Nails - Polka Dots!

Yesterday, while playing games, a few of us had a nail interlude. Translation, while others were learning games, four of us decided to do our nails. When my friend Pam started using a tooth pick to make polka dots on her nails I said "Oh wait, I have a tool for that." I immediately pulled out my dotting tool and she proceeded to experiment with the new tool.

My hands were too shaky yesterday to do my own dots so Pam did them for me. Here's the interesting part, for her dots, Pam chose a China Glaze "Secret Peri-wink-le" over Cover Girl Outlast "Violet".

Now, I have a few problems with China Glaze. While they have some of the best colors out there, vibrant and seasonal offerings that are often very hard to resist, the nail polish is often too thin or too thick. Without fail, EVERY time I paint my nails with just China Glaze colors, they are chipped and need a re-do by the next day. So, aside from a few exceptions, I only use China Glaze on my toes where, surprisingly, the colors and nail polish shine, I've had China Glaze's "Towel Boy Toy" on my toes for two weeks with nary a chip, go figure.

But I digress, when Pam used the China Glaze on her fingers for the dots it was perfect, it went on smoothly, piling up into nice even little raised dots without her having to heap it onto the tool. It also dried very quickly and didn't run at all when she painted on a top coat. It was so good that we didn't even think about it when we moved onto my nails. I used two Essie colors; "Naughty Nautical" over "Lapis of Luxury".

Essie's nice thick consistency, a feature that often makes it a favorite for longer term wear, was a detractor when using it for dots. We really had to pile the polish onto the tool, and even then it was sticky and reticent to drop onto the nail cleanly. What I learned from this experience is that my awesome vibrant China Glaze nail colors aren't just good for my toes, they're great for nail art and for accents. I'll definitely be trying some of them out on stripes and other decorations in the near future.

A little nail polish comparison

Today we're getting into my newest geekery. Nail polish. For most of my life, I ignored my nails. I bit them and my fingers to the point of injury whenever I was stressed. My first manicure wasn't until age 21 when my stepmother insisted that I, as she likes to say, "get my nails did".  It was fun but I didn't really see the point. It seemed like a waste of time and expense to me. I never had the money, patience, or give a crap for manicures. And honestly between all of the working out and cooking that I do my nails always get messed up by day 2 anyway.

After a bout of particular stress last year that left my fingers bitten down to the quick and wounded, I decided to try painting them myself. Initially, I used light colors, being afraid of getting the dark colors on my skin. Then a friend informed me that if you get the paint on your skin and just take a shower then the paint will come right off. This was liberating, and opened up a whole new selection of colors for me. I discovered that as long as there was polish on my nails I wouldn't bite them or my fingers. Also, I liked the variety of colors. I have always enjoyed bright colors. Though because of self consciousness I tend to wear mostly black, so it's nice to be able to add a splash of color just on your fingers.

I started getting a little obsessive about the polish, changing it whenever it chipped.  It became a thing that I could do while working when I was stuck on a writing or editing problem. A brief interlude away from the work. Concentrating on something simple frees up my mind and opens up new avenues of thought, often giving me a new way to approach a difficult topic.

Then, I realized something awesome. You can do GEEKY NAILS. I mean of course this is obvious and all over the internet but this was a real revelation for me. My first geeky nail foray was for Batman

I know it's a crappy picture but it's hard to take a picture of your own hand with your phone :)

Next, I did the Avengers ( I can't find the photo right now but I know they exist somewhere, I'll upload them when I find them on my hard drive). 

I LOVED doing the Avengers nails, every nail was a different character, I enjoyed the challenge,  the complexity, and the dedication that it took. It gave me another way to wave my geek flag and show how dedicated I was to a thing that I love. 

Now I do my nails every day, I have what my husband and I call "grown up nails" which for someone with tiny nail beds and slow nail growth means that I always have a little bit of nail and I never bite them. I occasionally get my nails done professionally, but only when I need a real cuticle clean up or I've had a stress disaster and I need to get back on track. I also try to do geeky nails whenever there is a movie coming out that I am excited about, or if it's been a while, just for the hell of it. 

Two of this summer's geek nails sets are 

Star trek Into darkness nails.

You can't see very well but there are Starfleet insignias on the thumb and index finger and a hand making the Live long and prosper sign on another finger.


And Iron man 3 nails

Iron man kind of looks like he has a moustache :)

So at this point I figure that this nail thing is probably going to continue and I wanted an outlet to write about it, so expect nail polish comparisons, color reviews, and suggestions for ways to achieve new geeky nail art here in the future.