Today I have day 21 of Chalkboard Nails 31 Day Challenge 2014 nails, which are inspired by the color Graphite by LVX. It may appear as if I soley painted my nails with polish for this prompt, but this is NOT a textured polish - details to follow.
LVX Graphite is stunning metallic gray perfectly named after the mineral it resembles. Below I have several photos of this beauty before the nail art (?) happens.
Photos show three thin coats of graphite without topcoat, although you could get away with two normal (to thick) coats.
Now onto my nail art story. Originally I wanted to create something along the lines of text across my nails with a pencil at the end writing. Cute: but once the polish was on my nails it was so gorgeous I truly wanted to let it shine all on it's own.
So, I left it on my nails overnight and went to brainstorming again today - so much for me catching up on a day of the #31DC2014 yesterday. I kept thinking, "If only I could make it appear more mineralized." (Yes, I'm aware mineralized is not a word, but mineral-like is not as fun!)
I considered smudging it with my fingers or a cloth to create those unintentional creases that always happen when you think your nails are dry but they're not. I also considered using salt, sugar, or a textured polish underneath a final layer, but feared the texture would be too rough. Then, I came upon my final idea...and it worked! Woot Woot!
I'm so pleased with the end results. I'm also excited to test out texturizing other polishes. I'd love to hear your thoughts/guesses as to what I ended up doing. I'm
also willing to make a tutorial so you can create your own textures,
too! I hope you enjoy these nails as much as I do. They are so simple and elegant!
