Good afternoon, Dear Reader!
I have more 3D nail art for you, and thought I'd give you more information about it today since I had a few questions in the comments and via email about it yesterday. The really good news is that it turns out that it's like Konad with respect to the learning curve. Yesterday I put on three coats of Lemon Fizz, and this morning I made and added some of the acrylic 3D nail art. I had no failed molds this morning. I cut my pinky out of today's picture - I began the process with the idea of "Hearts and Flowers," but lost interest before I finished the hearts on my pinky. Since I did my ring finger with such enthusiasm that I have the nail art equivalent of a grill on it, I figured it's sufficient.
China Glaze Lemon Fizz Nail Polish, Three Coats, with 3D Nail Art
I think today's attempt looks a lot more intentional than yesterday's, and it is. It also took infinitely less time. As for Lemon Fizz, it's a good pastel yellow, opaque and even in three coats.
The first thing I'll explain is is the mold for the acrylic pieces, and that's best done with a picture. This is from the bottom of the mold, the side facing the table when working.
3D Nail Art Mold, Bottom
I believe it's silicone (or something similar). It's slightly flexible. The way the process works for me, applying the product to natural nails, is that I polish my nails as usual, let them dry, them make the acrylic pieces. After I posted that I was getting the molds, I got some emails from professionals offering me advice, which was a huge help.
My only prior experience with acrylic is getting a professional overlay done once last summer and using Orly's Nail Rescue nail repair in the last few months, so I needed the help. I ordered the recommended brush with the molds, which is way too big for me and essentially useless. I've ended up using two makeup brushes, an eyeshadow one for bigger pieces and an eyeliner one for super tiny ones. The acrylic products I got were the liquid and powder (based upon available colors, since the point was nail art) and remover to clean the brushes and molds.
I looked at the website for the molds for directions, and found their directions hindered rather than helped me. They have the first step as coating the mold with acrylic liquid. The advice I received from a nail pro was to keep the mixture very dry, and the coating step proved to mess that up completely, making the mixture wet and making colors bleed. The pro's advice was correct, and the site's advice was no good.
What I've found works for me is to dip the corner of the brush in the liquid, dip it in the powder until there's a dry ball of acrylic, and then press it into the mold. If it's the first color to go into the mold, I wipe the brush on a paper towel and make sure the color is only in the part of the mold it should be, then repeat for the second color. Once the mold is full, I wait about two minutes, flex it a bit to see if the acrylic piece will come out, and if so, proceed. If not, I wait another minute and check again.
Today I tried painting the back of the piece with acrylic liquid rather than glue to make it adhere to my nail, and it worked. So once I'm sure the piece will come out, I paint it with acrylic liquid, place the piece still in the mold on my nail where I want it to be, and flex the mold to free the piece. Then I pat it down lightly to make it bend to the shape of my nail. I give it a few minutes to not smell like acrylic, then give it a coat of top coat to seal it.
During the two to three minute waiting time for each, I made the other pieces, so it was not a matter of four to five consecutive minutes per piece, the time for making the pieces overlaps. I cranked them all out very quickly by working on them all at once.
As for removal, since they're stuck onto nail polish rather than the nail, they come off quite easily with regular remover, more easily than a glitter manicure. The whole piece just comes off when the polish under it dissolves. The down side is the bits are not reusable, the up side is that since they're acrylic they'll last a long time. I'll have to do a test of how long they'll last soon, maybe on my right hand. Obviously, on acrylic nails they'd last indefinitely, but I don't know how long they would applied to nail polish, so perhaps we should see.
So that's China Glaze Lemon Fizz and what I know thus far about 3D Acrylic Nail Art. I think the potential for the 3D art is great, and what I imagine doing with it is essentially toned-down Asian art, like using it sparingly over gradient manicures or sponge art. I'm not brave enough to use those as a base yet because I repainted the one nail I tried to apply a piece to about three times the first time, so I don't want to get to fancy until I'm sure I know what I'm doing. It just seems like another fun toy, and another different way to play with texture and color in a manicure, so I'm all fired up about it. The fact that is it doable is fantastic!
That's what I have for you for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!
