anyway, today I had a bit of fun with my nails. I had actually done this before, but used a topcoat on top which caused the colours to run an look super ugly! I have seen a lot about the Ciate Caviar Manicure kits that have recently gone on sale, and I was excited but also kindof annoyed about it. The pricetag for the kits, (which is the princely sum of £18!) is a bit ridiculous in my humble opinion. I was excited because it's a relatively new turn for nail art (though i'm sure quite a few people have tried this before, myself included) but the kits include a bottle of polish, a bottle of microbeads (or 'caviar pearls' as I think they have dubbed them) a funnel and a plastic tray.
I think it's expensive for what it is. I have a large number of different colours of microbeads that I bought ages ago to make a blinged out iphone case.
I have 14 different colours of beads, and together they cost less than a Ciate kit! So here is a quick DIY tutorial on how to get the look, without breaking the bank!
Nail polish. I used Barry M nail paint in Peach Melba, but you can use any colour you fancy!
Microbeads. mine are Micro Beedz by Art Accentz, which I got from a shop called Crafty Destination in Southampton. They are by far the cheapest I have found, at £1 a pot or £4.99 for a pack of six different colours. They have a website, which you can find here. I also mixed the colours you see above in the small pot on the left. This gives a more dimensional look, but you could just use one colour.
Some sort of scoop. The one I used is from a pack of sweets from topshop, but a teaspoon will do fine!
A piece of paper, or a paper plate. I folded the edges of the paper to make a kind of tray so I could save any stray beads that didn't stick to the nail.
A topcoat. This is optional, but I used Seche Vite to actually stick the beads down, because it can stand a thick coat and dries quickly, though you could just use your coloured polish if you wish.
Right, the first thing ou need to do is paint your nails. I just wanted to do one accent nail on each hand, but you could do all of them. Decide which nail/s you are going to apply the beads to.
Take your seche vite, and apply to one nail. Very quickly, spoon some beads over the nail and tap them down. You will want to have the containers already open and the spoon at hand to do this! Work over your paper tray or plate.
Continue until all of your nails are done! its really that simple. Then you can crease your paper tray or plate in the middle, and use it to pour the remaining beads back into the pot. This look isnt very hard wearing, but should last a few days if you're careful with it!
would anybody be interested in seeing a tutorial for how i made my phone case?
enjoy!
