Before & Afters: Kitty & Puppy nail art

Hello hello hello!

I am so excited to show you my second and third attempts at free-hand nail art using my new acrylic paints that Born Pretty Store sent for review. This weekend my local animal shelter had a street-fair style open house to raise money and awareness about animals that need forever homes. Since all 5 of my babies are rescue animals, you can imagine I support such causes with all of my heart and was looking forward to going. The event ended up being very small, but I was extremely glad I stopped by anyway--they had a very cute T-shirt that says 'They aren't my pets--they are my family!' which I love, so of course I had to buy it to support the cause!

Anyway, the point is, I wanted to do a kitty manicure on one hand, and a puppy manicure on the other. Right away you should spot the potential for tragedy here--one design for each hand means that one of the designs would have to be drawn with my off-hand. We'll see how that goes...

For my kitty manicure, done with my main hand, I started with a base of Zoya Rocky, a sky blue creme, because I wanted a background that looked like the sky:

Zoya Rocky, indirect sunlight

Zoya Rocky, direct sun

Next I used the acrylic paints to draw on my kitty design, which combines elements from a number of kitty free-hand designs I've seen since I started blogging:

My kitties #1 pastime--good think there is a window in the way in their case!

I seriously can't believe how great this came out. I mean, it's not perfect, of course. I need a lot of practice. But for someone who can't do a free-hand design to save their life and this is only their second design with the medium? Not too shabby, even if I am the one saying it.

Okay, now for the design I did with my off-hand. I started with a base of Zoya Mitzi, a matte avocado green (yes, I often walk around with different colors on my different hands, except when I'm going some place important--you know, like work, lol!):

Zoya Mitzi, direct sunlight

Zoya Mitzi, indirect sunlight

Here I wanted to do a mani that represented my puppy, who is white with tan spots. I free-handed the puppy with acrylics, leaving the brush strokes thick to give it more of a fur-like look. I stamped the paws on the middle finger with Konad black polish and Shany plate SH08:

Woof!!

Okay, yes, it's a little goofy-looking, but I love it--especially since it was done with my off-hand. The ears are a bit lopsided and it doesn't actually look like the breed my puppy is, but I don't care! It's a cute cute puppy, and I was proud to wear it. It broke my heart to take it off.

I am so happy with these paints--I can't wait to see what I can do once I practice a bit. And seriously guys--if I can do it, ANYONE can. If you've been afraid of free-hand like I was, give it a shot. It's such a different world when you try it with acrylics rather than nail polishes.

I highly recommend the set that I received from Born Pretty Store, which you can find by clicking here. It has everything you'll need to get started, including a nice range of colors. And I do have a coupon code good for 10% off anything and everything you buy (this is not an affiliate link):

Thanks for taking a look! Big hugs,
M.

(The acrylic paints shown in this post were provided for my 100% honest review.)