Thursday, August 27, 2009

Inspired whimsy: A red velvet cupcake.

Hello ladies,

The idea for today's manicure came in the form of a cupcake from Brown Betty Petite in Philadelphia. Yesterday, I purchased Jean's Road Trip, a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing. The cupcakes at Brown Betty are the most delectable I have ever tasted. Three generations of strong women from grandmother to granddaughter all work together to bring amazing cupcakes to my home city. I don't want to mislead any of you into believing a picture of a cupcake is forthcoming. I consumed the inspiration gleefully.

I hope all the sparkle in Precision's Red Velvet Cupcake will translate the feeling I have after walking out of Brown Betty Petite with a tiny white bag, all for me. 

Please click on these pictures if you are able.  




Red Velvet Cupcake is from the Precision Sprinkles Collection. The polish has a sheer base with silver and light red glitter pieces. The latter can appear pink in certain lights. The glitter is abundant, but finely cut. One coat of CND Super Shiney leaves only a hint of texture. Even in low light, the sparkle is omnipresent. Three coats will bring any of the polishes from the Sprinkles Collection close to opacity. You will see a a fine dotting of the natural nail beneath unless you decide to layer the polish as I did. 

I chose Carolyn New York, Christmas in New York for the base. I painted one coat of the red jelly polish over Zoya Get Even and added two coats of Red Velvet Cupcake. I apologize for not getting a bottle shot with the CNY polish. After I was able to take about six pictures total, the sun decided to be at home behind the clouds. I worked with as much sun as the largely overcast day could afford. With CNY recently going out of business and their website still accepting orders that will not be filled, I decided to proceed without the picture. Any blue based red or hot pink would complement the glitter and be lovely as a layering note. It's not essential to have the same red for the finished look to be similar. 

When I layer polishes, I apply the glitter coats heavier at the sides of the nail than I would normally. I endeavor to be a little messy to achieve even coverage and avoid the unintentional halo of color formed when not enough glitter coats the edges of the base. I clean up the cuticle area with a natural bristle paintbrush dipped acetone. My goal is to make it appear like I am wearing one polish with lots of depth.

Precision polishes tend to apply with ease. I had no trouble coating the nail evenly. The glitter smoothed out without needing extra brush stokes for proper coverage. Precision polishes can be purchased from sparkling nails on ebay. Please see the link at the sidebar. She is quite wonderful at searching for colors she doesn't have in stock, so don't hesitate to contact her if you don't find what you are looking for in the current assortment. Please let her know I sent you her way. 

The prop I used today is a hand blown glass sphere meant to be hung in a window. Being Thursday, I borrowed this decoration from the store and took it out to the canal walk for a photo session.

I am going to have some very special Konad posts from Coraline Kit A starting Sunday night. A new supply of my favorite quick dry top coat should be arriving tomorrow. I am ready to stamp!  Happy painting, ladies! 


  

10 comments:

  1. Oh your cupcake sounded absolutely delicious! mmmm I'm craving the cream cheese frosting too aaaah! Love the layered glitter, very pretty :)

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  2. I love that combination, the color has so much depth!

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  3. Well, every nail polish would look good on these nails! :) + I love your ring!

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  4. 0o0o0 so pretty,you should be a handmodel, cant wait to see the konad stamping tc hun mwa

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  5. This is a very nice glitter! Ah, I need to wander into the city and find this cupcake shop now :)

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  6. Just a lovely picture, your gorgeous nails full of glitter and a handblown sphere. A beautiful combination. Another beautiful combination is red velvet cake and cream cheese icing!

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  7. Hey Diana, I love the way you've layered glitter to create this beautiful post. However, I do not like the fact you have not provided one of your glorious pictures in the form of a cupcake! Tut tut ;) I guess the glass sphere pictures will HAVE to do because they are gorgeous :)

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  8. Kae: Thank you! I seriously want another cupcake. :)

    gildedangel: Thanks! I have so much fun creating layered looks.

    nihrida: That's so sweet! Thank you. :)

    skye: Thank you. Maybe my hands will get "discovered" through my blog. :) I'll have lots of Coraline treats this week.

    beautyjudy: It's right off Rittenhouse Square and an easy walk to Sephora.

    Lucy: Thank you. I was trying to make up for the lack of one favored combination with the presence of another. ;)

    rijaH: Thanks so much!

    Danielle: I promise to eat more cupcakes and somewhere in that process take a photo. I am glad you like the sphere as a temporary substitution.

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