Captain Janeway Nails!!!

I literally JUST did this manicure!  I am so so so excited and I couldn't wait to show you guys!  I've been thinking about doing a manicure like this for over a year.  Today I was suddenly inspired to just do it.  Here it is:

I have been a Trekkie since I was 16 years old.  I started out by watching all of The Original Series, and then I watched all of Voyager.  I have watched almost all of Deep Space Nine, and I have watched some of The Next Generation.  I don't like Enterprise.  Sorry.  I have also seen all of TOS movies.  So, I love Star Trek.  Out of all the captains, I have to say Captain Janeway is my favorite.  She is such a great feminist role model!  She is so strong, and she is very compassionate.  I just love her.  Okay.  Anyway, here's how I did this:

I started out with a coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, and then applied two coats of Revlon Forbidden on all my nails.  This is a beautiful blood red.  I only did art on my left hand's thumb and ring finger, so after the red was dry, I applied two coats of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly on all my nails, except for the thumb and ring finger of my left hand.  I applied only one coat to the ring finger because I was going to use striping tape.  I did not apply any to the thumb.  

I used gold and silver metallic Sharpie markers to draw on the Star Trek communicator badge on my left thumb.  I drew the gold part first, and then drew the silver part over top.  This was my first time using metallic Sharpies on my nails.  I have seen a lot of other people do this.  It worked really well.  Just make sure your base color is completely dry so you don't put dents in it.  I made the mistake of being impatient, but the top coat smoothed everything out a bit.  Also, be careful when applying top coat.  Mine smudged and then I had to use a small nail art brush dipped in the red to clean up the edges.

So, all about the ring finger:

After my one coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly was all dry, I applied a piece of striping tape half way down the nail and then filled in the lower half (near the tip) with Sinful Colors Black on Black.  When that was dry, I took acrylic paint (I mixed the color.  I used a gray and a teeny bit of navy blue to make the slate gray color) and a tiny detail brush and painted on the shape of the undershirt.  I then took my Sharpies and drew on the communicator badge.  

When the gray acrylic was dry, I mixed up some tan (also acrylic) for Janeway's skin.  I mixed an ivory color with a teeny bit of reddish brown.  I then painted it over top of the gray in the shape of a half moon.  

Lastly, I applied four bronze microbeads on the "collar" for Janeway's rank insignia.  I finished those two nails off with two coats of Dries Instantly.

I had a bit of a catastrophe while applying my top coat.  I accidentally smudged the communicator badge and the acrylic paints with the top coat.  I remained calm.  I just waited for the top coat to dry and then used my teeny nail art brush to paint over the smudges.  You can't really tell anything happened.  JUST KEEP CALM!  YOU CAN SALVAGE ALMOST ANY MANICURE!  Haha! 

I hope you liked this post!  Remember to follow me on Instagram at popstermargie and Snapchat at margie-jane.  You can also like Ten Digit Design on Facebook and follow my Ten Digit Design Pinterest board from my Maggie Victoria profile.

Classic Holiday

I love this manicure because it is just a really classic holiday look.  It is so classy and pretty and is really simple.  The key to a really classic Christmas manicure is gold and red:

Classic Christmas colors

I started out with a coat of Essie Protein Base Coat and then painted two coats of Revlon Forbidden on all my nails but my ring fingers.  I then painted two coats of Nicole Glitter in my Stocking on my ring fingers.  This is a really great glitter polish.  It has no pigments in it.  It is just red and gold glitter held together by clear polish.  The glitter is super concentrated, so it completely covers your nail in just two coats.  (I used the tin foil method to remove the glitter on these nails and it worked like a charm.  You don't need to worry about using glitter if you use that method.)

I finished off the manicure with two coats of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.  I love how this manicure looks!  Red and gold is a great combination for the holidays!

"Supernatural" Nails!

I am really excited about how most of this manicure turned out!  I thought it would look much worse, so this was a pleasant surprise.  So, in my last post I mentioned that I am loving the show "Supernatural" and that I wanted to do a "Supernatural" inspired manicure.  Well, here it is:

"Supernatural" inspired designs

I started out with a coat of Essie Protein Base Coat and then painted two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White on all my nails except for my ring fingernail, which I painted with two coats of Sinful Colors Black on Black.  (On my right hand I painted the white on all my nails.)

This was fun nail art to do because there were so many details that, when I waited for one thing to dry, I could work on something else.  I was never waiting around!  The first thing I did was make the blood spatters on my pointer and pinky on my left hand and on all five nails on my right hand.  I took a straw and would dab polish right from my bottle's brush onto the end and then blow through it with it positioned a couple inches above my nail.  I went over some nails a few times until I got the effect I wanted.  I bought a new blood-red polish that was thin enough to blow on to my nails.  I got Revlon Forbidden.

right thumb nail blood spatters

After I had done that and done a bit of cleanup, I painted a large silver (Sally Hansen Celeb City) circle with a small, flat nail art brush onto my ring fingernail.  I had meant to make the outside ring gold, but I forgot.  So, after the silver ring was dry, I took a large dotting tool dipped in Sally Hansen Golden-I and filled in the edges in with gold and left the center silver.  I then took a small nail art bush and some black acrylic paint and painted the small circle around the silver part and put a small dot in the center of the silver circle.  This is supposed to be the base of a bullet casing.  When the gold was dry, I took a toothpick dipped in the acrylic paint and stippled on the words "45 COLT" on the gold part of the circle.  

"The Colt" bullet casing base

I finally got around to buying some acrylic paint and I DO NOT regret it!  I got mine for $.50 each from Walmart!  (The brand is Apple Barrel.)  Lots of nail art people have said that it is so much easier to work with than nail polish and they are 100% correct!  It is easier to use because it isn't as sticky, so it glides on easily;  it washes off with water, so if you mess up you can wipe it right off and start again; it is very opaque; and it dries really fast.  I would definitely recommend anybody getting it for details and such!

I painted on the "Supernatural" star symbol on my middle finger with a small nail art brush.  I used black acrylic paint to do this.  I messed it up a bit.  I am not that happy with the final look of it either, but I was able to clean up the edges of it and add the white spaces inside the star with some white acrylic paint.  

"Supernatural" insignia

The last bit of nail art I did was the license plate on my thumb.  I first painted some yellow and blue (yellow--Sinful Colors Unicorn; blue--Revlon Dreamer) over the white base to create something that somewhat resembles the background of Dean's Kansas license plate.  When that was mostly dry I added a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly to make a smooth, dry base for the rest of the art.  I then used a flat nail art brush dipped in my black acrylic paint to make the border of the license plate.  Then I took a toothpick dipped in the same acrylic paint to write on "Kansas" and the license plate number (KAZ 2Y5.)  

Dean's Kansas license plate

I finished off everything with two coats of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.

Guys, the best thing you can do with nail art is not be afraid to experiment and mess up a little!  It is okay to make a mess!  And I have discovered that you can usually save a ruined bit of art in one way or another.  I never take off all the art from a nail because I hate starting over.  I just salvage what is messed up.  Experiment!  And even if you are left with a messy nail, people do not notice.  The overall nail art is what people see!  Have fun with it!