Estë

Hello, lovelies! I have now learned how to watermark my photos, so my images should look more official. Today I'm going to talk about my Estë-inspired manicure. Estë is one of the Valar from Tolkien's works (e.g., Lord of the Rings). In Middle-earth, she is seen as having the power to heal and restore the hurt and weary. She is often depicted in pink, blue, or green raiment and accompanied by birds or flowers. I wanted to go for a springy and tranquil look. I hope you like the results!

For the base of this manicure, I painted my nails with Wet n Wild Wild Shine in "Tickled Pink," with an accent nail of Finger Paints "Underwater Enchantress". I then sponged a little Wet n Wild Wild Shine "Rain Check" on the tips. Now for the fun part: I received two mystery stamping plates from Born Pretty Store (BPS) and they have perfect images for the look I want. I used plates M64 and M73. I also used a double-ended stamper from BPS which works great for me. The polish I used for stamping is Color Mates "Wanna Punta Cana," which is a creamy soft green with good opacity. Check out my stamping materials below:

The plates worked great for me, and I love that they have a good variety of floral images to choose from. Some of the images seemed to be etched deeper than others, and some had more detail but I think their effectiveness would depend on what kind of polish you use. With this polish, the simpler images looked better in the end as you can see below. Overall, I'm pleased with the results!

Welcome

Hello, all! I have been toying with the idea of creating a blog for a few months... Now I've finally decided to give it a shot! The focus of this blog will be on my nail journey: nail art, swatches, reviews, etc. My goal is that, with my novitiate, I might inspire other amateurs to stretch out of their comfort zones a little. I am by no means a professional nail artist, but I endeavor to create fresh and interesting work. I find it relaxing to just take the time to myself and shift my focus away from my studies for a while. I'll try to keep that lighthearted nature in mind and not become too serious about any of this. While self-care is important for preventing burnout, I have to keep my priorities straight! That being said, I'd like to kick off my blog with a collage of some of my first works. Enjoy!