Pedicure of the week: One stroke flower with rhinestones

(natural light) click on photo to enlarge

(indoor) click on photo to enlarge

closeups (click on photo to enlarge)

This week I decided to do my nails with a really lovely color that for some reason has been sadly neglected in my collection for awhile. Sally Hansen Extreme Wear in "red carpet" is a gorgeous red with tiny microglitter that looks exactly like Dorothy's ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz.

Incidentally it also happens to be a dupe for "Ruby Pumps" by China Glaze. Swatched on the nail they are virtually identical, and at $2.64 vs $8.00 for the China Glaze it is much lighter on the pocketbook. The consistency of "Red Carpet" however I feel is lacking a little. As I was using it I remembered why I don't reach for this one as often as I initially thought I would when I purchased it. This pedi took three coats to achieve opacity, and as I was looking closely at some of the pictures I noticed a few spots that didn't even fully cover. Sometimes.......you get what you pay for.......but if you're on a budget and willing to work with the formula a little it is still a gorgeous color.

"Red Carpet" with its glamorous red sparkles is a very "holidayish" look and I considered doing a more Christmasy design but I decided to do my own thing. After all how many sparkly red candy cane mani/pedis can we see without nodding off from boredom? I decided instead to do a purple one stroke flower with a flat top brush and water based acrylic paints and I added two 3mm size rhinestones in the center. Rather then leave my other toenails plain I added a white dotted "french tip" with a small size dotting tool which helps unify the design. I hope you enjoy this week's pedicure design thank you for reading and have a great week!