CNTCWC D2: Winter Nature

Hey y'all!

Hope everyone's getting into the Christmas spirit by now.  I'm certainly lagging behind on Christmas cheer, but then I'll be honest; it's never been my favorite holiday.  This nail art challenge is certainly helping me to think Christmas, but I've never been a home decorating type, and I can't remember the last time I had a Christmas tree in the house.  Call me a Scrooge if you will.  It's not that I dislike the holiday, more that I just don't get into it the way most people do.  The dog certainly doesn't seem to care, anyway. :)

So I've decided not to type out "Crumpet's Nail Tarts Christmas Winter Challenge" twice a week for the next month in my post titles, so when you see "CNTCWC" - that's what it means.  Today's theme is Winter Nature.  I had a plan for this look that involved having a lot more time to work than I wound up with.  Unfortunately, the morning I was going to work on this mani, I woke with a start and ended up flapping my hand on poor Isis' head, cracking a nail in the process.  Crisis!  Luckily I had put down base coat, base color, and a matte topcoat the night before, so the nail didn't fly off.  It is definitely damaged but I was able to do some surgery with a teabag and nail glue to save the nail.  Losing this length would've been a calamity for my plans for the rest of this winter nail art challenge!

In the end, I would up with this:

Thankfully this design was able to completely cover any trace of the break in the fluffy snowy tips.  I started with a base color of Rimmel Too Cool To Tango and added some iridescent blue glitters for a snowfall effect.  I then matted the entire nail with OPI Matte Top Coat.

I then wanted to add a large center tree across the middle and ring fingers, which I did with my Kiss white striper, and dabbed that over top of the index and pinky nails to make "icicles", which I texturized by letting them dry a bit and then using a toothpick to carve out the actual spikes.

The tree was looking a bit bland, so I added some silver microbeads in an attempt to mimic frozen pinecones, which always look silvery to me covered in ice.

Finally, I used Sally Hansen White On to paint the tips in a snowdrift-y pattern, and applied white flocking powder to make them fuzzy and soft and more snowy-looking, the way fresh snow just looks like soft powder on the ground.

 

BTW: that middle nail isn't mis-shaped; that's just some excess flocking powder that stuck around on the tip of the nail.  I didn't notice it until the paint was set.  

Colors Used:

Rimmel Too Cool To Tango

Sally Hansen White On

OPI Matte Top Coat

Kiss white striper

silver microbeads

white flocking powder

This look could definitely have used a bit more time and work, but at the end of the day it still captured what I wanted: the view out a window on the morning of fresh snowfall.  I love all the textured details!

Much love,
Ali

Also, make sure to check out all the other great Winter Nature manis today: