Toothpick Tips

It's two days left to throw in your guess at my guessing game / mini giveaway here!
Meanwhile I've got some needle (or, rather, toothpick) marbling to show you.
This manicure idea is in no way my own, although I haven't seen this out in the blogging world lately. This was inspired by an ad I saw in a salon I frequent.

This one ows a lot to the tuto made by Liz at Liquid Jelly. Also this manicure by Jacki from Adventures in Acetone was a great source of inspiration.

First I freehanded a french tip using China Glaze White on White. It needed two coats, and if I hadn't known I'll be adding some nail art I would've made it three.

Next I brushed on two coats of Essie My Way - almost the perfect french polish. The perfect one would have just a tad more pink in it.

After adding a coat of SV and letting the base to dry out thoroughly, I put on one more, very thick thick, layer of My Way and dabbed some Essence Colour&Go Rock It Baby! on the very tips.
Then, using a toothpick, I drew some swirly lines, dragging the wet purple polish over the white french and over to the nude base.

On the next day I decided to add some bling by dabbing NfuOh 50 flakies onto the tips. I liked this mani a lot, both without and with flakies. In a few days I faced the familiar dilemma once again: I wanted to paint my nails, but I didn't want to remove my current mani. Does that ever happen to you?
And, as always, here are the polishes I used:

I remember buying the Essie My Way for certain grand festivities last spring, where I needed to wear something classic and neutral. And I remember using some baaad words when, painting my nails at the hairdresser's that morning, I noticed it's so sheer it needs a hundred coats and I don't have my Seche Vite with me. After that, I've only used it for layering and french manis two or three times, so almost all the polish you can see missing from the bottle went onto my nails on that single occasion... A love-hate relationship...