A really awesome manicure and then the one I actually wore.

I was sitting around a few weeks ago, trying to think of a good fall manicure to do. After the pumpkins I wanted to try something else artsy so I started looking up other ideas online. I didn't know what I wanted though. I finally settled on leaves of some sort because hey, what says Autumn more than the changing leaves on the trees?

And then I thought...well why can't I just use leaves? I totally went there.




I spent a weekend watching the ground everywhere I walked, looking for interesting ones that might look neat on a nail. I gathered a bunch, stuck 'em in a book to flatten 'em out for a week, then went for it. I admit I didn't think it all the way through because I rarely ever do.

There were several problems. Some of them had dried out too much to the point where when I tried to cut them to size they just fell apart. Others were far too thick and springy so wouldn't form to my nails. The rest of them worked perfectly. Go fig.

I got to my third nail, which was one of the problem children, and almost gave up. I decided to keep going and the next one was easy peasy. The fifth one was a bear. As I was trying to get it to size and stay in place, I noticed others that I thought were easy and done starting to peel off. I had this vision right then of me getting into the shower the next day before work and all of them just falling off.

So yeah, I gave up. And they came off so easily that I'm pretty sure that vision was prophetic. But don't worry, I took a few pics.

I thought it looked pretty awesome. All I used was clear coat. Maybe, if I ever try it again, I'll use nail glue or something. They really just wouldn't stay. Sad sad.

After that I was disappointed, sure, so I grabbed the first thing near me that was bright and fun. Turned out to be JulieG's Holiday Frosted Gumdrops. I hadn't worn the originals yet but Dana raved about them so I decided to give it a go. And just like she did, I used them all.

T to P: Sleigh Ride, Silver Bells, Ho Ho Ho, Sugarplum Fairy, Gift of Gold

P to T: Silver Bells, Ho Ho Ho, Sleigh Ride, Mistletoe, Sugarplum Fairy

They go on well, sort of thin (especially the silver) so I used two coats. They dry pretty quickly, too, faster than the OPI Liquid Sand I tried. And they're not a horrible texture either, prickly at first and then they smooth out after only a day as Dana mentioned in her post about the first set. They're very bright and sparkly, I like them a lot so far.

Jess