Browsing Tag:

Nude

31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Uncategorised

31DC2013 Day 29: Inspired by the Supernatural

29th September 2013

/

Leave a comment

Inspired by The Supernatural has always seemed to me a very uninspiring prompt. As far as I’m aware, Supernatural refers to ghosts and the paranormal which isn’t a subject I have much interest in. So this year, I’ve deviated a little and let myself explore mythology and folklore to search for some inspiration.

The topic I chose for today’s nail art is Runes. There’s a huge history attached to Runes and their uses which I know very little of so I won’t pretend to be an expert but I do know that they appear in a lot of myths, legends and magical stories! I took these particular runes from The Mortal Instruments book (and now film) series, kind of a 180 from the old legends I’ve been harping on about but still Runes nonetheless!

Check out the image on Cassandra Clare’s website HERE to find out what they all mean.

I used Barry M Lychee as my base colour and painted on the runes using a nail art brush with black acrylic paint. I topped it with one coat of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat, then one coat of Rimmel Matte Finish for the umm… matte finish!

Day 29: Inspired by The Supernatural 2012
Day 29: Inspired by The Supernatural 2011
See what’s coming next in the 31 Day Challenge 2013!

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Freehand, Uncategorised

Dainty Doilies

13th August 2013

/

Leave a comment

After more than a year of talking about it, pondering and hesitating, I finally took the leap and a bought a new camera. I’ve had my old Olympus E-510 for close to 5 years now and I felt it was time for a little upgrade. In the end I went for the Canon 60D. It arrived yesterday and I’ve spent every waking hour since trying to figure it out! This is my first post using pictures from that camera so let me know if they look any different.

Recently I was looking through all the piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013 entries and two in particular caught my eye. I just loved Lucy’s Stash and XOXO Alexis Leigh‘s Blog Fest manicures and this creation is a sort of mash-up of the two. I took the idea of painting from the corner from Alexis and a lot of the patterns were inspired by Lucie! I like the subtle colours but I also think it would look amazing in a combination of brights.

1. For the base I used one coat of Barry M Lychee (creme nude) followed by two coats of Nails Inc Elizabeth Street (shimmery nude).
2. I freehanded on the designs with a nail art brush using NYC Mint Macaroon, Sally Hansen Himalayan Blue and Barry M Prickly Pear.
3. When everything was dry I finished it off with two coats of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Freehand, Uncategorised

Banish the Blues: Getting Skirty

24th June 2013

/

Leave a comment

Day 2 of Banish the Blues and so far so good… not an ounce of Blue in sight! When I sat down with this idea in mind last night I had no idea where it came from but I knew it would work. As I was getting dressed today I spotted a skirt in my wardrobe which I haven’t worn or even thought about for aaaaages with this same exact pattern on! I guess I had recently seen the skirt but only noticed it subconsciously until it surfaced as a nail art idea. Spooky stuff!

I used Barry M Lychee as my base colour and then painted on the spiky stripes from the cuticle upwards using a nail art brush and No7 Just Black and Born Pretty Fluorescent Polish #15. It’s all topped off with a coat of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat.

Here’s an insta-shot of the skirt (kind of). I added an accent of black glitter this morning after the other pictures were taken!

@thesammersaurus on Instagram

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Uncategorised

I Like My Candy Mattified

16th May 2013

/

Leave a comment

I like it when my nails look tasty! Thanks to that super bright pink, my nails are looking sugary sweet today and the matte top coat is just a perfect addition. I got this effect using striping tape and although it would figure that it took a long time because it took a hell of a lot of tape, it was actually a lot quicker than some of my more intricate tape manis. I think because once I’d done one nail, all I had to do was repeat it on all the others and I had a good rhythm going by the end!

I used two coats of Barry M Lychee as my base colour and topped it with a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly. Once it was all dry, I placed on some striping tape where I wanted Lychee to show through (tutorial here). Next, I painted over it with Models Own Bubblegum and Barry M Mango one nail at a time and immediately removed the tape.

I topped it with another coat of Dries Instantly and finally once it was all dry, I added one coat of Rimmel’s Matte top coat.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Uncategorised

Wham Bam!

14th May 2013

/

Leave a comment

Back to the very basics today with some simple half moon nails. It looks to me like the half moons are making my nails look impossibly square. I know they are square but do they look more… angular dressed up in half moons? Let me know if it’s just me!

I used Barry M Lychee as a base then painted on the half moons with W7 Black Cherry using a nail art brush. Still using the nail art brush, I used a little bit of top coat to attach the studs which are from Born Pretty Store. It’s all topped off with a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Snippet, Studs, Uncategorised

Red Red Ruffian

28th April 2013

/

Leave a comment

This weekend has completely passed me by, I really can’t believe it’s already over! I’ve had a good balance of excitement and mundaneness. Think a Saturday night drinking with old friends and watching Iron Man 3 today vs. lots of cleaning and a nail polish cull!

I reorganised my Helmer and picked out 37 bottles for recycling, or as I like to call it…. frankening fun! It was good to go through my stash and rediscover a lot of polishes that I’d kind of forgotten about. Every two minutes I’d be like, ‘Aaaah yes, I remember you!’. It made me realise I probably need to figure out a way to catalogue my ever growing collection. Call me crazy, but that job sounds like hella fun!

The two colours here are Barry M Lychee and Barry M Blood Orange. I painted on the red ruffians using a nail art brush and added some orange studs from Born Pretty Store. Finally I topped it all off with a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Uncategorised

Can I See Your Neon Bits?

16th April 2013

/

Leave a comment

This interesting colour combination is one I’ve had in mind for a while and oh my goly, it’s just lush! This neon-ish yellow is just the right tone to match the nude, it’s bright but still quite creamy. Any brighter and I think it would have been a big no no.

I used 2 coats of Neon Yellow polish from Born Pretty then followed it with a quick coat of Essence Better Than Gel Nails to make it dry quickly. I added strips of striping tape where I wanted the yellow to show through before painting on two coats of Deborah Lippmann Fashion and removing the tape. There’s a more in depth tutorial on that just here. Finally I top coated it with two coats of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr