Today's ManiMonday is not going to be your typical one because thanks to all of the extra hand-washing we are doing to do our part in preventing the spread of COVID-19, my nails have taken a beating and three have broken down to the skin so they are quite sore. The air is also quite dry which compounded with all of the hand-washing makes for dryness all around. I even had a nosebleed this morning which I have not had since 1998! 20 years since I've had a nosebleed so it was a bit jarring to have it happen this morning. What I thought might be nice to do and still keep with my Monday nail theme is to showcase some of my favourite manicure from the last decade. Probably something I should have done back in January, but now that we are all doing our civic duties and trying to stay inside, what better time than the present?
Molecular Nails 2012
One thing that is comforting to see is the improvement in photography over the years! A big part of why I started doing my nails was to retain some femininity while I was finishing a post-grad program in computer science at UBC. There were a lot of boys in my classes and the girls who were in the program, didn't seem too interested in makeup or beauty. Not to brag, but if you were to comb through the more nerdy manicures in the last 10 years, I was one of the first, if not THE first to paint actual molecules on my nails. I poured over this manicure for about a month before deciding what the message would be and it was perfect. Amino acids have one letter abbreviations so using those letters, I was able to spell out "Nerdy Nails" all on my hands which worked out brilliantly!
Nails for Friends 2013
Plant Cell Puzzle Nails 2016
This was a total tribute to my biology background and are one of my favourites! They took SO LONG to do and forever to plan out, but it worked out and I will never do it again LOL!
Seasonal Stormtrooper Nails 2015
What was really unfortunate about these nails was the fact that I broke a corner on my ring finger. I had been struggling to do decent nail art and grow out my nails in 2015, but in October of that year I suddenly decided that I NEEDED to start doing ManiMondays again just to feel better about the blog and feel like I was contributing unique content again. I did these Christmas-themed Stormtrooper nails as a tribute to the opening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and as it was in December, Santa hats were necessary!
Women of Science Nails 2013
Two reasons I am proud of these nails that I created for the Scientista Foundation- firstly, they were used on a book cover and secondly, my middle nail is actually missing half of itself and it was the first time trying the "teabag repair" trick! This is where you literally cut a small square of teabag paper and patch your nail together with base coat. The break came at unfortunate timing, but I was still happy with how the results turned out.
Water Spotted Nails 2016
At the height of nail art, I felt like there were so many new nail polish techniques to try and one of them was this "water spotted" look that is like water marbling, but you first spray the surface of the polish with rubbing alcohol to get this "spotted" effect. You dunk your nails in one at a time and that's how this beach-inspired look was achieved! Now, a lot of the new techniques involve gel polish which I don't enjoy using as much as I HATE removing it, but looking at manicures like this reminds me that I need to continue learning and trying new things.
Needle Marbling with Gel Polish 2017
This was created with gel polish and compared to regular polish, was a breeze to create as gel polish never dries until you cure it so it never gets "gummy" or stringy. This was created by painting on one shade of red polish, blobbing the white polish and then taking a dotting tool and streaking right through it. I didn't have to worry about scratching the first layer of polish as it had already been cured. I still think gel polish is very limiting when it comes to nail art, but I can see why people enjoy wearing it over regular polish.
"Time" for Flowers 2017
This was one of the first times I was inspired by a product sent to me in PR. This fun little watch was sent from Avon for Spring and I took one look at it and thought I would have the perfect nails to match it! This manicure was a combination of using striping tape and dotting on some flowers on top! the best part was that if you screwed up your lines, you could just slap a flower on top and hide the mistake!
Leopard Nail Art 2018
I've always liked leopard nail art, but when I saw an opportunity during our "Rainbow" theme for #CBBxManiMonday to combine the two and live out my Lisa Frank fantasies I knew I had something that would have a fun result.
Pac Man Nails 2016
This took a long time to create, but it's one of the few matte finish manicures I have ever done and LOVED. I hand drew everything and was so happy with how it turned out! Video game-inspired nails have always been fun to do and just to look at and hopefully I will be able to do something fun like this again in the future.
Wonder Woman Nails with London Drugs Beauty
This was my first EVER YouTube tutorial in collaboration with London Drugs! I was so nervous about being on camera and talking, but it turned out well and I am forever proud and thankful for London Drugs for even asking me to do it. I just didn't want to appear awkward and though it took a couple of tries, we eventually had a video to post! It was also the first time I had had more than one person watch me do my nails and I remember people holding their breath and barely making a noise at certain points. All in all, one of the best experiences linked to my love of nail art EVER.
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