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Fashion

31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Nail Art, Uncategorised

31 Day Challenge: Inspired by Fashion

27th September 2014

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Catwalk image source: vogue.co.uk

Last night I spent so much time scrolling through the catwalk galleries on the Vogue website, I didn’t even get round to actually doing any nail art! I did, however, pick out this incredible dress from Naeem Khan as my inspiration.

I thought carefully through all my options on this one – striping tape, loose glitter, glequins and more – but in the end freehanding won out. I always feel a bit wobbly when I get started on a freehand manicure (especially one that requires poker straight lines) but soon surprise myself by doing a pretty good job of it.

I used Barry M Lychee as my base colour and freehanded on the silver detail using a nail art brush and A-England Excalibur Renaissance. It’s all topped with one coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl.

Barry M Lychee with A-England Excalibur Renaissance

Naeem Khan Inspired Nail Art // The Nailasaurus

Nail Art, Uncategorised

Fashion Inspired: Collaboration with Nail That Accent

24th August 2014

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Nonoo SS15 Nail Art // The Nailasaurus x Nail That Accent

Today I’m joining forces with Lindsay of Nail That Accent to bring you a blog collaboration post. You might even say, a coBLOGoration! That works right?!

When we started chatting, we knew we wanted to work on something together that included nail art and that would work well on our blogs. After running through a few possibilities, we decided it would be fun to take one source of inspiration, each work on it independently and then come together to see our different interpretations of the same idea.

Fashion is always a good starting point for nail art and it gave us each a chance to find something suited to our own style. Lindsay chose a piece from Alberta Ferretti and mine came from Nonoo – both SS15. Make sure you jump over to Nail That Accent to see the freehand nail art we created inspired by the Alberta Ferretti dress.

It’s really fascinating to see our creations side-by-side. They’re the same but different! It just goes to show that there are so many possibilities when it comes to nail art and in any form of art, it’s very unlikely that any two interpretations of the same source material are going to be the same! Isn’t it funny that both of us have taken notice of the shoes on the other’s choice of outfit and chosen to include that in our design?

Lindsay started by polishing her pinky with OPI Push and Shove to replicate the silver shoes (push and shove comes with a special base coat). She then polished all her nails with Motives Daydream.

Next, she freehanded a thick white stripe with Essie Blanc (using the regular nail polish brush).

When that was dry, she used used Essie Midnight Cami to create the abstract blue effect. She dipped a nail art brush in acetone, wiped the majority off her brush and then dipped the brush into midnight cami to create the splattered effect.

She topped her nail art with Glisten & Glow HK Girl.

Where to find Lindsay

Lindsay blogs at Nail That Accent and you’ll also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To see Lindsay’s collaboration post featuring a different SS15 piece from Alberta Ferretti, click here!

Nail Art Inspired by Nonoo SS15 // Nail That Accent

I started with a base of Barry M White and a thin coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl.

At this point, it gets messy. I applied tape to the skin around my nail and taped off the bottom half of my nail diagonally. Next I used a straw to splatter Sally Hansen Thinking of Blue on the section of nail that was showing through and then immediately removed the tape.

I used another coat of HK Girl and put tape over the part of my nail with the splatter section, then painted on NYC Raindrop and removed the tape.

I finished it off with one final coat of HK Girl!

Nail Art Inspired by Nonoo SS15 // The Nailasaurus

To see the next collaboration post, visit Nail That Accent

Freehand, Nail Art, Uncategorised

Alexander McQueen S/S15 Inspired Nail Art

22nd July 2014

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source: alexandermcqueen.com

I spent a few hours last night browsing the Vogue galleries. Fashion never fails to provide mountains if inspiration for nail art so whenever I’m feeling a bit low on creativity, these talented designers can always spark something. Sometimes I find a piece I love in 2 minutes, sometimes it takes 2 hours! It took me quite a while to come across this beautiful dress from Alexander McQueen’s SS15 lookbook but it was nail art at first sight!

It’s been so long since I did intricate freehand nail art that I almost feel like I’ve lost the ability. Florals are always a good way to ease in to freehand nails and this pattern is the perfect mix of simple shapes with elements that are a bit trickier. My confidence has been restored a little and I’m going to build up to more adventurous freehand nail art.

I didn’t lay down a base colour for this nail art, just painted it straight on to my bare (base coated) nails which was a first for me. I started by painting on the outline of the flower with Barry M’s nail art pen and then used a nail art brush to add the colour. Finally, I painted the dark plum on the bare bits and topped it all with HK Girl.

Products Used

Barry M White Nail Art Pen

piCture pOlish Mad Magenta

Nicole by OPI The Coral of the Story

Nicole by OPI LeaPink for Joy

Barry M Blackberry

Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat

Uncategorised

Pink Acid Wash Nail Art Inspired by Asos

16th April 2014

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ASOS Denim Jacket in Pink Mottled Wash – asos.com

A little while ago, I was flicking through this month’s Asos magazine and I cam across this pink mottled jacket that was the perfect inspiration for some nail art. In all my excitement I got started on the nail art right away, not realising that the jacket wasn’t even online yet! I wanted to wait for the jacket to appear on the website before posting the nail art so you could see my inspiration.

I achieved this look using saran wrap / cling film but I do it in a weird way! I splodged out my three colours on to a sheet of plastic, dabbed on a piece of crinkled cling film and transferred it to my nails.

For this look, I used Barry M White as my base colour.

I used scrunched up cling film to transfer the mottled pattern which I made using Barry M White, W7 Baby Pink and Collection Think Pink.

The circle stud details are from Born Pretty Store (style #123).

It’s all finished with a top coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

Glitter, Tutorial, Uncategorised

Faviana Prom Dress Nail Art Tutorial

6th April 2014

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Sponsored Content

For today’s post I’ve teamed up with Faviana, to bring you a nail art tutorial inspired by one of their designer prom dresses. The website is chock full with a good mix of short and flirty, insanely glamorous and classical formal dresses and the one that inspired this nail art is somewhere in between all of them. I picked Faviana Style 7364 which is cheeky with a hint of glamour and completely perfect for any formal occasion.
With prom season coming up, I know a lot of you will be matching your nail art to your prom dress and you can keep it simple by painting your nails a perfectly complimentary or contrasting colour or go all out and take elements from the dress like I have!

Before you start, make sure you have everything you need. I’m using Deborah Lippmann Fashion and piCture pOlish Mad Magenta as my main colours along with a LA Colors silver striper. You’ll also need some striping tape – in a pinch, you can cut up scotch tape in to very thin strips. The tweezers are an optional extra but I’d suggest keeping a pair on standby if you can!

1. Start with a nail polish that matches your skin tone and let it dry completely. You can add a fast drying top coat like Seche Vite to speed up the process.

Tip: You can completely skip the first step and do this on naked nails for a negative space manicure.

2. Place striping tape on the nails where you want the base colour to show through. I’ve marked off a triangle at the base of my nail and then a few strips at the sides. I used a pair of tweezers to place the tape on my nail.

3. Using your pink polish, paint over the tape taking care to avoid the triangle near the base of your nail. You can cover the triangle with a piece of scotch tape if you want to be sure you won’t paint over it.

4. While the polish is still wet, remove the striping tape. Again, I always use a pair of tweezers to do this because it’s a really fiddly job.

5. This is what your nails should look like once your tape’s removed.

6. Take your glitter polish and add a healthy amount over the sections at each side.

7. Finally, add your favourite top coat and sweep around the edges with a clean-up brush dipped in acetone to get rid of any mishaps.

Make sure you stop by faviana.com for more prom nail art inspiration and any last minute dress shopping!

Uncategorised

LFW Inspired Nail Art: Louise Alsop

21st February 2014

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Press Sample

Louise Alsop is a designer that’s pretty new to the scene and she had a slot at London Fashion Week in the Fashion East show. A few of her designs caught my eye as being perfect for a nail art adaptation. I really loved the effect of the grungy black and white, geometric patterns contrasted with the floaty mint green pieces.

I used Barry M Meadow for the glimmery mint and set down Barry M White as the base for the nail art.

To create the tiled effect, I placed striping tape where I wanted the white lines to show through.

Using a nail art brush, I mixed Barry M White, Rimmel Grey Matter and W7 Black in varying quantities to create all the different shades of grey one shade at a time. I then used the nail art brush to paint each shade on to my nails, staying in the lines!

As soon as I was done, I peeled off the tape to reveal the perfectly crisp lines underneath.

It’s all finished with two coats of Glisten and Glow HK Girl.

Photo credit: Vogue.co.uk

Freehand, Glitter, Uncategorised

NYFW Nail Art: Nonoo AW14 Inspired

8th February 2014

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NYFW has brought a much needed surge of creativity for me. I was browsing the Vogue galleries for a few hours today but for nail art inspiration and I found it, once again, in the Nonoo collection. You can see last year’s Nonoo inspired nail art here.

Nonoo’s aesthetic is right up my street – the clothes are all smart and sophisticated with clean cut lines but still edgy and youthful. The piece that stood out for me was this sweatshirt. The combination of textures shouldn’t work but she makes it work and it still looks hella classy!

Image credit: Vogue.co.uk

I used Sally Hansen Ion as my base colour here. Next I freehanded two lines using Essie Penny Talk to lay a copper base for the metallic look.

I drew the brown lines using NYC Midtown Mink and went over the copper with Barry M Majesty – a textured polish from the Royal Glitters collection.

Finally, I finished it off with two coats of Rica Glossy Glam to smooth everything over.