Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Polish Days: Something New - Sugar Spun Nails

To coincide with the beginning of a new year, this month's Polish Days theme is to try something new. Trying new things is actually one of the reasons why I really love participating in challenges. It gives me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and play around with new colors and techniques. It may not always work out, but it is always a chance to learn and experiment.

For this challenge I decided to try creating a sugar spun manicure, a technique that has long been on my "to try" list. As so many other things on that list, I don't often make time for it unless I'm challenged to do so. I'm happy to show you my first attempt...


This manicure is made using four polishes from the new Zoya Lovely collection. I will show swatches of them soon, I promise. The base is Zoya Jacqueline and it is spun over with Zoya Neely towards the base, Zoya Blu in the middle and Zoya Julie toward the tips. These colors are so perfect for Spring. The manicure really reminds me of Easter eggs...


The technique involves placing a few drops of polish on a disposable surface and swirling it around with a toothpick or something similar until it starts to thicken. When it thickens enough, lifting the swirling tool out of the puddle of polish will pull thin lines of polish out. These lines are then dragged across the nail. There are lots of video tutorials for this on YouTube so check them out. It will make more sense than my explanation for sure...


The texture of this manicure is bumpy as the lines remain above the surface of the nail. I was afraid that the lines would get scraped off so I added a top coat. Luckily I took the photos before adding a top coat because I had a bad feeling that adding the top coat would ruin this manicure. I was right. The top coat made a complete mess as it flattened and smudged the lines...


I'm really happy that I tried this manicure even though I promptly ruined it with a top coat. I look forward to playing around with this type of manicure more in the near future. Next time I will skip the top coat and see how it lasts without...

What manicures are on your list to try? Any fun techniques that you hope to try soon?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)



** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **
** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

19 comments:

  1. I love the way this turned out! This one I think is too time consuming for me, which is too bad, cause I really like the way it looks!

    Can't wait to see your posts on the Lovely collection!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like it! :-) This manicure is also on my "to do" list... and it's time to try it one of these days! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very pretty! I considered doing sugar spun nails for my "something new" theme too :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is so pretty, really love the colours you have used! I tried this technique once... It took so long I gave up! Maybe I'll try again one day :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is so pretty! I need to try this technique some time.x

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a pretty, pastel nail! Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. beautifully done! the sugar spun technique is on my to do list, so thank you so much for the warning :) I would have tried to top coat it.. ><

    ReplyDelete
  8. These look so, so beautiful! Really, you picked the perfect colours. And I love how delicate your lines are too--not goopy or thick at all! This one's been on my to-do for way too long. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful! I love the delicate spring-like look! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I swear I'd commented already! It reminds me of silly string, I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love this manicure and the pastel color gradient you made with the sugar spun technique. I need to have a look at a tutorial and try this myself!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This turned out so well! Love the colors you chose. So soft and delicate.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you so much everyone! I'm glad you like the colors and my first attempt at sugar spun. Definitely try it for yourselves. It is a bit more time consuming, but actually fun.
    I plan to try it again with a different top coat. Hoping I find something that will let let seal it all in without smudging. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am so glad that you did this mani in pastels. It looks perfectly sugary. Too bad about the topcoat. It seems as though this kind of mani would still look very pretty, even if bits of the "sugar" chipped off the base color, kind of like broken shards of candy. If you try again, without a topcoat, I hope it doesn't chip, but if it does, I hope it chips in the way I imagine it would.

    ReplyDelete
  15. @Alexis, you are so sweet! I'll still attempt it with a top coat at some point, but if I go without I do hope it chips in the nicest way as well. :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow! Loved this mani! Loved your blog :)

    <3 from: www.thedocndiva.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you so much for you lovely comment! I'm so glad you like it :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I wonder if you could make a top coat "nail strip" on a plastic bag & apply it over the cotton candy?

    ReplyDelete
  19. @Erin, that's an interesting idea! I'm worried it would lead to a lot of bubbles! Have you tried it?

    ReplyDelete

I love getting comments and reading what you have to say! So don't be shy... comment! :D

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...