Nail Art: Summer Carnival Dotticure

Summer Dotticure SwatchesIf you followed me on social media since Friday, you already saw some photos that took while at the Canadian National Exhibiton (aka the CNE / The Ex) in Toronto.

This Summer Carnival Dotticure is what I wore to the CNE!

It was my first time trying out the KISS Polish Pop nail stickers. (The neon dots are the stickers.)

Everything else, I painted myself and tried to create a cohesive look to incorporate the fun neon dots.

With photos zoomed in so closely on my nails, you can see the transparent outline surrounding the neon dots, but in real life, it’s not quite as noticeable.

They’re worth playing around with, especially if you don’t have dotting tools, a lot of nail-polish colours, or the time to do freehand designs.

The black lacquer I used is China Glaze Liquid Leather, the pink (used on my thumb, which you can see in other photos in this post) is Duri Venom, the green is Duri Summer Rain, and the white is OPI Infinite Shine Non-Stop White.

Summer Carnival Dotticure Swatches

All swatches have:

Artificial Light Photos

CNE 2015

This was an advance CNE ticket that my mom bought me. The regular price is slightly more, and on the opening day (when I went), you could’ve gotten in for $8 CAD at the gate. Also, they have a cheaper price for Monday to Thursday, if you go after 5 pm.

Summer Nail Art Cotton Candy

The bottom of the bag may say it’s for “Little Willy,” but I devoured the entire bag of cotton candy. Sorry, Willy!

Summer Dotticure Swatches

Summer Dotticure

China Glaze Liquid Leather Swatches

OPI Infinite Shine Non-Stop White Swatches

Summer Nail Art Swatches

Neon Dotticure Swatch

Duri Summer Rain Swatch

Dotticure Duri Summer Rain Swatches

Kiss Stickers Nail Art

China Glaze Liquid Leather Swatch

Easy Nail Art

Duri Venom Swatches

Natural Light Photos

Summer Dotticure Nail Art Nails

Duri Summer Rain Swatch

Duri Venom NailArt

Fun Nail Art Dotticure

Rainbow Nail Art

Nail Art Dotticure

Fun Dotticure Nail Art

Duri Summer Rain Nail Art

Colourful Nail Art

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Rainbow Nails

Duri Venom Nail Art

KISS Polish Pop Nail Stickers

The KISS Polish Pop nail stickers I used come in a package that looks like this. (It retails for $4.97 CAD.)

Kiss Polish Pop Nail Stickers Nail Art

There are full-nail wraps, as well as little designs. All of them are meant to be used as accent designs, not for every single nail. However, you know that I like bold looks, so for my manicure, I made all my nails loud.

Kiss Polish Pop Nail Stickers

If you purchase these nail stickers, you could use a design to just accent one nail and then keep all the other ones a solid colour. It’s up to you how to use them.

You should wait until your base polish is dry before applying the stickers. (Since I was painting a new manicure, I used a fast-dry top coat after my final coat of colour so that I could soon after go right in and apply the stickers.)

I don’t recommend trying to peel the stickers off with wet nails, as they are small and therefore it’s tricky to do so without creating dents.

These stickers are great for breathing life into an old manicure. If you have a solid colour on, maybe on the second or third day, you can change up the look by applying some of these on top.

The area surrounding the small accent designs is transparent, but I found that I couldn’t get it to be completely invisible. Even when I applied a thick, glossy top coat, I could see the outline, but it wasn’t too bad. (In photos that are larger than real life, yes, you can clearly see the outline, but in person, it’s way more subtle, and people would have to get really close to your nails to see it.) I don’t have much experience using stickers, so that could also be a factor.

Nevertheless, I was really happy with how the neon dots looked against the black China Glaze Liquid Leather! 🙂 (To get the neon vibrancy with regular polish on top of black, you’d have to layer the colour over white dots, so these stickers are definitely a time-saver.)

I snipped the long line of dots at the bottom so that they’d be long enough to fit diagonally on my middle fingers. You could totally customize them any way you wish to make a manicure all your own. And if you layer them over a gradient or other solid colour, it will completely change the overall appearance.

On the back of the package, it shows an example of a design you can create using the stickers:

Kiss Nail Art Stickers

Disclosure: OPI Infinite Shine Non-Stop White and the KISS stickers were provided by PR. Everything else I used was purchased by me.

What kind of nail designs would you do to incorporate the stickers? When you think “carnival nails,” what immediately pops into your mind? Have you been to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition)?

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12 thoughts on “Nail Art: Summer Carnival Dotticure

  1. Melissa

    I’ve seen these before, but I haven’t tried them. Now that I’ve seen them in action, I just might have to give them a try. I’m so loving your nails, Mary. They look amazing, as usual.

    Reply
    1. Mary S. Post author

      Hey Melissa!

      Aww, thank you so much! The dots are so easy to apply and position. Plus there are so many different ways you can wear it. I just really wanted to combine bright neons with black for a lot of contrast. 🙂

      I still have several of the dots left, so who knows? Maybe I’ll pull them out for another manicure!

      Reply
    1. Mary S. Post author

      Hey Elizabeth!

      Those neon dots inspired the entire manicure! It’s amazing how something so simple can help you tap into your inner creativity.

      At first I was going to use the palm trees, but the dot theme worked, and thank goodness I stopped. Hehe, otherwise, it would’ve been a very cluttered manicure!

      Reply
  2. Icequeen81

    I can’t get more depressed after seeing your blog post today 🙁

    Why have they stopped China Glaze over here? The Liquid Leather Is beyond Gorgeous

    Btw: beautiful pictures 🙂 so glossy

    Reply
    1. Mary S. Post author

      Hey Icequeen81!

      So happy I was able to put you in a good mood! Likewise, readers like you put a spring in my step, too. So thank you!

      Aww, sorry to hear that China Glaze isn’t available where you are anymore. Liquid Leather is a beauty indeed, and I want to wear it solo again and review it again. (Last time I reviewed it was quite some time ago. I want to show its glory and remind people that some staples colours are incredible. It’s not just the hunt for limited-edition shades that can get your pulse racing!)

      Reply
    1. Mary S. Post author

      Hey Sandra!

      Thanks! 🙂 I had so much fun wearing this look, and I’m still wearing it today. However, I’ll probably paint my nails tonight!

      Reply
    1. Mary S. Post author

      Hey Sasha!

      They are a lot of fun, and the best part is that you don’t have to use all the stickers for a single manicure. Technically, you could get numerous looks if you just used them strictly as accent nails. Plus it would be neat to combine these with nail stamping.

      Reply

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