This reindeer nail art goes way back to 2011 and it’s featured on my nails almost every Christmas since. Somehow I’ve always missed the window of opportunity in the run up to Christmas to create a tutorial for this look but today that’s going to change! Read on for the instructions…
When I saw that Hannah from The Dalai Lama’s Nails listed Winstonia Store’s brushes in her ‘Can’t Live Without’ products in this month’s Nail It! magazine, I knew I had to get my hands on some. I went for the 5-piece set (recommended by Hannah) and also the 1.4cm and 1.65cm stripers. All the brushes are really amazing but you can’t beat a strong, skinny striper for some tribal nail art.
I also have to give a shout out to these Skinny Chevron Guides by What’s Up Nails. I threw them in to my Winstonia basket along with the brushes, but they also have their own site where you can buy too (and you can get 10% off all vinyl products with the What’s Up Nails code: NAILASAURUS10). All the chevron decals/guides/stickers/vinyls I’ve used in the past have been bigger and I can never fit all that many on my nails but the skinny size works so well on my tiny little nail beds. Can’t wait to try more things with these!
Tomorrow, I’m off to Nail Harmony HQ to spend the day mastering Gelish. It’s very exciting since I’ve never (EVER!) used gel polish before but I really want to learn more. Gels are such a huge thing now, even some of my friends who normally show little interest in nails have been asking me for advice about which techniques and products are best. They get a bit of a surprise when I sit there quietly and tell them I have no idea! Normally you can’t shut me up when someone asks anything vaguely nail related! It should be a fun day and I can’t wait to meet some new bloggers. As always, you can follow me on Twitter for updates on the day (and maybe a selfie or two!).
For this nail art, I used a base of Barry M Coconut and topped it with a thin coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl.
For the chevron nails, I used What’s Up Nails Skinny Zig Zag Guides with piCture pOlish Sizzle and NYC Hudson Breeze.
I freehanded all the tribal details using the 1.4cm striper from Winstonia. The colours are NYC Hudson Breeze, piCture pOlish Sizzle and Sally Hansen Tahitian Sunset.
It’s all topped with two coats of HK Girl.
Our friend Emily is something of an exceptional character in so many ways. I’ll try not to get too soppy here but she’s one of the first people I met through blogging and I’ll always count her as one of my best ‘internet friends’! She’s always there to offer advice and recommend a good TV Show. If it weren’t for her, I would still be stuck in a pretty awful place with my photography. What can I say? I owe her a lot! If you haven’t seen Emily’s blog, make sure you check it out here.
I applied Hex’s Chevron Decals and painted each chevron individually using piCture pOlish Chillax and Mad Magenta. I also painted the ‘leftover’ fingers using these shades.
I painted all the details using black and white acrylic paint with a skinny nail brush.
Finally I added a few small pastel studs and topped everything with a coat of HK Girl.
Click to see more Hugs For Emily: Paulina’s Passions, Wondrously Polished, The Nail Polish Challenge, Love. Varnish, chocolate, and more…, One Nail To Rule Them All, Nail Polish Society, The Lacquerologist, Lucy’s Stash and Chalkboard Nails who we have to thank for organising the day!
I’m so close to the finish line, I can almost taste it! Must admit I’m a little envious of all the dedicated ladies who are finishing up the challenge today and returning to sweet, sweet freedom. Although, as much as I always grumble about the challenge towards the end nothing beats that feeling of smug satisfaction you get once you’ve completed it!
For today’s ‘Inspired by a Flag’ challenge, I’ve opted for a fictional flag again. From a movie… again! This year, it’s the flag of Genovia as seen in The Princess Diaries. I was really young when I first saw the movie and refused to accept that Genovia wasn’t a real place no matter how much my parents insisted! The real (fake) flag doesn’t have the gold stripes but I didn’t feel like braving a coat of arms design so I made a tactical substitution by adding the gold accents.
1. I started with a base of Barry M Matte White then added a coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl to dry it off.
2. I covered the centre of each nail with a strip of scotch tape, then painted on either side with piCture pOlish Chillax and piCture pOlish Swagger.
3. I added the golld accents with Barry M Gold Foil, then topped it all with another coat of HK Girl.
