Ma Cherie Nail Tutorial

I believe that lolita fashion is about the details, and that includes your nails! Sometimes I too fall victim to have chipped polish in lolita, but I try to avoid it. I'm also not a big user of false nails, especially for daily wear. Nail piercing and giant acrylic ice cream cones are fun, but I can't see myself using a calculator or typewriter with them... or even blogging! So I devote special time to designing myself lolita manicures that are using your natural nails only. An hour or two painting your nails while watching television can save you both the hassle and pain of ripped falsies, and save your money from salon visits.

I did a modified, daily-wear version of this ad from Miss Dior Cherie. (As always, click for larger image.)

This tutorial is workable for all big styles of lolita (Gothic, Sweet, and Classic) and could look cute with Himeloli or Himegyaru as well.

You will need:

-Sally Hansen's Sugar Bare or any soft peach or powder pink
-delicate shimmer in peach or gold
-Sally Hansen Hard as Diamonds Topcoat (i really recommend this. No smudges, long lasting... it's the best.)
-Black Lace Creme from Wet 'n' Wild, or any opaque black
-pink or clear crystals, these are Swarovski flatback style

Start with clean fingernails with the appropriate length and filing. The Dior style uses square tips for that bow-tie look but I'm not a fan of those, so mine are just rounded.

1. Coat all nails with soft peach until you get opaque coverage. Let dry.
2. Apply coat of delicate shimmer.
   
3. When dry, carefully paint on French manicure with the black.
   
4. Use your topcoat to apply a layer of clear when the black has dried (black might have a tendency to run if wet).
5. Take out your package of rhinestones. I use the tip of my finger pressed into the top of the crystal, but you can use tweezers if you want. Apply the rhinestone so that it overlaps the black and pink. You can gently nudge it a teeny bit if you need to; not too much though, or else the line will actually fold.
   
6. Add a second layer of topcoat over the entire nail and over the crystal. This seals in the rhinestone and stops it from falling off. After a few weeks you will probably start to notice missing crystals, but by then it is time to do your nails over anyway.
   

Labels: cosmetics

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 12:15 AM