* Start with a French Mani. I get my acrylic wraps done in pale pink and white, so I get to skip that step! Oh, yay me!
* Just a note about the pink & white acrylics...don't get this done unless you can get to the salon at least 2 - 3 times per month to get them filled, AND to get the white re-done (as your nails grow, the white grows out and looks odd...). If you can't commit to the time and expense, don't get the white tips...just have your tech use either the pale pink or the white powder. Pink & white acrylics are ridiculously high-maintenance...but they are also a permanent French mani, so it's a tough call...just be ready to make a long-term commitment to your nail tech!! Me & my nail girl are practically engaged...lol
And now, because I am so brave, I'm going to post a pic of my acrylics looking like a HOT MESS:
This is 10 days after my last fill. As you can see, there is exposed nail bed at the cuticle. The white portion of my tips has grown out, and you can see my natural nail line clearly beneath the grown-out acrylic. All of this needs to be sanded off by a tech with a Dremel, and then the entire pink & white process needs to be redone. To give you an idea of cost, down here in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, a full set of pink & whites will run you about $35 - $50 plus tip, and a fill will cost you around $20 -$35, plus tip. As I said, it's a costly, high-maintenance commitment.
And now back to our polka-dotting....
* Pour a large drop of polish, any color, onto a piece of tin foil or wax paper.
* Saturate a cotton ball with polish remover and lay it on a piece of foil...you will need it.
* Take a plain old bobby pin (or a dotting tool, if that's how you roll) and bend it to form a 90 degree "V".
* Get the pin comfortable in your hand. Lay off the caffeine, too...you need a steady hand!
* Dip one end of the bobby pin into the polish, and then find the line where your nail bed meets your nail tip and plop a dot right in the middle of that line. Now, add dots to the left and the right, till you have your first row.
* As you go, make sure to clean off the bobby pin OFTEN with the saturated cotton ball. If you don't, your dots will get ruined by the already-dry paint on the pin.
* Layer row above row until you cover each tip.
* Finish with a thick coat of Seche Vite.
DOTS DO NOT HAVE TO BE PERFECT...MINE AREN'T! From a short distance you can't even tell. :))
Happy Polka-Dotting!
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