Christmas Flowers

For Days 7 and 8 of the Twelve Days of Christmas manicures, inspiration came from the potted plants that are used as decoration around this Holiday time: a poinsettia!

image from thescientistgardener.blogspot.com

For this manicure, I used a matte white nail polish in OPI's Alpine Snow Matte, a matte black polish in Obscurity by OPI, Nailene's Acrylic Strong Top Coat, and a few red and green flowered jewels for the nail design.








First comes the matte white polish. While this lacquer tends to need more than one coat to be completely opaque, since only the tips will be visible at the end, it is only the tips of the nails that will need a second coat of the white polish.







For Step 2, you will need to cut strips of your blue painter's tape (or use French Tip Nail Guides, if you prefer). Lay the strip onto your nail, so it just passes the beginning of where the nail connects to the skin. Make sure to press down on the tape on the side that the black nail polish can fill under. Paint your coat of black polish on the upper part of the nail, and then quickly pull off the blue tape.




The great thing about adding decals of any kind to a french manicure design, is that those decals can hide imperfections in the painting, such as the little dip in my middle finger where the black nail polish oozed under the tape because I didn't make sure the tape was pressed down before I started painting.





With Step 3, you are just adding the first of the three jewels to your nails. First, go one nail at a time and add a drop of a clear polish in the center of where the black polish meets the white polish, and then drop your jewel into the clear polish while the polish is still wet. Press down on the jewel to make sure it is secure.








With Step 4, you are just completing the row of jewels that will go across each nail. Start on each finger (again, one at a time), by putting a drop of the clear lacquer you are using to adhere your gems to your nails on one side of the centered jewel. Drop the new gemstone into the clear lacquer and press down to secure the jewel. Repeat this process on the opposite side of the middle jewel, so that there will be a total of three jewels/gemstones on each nail in alternating colors.






Step 5 is one of the most important steps when using jewels on nails - adding a top coat. If you want your jewels to stay on your nails for more than a few hours, you are going to need to do more than one coat of Top Coat.




And that is the finished design! This was a fun little festive look because the red and green jewels really pop out against the black and white background. Would you try this design?


On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me
seven swans a swimming
six geese a laying
FIVE GOLDEN RINGS
four calling birds
three french hens
two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
eight maids a milking
seven swans a swimming
six geese a laying
FIVE GOLDEN RINGS
four calling birds
three french hens
two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.