Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day my lovelies!  I hope that your loved ones spoil you today, and every other day of the year for that matter ;)  I'm not really one for Valentine's Day because I believe that love should be shown every day of the year, not just one day because it's written on the calendar :)  Plus, stores take advantage of it and charge you an arm, a leg, and your first born (if you have children) for flowers, chocolates or jewellery.  I just want my chocolate at regular price, lol!

Last night I was on my SMYTC Facebook group and Kara from Never Gonna Give You Up said something to inspire this mani, so this is for you Kara!! <3

This is Gel II Blue Blue (gel polish) with Julep Carrie which I topped with pink flocking powder :D  This is the first time I have used flocking powder, and Kara sent the flocking powder to me :D  This mani is SO MUCH FUN!!!  And I love petting it ;)  I'm sure I look like a lunatic, haha!

Flocking powder is stupid easy to use :)  (I mean that in the best way possible by the way ;) )  First I poured some of the flocking powder onto a piece of printer paper so I could grab it easily when I was ready for it.  Then, I applied my polish (used a dotting tool for the heart and the polish brush for the French tips) one nail at a time, and before it dried I loaded my nail with the powder and lightly pressed down on it to secure it to the polish.  Then I lifted my finger and held it so it was pointing at my paper on the table and tapped it to get the excess off.  Now, with flocking powder, you can't top coat it or it won't be fluffy anymore (obviously :P ), so you have to be really careful so it doesn't smudge before it dries.  When it was dry, I took a fan brush from my nail art brush set and lightly brushed the flocking powder that didn't come off when I tapped the excess off my nail.

After I was done my nails I was thinking I should have done polka dots above the French tips and done those with flocking powder too, but I will definitely be going back and trying that very soon, I am seriously in love with the flocking powder/velvet/fluffy nails look!  I was skeptical about it when I first saw it, but now that I have tried it I have to say that I will definitely be using it again and again :)

Also, I have showered since doing this mani and while the flocking powder is still fluffy and pet-able, it's not as fluffy as it is in the pictures above - I took the pictures right after I was done my mani so I didn't ruin it, lol!  The only thing I don't really like is that you can't really use hand cream or cuticle oil while you are wearing this, so I don't think that it would be something I could wear for days at a time.  I'm sure I will be ready to have this off by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest because I can already see bald spots on my French tips.

What do you think of flocking powder?  Have you tried it?  Were you like me and looked like a loony while petting your fluffy nails??