Fashion Friday: Summer-inspired pedicure

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I was asked by Julep to participate in their Summer DIY pedicure challenge. I decided to take part, despite the fact that it’s winter where I live, and that I haven’t painted my toenails for almost a decade! I thought it would be a fun challenge, and would help welcome in Spring, which is thankfully less than thirty days away.

Personally, I’m not a fan of wearing open-toed shoes. Flip-flops are my least favourite type of footwear, and I don’t own any sandals. I’m not such a fan of flip-flops because they are uncomfortable and I don’t like the way it sits between two of my toes. I’ve also never had a pedicure, and I’m pretty sure I should some time soon. My feet go through so much abuse – high heels, years of ballet – and I don’t care for them as much as I should.

I followed Julep’s guide to an at-home pedicure, and I realised I should definitely take better care of my feet. It was more fun than I had anticipated. Over the weekend I soaked my feet in hot (but not too hot) water for a while, also giving them a good wash with some shower gel. Then I used an exfoliating scrub and massaged it into my feet.

My toenails were already trimmed but I filed them down a bit. This was a really quick job I did for an evening near the beach. I wasn’t a fan of this rushed nail job, so I removed this the next day.

Pedicure-1

I repainted my nails in this style:

Pedicure-2

I continued to use yellow, like I had initially, but used a different shade – this one is TBN’s (Totally Beautiful Nails) fluoro yellow. It required a lot of coats, which was a little annoying since I had to wait a while for all the coats to dry. I don’t have much of a toenail on my small toes; many years ago I had a bad split in one of them and only had half a nail.

I used a glitter polish over the top of the yellow. This is one of the glitter colours I bought from Japan. It is light pink in colour, though the pink doesn’t show when you apply it, unless you apply a lot of coats. Otherwise you can see the colour in the bottle. The glitter flecks are hot pink, purple, and gold.

Ulta3 base coat; TBN in fluoro yellow, Ulta3 Speed Dry in Sunset Coral; Smoothie Nail (two variations); Ulta3 in Clear
Ulta3 base coat; TBN in fluoro yellow, Ulta3 Speed Dry in Sunset Coral; Smoothie Nail (two variations); Ulta3 in Clear

It’s a bit difficult to apply the glitter flecks evenly on the surface of the nail. Sometimes you get a lot of it on the nail, and sometimes you don’t get any. It is still a really fun polish though.

This nail art was primarily inspired by this phone wallpaper from Poolga. I love visiting Poolga for their latest wallpapers, and I loved the pink and yellow combination on this geometric number (Afternoon by Tamara Garcevic).

Phone-pink-yellow

I chose a bright shade of yellow that matched this beaded bracelet I got in Hong Kong last year – rather than choosing a pale yellow.

Bright yellow beaded bracelet
Bright yellow beaded bracelet

I also noticed a number of things I owned that had the pink-purple-yellow colour combination. One is a hula hoop I own, and another is the design on the box for a set of earrings. It is a bit of a coincidence, but I can see why it’s a common colour combination. It looks great.

Guess earrings box
Guess earrings box

While I love bright colours for something summer inspired, I don’t turn a blind eye towards other hues. I love blues and purples, and have a wicked emerald green that I use on occasion, but have never tried on my toenails.

There are a few colours Julep offers that are gorgeous, which are on their nail polish colour page. I would be keen to try something like the greenish Lissa or the deep purple Ciara. The the sunset-like Karmen is another darker alternative, but one that I think definitely suits summer is the glorious and eye-catching Kyla. I would love a similar colour since I don’t have any polishes that are close to the colour orange.

Lissa, Ciara, Karmen and Kyla nail polishes from Julep
Lissa, Ciara, Karmen and Kyla nail polishes from Julep

I painted my fingernails to match, using yellow and coral as accents. On my left hand, I used a slightly different glitter polish, which has red, blue, and slightly smaller gold glitter flecks. What do you think?

Pedicure-4
Pedicure-5

Do you like the end result? Did you happen to prefer the first style I painted my toenails?

Comments on this post

I love nail polish. You would think I don’t as I only own one shade. I can never grow my nails out. They’re so brittle, and I’m on the computer learning it inside amd out. I was also told by my pianist teacher that if you’re playing piano you need to have short fingernails. Ah well. Maybe one of these my nails will grow, but I don’t think i will look good in long nails. Regardless, I still like nail polish.

I love the way you used the yellow and red on your toes. I don’t think I’ve ever painted mine. I hate wearing flip flops. I could never understand why it’s a rage in fashion. Maybe some people feel as though they’re comfortable. I just don’t like them. Makes me feel as though they’re falling off.

I had to keep my nails short when I played piano. As soon as I quit, I let my nails grow! Playing guitar can be a bit of a pain with long fingernails too, except for the strumming hand. I hope your nails grow out nicely some time. If you eat eggs or a lot of protein, you might find that they grow faster. You could try a hand/nail cream to bring moisture into your nails. My nails were not exactly brittle, but they used to bend and snap very easily. I think a change in diet and reduced stress made them less brittle. It’s good to have them short sometimes; if they are long they can put a lot of stress on the nails if they are hit. (I hit one of my nails on a hard surface at 90 degrees to the nail, it hurt like a bitch… My nail didn’t snap or anything but there was a bloody bruise on my finger where all the pressure must have been.)

You’re right about flip flops! They’re pretty much just hanging on between two toes. I don’t understand why they are comfortable (or even safe to walk in).

I had my first professional pedicure last year and it was so awkward. I don’t like people touching my toes so I started twitching. It must have made it a pain for her to paint my toe nails.

I love the end result! Your toes look very ready for summer. :P I particularly like the glitter top coat. I have some purple glitter polish that I use over pink polish. It works well.

Nice! I enjoyed seeing your nails and toenails :) I’m not a pedicure person, but I don’t mind getting a manicure when I’m in a mood to pamper myself. My only problem is that since I use my hands a lot, I chip my manicure on the same day I get it, so I don’t think it’s worth doing all that, haha! XD;; But if I do get a manicure, I like getting a French manicure :D I find those to be simple and elegant!

I would think not wearing flip flops is a good thing because your heels won’t get dried out :o. It sounds like the at-home pedicure did the job! I totally understand how it feels having to wait to apply multiple coatings to make the polish stick. I’m digging your glitter polishes. I’m a total sucker for glitter for some reason. The only problem I have with glitter is getting them off.

I think I like the end results better. This is the first time I see nails not having almost identical shades (unless the flower is aligned differently). The colors work well together!

Very beautiful~ I just love the yellow nail polish and other ones you used and such. I remember getting my first pedicure and really loving it. That’s fine if you don’t like sandals as everyone is different, but with me Iiving in such a hot and humid state, I have no choice but to wear sandals, especially in the summer. Darn Texas.

I think it’s awesome how you’re able to do lots of stuff; like…you do concert photography, and you web design and you write and play music and then you do ballet. I think it’s cool. I used to be given ballet lesson but then I never liked it, I grew to hate it so I stopped haha XD

Flip flops or flat shoes are a no go for me too. They feel…odd in my feet. It’s the reason why I always refuse pedicure – it’s useless for people who always, always wear sneakers, not to mention my toenails are ugly and not trimmed properly O_O

Ah, the patience of using nail polish! I wonder how people have the patience to do that lol I got a yellow polish from my cousin and I never used it just because I’m super lazy. no patience to paint it neatly either.
The smoothie nail polish is adorable though. :D I’ve seen polishes like that from Etude House, wanted to buy but decided not to. What happen once the “liquid” part runs out? The “sparkles” will just stick to the bottle and get dried up, won’t they?

I never knew but is yellow your favorite color after red? Or is it just red? I remember you liking red though. I love what you’ve done with your fingernails; it’s simple but cheery and adorable ♥

Aw thank you love! :) As long as you are doing what you love, that is what matters. I found a lot of things that I both love and can do. Some people may only have a few and that’s okay too.

I used to wear sneakers a lot, but I have transitioned to boots. I don’t wear casual clothes much anymore, so my sneakers don’t often match with my clothes (I have a red pair!).

I guess the sparkles/glitter will stick to the bottle if the liquid runs out. :( A tiny bit of nail polish remover will probably release them, but I suppose it is the same for regular glitter polishes that are full of glitter. I’ll probably think twice before buying more glitter polish, now that you mention it!

My favourite colour after red is purple. :) I like yellow, but not that much.