CND Shellac Christmas Nail Art - #9 Turquoise Trinkets

Yup. Turquoise was most definitely the colour of choice this month. Much like Kate's manicure here, Stacey was completely taken with the green sparkle and opted for the same glitter but a slightly different design for her Christmas nails.

The lace effect on Stacey's ring fingers and thumbs (not pictured) were a design that I spotted on Lindsey's instagram (@wondrouslypolished) - you can check out her full blog post on her design, plus the more intricate thumb detail she did, here.

photo from @wondrouslypolished on instagram

To recreate this in CND Shellac, I painted all nails with one coat of Hotski to Tchotchke. I then added another two coats to the ring finger and thumb (it's just slightly too sheer in only two coats I think) and added two coats of a turquoise glitter paste to all other fingers. The turquoise glitter paste was made up of Mother of Pearl and Gosh Nail Glitter in 09 Turquoise. I then added top coat to all fingers and cured.

Now for the important bit, to create the lace pattern on the ring finger/thumb, do not remove the tacky layer! Using a brush, buff the CND Additive Pigment Effect in Blush Bronze Frost into the tacky layer, completely covering the nail and don't worry if you make a little mess around the cuticles. Then using top coat and a small detailer brush, paint the lace pattern on top. I used a dotting tool to add the dots, but be very careful to not accidentally scratch off the pigment that's stuck to the tacky layer. Cure the top coat pattern and after this final cure, remove the tacky inhibition layer - this will remove all the excess pigment that's not been sealed into the pattern.

Ta dah! What do you think? The additive is actually a lot more rose gold than bronze as pictured, it worked so well with the turquoise. I love this technique and can't wait try out some more pigments in this way. Take a look at www.chickettes.com for some more inspiration, especially her video here - I can't wait to give rainbow polka dots a go...

Disclaimer - I purchased all the products used for this manicure myself, and if you want more info about myself and CND Shellac then check out my disclaimer page here. What's not to like about nail art that actually lasts?!