Thursday, October 6, 2011

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Violet Nails

I think I jinxed myself with this manicure. When I decided to do this 31 Day Nail Art Challenge, I started thinking about appropriate designs for each theme. Every time I thought about the Violet challenge, all I could think of was "Violet, you're turning violet, Violet!" from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. And so what happened here seems kind of like fate. I jinxed myself...

So instead of doing a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory manicure, which would be awesome but is not exactly a Halloween design, I did Buffy! And why did I choose Buffy for violet nails? Because Wet 'n Wild has an amazing purpley color named "Buffy the Violet Slayer." It seems like a match made in heaven. In fact, it turned into a match made in the Hellmouth.

So here is a swatch of two coats of Buffy the Violet Slayer. It's really pretty, and has an awesome shimmer to it.

I started by making Miss Summers on my ring finger. I will let you know now, that making a portrait of someone, and actually trying to make that portrait recognizable as someone, is really hard. I am not yet skilled enough to do this well, but I will not let that stop me, I know I will get better with practice.

I used the cover of one of my Buffy DVDs as a model of Buffy. And as you can see, I also put the 'B' from the Buffy logo on my middle finger. I really think that B came out well!

And then THIS happened. AAAAARG! It makes me mad enough to want to stake someone! Sh*t, sh%t, sh$t!! I put one coat of Seche Vite topcoat on these and the purple of the nail polish base totally bled through the layers of acrylic paint. WTF?!?!? "Buffy, you're turning violet, Buffy!"

Sigh, here's the culprit: Buffy the Violet Slayer. Guaranteed to turn your nail art into a demon with skin problems.

I wanted to see if maybe it was Seche Vite's fault, so on my right hand I painted "grr arg" (the sound of the Mutant Enemy logo), and a white cross (one of Buffy's weapons/talismans). I tried using Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat instead...

Nope, same problem. I am having a violent reaction to this violet reaction.

The polishes used in this fail manicure: Wet 'n Wild Buffy the Violet Slayer, Essie All In One Basecoat, Seche Vite topcoat, and Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

Lesson learned: this Wet 'n Wild shade is pretty, but does not play nice with nail art. Sigh...

Tomorrow: black and white nails. I promise that the black and white manicure will make up for this train wreck. 

20 comments:

  1. How strange that the color went through like that! Your works looks beautiful as always, though, and I love the Mutant Enemy nail :D

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  2. I'm...I'm...will you come do my nails!?! I am the ultimate Buffy fan! Not just the polish...the show, the characters. This is just...TOPS!

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  3. That sucks that it messed up it was pretty awesome! Did you put a top coat on before you started the nail art or just after? I have had that happen before and it makes me so mad.

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  4. Sarah, I know. I somehow believe that I made it do that, just by thinking of the line from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Self fulfilling prophesy? Like Buffy needs any more prophesies, LOL!

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  5. Ah ha, I can see by your picture that you are a HUGE Buffy/Whedon fan, destany. That's Dr. Horrible, isn't it? :) If you are in Sonoma County for any reason, I would be happy to do you nails. :)

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  6. Oh wow, I am so sorry this happened to you too. What kind of polish were you using, Amber? SOOO frustrating! I will have to do an experiment by applying a topcoat over this shade, and then painting nail art to see if it still ruins the art. Thanks for the tip!

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  7. Yes, it's Dr. Horrible! This mani truly is amazing!

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  8. Thank you so much, destany. I really appreciate that. :)

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  9. LOL!"Buffy, you're turning violet Buffy!" Well, it looked fabulous before it got smeared :)

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  10. Thanks Amanda! Yeah, I probably would have cried if I hadn't taken any pictures before I top coated. :)

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  11. :-) Thanks SheerBeauty! Buffy RULES.

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  12. I've had this happen with other shades from Wet n' Wild's Fast Dry collection... I decided to stop using them for nail art because after all that time on a beautiful set of nails the last thing you need is anything ruining them!

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  13. I still think it is AWESOME!

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  14. Thanks for the tip, Nev. I will be careful about using WnW Fast Dry polishes.

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  15. Thanks Amy! :) They are kind of rad.

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  16. Hi! I've experienced this with Seche Vite but fortunately, it doesn't happen anymore when I started using Sally Hansen top coats. Or perhaps it is the polish's fault as you mentioned.

    I can relate with how you feel. It's so frustrating to have worked so hard on a design just to be ruined by a top coat.

    BTW, love your work. ;)

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  17. Thank you Rins! I have a new top coat from Cult Nails being shipped to me now. I will try it to see if I get the same bleed problem. Thanks for your kind words!

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  18. I used to love that show, you did an excellent job on her face and everything. :)

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  19. Thanks Sandra! It really was a great show.

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