Polish Party Chevrons

Polishes used: China Glaze Westside Warrior, China Glaze Trendsetter and OPI Goldeneye.

It's the end of the month, and time for a Polish Party! This month, the vote was for chevrons as the main theme for nail art. I'd never done them before, but hey, how hard could it be? Right...?

I picked out two one-coat polishes I had in green and blue, and started by painting my nails with each in turn. I prepared some masking tape, and once my nails were dry, I applied my first chevron pattern. It was a complete fail - the masking tape didn't fully adhere to the nail, and resulted in really jagged ugly lines. One nail ruined, I can deal with that. I took out my striping tape (which I hate using because it's so fiddly and thin), and did a chevron pattern on my second nail. No real luck either - the lines were ok, but the shape was lopsided, and the faffing with the tape took ages. I had to take a break and breathe deeply at this point. Maybe I could sponge it on? Nope. Use a different tape? Nope. Stamp some chevrons? No such plate. In a fit of desperation, I freehanded a chevron with a thin polish brush. Whoa! It actually worked! So I picked two complementing polishes with good opacity and thin brushes, and entered the brave new world of freehand.

Freehanded green dotted chevrons for the Polish Party.

I started with a single medium coat of the mustard green Trendsetter, which is probably my favourite weird colour ever. Once it dried, I freehanded the chevrons with army green Westside Warrior, and finally added a layer of Seche Vite The results were surprisingly good, although I didn't manage to get the lines very straight, or the chevron peaks fully centered. To cover that, I added some Goldeneye dots, cause nothing distracts from shoddy craftsmanship like dots :D

Green dotted chevrons for the Polish Party

I was actually happy with this manicure, largely because I love greens, but also because these were my first freehand nails, and I was determined to enjoy them regardless of any wonkiness. Plus, they look a bit like some military epaulettes, with all that green and gold.

Green dotted chevrons

Polishes I used:

• China Glaze Westside Warrior - a murky, dark army green crème, with amazing coverage (one careful coat, or two thin ones). It dried fast, and works great for nail art. Did I mention it's green? I love green.
• China Glaze Trendsetter - a muted, mustard green with a gold shimmer. I guess it could be called ugly, but I love it to bits. It works really well on my skin, is opaque in one coat (or two thin ones) and applies like a dream.
• OPI Goldeneye - a gorgeous yellow gold shimmer that dries to a foil-like finish, essentially like gilded nails. On its own, opaque in three coats, but it dries fast and is brilliant for dots, the saran wrap technique or sponging. One of my go-to gold polishes for nail art.

Thanks for looking, and check out other Polish Party manicures here:

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