Chinese New Year: Year of the Dog Nails

Gung Hay Fat Choy! It’s the Year of the Dog! I’m not very Chinese by Asian standards, having been born in America, but it gives me an excuse to paint my nails and wear red!

For this manicure, I used a red creme shade that had a pretty gold shimmer undertone to it.

Suzanne from Julep is a gorgeous color! I also happened to use this polish for the last Chinese New Year manicure that I did!

I gave my nails a lucky money envelope kind of look with some stamping using a plate from Bundle Monster and some gold stamping polish from Ya Qin An.

I used the design in the upper left hand corner of plate BM-S229 from Bundle Monster.

Because there are so many lines in this pattern, one has to use a gentle touch when picking up the polish from the plate and applying it to the nails with the stamper, particularly if the stamper is squishy. If the same amount of pressure is not applied during both of these steps, the lines will warp and the design will not be straight.

I tried to be as meticulous as possible with the stamping, but I still managed to slightly warp the design on my ring finger. Not to worry, though- I’m about to cover it up with a dog!

Because 2018 is the Year of the Dog according to the Chinese zodiac, I wanted to add a cute little friend to this manicure as an accent nail.

Chinese New Year Monkey Nails

Gung Hay Fat Choy!  Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate!  I don’t really get into the festivities that much other than wearing something red and getting some lucky money, but it’s still a holiday of note in my family.

2016 is the year of the monkey, so of course I wanted to paint monkeys on my nails.  I decided to do a red base color (of course) with gold glitter on top for luck.

My choices for a lucky Chinese New Year manicure: American as Apple Pie by Nicole by OPI and Rich Gold by Sephora + Pantone Universe.

American as Apple Pie has a slightly opalescent sheen to it by itself.

The glitter in Rich Gold is holographic when it hits the light. This picture doesn’t do it justice.

I would have liked to use nail polish to paint the monkeys, but I didn’t have time to let the coats of polish dry completely in between steps, so I used acrylic paint instead.

craft smart Acrylic Paint in Black, Brown, and Golden Brown.

Using brown paint, I colored in the heads of the monkeys at varying angles around my nails. I wanted them to be peeking out of the corners of my nails because they can be mischievous animals.

I filled in the ears and the faces with golden brown paint.

Using a detail brush, I painted their mouths and noses. A dotting tool was used to paint their eyes.

After some top coat, I was done!  It didn’t even take that long to do- maybe an hour or less if you don’t count the time I spent taking pictures of the steps.  Lucky me!

Monkey madness!

Hope this year brings you luck and fortune as well!  Happy polishing!