The Lacquer Legion Reinvention: Perforated Leather and Neon Faux Splatter

I'm so excited this morning because today is the first post day for The Lacquer Legion! I put together this new nail art challenge group to bring the nail community together in 2014, and I'm proud to have some talented ladies on board as admins with me: Rebecca Likes Nails, The Nailasaurus, and Work/Play/Polish. This month's challenge was reinvention, and I've interpreted that in a few ways for my manicure today.

First, you may have noticed that I have reinvented my own nail shape! I have been wanting to take the plunge and go round for quite a while now and I thought this would be a fitting time. I'll be able to refine the shape a bit more as my nails continue to grow, but I am happy with the way the round shape looks on me! I know I can always go back to square, so that's a nice safety net too.

Second, I thought it would be fun to reinvent the splatter manicure. I love splatters but they can be a bit unpredictable at times and are definitely messy. I started with a base of Essie Blanc, and then painted two coats of Orly Glowstick, a neon yellow, over the top. Then using a small nail art brush, I freehanded black splatters over the top with American Apparel Hassid.

Finally, I tried to reinvent the idea of nail texture. I've seen some great examples of 3D textured nails that were created without texture polish like The Polishaholic's quilted manicure and Nina Nailed It's cable knit sweater nails. For my accent nails, I created a perforated leather effect by pressing a dotting tool into semi-set polish. I later did some googling and learned that I wasn't the first to come up with this effect; check out The Daily Varnish and The Beaulieu Review!

Here is the step-by-step on the perforated leather nails.

1. Paint your nails with two or three coats of whatever color you want the leather to be.
2. Apply a thick coat of quick dry topcoat and give it 20-30 seconds to set. I used Seche Vite.
3. Apply two thicker coats of matte topcoat and give it 30-45 seconds to set. I used OPI Matte Topcoat.
4. Using a large dotting tool, press down into the semi-set polish. You want to press with medium, consistent pressure all the way down to the nail. 

BONUS TIPS!

• Work two or three nails at a time so the polish doesn't set too fast. 
• If you are having trouble with the dotting tool pulling up the partially set polish, wet the end to keep it from sticking. You will need to continually repeat this throughout the process.
• If your matte topcoat is leaving bubbles in the centers of the perforated holes, dip a small nail art brush in acetone and use it to gently erase the bubble.

I'm so so happy with the way these came out, and I can't wait to continue using this technique.

If you are participating today, make sure to hashtag with #LLreinvention. If you missed this month's prompt, be sure to keep up with The Lacquer Legion on Facebook and join us next month!