Thursday 15 January 2015

31DC-D15 - Green Base

Hey y'all!

We're just about halfway through this 31-day challenge, and the fatigue is starting to show on me, but I still feel like I'm accidentally coming up with some cool looking nail art, so on I persevere.  Today's prompt is Green Base, so I grabbed a handful of green polishes in different finishes, and went to work adapting an older technique to suit my purpose.

Green base sponged watercolor nail art with rhinestones and glitter accents.

In addition to the five polishes below, I also needed a small torn bit of cosmetic sponge, a pair of clamping tweezers, and a dappen dish with pure acetone in it.

L-R: elf Green Machine, George Celebration, Barry M Key Lime, Quirk (I Love You) Warts 'n All, ILNP Mutagen
I began with a coat of Green Machine on all nails.  I then dabbed/smudged around a coat of Warts 'n All to my pinky and thumb, which honestly lost a bit of its depth because I didn't realize the hex glitters in it are translucent, so they just get lost in the darker background.  It's a cool polish that I'll want to give another go for nail art soon.  I topped these two nails with a coat of Glitter Food, and then sealed with OTD.


Green base sponged watercolor nail art with rhinestones and glitter accents.

I wanted to try to replicate a vaguely smoky look I have seen a few other bloggers pull off, but with green shades, so I began by dabbing a few spots of Celebration on my middle three nails.  I let that set for a moment, and then used my bit of sponge soaked in acetone to dab out the majority of the polish, leaving behind a smoky ring.  I had to reapply a few times to get the depth I was looking for, but once I was satisfied with that layer, I repeated the technique with Key Lime on all three nails until I got a kind of foggy green watercolor effect. 

Green base sponged watercolor nail art with rhinestones and glitter accents.

To attempt to tie in the outside nails, I also tried the same technique with Mutagen on my thumb and pinky, but the duochrome pigment just didn't react the same way as the creme finishes did (mostly it spread around and planted wherever it wanted).  However, it did add a lot of interesting shimmer around the nails, so it was a happy accident that I liked the finished look.

Green base sponged watercolor nail art with rhinestones and glitter accents.

I topped everything with a coat of SV and added the green rhinestones into the top coat to finish the look.  It's sort of a Green-Lantern-meets-Swamp-Thing manicure at the end of the day, which is kind of cool, though it wasn't the plan. 

For more cool Green Base looks, be sure to check the inlinkz below.




Hope you're all well and warm and safe, and I'll see you tomorrow!