My First Half-Moon Manicure

I've wanted to try a half-moon manicure for ages – ever since I've spotted it somewhere on Pinterest, my only desire was to recreate the elegant yet edgy look! It seems rather simple, doesn't it? How hard can it be do draw a half-moon shape at the base of nail beds, right? Well, (in my case at least) it turned out to be quite a demanding task – a nightmare even. I've tried and tried again to point my nail polish brush so that it draws the desired shape, I've tried carving the shape with toothpicks and what not. The only thing I succeeded was to make a mess and be on a brink of a nervous meltdown. I tossed the idea far away and decided not tu pursue it any longer. Then I spotted some round stickers which are used as french tip nail guides. An idea arised – maybe I could use them to create my half-moon mani? I've ordered some from the www.bornprettystore.com to test my theory. They're not good but they've served their purpose to just guide me and I've managed to do the rest.

Polumjesec manikura mi stoji na wishlisti, sto bi se reklo ‘sto godina’ – jos otkad sam je po prvi put ugledala na Pinterestu mi tisti srce zelja da je isprobam na vlastitim noktima jer mi je istovremeno elegantna ali i dosta neobicna. Doduse, na prvi pogled, ne djeluje isuvise zahtjevna za napraviti zar ne? Koliko tesko moze biti napraviti polumjesec pri bazi nokta? Eh, u mom slucaju se sve jako iskomplikovalo i ispalo dosta zahtjevno – da vas ne lazem, u jednom trenutku se pokusaj ovog manikira pretvorio u nocnu moru. Pokusavala sam iznova i iznova ali samo bih napravila veliki nered i sebe dovela do ruba zivaca. Isprobala sam da rucno iscrtam polumjesec kistom laka za nokte, pokusala sam da izrezbarim oblik uz pomoc cackalice za zube i sta sve ne. Potom sam odustala od ideje i okrenula se nekim drugim stvarima. Kako je sudbina zeljela, primjetila sam ove naljepnice u obliku kruga koje pomazu kod kreiranja francuske manikure. Pojavila mi se ideja – zasto ih ne isprobati i za polumjesec? Narucila sam te naljepnice preko www.bornprettystore.com stranice kako bih testirala svoju teoriju. Odmah cu reci da nisu funkcionisale bas najbolje ali su posluzile da me navedu u pravom smjeru.

For my first half-moon manicure I've used a rather peculiar nail polish which isn't something I'd usually go for but it has grown on me. Especially after this manicure. Catrice Ultimate Nail Lacquer in Berry Potter & Plumbledore 46 (cute name!) is a gorgeous duochrome dark plum/ purple with blue and green shimmer. I think it's a very special shade and, even though duochrome effect isn't as strong on nails as it is in the bottle – it's a wonderful nail polish! It has a certain charisma, elegance yet it's edgy. The formulation is decent – two coats give a decent look while I prefer layering three coats to achieve full opacity. Drying time is average. This (as well as any catrice polish) on me chipped after two days but I've managed to score four days with a base and top coat – I've used the China Glaze First and Last (which is amazing). Those round French tip guidelines have helped to form a vague shape but they don't adhere to the nail (even though I've dehydrated it) so the ends looked very messy. I had to step in my the help of my nails to finish the half-moon shape. It was a bit tedious but totally worth it – I love this look! I hope you'll like it as well. I may be reverting to half-moon manicures on a more frequent basis because I'm in love with this nail style.

Za svoju prvu polumjesec manikuru sam koristila prilicno neobican lak za nokte koji nije mozda nesto za cim bih posegnula na prvi pogled ali – prirastao mi je srcu. Pogotovo nakon ovog manikira. Catrice Ultimate Nail Lacquer u nijansi Berry Potter & Plumbledore 46 (cca 4KM-5KM) je lak simpaticnog imena no njegov adut je prekrasna duokromna tamno sljivasto/ljubicasta boja prozeta plavo/zelenim shimmerom. Mislim da je jako posebna i iako duokromni efekat nije jednako upadan na noktima koliko je u bocici – stvarno me odusevio! Ovaj lak posjeduje odredjenu karizmu ali i dozu elegancije no i buntovnost. Formulacija je pristojna – sa dva sloja se postize sasvim solidan efekat no licno preferiram nanijeti tri sloja ovog laka za potpunu prekrivnost. Susenje je prosjecno. Ovaj (kao i svaki drugi Catrice) lak na mojim noktima traje cca 2 dana prije nego se pocnu primjecivati tragovi nosenja. Ovaj detalj sam uspjela popraviti koristenjem baznog laka i nadlaka. Konkretno, posluzila sam se sa China Glaze First and Last (koji je izvrstan 2u1). One naljepnice u obliku kruzica su uspjele napraviti relativno jasan oblik na sredini dok naljepnica nikako nije mogla da prione uz krajeve nokta (iako je nokatna ploca dehidrirana) koji su ostali neuredni. Njih sam uz pomoc vlastitih noktica pokusala oblikovati i nadam se da sam u tome uspjela. Bilo je sve skupa pomalo naporno ali mislim da je vrijedilo truda posto sam zaljubljena u ovaj stil manikira! Nadam se da ce se i vama dopasti. Mislim da cu se u buducnosti pokusati ispraksati sa polumjesec manikirom jer mi bas pase i dopada mi se kako izgleda.