Friday, February 6, 2009

Inspiration for a Valentine's Day manicure

Valentine's Day is coming! I don't really celebrate it, but I am still considering doing a Valentine's Day manicure, so I figured I'd share some of my thoughts. It is my personal opinion that a Valentine's Day manicure should be as tacky as humanely possible. Something you'd never consider wearing on a "normal" day is perfectly ok for the 14th of February. Everything else is over the top so why not your nails?

Nail Stamps:
Both the original Konad plates and the different knock-offs have heart and loooooove themed images. I went through my plates and found some examples (click to enlarge).


Original Konad plates m2 & m4

Fauxnad (fake Konad) plate from Hot Topic

Fauxnad plate B01 from the stamping machine I bought from beauties_factories on ebay

Fauxnad plates C01, C04, C07, and C09 from the 10-plate set I bought from beauties_factories on ebay

Nail Sticker
s or gem stones:
I don't own a lot of nail stickers or gem stones, but there are lots of different ones available:


Heart Shaped Flakes:
Several companies have put out polishes with heart shaped flakes: Maybelline has had more than one Valentines collection, Nicole by OPI released a Canadian exclusive collection earlier this year, and OPI has just launched a UK exclusive Valentines collection with heart shaped flakes. While the polishes are cool, it does take quite a lot of fishing to get the hearts on the brush, and they can be difficult to place.


Nicole by OPI Have A Heart, Maybelline Sparkling Kiss & Red Hot Hearts
Your Favorite Red:
Go for the easy option with your favorite red (or pink) or maybe try a red from your untrieds.

Top row: Sally Hansen Honeymoon Red, OPI DS Ruby, China Glaze Cranberry Flame, Nubar Merry Cranberry
Bottom Row: SpaRitual Stiletto, Nubar Malvasia, Eyeko Red Nail Polish, OPI Kangarooby, Sinful Fabulous Red

Happy Valentine's Day!

12 comments:

contests and such said...

I am definitely doing a Valentine mani with one of my Konads. I think the one that has roses covering the full nail. I think a light pink for the base and red for the Konad.

Anonymous said...

I just got one of those Valentine Nicoles! They look so pretty!

Gel-Nails said...

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Today while I was surfing the Internet, I happened to visit this interesting site gel-nails selling really cool glitter gels for nails. I bought 2 shades of glitter nail gel to highlight my nails for a special party. These gels really made my nails look so impressive and trendy and I would love to revisit this site to try out other nail decorating products they are offering at great discounts.


I thought this information might be useful for anyone looking for genuine nail decoration stuff and may not know where to buy them from.

Brooke said...

I have been having the hardest time trying to think of a valentines day mani. I really need to get with it, though.

Jamie D. said...

Fun or romantic? That's the question for me...but I'm thinking maybe a red & white mani, with transposed colors on every other nail. Hearts, of course...but maybe something funky too, since next Friday is "Friday the 13th", you know...

Unknown said...

I have been all over the drug stores trying to find these heart shaped glitter polishes. Where can I find them?

The Asian Girl said...

I found a great heart glitter polish by Love My Nails called Violets are Blue. It has teal and purple hearts suspended in a glitter polish; great for those (such as me) who want something different from the typical red.

Steph said...

I just picked up the maybelline's the other night. While their cool and all, those little critters just don't stay on the brush urrggh!! :)

Inge said...

Nessa: That sounds really cool! Very romantic.

Amanda: I lurve how they look in the bottle! So cute.

gel: That is interesting! I've never really experimented with gels myself, but I have seen some impressive results!

Brooke: Get to work, gal!

Jamie: Ohhh, doing valentine's nails on all the fingers except for one Friday the 13th nail would be so cool.

rmcandlelight: I'm not sure. I bought mine used from a girl in the US. I think some girls mentioned they'd seen them at Walmart.

The Asian Girl: That sounds so pretty. Teal and purple hearts sound really nice.

Steph: OMG, I know. Such a struggle. When you do manage to get them onto they nail they stick though! My BF has been running around with a single heart on his thumb nail for about a week now lol.

Lina-Elvira said...

Thanks for all the inspiration :D I've been wondering about getting the OPI Heart to resist glitter lacquer but you've definitely tipped the scale to 'no' and showed some cool alternatives! I have m2 and m4 plates so I'm now planning my Valentine mani from your suggestions :D

Inge said...

Lina-Elvira: Yes, those hearts are a bit of a pain :( I'm glad you found the post helpful!

Sue said...

Hello.

Where did you bought your Hot Topic Fauxnad Plate.

Tks