Once a month, my group of nail ladies all do a mani swap. We get assigned partners and then each partner choose to reproduce a manicure from their partner. It’s a ton of fun because you get a chance to both challenge yourself and sometimes step well outside of your comfort zone. My partner this month was the Queen of square nails @thepolishedperspective. Go check out her manis! She does fantastic hand painting (her one stroke flowers are gorgeous) and has some amazing indie polish swatches. Big surprise, I love her nail shape!
I knew which mani I wanted to recreate but I had a bit of a problem – she uses a ton of texture (which I hate on myself but ironically love on other people) and the mani I wanted to do used a healthy dose of a Zoya Pixie Dust polish loaded with glittery-ness. The only Pixie Dust I have is a purple called Carter and it really wasn’t what I wanted to go with.
Like any sane nail artist, I made the trek to Ulta to check out their clearance (because they’ve been clearing out Pixie Dust) – I was in luck, they had a mauve/lilac toned Arlo in stock.
I had my texture, but it was a very different color, so I changed up the colors in my mani accordingly, while trying to stay true to the original.
I painted Zoya – Arlo on my index and pinky nails and then painted OPI – My Vampire is Buff on my middle and ring finger. I coated the cream color with top coat and allowed it to dry completely.
I stamped over the cream base with Sinful Shine – In the Limelight. I then made roundish dollops of Lucky Lacquer – Alpine Phlox for the base of my roses. Using my narrow detail brush, I outlined the roses and added details to the center with China Glaze – When Stars Collide. Lastly, I added a little bit of Arlo to the roses to give them sparkle.
Here is how the manis we each chose compared to one another:
POLISHES:
- Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition – Green Tea + Bamboo Strength
- Zoya – Arlo
- OPI – My Vampire is Buff
- Sinful Shine – In the Limelight
- China Glaze – When Stars Collide
- Seche Vite – Dry Fast Top Coat
- Cici & Sisi – 03
I hope I did justice to her gorgeous mani – I love her recreation of my gray/rose mani. She did the wise thing and stamped the swirly pattern instead of free-handing it lol!
