Vintage Manicures

[nyx]

Nope. Nothing wrong with you....I only have thumb moons too. Genetics.

Doesnt mean you cant -make- moons for vintage manicures using the guides...

Me too. I know it's hard to see in the picture because of how my hands are, but I have only baby moons on my thumbs, and oddly, teeny tiny ones on my first and second fingers of only my right hand. [huh]

 

[deelovely]

Nope. Nothing wrong with you....I only have thumb moons too. Genetics.

Doesnt mean you cant -make- moons for vintage manicures using the guides...

Well that's a relief! I only have them on my thumbs as well!! I want to try a neat manicure this weekend. I also want to try something with my hair. There is so much helpful information in these threads, I will have to search over the next 2 days and find something to try over the weekend... a project/ challenge for me! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[RitaHayworth]

Hi ladies, I'm a nail technician in the Syracuse, NY area. I know what the unpolished "moon" shape looks like. In all states you have to be licensed for hair and nails, so in our school book for nails, there was a small chapter on what was the popular look for polish through the decades. They had a few pictures for the 1930's. Mostly oval shapes, short to medium length. Very classy looking. Unfortunatly, today most women want longer, squared off nails. If anyone gets acrylics, be sure to ask what kind of acrylic (liquid) monomer they are using. Beware of MMA (methyl methacrylate). It is illeagal in the USA. And is VERY bad for your nails.

fftopic: Kind of....but I am a little curious as to what they said about the 60's nails - Im a bit of 60's chick at heart too!

 

[Pinkie]

As far as the vintage bare moon look, I can tell you what I do to my nails.

I paint on a clear coat and then let it dry. Then I apply those french manicure guides (the curved ones) over my "moon" (or where it would be). Then I paint the length of my nail with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Hard As Wraps Royal Red Creme (really good for long nails; makes your nails hard and doesn't chip!). I wait until the color polish is totally dry (important) and then I carefully peel off the guides. You should be left with a bare moon shape and the rest of your nail painted. Sometimes, the guide will peel off some of the clear polish you started with, that's OK. I usually wait until my nails are dry and then carefully wash my hands. Then finish with a clear top coat. Make sure that your color polish is totally dry though becuase when you go to put the clear top coat on, the brush will pick up the color from your nail and make your moon pink!

Patience is key.

 

[RetroBabydoll]

Vintage moon look

I found this thread and got excited about the vintage moon look. It looks neat so I tried it out monday at my beauty school and all the other students just didn't like it. I don't know why people are stuck in the thinking that only french tip, a solid color, or a little design on the nail are the only things that are allowed. I told them that it's been around since the 30's and they looked at me like I was crazy.

Who does or doesn't like the vintage moon look? Be honest.

 

[pennycarrol]

RetroBabyDoll, I love the moon look!! But unfortunately it's very very hard to do it!! I can do one hand not so bad, but for the other one it's a nightmare lol!! Plus my nails are short, and I think that the moon look is really beautiful on long nails!! But I love it!!

 

[RetroBabydoll]

RetroBabyDoll, I love the moon look!! But unfortunately it's very very hard to do it!! I can do one hand not so bad, but for the other one it's a nightmare lol!! Plus my nails are short, and I think that the moon look is really beautiful on long nails!! But I love it!!

Hmm. If I don't have clients tonight I might try it out again. I shouldn't care what others say at my school. I should do what I like. I'm using some blue and white moons because that's the only color I have so far. I wear a lot of blue also. Thank you for your input.

 

[pennycarrol]

Of course!! Do it!! What people think is not important. If you love the moon look, then do the moon look lol!!!!!!

 

[Goldfish]

I am thrilled that they even wore silver and gold nailpolish back then!
I love the *Gold Veneer* nailpolish that came out with MAC's Antiquitease LE and I think I have found a nice dupe!
And for silver -> do you think this might work as semi-vintage?

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

I just bought some OPI nail polish and tried the half moon thing for the first time, on every nail. I'd tried it once before just on 2 nails and it didn't work too well. I tried again with the hole reinforcers, which was certainly better than doing it freehand! But it turned out reasonably well, from a distance they look perfect, so hopefully they do to others too! I love the look though, and I'll certainly be doing it regularly to practice.

 

[RetroBabydoll]

I just bought some OPI nail polish and tried the half moon thing for the first time, on every nail. I'd tried it once before just on 2 nails and it didn't work too well. I tried again with the hole reinforcers, which was certainly better than doing it freehand! But it turned out reasonably well, from a distance they look perfect, so hopefully they do to others too! I love the look though, and I'll certainly be doing it regularly to practice.

You should show a picture of what you've done for your manicure. I'd love to see pictures of what people have done.

 

[~*Red*~]

I am thrilled that they even wore silver and gold nailpolish back then!
I love the *Gold Veneer* nailpolish that came out with MAC's Antiquitease LE and I think I have found a nice dupe!
And for silver -> do you think this might work as semi-vintage?

Goldfish, I love the silver tips! I wore them for my wedding!

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I actually have moons on all my nails - very very tiny on my pinkies though.

I love the idea of using hole enforcers - DUH! What a perfect idea.

 

[Fancy Mouse]

Oooh, thanks for telling your beauty secrets. I'll definitely have to stop by a stationery shop as soon as my nails grow back. The french tip stickers don't even seem to work for my french tips, let alone half moons.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

I am going to try cutting the hole thigies next time as the ones I have aren't as sticky as french tip stickers and so can leave a gap on each end. If I cut them down, then they'll stick down all the way across, hopefully!

 

[ShrinkingViolet]

I've had problems with the hole inforcers sticking properly, too. I think the way to go about it is to use a base coat first to fill out the ridges.
I just feel silly about buying yet another "absolutely necessary" product! :eusa_doh: Would it be sacrilege to use a top coat varnish as a base coat?

 

[RetroBabydoll]

I've had problems with the hole inforcers sticking properly, too. I think the way to go about it is to use a base coat first to fill out the ridges.
I just feel silly about buying yet another "absolutely necessary" product! :eusa_doh: Would it be sacrilege to use a top coat varnish as a base coat?

I've seen it where the base coat and the top coat are in the same bottle. I'd have to double check that, but I would think it wouldn't really matter. I wonder what the other ladies would say.

 

[KittyT]

I've seen it where the base coat and the top coat are in the same bottle. I'd have to double check that, but I would think it wouldn't really matter. I wonder what the other ladies would say.

Base coats usually provide a rougher surface for nail varnish to adhere to, and some of them help smooth out and fill in any ridges you might have in your nails. Top coats are usually a super smooth, hard, chip-resistant coat. They're really not the same, but it probably doesn't make *that* big of a difference.

 

[Goldfish]

Found a really nice silver today and tried to apply it.
I had several problems with the tip guides I tried yet so I used adhesive tape because I heard it worked for a lot of people - but not for me!
It's the same thing as with tip guides - uneven, the polish is build up where the tape ended... and I can't get the tip guides mentioned in this thread - any ideas?

And for silver -> do you think this might work as semi-vintage?

 

[Helen Troy]

If only there was a fast and pratical way for cutting proper shapes out of masking tape, the kind you use for painting windows e.t.c. I think that would be the best material. Just thinking out loud here