Black, Gray and White Nails

So I've recently been using black acrylic on some of my clients and I'm really lovin it.  Not too long ago, black nail polish was my fav color to wear..it reminded me of a shiny, black car (my fav also...ooh and black tints are now legal in Illinois in the front windows...just sayin)...My fav: black cars, black tints, black rims, black nails...I see a pattern here, hmm.

Now so far I've done all black nails on a client and most recently I did a "tuxedo" nail which consisted of a white tip and black base...this is all done with colored acrylic, not polish...therefore there is NO wear or tear.  Of course the finishing touch is the gel top coat that gives it it's ever-so-brilliant, never dull, cannot be penetrated, long-lasting shine!

I've been admiring these talons but did not want to duplicate on myself, I needed something original.  For those of you that don't know me well, I only do my nails...I am WAAAY TOO PARTICULAR for anybody else to do my nails...a fellow nail tech, whom I've asked to do my nails on occasion, WILL NOT cuz she knows my standards and frankly, gets nervous by my critiquing.

OK so, I'm still tryin to think of some cool creation with my black acrylic...IDEA: I narrowed it down to a black "french", ya know, instead of a white tip, it's black!  OK, so what about the base?  White...a reverse of my "tuxedo" nail?  NO! Not feelin the white.  I got it...grey!  Yes, that's what I want, black tip with grey base.

I don't have a grey acrylic powder but customizing colors is a fav of mine too and I have all the components I need: black and white make grey, right?  Perfect, let's get mixing!

I also have a clear glitter acrylic, so I decided to mix that in as well...So now I have a solid black tip with a sparkly, metal-grey base...LOVE IT!

I also love to stripe so after my finished product I messed around with some different striping designs.  This is easy to do when your nail and it's entire color, consists of only acrylic because the acrylic is set, no drying time. So if you're playing with painted designs and don't like it, simply wipe off with acetone and start over, never compromising the nail!

I ended up with a simple, diagonal line that goes from the outer corner to the inner corner of the nail... Viola, my design is complete...oh wait, not just yet...gotta seal it with my... handy-dandy notebook!  J/K, that was the Blue's Clues fan comin out in me (got kids)?  OK, I mean my handy-dandy UV gel topcoat/sealer, I mentioned earlier...this seals everything, even the acrylic!  Tid-bit: acrylic is a porous product, meaning it can be penetrated BUT gel is not therefore, slap that gel topcoat on and what you get is a super-shiny nail that will look as good as the first day you got 'em done, all the way up til your next fill, your nails are completely sealed, no worries...shine-on, baby!