Gelish Mani Sunday | Hello Kitty

My roommate loves Hello Kitty.

I think she has a Hello Kitty doll for every season of the year, we have a Hello Kitty shopping bag, I believe her wallet is Hello Kitty... about 11 years ago, back in our college days, she got me OBSESSED with a Hello Kitty game for Gameboy Color. So when she said she wanted black and red nails for her upcoming Vegas trip, I decided to give Hello Kitty a try.
Not too shabby, if I do say so myself! I hand-painted the Hello Kitty - first time I've ever hand-painted something quite like that before. I made some mistakes and learned some lessons - for example, that middle finger? With the cute bow and polka dots? I layed down 2 coats of Black Shadow first, then when it came time to add the red, I realized too late that Hot Rod Red is WAY too sheer and would've needed a gazillion coats to achieve opacity over the black. I ended up putting down 2 coats of Arctic Freeze THEN 3 coats of Hot Rod Red on top of that. Below, I'm going to write out the steps as they SHOULD have been, not as I actually did them. -_-

Seven. Coats. Of polish.
I have to say, painting that black outline around the Hello Kitty was the hardest part. I'm sure it gets easier with practice, but MAN that takes a steady hand. All in all the mani took 3 freaking hours, but it was worth it when my roommate told me one of her coworkers thought the painted Hello Kitty was a sticker! ;) It was reeeeally important for me to get the Hello Kitty right. I wanted to make sure she looked like Hello Kitty and not, like, Hellow Catty.
All in all I'm really enjoying hand-painting designs. Hopefully I'll get better with practice!

For the above manicure I did the following:

Thumb Nail:

1. • 2 coats Black Shadow, cure all coats
2. • 1 coat Matte TIO, cure
3. • Wipe tacky layer. Using a nail art brush, paint bow using 1 coat of regular TIO, cure

Index Nail:

1. • 2 coats Hot Rod Red, cure all coats
2. • Wipe tacky layer. Using a nail art brush, paint stripes using 2 coats of Black Shadow, cure all coats
3. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure

Middle Nail:

1. • 3 coats Hot Rod Red, cure all coats
2. • Wipe tacky layer. Using a nail art brush, paint black half moon with Black Shadow and flash cure. Continue painting the bow and polka dots with Black Shadow, flash curing as needed. Cure for full time when complete.
3. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure

Ring Nail:

1. • 3 coats Hot Rod Red, cure all coats
2. • Wipe tacky layer. Using a nail art brush, paint Hello Kitty using Sheek White and Go Girl, flash curing as needed. Cure for full time when complete. Then using black Folk Art acrylic paint, paint the outline and black details. Let fully dry.
3. • Finished with 2 coats of TIO, cure all coats

Pinky Nail:

1. • 2 coats Hot Rod Red, cure all coats
2. • 2 coats Life of the Party, cure all coats
3. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure