Browsing Category:

Nail Art

31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Uncategorised

BONUS! Inspired by a Flag Take 2!

9th December 2012

Leave a comment

I had a brain meltdown when I was painting my Flag inspired nails and ended up doing two manicures so you get a bonus 31 Day Challenge post today! I’d had this idea written down for ages and was really looking forward to doing it. I got so excited that I kind of forgot it was part of the challenge since the challenge has started becoming more of a chore than a pleasure at this point. So anyway, I decided on the Jamaican Flag nail art and then remembered that I actually wanted to do this so I did it anyway! By the way, it’s inspired by a pirate flag!

I didn’t want to go for the traditional black background so I took out one of my many ‘near black’ shades, Deborah Lippmann Dark Side of the Moon* and used two coats as my base. I painted on the skull and crossbones and sword detail with white and black acrylic paint using a small nail art brush.

I added one coat of Revlon Facets of Fuschia to my thumb and pinky which I picked up for £1 in Discount UK and I’m pretty sure it’s exactly, EXACTLY the same polish as Scandalous which is part of the current range and is retailing for £6.49! That is scandalous!

Finally, I used two coats of NYC Top Coat to finish it all off.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Uncategorised

31DC2012 Day 27: Inspired by Artwork

4th December 2012

Leave a comment

Day 27 of the challenge is here and I can’t believe how close we are to the end. Just 4 more challenge days and it will all be over… again! Today we have to do nails inspired by artwork and I chose a piece called ‘Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow’ by Piet Mondrian who was around during the De Stijl movement. And that, folks, is all the info I can give you on the artwork. I just know it’s minimalist and I like it!

My ring finger is supposed to be an exact replica of the art but I just improvised on the rest.

As always, head over to Rie and Cristina‘s blogs to see what they came up with today.

I used Barry M White as my base colour and then used Black Acrylic Paint with a striping brush to paint on all the lines. Then I took Sally Hansen InstaDri Rapid Red, NYC Lexington Yellow and Sally Hansen Thinking of Blue to fill in some of the squares with a nail art brush.

I finished it off with two coats of NYC In a New York Minute. I know I said that I hate this top coat nowadays but I found a few bottles in one of my beloved bargain stores and took a chance that they’d be the old formula and so far, I think they are!

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Christmas, Stamping, Uncategorised

Christmas is Coming

2nd December 2012

Leave a comment

It feels like someone flipped a switch yesterday which just made everyone go mental! Suddenly everyone has gone crazy for Christmas so I thought I may as well leap in to the mania head first and get started on some Christmas manis. I’m sure there will be more to come, I just thought I should ease myself in today with something mildly festive!

I started with one coat of PVA Glue (I know it sounds insane, but it makes removing the glitter so much easier). Once that was dry, I used 3 coats of Sally Hansen Gilded Lily* and stamped on a swirly design from Bundle Monster Plate BM314 using Sally Hanses InstaDri in Rapid Red.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Uncategorised

31DC2012 Day 26: Inspired by a Pattern

29th November 2012

Leave a comment

Today’s nails are inspired by good old gingham as part of the 31 Day Challenge. I’ve done gingham nails before but I wasn’t 100% happy so I wanted to give them another try and I like the outcome much better.

As always, head over to Let Them Have Polish and Nails and Noms to see their nail art today.

I used Barry M White as my base colour and used a nail art brush to paint on the stripes 2×2 on each nail in Essie Navigate Her and then used Barry M Spring Green to paint on the little squares where the lines cross. I topped it all with a coat of Seche Vite.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Uncategorised

31DC2012 Day 24: Inspired by a Book

22nd November 2012

Leave a comment

Like last year, I’ve gone with a children’s book again. There aren’t a lot of books for grown ups with pictures in them so kids books make for way more interesting nail art!

In case you couldn’t tell, these nails are based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I remember loving this book as a kind but my copy is long gone.

We’re postponing the challenge a little this week because we all have super busy schedules but we’ll be back on track next Tuesday with Day 25. I’m feeling the pressure following the completely unexpected and overwhelming success of last year’s Inspired by Fashion mani.

Pop over to Cris and Rie‘s blogs to see how they’re getting on with the challenge!

I used Barry M White as a base colour. The caterpillar is made up of Barry M Watermelon, Barry M Spring Green, Essie Navigate Her and a dark green Sinful Colors polish that I can’t remember the name of and I’m not at home right now to check!

Also mixed in there are W7 Coral, NYC Lexington Yellow, Essie Glamour Purse and a blue Rimmel Polish that, again, I can’t remember the name of!

It’s all topped off with two coats of Seche Vite.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Uncategorised

31DC2012: Day 23 Inspired by a Movie

20th November 2012

Leave a comment

I’m here with Day 23 of the 31 Day Challenge and the film I chose is Watchmen. We all know how I love everything superhero so this was the obvious choice as I’ve exhausted most of the other ones. If you haven’t seen the film, watch it!

This is the first really detailed freehand nail art I’ve done for absolutely ages and I love it! I wish I had more time these days to do nail art like this. I miss it!

Don’t forget to stop by Nails and Noms and Let Them Have Polish to see how they’re getting on with their challenges.

Thumb to pinky: Silk Spectre, Dr Manhattan, Watchmen, Rorschach (kind of!), The Comedian

All the details were freehanded with nail art brushes and here’s a run down of the polishes I used…

Urban Outfitters Denim Blue, Cult Nails Quench, Essie Mezmerised, Collection 2000 Sherbet Lemons, W7 Black, Barry M White, Deborah Lippmann Fashion*.

I also used white and black acrylic paint here and there for the small details.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Galaxy, Uncategorised

31DC2012: Day 19 Galaxy Nails

11th November 2012

Leave a comment

Day 19 of the challenge calls for some galaxy nails! I saw this drippy galaxy design on Very Emily and traced it back to Starlett Approved. I heart galaxy nails pretty hard and wish I could muster the effort to create them more often. Saying that, they’re so easy. You literally just need a sponge and some sparkly colours! There’s a great tutorial and an amazing galaxy look to be found here at Coewless Polish.

Cristina and Rie also have cosmic claws for you today!

I used A-England Lady Of Shalott* as my base colour and then used a sponge to create the galaxy effect with…

NYC Full Metal Jacket*

A-England Dorian Gray*

Rimmel Metal Rush Pearly Queen*

Essie Navigate Her

With Sally Hansen Ion*, I used a nail art brush to draw on the drips and stars. Then I added a highlight to the drips with Rimmel Pearly Queen and placed on a few holographic glequins before topping it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr