Custom Blenders - Some advice please.....

[Trinity]

Hi All

Inspired by Ketan on Sunday (at the open day at the London OSNS) I decided to have a go at custom blending for my nails - as a former biter my nail beds are really small so need all the extending they can get :lol:

So I did these this afternoon, but whilst I'm reasonably happy with the colour match (I think there is a pinch of everything in there!), on close inspection the colour blend powder in zone 2 looks grainy, like it's made of sand..........is this right?

The recipe includes:-
flawless pink,
white,
purple (cant remember it's name)
red (spanish tile),
brown (melting pot)
blue (can't remember it's name)

Is the grainy appearance from the brown and blue pigmentation that won't necessarily disappear?

Or is my mix ratio off causing it to look like that?

Or am I being too hard on myself and they actually look OK?

Here's a couple of pictures:-

After




Not technically a before picture as it's the other hand, but it will give you an idea of how bad my natural nails are



TIA
Trin
xx

 

[Fingertips ND]

They look good to me.

When I was a model for Tilly Ann at Leeds she applied a custom blended powder. I could see tiny bits of red in the nail (like you can with the other colours) but they still looked good and you could only see the grains if you put the nail right up to your face!

Well done anyway - they are lovely and a nice shape too.

 

[*JOANNE*]

i think they look amazing trin.
i do love natural tips and the blend looks natural and creamy...nice

 

[Trinity]

i think they look amazing trin.
i do love natural tips and the blend looks natural and creamy...nice

Thanks Joanne :hug:

It's soft white :Love: - the index finger (which is in hiding ) is sculpted the others are tip & overlay

 

[PLAOH]

Hi All

Inspired by Ketan on Sunday (at the open day at the London OSNS) I decided to have a go at custom blending for my nails - as a former biter my nail beds are really small so need all the extending they can get :lol:

So I did these this afternoon, but whilst I'm reasonably happy with the colour match (I think there is a pinch of everything in there!), on close inspection the colour blend powder in zone 2 looks grainy, like it's made of sand..........is this right?

The recipe includes:-
flawless pink,
white,
purple (cant remember it's name)
red (spanish tile),
brown (melting pot)
blue (can't remember it's name)

Is the grainy appearance from the brown and blue pigmentation that won't necessarily disappear?

Or is my mix ratio off causing it to look like that?

Or am I being too hard on myself and they actually look OK?

Here's a couple of pictures:-

After




Not technically a before picture as it's the other hand, but it will give you an idea of how bad my natural nails are



TIA
Trin
xx

They look fine to me. Just wish my l&p smiles looked as good as yours.

 

[scattyfox]

they look ok to me hun, I find teh flawless makes them look a bit grainy as it is covering up and this is what its meant to do.
Come and do me a set hun lol
x

 

[nikkinails]

where do you get the acrylics for custome blends as I have quite a few nail biters who need their nail beds extending with the normal pink you can obviously see the nat nail line through or I heard you can get masking powders where from - I am not creative trained so cant buy those.



Thanks. Nikki.x

 

[angel.tips]

They look good to me.

I am going to buy the custom blend kit but really only want the recipes as I have all the powders already.

 

[nemotail]

They look fab to me, I would be delighted to be your client. L&P is really appealing to me at the moment as I love the sound of custom blending.
Fingers crossed the new Brisa colours come soon and have a decent coverage and a softer white
KxXx

 

[elfprincessem]

Fabulous. love the before and after shots, doesn't even look like the same hand! I have the custom blending kit but aren't really sure what to do with it as i have only just qualified in foundation L and P (CND) but can't wait until i can pull off beautys' like those. Well done xx

 

[Jen Smith]

They look fab to me, I would be delighted to be your client. L&P is really appealing to me at the moment as I love the sound of custom blending.
Fingers crossed the new Brisa colours come soon and have a decent coverage and a softer white
KxXx

Did you know that there is a soft white in Brisa already?

 

[nemotail]

No Jen, I didnt know ~ its not in the catalogue, I thought Soft white was coming with the new pink gels? is it POW or Sculpting?
KxXx


EDIT : Oops, I am so rude sorry for hijacking your thread Trin XX

 

[Envy]

Karol - soft white sculpting available now. Soft white POW coming with new pinks!

Trin, great nails! - I would say the smile look a tad soft. (my guess soft white a little wet in application, darn easy to do.
Blend - nice, you will find using white in the blend will really emphasis the colours, hence you can sort of see the purple/brown, try soft white, or twighlight if you like sparkle. That and maybe a tiny bit less of the colours (your beds are a beautiful pink colour, I'd try and match that ) Well done

 

[Trinity]

Trin, great nails! - I would say the smile look a tad soft. (my guess soft white a little wet in application, darn easy to do.

I'm definitely working wetting than usual, it's this muggy heat wave we're having, I'm working wetter for longer work time, but losing the clarity of colour :evil:

Blend - nice, you will find using white in the blend will really emphasis the colours

The white is in there (7:2 as per Ketan's instructions) - do you reckon it needs more??? :irked:


,

That and maybe a tiny bit less of the colours (your beds are a beautiful pink colour, I'd try and match that ) Well done

Darn you man that's what I was trying to do :o :lol:

I love the idea of custom blending, but trying to get a match for my nail beds is a nightmare, they're kind of purpley/redy/blue (hence the use of the blue, purple & red powders)

How do I make a deep pink mix without the purple and red?

Thanks for the feedback

Trin
xx

 

[Envy]

The white is in there (7:2 as per Ketan's instructions) - do you reckon it needs more??? :irked:
I love the idea of custom blending, but trying to get a match for my nail beds is a nightmare, they're kind of purpley/redy/blue (hence the use of the blue, purple & red powders)
How do I make a deep pink mix without the purple and red?

The white can, in my experience, make it harder to make it blend, it makes the colours and differences really stand out...
Try soft white, easier to work in a blend.

The recipe includes:-
flawless pink,
white,
purple (cant remember it's name)
red (spanish tile),
brown (melting pot)
blue (can't remember it's name)
This is an awesome blend!

Personally, i'd give this a go as a comparrison... I often find trial and
error essential, I tweak each clients blend as we go, you sometimes don't realise how close/ far until you see it against new growth.
2 part flawless
1 part intense pink (gives a cold pink feel)
1 part soft white
1/8th part melting pot
tiny (i mean tiny) part red
tiny part purple if needed..
bearing in mind intense is pretty blue based already!

Happy blending ..!

 

[The Geek]

Be careful of too much mosaics of any kind as they are so heavily pigmented that it can start to look grainy. Mosaics are for colour adjustments - so you need tiny amounts.

Here is the base ratio:

• 4:1 Flawless to Perfect Colour White
• .10 scoop Melting pot

Then adjust with:

• Spanish tile (if needing to pump up 'pink')
• Golden Glass (if needing to cut underlying violet)
• Terra Cotta (if wanting to cut violet and warm)

Points:

• It is much easier to mix LARGE amounts than small smounts. Small amounts are too easy to over correct colour amounts!
• I would seldom ever use Quartz or any other mosaics. The base mix is already violet toned from the monomer so you seldom need to make it cooler (unless you are correcting an already adjusted mix).
• If you need to make mix lighter, use a little more flawless/perfect colour white ratio. If it needs to be deeper, add a little more melting pot.
• Too much melting pot makes the nails too brown!!
• Not enough melting pot makes the nails too light and pasty!!!

Personally, I avoid:

• Any translucent powders (ie Perfect Colour Pink, Clear, Intense Pink) as these will start to allow the natural nail plate to show through and also can promote 'splotchyness'.
• Twilight or other 'glitter'. Stong glittery nails look cheap to me. A like the subtle twinkle of Melting pot.

These are just a few hints and tips. I keep meaning to do a tutorial. May get to one soon

nJoy

 

[Trinity]

Try soft white..

I'll give that a try next time

2 part flawless
1 part intense pink (gives a cold pink feel)
1 part soft white
1/8th part melting pot
tiny (i mean tiny) part red
tiny part purple if needed..
bearing in mind intense is pretty blue based already!

And this is where my confusion comes in - I need the cold pink feel, but I believed the intense pink shouldn't really be used as it removes the opacity (which is after all the point of custom blend). This is also borne out by GMG's post

Personally, I avoid:

• Any translucent powders (ie Perfect Colour Pink, Clear, Intense Pink) as these will start to allow the natural nail plate to show through and also can promote 'splotchyness'.

• 
  
  See - what started off as a simple play has ended up more confusing than ever - step away from the blending kit :lol:
  
  I think a tutorial would be most welcome please Mr GMG
  
  Thanks for all the input though chaps - I'll have another play when I unscramble my brain
  
  Trin
  xx

 

[The Geek]

Many like to blend with Intense - its just my preference. The base mix mentioned above is generally already cool.

Remember you are also only working in a small colour range

 

[ZOE!]

I tried mixing flawless with intense and thought that it took away the coverage.

 

[The Geek]

Totally depends on your powder ratio though.
For instance a 1:1 ratio of flawless to intense will take a lot of coverage away but a 2:1 will be less so. Regardless adding any translucent colours will decrease the coverage on some level.

Most blenders I know do use intense on some level until they try the base mix I mentioned above. The reason plp generally start with adding intense is becasue they are trying to 'cool' down the flawless. When you use the mix above, the white will pick up your monomer color stronger and therefore automatically cool down your mix without loosing opacity. If it isnt 'cool' enough, a small pinch of Quartz will be all you need to do the job.

The biggest trick to the above mix is to get the lightness or darkness right. Once you have that, the colour is a cinch.