I have been struggling with my emotions for the past few weeks and all I ever wanted to do was sleep so that I would not drown myself into serious thoughts. But sleeping is just a temporary escape and eventually I had to deal with the heaviness of my heart. And I thought the best way to start coping is to do the one thing I really love -- nail art.
As the title suggests, this nail design is inspired by coffee. This was not a random idea. My short lived drama started after meeting an old friend for coffee. But first, let's talk about the design.
Life surprised me last week and it put some aspects of my life on hold, including blogging. I haven't forgotten about you nor this blog that has been very dear to me for the past 2 years. I still have some pending product reviews and a lot of nail art ideas that I need to realize. But for now, let me share with you another marble design that I did for a nail art contest that I joined last month. I would have love to win the top prize, but I am happy nevertheless to have won one of the consolation prizes. I named this, Red Splatter.
I committed a polish sin. I used the Nars Thakoon Collection for water marbling. But, please don't punish me just yet. I have a very good excuse for doing so.
First, let me tell you that I came to know about this collection from the Polish Police herself, Pam. She's always updated with the latest polish collections. I admit that I instantly fell in love with the Nars Thakoon Collection the moment I read Pam's post on it. At the time, the set was going to be available on May 2012 here in the Philippines and I have planned to get the entire collection for my birthday. Yes, I turned a year older last 25th. :)
I find Nars rather expensive so I decided I'd collect slowly by buying a bottle a month. But I never got to do it because nanay (English: mother) bought 4 bottles for me as a birthday present. I was overwhelmed when nanay handed me the paper bag that contained those bottles.
Thanks, Nay for my Nars Thakoon nail lacquers. They are now sitting pretty on my polish rack. :)
Nanay gave me these shades:
4 out of 6 from the Nars Thakoon Collection
From left: Ratin Jot, Amchoor, Koliary, and Anardana
I haven't tried water marbling until recently when an opportunity knocked on my door. Caronia, the leading brand on nail, hand and foot care products here in the Philippines has launched a campaign that promotes a nail art technique that they called swirling. To fellow nail art enthusiasts, we know this as marbling.
Here's the result of my 1st attempt at nail marbling ... or swirling:
Caronia summarizes the technique with these steps:
Pick the nail polish colors you would like to use.
Drop the colors alternately in a bowl of water, creating a bull's eye image.
Swirl the colors to your desired design.
Dip your fingers into the bowl to transfer the design onto your nails.
You will need the following materials for nail swirling:
a small bowl to contain water
cotton buds
toothpick or marbling tool
nail polishes, white and other colors
nail polish remover
petroleum jelly or lotion
base coat
top coat
Materials for nail swirling / marbling.
Before swirling, it is important to apply white polish on your nails or any light colored lacquer to serve as your base color. White is the recommended background color because it will bring out the colors once you have transferred your design onto your nails.
Caronia White Satin
I used Caronia White Satin in 2 coats. I was surprised to have liked the consistency of this white polish. The only downside is the nail polish brush. I found it quite stiff in the sense that it doesn't really fan out when applying the polish. Consequently, it was relatively hard to use and manage.
I admire Caronia for launching this campaign. I know there are nail art enthusiasts who would love to decorate their nails and this technique is a good start for those who would like to experiment or try nail art at home.
What to love:
Doesn't require any painting skills! If you feel discouraged to try nail art painting because you feel you cannot draw, then swirling is for you. No drawing necessary to create this nail art and the result will make you look like a pro!
There is NO limit to the number of nail polishes that you would like to use.
It is relatively easy once you get the hang of it. It's possible that you might have a hard time at first because you're still learning the technique, but once you get it, it's easy as ABC.
What not to love:
It can be a mess. This technique inevitably requires you more clean-up as excess polish will also transfer to the skin surrounding your nails. This is the reason why you need to apply petroleum jelly or lotion prior to swirling to make it easier for you to remove the polish that stuck your skin.
You will be wasting a lot of polish with this technique. Fortunately, Caronia nail polishes are very affordable. It retails for Php33.25 (less than a dollar) per bottle.
Not all polishes can be used for nail swirling.
Here's a personal video tutorial on how I did my first nail swirling:
Personal Recommendations
Buy the regular Caronia polishes and avoid the others if you would like to try this technique using their polishes. Based on experience, the frosted ones dry too quickly when dropped into the water.
The smaller the bowl or water container, the better. This means the polishes would have limited space to spread and that would consequently make it easier to get more opacity.
Do NOT work in an area that is windy or avoid using an electric fan when doing the technique. Blowing on the polishes while in the water would make it dry faster and would make it impossible for you to swirl it.
Loosen the polish caps before swirling to facilitate the alternate dropping of the colored polishes faster and easier.
I find it easier to dip one finger at a time.
As of this posting, Caronia is celebrating the campaign with Nail Swirl Madness, an online contest that would ran until May 31, 2012. Get a chance to win fabulous prizes by simply creating your own nail swirls! Find out more by visiting the following:
Disclosure: All materials I used for this nail art post was sent by Caronia Philippines for consideration. Under no circumstance did it influence this personal and impartial review. You may read my Disclosure Policy here.
![Caronia Nail Swirl](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1qGqgLbGrfGSWTB5u0Wfw9cAz7xxi-Pii3r2-L019QWoaYnmxw_hAI6Y6sqkp4NbBp3AMG_Rk0UkbyPGiRP1RNBuIXGxv38FfiI_CN7tA2K3y4d-4M6YEtoHNPPTQamIz9BpPIow68E/s640/Nail%2520Art%2520Caronia%2520Nail%2520Swirl%252001.JPG")
