the feline's claws

Hi Dolls,

For the longest time I've been wanting to do black lace nails, but I could never find a smoky top coat for sale here. I only knew about the big smoky top coat by Sally Hansen, but finally I found another one by L'Oreal while I was in a drugstore in Milano.

Stamping was done with Bridal plate no.6 by Moyou London. It was so strange stamping on my naked nail (not counting the base coat). I couldn't get the stamping to work with my black stamping polish from Essence, so I had to go with the pearly black one from Konad. I probably should have gone with the same lace motif for all nails, the thumb looks out of place...

After the stamping, I painted a black French tip using tip guides and Black is Back by Essence. I was never a fan of white French, because people kept telling me it makes my nails look fake. But I quite like the look of black French tips, I might do this again without the lace.

Once everything was dry, I covered it all with the smoky topcoat. While the Ombre top coat by Catrice had too little pigments, this one has too much. It almost covered up the whole design, so it's a little hard to make out the lace print... I also regret not mattifying this look, it might have toned down the top coat a little.