For my first mani I thought I would combine two of the biggest trends in the nail art world right now; Chrome and Nude.

I know everyone has been using the mirror chrome powder lately, but I tried it and didn't really get on with it that well. I'm not sure if different brands would maybe work better but I tried it on a black polish with a gel topcoat (as recommended) and it just didn't give the all over coverage I was hoping for. So for that reason I went back to the old tried and tested classic, obviously the effect is less mirror and more sand blasted, but with this design I don't think it makes much difference.

Another benefit to using a chrome polish rather than powder is time and mess. Not that I mind being covered in chrome glitter on a Friday night but it's not ideal for a Monday morning meeting.

INGREDIENTS. 

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Lychee 

Essie No Place Like Chrome 

Snail Vinyls Right Angle Stencil 

CND Vinylux Weekly Top Coat 

EQUIPMENT. 

Tweezers

RECIPE.  30-45 mins (excluding drying time)

So for these nails, because I am using vinyls and a gel polish, drying time is something to consider. For that reason I would recommend you take the same approach I did, paint the base colour (Lychee) on the day before. The reason I used the Lychee on the base is because gel polishes do not work so well with vinyls as they are a little thick.

1- Paint two coats of Lychee on all nails or enough to give a solid colour. Because of the natural tone of this polish and because I am lazy I didn't bother with a base coat.

2 - Once fully dry, peel and remove vinyl stencils and place on the nails in the patterns you like. I place the full stencil on my thumb, middle and pinky finger. On the other two I use the sections that come out of the stencil and are left over to add detail...waste not want not.

To be honest this happened sort of by accident on one of the fingers as when I pulled the stencil from the sheet the whole lot came with. So I stuck some of it on of nail, pulled of the extra bits I didn't want, and then used the actual stencil on the other nail. You could probably use this method to get double the use out of all stencils, its a bit fiddly but far more economical so why not.

3 - Once you have all your stencils in place, fully stuck down, paint one coat of No Place Like Chrome over the whole nail. I like to have one hand fully stuck and do it all in one go to reduce risk of smudging, but even better if you have the patience to do both!

4 - After painting each nail, remove the stencil using the tweezers (again smudge protection) as quickly as possible. This will give you a much crisper line.

5 - Once all the nails are done, touch up any areas needed with a small brush. Sometimes vinyls can remove the base colour a little, but the drier the base colour is the less likely this is to happen.

6 - When you are happy with the design, apply the top coat and seal the edges.

PROS.

What I love about this mani is how versatile it is, I wore it for a full week which is pretty rare for me but it matches pretty much everything and works in all contexts. It's a little less extreme than a full mirror effect but you can still feel part of the trend.

It was also quite nice to spread it out over two days, with the base colour only first then the full mani. If you had to be super serious on day one, you can't get more conservative than a neutral solid colour and the hi shine finish gave it an even more professional boost. Then adding more to the mani to freshen it up meant I didn't change my nails as soon as I probably would have if I had done it all on day one. Plus it saves all important time!

CONS. 

The only down side I would say is vinyls can be a little fiddly especially on hand two. Sticking them on particularly, taking them off is pretty straight forward but again when base colour is removed it can be a little annoying. If anyone has any tips on how to avoid this problem please do share it below!

Anyway I hope you enjoyed my first ever nail art post, hopefully I will see you again soon!