Sunday, August 26, 2012

NOTD: First attempt at a half-moon manicure!

I have been meaning to try a half moon manicure for ages, but just now got around to it! I bought some binder paper hole reinforcers (the little donut stickers) to use as guides. The process itself was really simple; I painted my nails one color like I normally do (with a base coat and top coat), and then after it was completely dry (in this case, a day later once I started seeing some chips on the tips that I wanted to cover up!), I put the stickers on the bottom of my nails and made sure they were pressed tightly against the nail; I used my nails to press them down against the cuticle. Then I painted the tips a contrasting color, and finished the whole thing off with a top coat again.

The colors I used were L'Oreal's Precious Coral for the half moon, and OPI I'm Suzi & I'm A Chocoholic for the tips. It didn't come out perfect; for one, I would make the half moons smaller than I did here, and it was trickier to get a graceful, symmetrical curve than I though it would be. I will post my second attempt soon; it turned out better, but still not perfect.



Have you guys tried this? Did you do it freehand, or did you do use a guide? I don't think I could do this freehand, but I have a really unsteady hand!

I'm really excited to keep playing around with this; I think it's a really simple way to do a more interesting manicure, and it's much more my style than a French manicure. Hopefully after a few more tries I'll perfect my technique!

10 comments:

  1. I've wanted to try the half moon, but never quite got around to it. The trick I have is to take those adhesive rings you use on notebook paper, snip it then use it to create the half moon shape. It's a perfect guide for those of use freehand challenged....like myself.

    I love your first attempt!!!

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    1. Ooh, good trick, I will have to try that next time! If I am feeling really fancy, I'll even get my tweezers out to remove the guides with, instead of pawing at them with the pads of my fingers to avoid messing up my nails!

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  2. Looks great for your first try! Love the colors you used! Definitely fall colors :)

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    1. Thank you! And yes, very fall-ish... Can you tell I am looking forward to autumn?

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  3. This looks great, and I'll be looking forward to see your second attempt too! I've never tried it myself, but I might give it a try next time I'm going to change my manicure.

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    1. I think the second attempt turned out much better; possibly because I planned on doing a half-moon from the beginning and the colors are better suited to each other. And you should definitely give it a try, it was pretty easy!

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  4. I like the colour combo and the idea! Every time I try tape or a sticker or something to make tips, etc. it doesn't turn out too well. I'm not very steady-handed with this sort of thing. I have been looking for guide stickers (I think they were by Nailene) that someone suggested to me. Apparently they are very easy to use.

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    1. If you end up using them, let us know how you like them!

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  5. I love this kind of manicure! x

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