I have to admit, I’m pretty slow on this microbead/caviar mani fad (I might just attribute that to me being in the second largest hole in the Southern Hemisphere) and I think this was making waves months ago in March or something. I had these beads about a week ago but waited awhile to let my nails rest (and rehydrate) on account of me doing all these mani blogs >.<
Anyway! I’ve finally come around to getting all the materials together (mainly just the microbeads) and this is my review on microbeads (months and months late).
[clear]Excuse the poor lines on the mani – I wanted to take a photo as soon as possible to prevent any bald spots developingI already have a little bald spot! It’s only been about 30 minutes since I took that photo! in the microbeaded area so I didn’t manage to go over the rough edges (I really should get myself a nail art brush).
I bought the microbeads off ebay (they’re the same set as used by Elisa from Memorable Days but I don’t think it was from the same seller. Take a look at her post as she gives a good how-to on this micro-beaded mani) and they came in these little bottles which look super cute but it doesn’t contain a heap of these beads. You could probably do one full set (one hand only) with one bottle but that would be the maximum. So like in my post about the flocked mani, it’s not exactly the best value for money (though the set of 12 colours only cost me about $1.90) but its not as if you’ll need a lot for your nails.
I used mainly Butter London productsBase coat, opaque green/blue is called Slapper and the glittery green/blue is called Henley Regatta in this mani and although I have said I’m not a big fan of this brand, I have found that it dries very quickly even with two coats! Though I was complaining about the fact that I had to use four coats for the sheer Pink Ribbon colour, the more opaque colours only require two coats.
The Savvy nail colour was just a cheapish chemist brand that I bought on an impulse (for $2 why not?) which, though goes on slightly streaky, the second coat covers up all the streaks so it looks fairly neat. It surprisingly matched well with Slapper so no complains there.
[clear]
So, microbeads. I have to say I don’t really like them that much, that and they fall off like crazy (especially if you keep running your fingers over it…). They look pretty and feel so nice to rub your finger over but longevity is just not there. Plus when it starts to fall off it doesn’t look very good. BUT! If you love textured manicures like the flocked manicure, you should still try this – it’s a novelty in itself and should be experienced as such! It would be a lovely thing to do on your nails for a party or something like that but don’t expect it to hold up through washing the dishes, your hair and other various household chores.
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