More About Color: Part 2 - By Rise’ Carter
I know that many of us get a bit hung on mixing just the right colors together to match the client’s skin tone. Instead of matching, try complimenting. Even take a look to see what your client’s favorite lipstick color, blush, or eye shadow happens to be. Chances are, they are already wearing the “right” colors.
When mixing for skin tones, NSI has two excellent opaque colors to use as your base. Attraction Pink Masque is a cool pink used to hide imperfections or to create the illusion of longer looking nail beds, and a brand new powder called Attraction Purely Pink Masque, which does exactly the same thing; the only difference is that it is a warm pink, with slightly less opacity.
When mixing powders, start working with a clean, empty container. I like to use at least a 7 gram size container or larger. You will need about 30% empty space in the top of your container so you can roll and mix the colors together. Another way to mix is by using a marble mortar and pestle. Sometimes the more intense colors have flecks of pigments that may need to be ground down.
To make a warmer color using Technailcolor Colored Acrylic, just add a tiny amount (like two pinheads) of Canary Yellow, or an even less amount of Juicy Orange, to one of the Attraction Masques, depending on the best base for your client. Always start with the larger amount in the mortar or in the pot, and add the pigment to it, not the other way around.
To make a cooler color, just add one to two pinhead-sized amounts of Glistening Cobalt (careful, this contains glitter) or Fuchsia Pink.
Tinting or Shading
One important element of custom blending is getting the right tint or shade. You can adjust your base mix if it is too light simply by adding a half pinhead-sized amount of Chocolate Brown Powder. This will darken it slightly. It is always best to add very tiny amounts of the highly pigmented powder to the lighter one. You can continue to add tiny amounts until you have reached the desired shade.
If you need to lighten a mix, just add Radiant White Powder and the Masque of your choice.
Testing
The best way to test your mix BEFORE applying it to your client is to press out several beads onto an Elation Clear tip, and hold it over the client’s finger. If it isn’t quite what you want, adjust it by adding small amounts of the desired powder.
Don’t Be Limited to “French”
The Technailcolor Kit from NSI has a wonderful assortment of glistening (glittery) powders as well as pure rich color, and also some that have a slight transparency. I love to mix a range of three different shades to create the NSI signature nail (click here for a demo). Start with the lightest color near the cuticle so when the nail starts to grow, the regrowth area will be less noticeable. Then move onto your second shade pressing from side to side and keeping the liquid in the brush to blend the two colors together. When choosing or mixing your third color for over the stress area or over the extended area, make sure that your mix contains one of the opaque masques or whites. Often times if you just mix colors and use some of the ones that are more transparent then this area will not be opaque. You will loose your long, sleek illusion. Some colors to avoid using over the nail bed as your transition colors are the yellows and greens. You don’t want to create the illusion of a bacterial infection (greenies).
One more thing; I always put the clients name and the order that I used it on the container. If I am traveling, I give my clients the pots so they have their blends to go to another salon to get their nails done in a pinch.
Have fun and experiment!
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