Christy's Orange Nails... Take Two.

Hi again! So... I was really unhappy with how my nails turned out in the previous post. I took the polish off immediately after posting, and after a little while I decided to try again. I am much happier with how this one turned out! Here's the redo:
   

       
Since I really wasn't liking the OPI polish, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try my new Julep polish that I received in my Valentine's Mystery Box. I used Julep Zoe, which is a shimmery burnt orange shade, and it actually has some tiny flecks of what look like silver too. I really don't own too many actual oranges, but I do have a bunch in that coral/peachy family. I used two coats of Zoe, although you might even be able to get away with one coat on this one. I haven't tried stamping with it yet, but it seems like it would be a good stamping polish too. I decided to be more patient (a real struggle for me) and actually take my time on this attempt. After applying the two coats of polish, I added Seche Vite and let the whole base dry for a while.
    
After that was like 100% dry, I started adding the details. I decided to use acrylic paints this time, just to see if it was easier. It was a million times easier! Why the heck wasn't I doing this before? First of all, it covers a million times better than the polishes I was using. I didn't have to keep going over it to achieve opacity. Second, it's super easy to wipe off if you make a mistake. I retried the lettering a couple of times, and because my nails were dry underneath, I was able to just use a bit of rubbing alcohol and wipe the paint right off. Oddly enough, I used the same exact brush but really felt like I had more control and was able to achieve better detail. The acrylic also dried much faster than polish would, so I didn't have to wait as long for each layer to dry.
    

I used acrylic paints in black, white, and orange for the details. I started by painting the Orioles text across my nails, based loosely on the Orioles script logo. This was actually pretty easy and I'm happy with how it came out. After I gave that a couple minutes to dry, I painted the black base for the oriole bird on my thumb. My thumb was a better choice for him because he fits much better. After the black dried, I added the details in orange and white, then the final details of the eyes and smile in black. I let it set for about two minutes and added a healthy dose of Seche over the top. It dried quickly and didn't "wrinkle" this time. The only downfall of this metallic orange is that it really shows what bad shape my nails are in, whereas thicker crème shades seem to disguise that better. Hopefully my nails will be healthy again soon! (Darn acrylic nails.) Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed Take Two! This is definitely how I plan to do my nails for Opening Day this year. Here's a pic of the cutie Oriole bird from Opening Day last year:
  

    
We had amazing seats last year and he came walking by and posed for a picture for us! I love him, he is so dear! His antics during the games really crack me up too. Us Orioles fans needs something to make us smile during games! Stay tuned for yellow nails soon! Until next time beauties...
  
xoxo,
Christy