Hello! Here's a quick post before I go off to start my weekend. This is a post that, like many, I meant to share a while ago but didn't get around to editing the photos until now.
I remember seeing the "ruffian mani" around a lot in early 2013; sister to the half-moon, it's a look that features a crescent of contrasting nail colour against the cuticle. I tried it for myself and was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out (slightly lumpy tips aside). I used Orly Dazzle as my crescent and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Mint Sprint to cover the rest of my nail. Mint Sprint leans a little too blue for me to call it mint, but "mint ruffian" kind of has a nice ring to it anyway.
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I don't really have any tips or tricks because I did this freehand, but it's relatively easy as long as you are able to paint your nails without getting polish all over your cuticles. If paper hole reinforcements or other curved adhesives happen to match the size and shape of your cuticle, you can try using those as a guide. It's also best to use relatively opaque polishes to avoid having too many coats of polish, which can lead to easy chipping or an overly thick look; I used a coat of Orly Dazzle to cover the entire nail, and two coats of Mint Sprint (but I suspect one would have been enough).
For Mint Sprint, starting with the centre stroke, I touched the brush down a little further away than where I intended the polish to actually start, and pushed the brush slightly back towards the cuticle to create the rounded edge. I completed the stroke by pulling the polish to the nail tip. Then I just followed the rounded shape created to do the side strokes. You're sort of doing this as if your cuticle starts a bit further up than it really does, and yes, it's that simple.
Will you be trying the ruffian nail? What are you up to this weekend?
