This Weeks Nails: Swatch Manicure

I like to think of myself as the Barefoot Contessa of the fashion world.

She takes classic dishes and "turns up the volume" or puts a little twist on them. I do the same, just with nail polish and blouses *cheesy grin*.

The volume is exactly what I "turned up" for my Fourth of July manicure. Now, before you go thinking how that was sooo last week, this will still work no matter what time of year it is.

Here's what I did...

The night I went to paint my nails, I grabbed a red out of obligation. But a simple red hardly ever graces my nails, only because it doesn't excite me.

So what I decided to do, was grab every shade of red/pink/orange that I had (and that were relatively in the same shading family) and painted a different one on each nail!

It's called "swatching" and it's when you take colors in the same family and make a manicure out of them. In certain lights you couldn't even tell that was going on. But when you could see it, it hit just the right playful note.

I've tried doing it ombre-style when you start with the dark color on one nail and go lighter, but this is a whole lot easier. The only technique to it is to separate the colors that look more alike.

Here's a better view of what I chose and their names (from left to right/thumb to pinky):
InStyle Red; Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It; Don't Know Beets Me; A Roll in the Hague; Neon Pink.

Want to know how to make your swatch (or any other) manicure last!? Click here for the secret!!