Gelish Mani Sunday | Pearls & Glitter!

Last week I ordered some nail art pearls off Amazon. When I first saw people use them I poo-poo'd them as just being TOO much, but DAMN some of those manicures look so ELEGANT! I used the new nude Gelish color we just got and went to town!

For this Gelish mani I used:

• A base coat of Sheek White on all but the pinky nails
• 3 coats of Skinny Vanilla Latte on all but the pinky nails
• 2 coats of Simple Sheer on the pinky + Skinny Vanilla Latte and Sheek White for the little flowers
• Nail pearls
• Gold striping tape
• Gold square nail stud
• Some gold craft glitter I found on sale at Michaels

This manicure marked a couple of firsts for me:

1. First time scrubbing in glitter
2. First time using the pearls
3. First time using Gelish polish to create nail art (more than polka dots or stripes, anyway)

1. Scrubbing Glitter In

So this was way easier than I had made it out to be. I took one of my nail art brushes, stuck it in the bag full of glitter, and brushed it right on to the nail. It was crazy simple and fast. I actually had way too much glitter on the brush than I needed - a little really does go a long way.

2. Using Nail Pearls

I'd recently read an awesome guest post on Chickette's blog that suggested using the foundation to apply nail studs and 3D art. I tried it out by putting a small dab of foundation on the cured/top-coated nail then placing the pearl on top. The pearl slid around a bit, but once I popped it under the UV light for 2 minutes it stayed put. I'm anxious to see how long it lasts!

3. Gelish Nail Art

Now, my previous attempts at using Gelish polish to actually paint designs on the nail have failed. Horribly. But from what I saw on the internet it was totally do-able. I decided to give it another go today and try painting some really small flowers on the sheer pinky nail. I'd put down my 2 coats of Simple Sheek then began trying to shape the flowers with the Sheek White. The color just bled into an amorphous shape, as I'd previously experienced. I decided to cure a Top-It-Off coat on top of the nail, wiped it clean, then tried applying the Sheek White flowers.

Omg, you guys.

THAT'S WHAT WAS MISSING THIS WHOLE. FRIGGIN. TIME. The polish didn't bleed any more! With Gelish I'm learning a very important rule: When in doubt, Top-It-Off.

One Small Catch

Literally. On my last coat of Top-It-Off on my pinky nail I went too thick and didn't clean it up well. Ever wanted to see what NOT to do with Gelish? Here you go:

This is Gelish's Bane (Isildur ain't got nothin' on this). It's lifted where it cured against the skin, creating a delightfull little rivet in which water will travel into and, eventually, cause the whole thing to lift.

I'm giving that pinky nail until Friday, tops.

Other than that, I'm kinda in love with this manicure.