgot to take pictures at each step, but you can see that one of the tomatoes does not have any red on it yet. I started with black shapes and built up from there.

Here's the base color without any tomatoes on it. I used Revlon 916 Chocolate Truffle. This is two coats topped with one coat of Seche Vite. The tomato designs were painted on using acrylic paints and a teeny tiny nail brush.

Thanks for checking this out, I will do better at getting step-by-step pictures on my next tutorial. I can't wait to pig out on tomatoes tomorrow. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

How much would you spend on a bottle of polish?

After reading many blogs and seeing lots of photos of the gorgeous (and legendary) China Glaze OMG Collection of holographic nail polishes, I bit the bullet and got one on eBay. I am kind of embarrassed to say that I spent $23 for this bottle of polish. Anyone who was smart enough to stockpile China Glaze OMG Collection polishes back in 2008 can make quite a few bucks on eBay today. They originally sold for like 8 dollars, right? Sigh... what's a girl to do? But I am SO happy that I bought this polish.

Two coats of China Glaze LOL (a purple holo) under regular lamp light. I did these nails last night and could not WAIT for the sun to rise to see their magic holo effect.

Tadaaaa! Here is China Glaze LOL in the sunlight. I added a few little filigree scrolls to some nails using a silver acrylic paint. I used Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat to seal them and protect them. I am already seeing a little bit of wear on nail tips after less than a day. Oh well, it's so gorgeous, I don't care!

And here is a quick video, because I really wanted you to see the way the holographic polish looks. The formula is a little weird (can apply with little bald spots), but coats well in 2 coats.

So how much have you ever spent on a bottle of polish? Would you ever pay a lot of money for a shade that has been discontinued (like the OMG Collection)? Are there certain brands you love but just don't buy because they are way too expensive (ahem, Butter London, cough)? I have heard about a polish called Unicorn Puke by Cult Nails that sounds amazing, but who knows how hard it will be to find. And the upcoming Muppets Collection by OPI has me considering taking out a loan so I can get every shade.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Welcome to Sonoma Nail Art!

I am happy to start sharing my nail art with you! Eventually, I hope to do a few tutorials on my designs. In the mean time, check out some of my favorite past nail designs. Please feel free to comment with any suggestions for designs you would like to see, or any questions about the products and tools I use. I am an amateur, so I just do this for fun. Thanks for checking me out!