Day 11 - Polka Dots

Hello,

Today is the first set of nails from the second group in the challenge: polka dots! I love my dotting tool and do a lot of polka dot manis and pedis, since they are so easy and fast and yet look like they took a lot of work.  For the challenge, though, I wanted to do something different that I've had on my mind: Seche Vite dots.

For this mani, I did a base of

Essie - Coat Azure.  This is my first time using this color and I am SO GLAD I decided to pick this one up.  It is unique in my collection, and kind of looks like blue jeans.  It applies as a perfect one coater, which is nice for this challenge since I'm trying not to use up TOO much nail polish on manis that are only going to last for <24 hours.

Then comes the fun part! I used BasicBeauty's matte top coat on all of my nails, and then... *drumroll*... used a dotting tool to make dots of Seche Vite! It turned out fantastically, little clear 3D bumps on my nail.  I've been touching my nails all day, the texture is just so cool.  (Note: this is not a smart thing to do, as the oils from your hands will make the matte polish look less matte... but I couldn't help it! woops.) I achieved exactly the effect that I was looking for: raindrops! It looks like I have little water droplets sitting on my nails at all times.  I actually took a shower and when I was looking at my nails, I couldn't tell which drop were Seche Vite and which were water!  I suppose some of the manis from this challenge are going to turn out to be duds, but this is another one that I am adding to my repertoire of go-to's when I need something that I know will look awesome.

  Also, a few of the water droplets have little bubbles in them, which makes sense if you know anything about Seche Vite, so maybe next time I'll try this with just a normal clear polish... but it has to be thick for the effect.  And they aren't too noticeable, in case you want to try this with Seche Vite.

As you might be able to imagine, this was very tricky to get a picture of.  Plus, unfortunately, this mani got a little bit "wrinkled" with sheet marks, since I went to bed too quickly after doing them... and the bubbles look a little deflated... but I *think* that is just since I didn't let it fully dry before sleeping? I will have to try this again, to see if it is because of the technique (I hope not!) or because of my not letting it dry.  It looked more... raindroppy... last night.  Just a little disclaimer.

Pics:

Indirect sunlight:

Do you like it? Can you imagine what it looked like before I messed it up, lol? Also, any suggestions: do you think I should try it again with a different thick clear coat?

Ta ta for now,

Maria