V-Day d.i.y. & other stuff - Sweetheart Nail (attempt)

2.12.13

Doing a quick c's the d.i.y. this week in honor of V-day coming up!

I noticed this via Fab Fatale's V-day post last year and I've been dyinggg to try this out. Luckily being the nail polish addict I am, I had all of the colors for this particular DIY.

Seeing this on Fab Fatale's blog really stirred up some nostalgic memories...basically, I miss receiving those Valentine's goodies in elementary school where often times "Valentine's" were merely tokens given with no strings attached as an offering of friendship. Forget the complicated courtships and trying to define talking vs. dating vs. hooking up; I want to go back to this time where things were easy and "sweethearts" were just those boxes of pastel, chalky candies that were the envy of everyone...

...and so finally, I busted out my pastels and took a try at one of Fab Fatale's Monday Mani's.

What you'll need:

• Nail polish (base coat; preferably pastels in pink, yellow, peach, green, blue & purple; matte top coat; red for the letters!)
• Nail art brush, skinny brush, striper color or nail art pen
• Nail polish remover
• Cotton balls/swabs
• Nail clipper
• Nail file/buffer
• Cuticle oil
• Hand cream/lotion

So, all you really need is the nail polish. I used the following for the colors:

• Base coat - Butter London Nail Foundation (nude colored base coat)
• Pink - Essie, #472
• Yellow - Revlon, Lemon Meringue (scented! YUM!)
• Peach - I omitted this one because I just haven't found the right color yet >.< I've been eyeing Butter London's Spring 2013 color - Kerfuffle via Beautezine's swatches; in fact this entire collection would be so appropriate for this mani
• Green - Revlon, Minted
• Blue - Revlon, Dreamer
• Purple - Essie, Lilicism
• Matte top coat - Butter London, Matte Finish
• Red - Rite Stripe, Red

I also added other items to the materials list just because it is part of my routine. First part of the prep is to clean nails using the nail polish remover; I think doing this even if your nails weren't painted previously is also good to do. Clip nails to desired length and file appropriately (Fab Fatale explains that she cut her nails short for a more "soft" and "feminine" look). Use the buffer to remove excess nail residual from filing. Now time to add some color! After adding a couple of coats, top your colored nails with the matte top coat. Let dry and prep for writing your words! Fab Fatale was brilliant in that she used stamps so her words came out perfect. I was going to attempt free-handing but the lack of brushes or pens or the ability to write on such a small canvas left me with just different colored nails today...which my boss noticed. But this doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a try! Use your memory and imagination (or Google) and take your striper, nail art brush/pen and write whatever creative phrases come to mind! Take a look at P.S. I Made This's yummy take on the sweethearts for more phrases and fun!

My (half) results:

Good luck & here's to a "sweet" V-day!

If anything check out this cute video...too bad we all couldn't find love this way :)

Carpe d.i.y.!

xoxo

~c