Tips for Removing a Double Sided (Louboutin) Manicure

Ever since this OMG Viper Louboutin Manicure, I've gotten a lot of questions regarding the removal of it. I've done a tutorial on how to create a Louboutin manicure, but never realized so many of you would be worried about removing it. To save myself from having to explain, I thought it would be easier to just show you...

Supplies:

• Acetone or polish remover (I use my own remover which just happens to be in a pure acetone bottle that is in this photo)
• Cotton  or felt squares. Felt is a bit sturdier and what I always use for my polish removal. You can see how I make my felt pieces here...
• An orange stick or something sturdy and thin to wrap the felt around
• A cleanup brush. This is the same one I use for my manicure cleanup

Steps:

Instructions:

1. Remove the polish off the top of the nail as usual
2. Wrap a piece of felt around an orange stick and place underneath the nail. Hold it there for a few seconds to dissolve the polish and then gently rub back and forth to remove the polish. Re-position the orange stick to a clean area on the felt (or take a new piece) and repeat as necessary.
3. Optional: As you can see the nail is pretty much clean, but if there are some spots you can't get to with the orange stick, take a brush soaked in acetone and run along the underside of the nail.

All done! Nakie nails :)

Although there are a lot of photos here, it really is fairly easy to remove the polish under the nail. I might add it is much easier than removing glitter off the top of the nail ;)

When doing a Louboutin manicure, make sure to use a non-staining red polish. As you can imagine, it would be much trickier to remove if the polish stained the skin...

Okay, I think that about covers it, I hope you find this useful. Let me know if I missed something or you have questions!!

P.S. The green polish is Zoya Giovanna, the last thing I swatched last night. The red is OPI Danke-Shiny Red. Totally unintentional, but looks like a perfect Holiday Louboutin mani. I'll have to keep that in mind when December rolls around :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

OMG Viper Louboutin...

Whenever my nails reach a certain length, I start dreaming of Louboutin manis. Although this one was not inspired by a particular pair of shoes, but rather by the fact that I was unwilling to part with the Viper nail strips mani quite yet and was itching for a Louboutin look...

Sunday Stamping: Inspired by Shoes...

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge in Adventures in Stamping is to create a manicure inspired by a favorite pair of shoes. None of the shoes that I own have stampable (let's pretend that's a word) patterns, so I resorted to finding a "favorite" pair online. Luckily, nowhere in the challenge did it mention that I had to own the pair of shoes that inspired me. Since my nails are long enough to flash their underside that could only mean one thing...

Tutorial Tuesday: Double Sided Manicure

I love the new trend of the double sided manicures. The most common are Louboutin manicures with a red underside, inspired by the red soles of Louboutin shoes. More recently OPI created the Bonded Look with the underside in gold, as seen in the new Skyfall movie. I think this can be fun in any color combination to make a statement or just have a little hidden treat for yourself.

Each time I do create of these manicures I get questions about cleaning under the nail after painting or people tell me that they are afraid to try and make a mess. I thought I would put together this tutorial to show how I tape off my nails to avoid the mess and make painting the underside of the nail a little easier. I hope you find it useful and give this double sided look a try...

Supplies:

• Two polishes of choice. I'm using Zoya Dovima on top and OPI You Only Live Twice underneath.
• Tape (clear tape, masking tape, painters tape, etc...)

Steps:

Instructions:

1. Start out with clean dry nails
2. Slip a piece of tape between the nail and the finger to run along the nail line
3. Fold the tape down over the finger
4. Fold the sides down along the finger, avoid covering the front of the nail
5. Fold the two flaps down, one over the other, to keep them out of the way
6. This is what it will look like from the side, a little tape hat for the finger.
   The front of the nail is not covered and the back of the nail is taped off and held away from the nail
7. Paint the underside of the nail in chosen color. Repeat for a desired number of coats
8. Paint the top of the nails in the desired color as usual
9. Allow everything to dry and remove the tape. 

Enjoy your mess free double sided manicure!

Here are some examples of what I have done in the past. Click on the images to go directly to the post...

 

Let me know what you think of this and don't hesitate to ask questions if something is not clear!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

The Bonded Look!

Have you seen the new James Bond movie yet? If you have, you might have noticed the double sided stiletto manicure worn by actress Bérénice Marlohe which features two OPI shades from the Skyfall collection released in honor of the film. OPI is calling the manicure "The Bonded Look". I have yet to see the movie, so please don't spoil it for me, but I really couldn't wait to try the manicure...

Fashion Friday: Louboutin Python Inspired

Hi everyone! It has been quite a while since I've created a fashion inspired manicure so with my nails about the maximum length I wish them to be, it was time for Louboutin nails. I have done the "classic" black Louboutin before, so I wanted to try something new. For those that don't know, a Louboutin manicure is one where the underside of the nail is painted red to mimic the soles of the shoes...

Black and White Challenge Day 3 - Black Base with Color

Day three of the Black & White Challenge is a manicure with a black base and some color. I once again started with Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, but instead of adding the color on top, I added it underneath the nail.  For this I used two coats of Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar. This type of manicure is becoming know as Louboutin Nails due to the original inspiration being Louboutin shoes with a red sole. I think this is such a great way to add something special to the manicure. It will probably go unnoticed by others, but you know it is there, so it is kind of like sexy lingerie for your nails... :D

This seems to be a popular pose to show off the manicure, so I thought I'd give it a try as well... :)

And here are the shoes that inspired it all. I got this photo from here. Interestingly enough, according to that website it says that Mr. Louboutin originally painted the bottom of a shoe using red nail polish while he was bored. I guess it has come back full circle now...

source

Have you tried Louboutin Nails before?
I love it, just need to have long enough nails and remember that clean up and removal requires some extra effort...

NOTE: This is a scheduled post. I appreciate all your comments and will respond as soon as I return from my trip! Thank you in advance for commenting :D

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)