Nail Trends: Acrylic Snowflakes and Stiletto Nails

This look started when I was inspired by a Nail Pro Magazine cover but didn’t have the right product:

Blue & White microglitter flame acrylic w/gel overlay

I used a clear and white acrylic. Without microglitter, I didn’t want a dense look, so I went for flakes:

The resulting nail wasn’t bad for a first attempt. The flame was easy to create, but building the 2nd and 3rd layer were impossible without contrasting product. It was a good experiment anyway, and I added it with my first fiber tip almond and first sculpted pink & white stiletto.

I really liked the way the random flecks in clear acrylic made the nails look like a stone, so I decided to try it this week for practice. On my mom.

We started with a clean, natural nail, then I sculpted the nails and buffed the acrylic. After much angst I was able to mimic the look. It was difficult because her free edge was short, and we were doing sculpted instead of tips. They aren’t perfect, but she made the same comment about the nails looking like the insides of glittery stones (we used to take lapidary classes together).  I would have preferred to add a small moon in white, but I wanted to tackle the basic job first round.  It was as blinged as she would let me get, but this is the first time in her life she has ever had artificial nails, and she said she loves them. Relief!

I like how it looks a bit snowflake-ish. Perfect for the season. What are you doing for the holidays?