Jewels and Lace

I recently attended a friend's wedding, and so my nails had to be dressed accordingly.  And what better theme to have than jewels and lace??

My nails were not literally adorned with jewels and lace though.  I called my art "Jewels and Lace" because I used Emerald Jewel Effects and Silver Lace Texture, both from Dazzle Dry (my current favorite brand).  Their Jewel Effects line features a series of clear lacquer base with jewel-colored glitters, while the Lace Texture line is their version of cracking polish.  Here is my design using Dazzle Dry's Jewel Effects and Lace Texture:

Jewels and Lace nail art

As you can see, the Lace Texture at the bottom part of the nails have very fine cracks.  This is because I chose it to be that way by applying a very thin coat.  Thicker coats produce chunkier and edgier-looking cracks.  Because I was going for a more delicate and formal nail design, I thought a finer texture would look better (and I say it did!).

*If you have texture coats of other brands, I think they also perform the same way.  I've tried a few others like OPI, Nicole by OPI, and The Face Shop, and they all work the same.  I just personally prefer Dazzle Dry because all of their products are vegan :)

So let us now proceed with the tutorial proper!

Materials:

1. Nail Prep
2. Base Coat
3. Top Coat (items 1-3 all from the Dazzle Dry Trinity set)
4. Dark green polish (DD Polar Jade)
5. Green glitter polish (DD Emerald Jewel Effects)
6. Silver or pearly white texture coat (DD Silver Lace Texture)
7. Silver Striping tape
8. Regular sticky tape

Procedure:

After sanitizing nails with nail prep and applying base coat, paint all nails with green polish.  This picture shows 2 coats of DD Polar Jade without top coat yet.

Apply 1-2 coats of glitter polish.  I've applied top coat in this step because the proper way of using DD Lace Texture is to use top coat before and after the application of Lace Texture.

Position regular tape diagonally on the nail and swipe texture coat on the nail.  You may choose to apply it downwards or diagonally to achieve the desired look.  I chose to apply it diagonally.

Gently peel off the tape once the texture coat is dry.

Place silver striping tape to outline the texture coat.  

As usual, apply top coat, and you're done!!

Helpful Tips:

• You may want to apply an extra layer of top coat when using striper tape to reinforce it.
• Be sure that striper tape lays flat on the nail before applying top coat.
• When swiping the texture coat across the nail, keep the hand with the brush steady, and instead turn the nail you're painting slowly.  This helps keep strokes more even.
• Note that I am using Dazzle Dry out of my personal preference, and not because I am endorsing it! Of course, you may use other brands to recreate this look :)