Sunrise and Silhouettes Nail Art

Hello everyone!

I hope you're enjoying your weekend. Today has been a beautiful sunny day, which is very welcome after a few days of clouds and rain. So, of course I decided to stay inside and do nail art instead of getting out and enjoying it... It did make it a lot easier to see what I was doing, though!

This week's nail art was inspired by a photo I took, or rather a photo I WANTED to take. A few weeks ago I work up early, hoping to get some nice photographs of the sunrise. Unfortunately for me, it was the worst morning for it -so overcast that we didn't get any sun until midday! I did end up with a really cool shot of a skeleton tree with the gloomy clouds behind it, though. So instead, I decided I'd create the sunrise on my nails, since nature didn't want to play... AND I had the perfect holos to create the sunrise look I wanted to achieve. I've called this one "Sunrise and Silhouettes Nail Art".

Sunrise and Silhouettes Nail Art

I used these polishes:
Big Hair Don't Care by Celestial Cosmetics
Mind That Mullet by Celestial Cosmetics
Care Bear Cuddles by Celestial Cosmetics
Black Stamping polish by Emily de Molly
Nail Base & Top Coat by Rimmel
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

As well as these nail art tools:
Stamping plate BP - L015 by Born Pretty 
Larger Clear Stamper
Scraper
Liquid Latex by Lulaa
Cosmetic sponge

Sunrise and Silhouettes with Mind That Mullet

To create this design, I began by applying a Base Coat. After allowing to dry, I applied one coat of Big Hair Don't Care. While that was drying, I applied a coat of Liquid Latex around each nail, making sure to cover the tips of my fingers (my nails being so short causes the polish to flow over the tips and really makes a mess!).
Once that had dried, I painted one stripe of each colour; Big Hair Don't Care, Mind The Mullet and Care Bear Cuddles, across the cosmetic sponge and in that order to create the sunrise effect. I then dabbed the sponge over each nail, re-applying the polish as necessary. Being holo, it took these polishes quite a few coats to get the desired effect.
I then removed the latex and allowed to dry.
Before continuing, I re-applied latex to my middle two fingers, then grabbed my stamping tools, including stamping plate BP-L015. Selecting the design I wanted, I painted over it with Black stamping polish, scraped off the excess, picked up the image with my stamper and pressed it firmly onto the nail, gently rolling it a little to make sure it transferred correctly. I did this for both my middle finger and ring finger nails, making sure to clean the plate between uses. I finished it off with Kwik Dry Top Coat. 

Sunrise and Silhouettes with Black stamping polish

I love this design!
I know, I know, I say that every week. But it's true!
I have a big thing for trees, especially skeleton trees, and the sunrise look is amazing. Using holos added a nice touch of magic to the whole design, and if you've ever seen the sunrise, you'll know how magical it can be. 

These holos are so amazing, I love using them. I should really try to use them more often. I'm still sad that Celestial is no more. They are the perfect blend of colour and holo, I couldn't get enough. Maybe one day they'll return. 

What do you think?
Let me know by leaving a comment!

Thanks for stopping by!

Yoga Pants Inspired Nail Art

Hello beautiful people!

I'm sorry I didn't get time to do a post last week - I had a very busy day and by the time I got home I was too tired to even look at my nails. However, I have had a lot more free time lately, which means I have added to my collection of nail art and now have back ups for days just like that. 

This week's nail art (in case you didn't read the title) was inspired by my fantastic new yoga pants, which I managed to get for free (using a loyalty program!)
These are the yoga pants for comparison.

The design on these pants is just so cool, that when I bought them, I knew I had to recreate it in nail art form. I was hoping to use holographic polish for this nail art and, luckily, I was able to find ones that matched pretty closely. 

Yoga Pants Inspired Nail Art

I used these polishes:
Sample by Celestial Cosmetics (I received this as a gift with purchase)
Big Hair Don't Care by Celestial Cosmetics
Mind That Mullet by Celestial Cosmetics
Mermaids Tale by BYS Cosmetics
Ready To Take Off by UNT
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

I used these tools:
Sandwich bag
Fan nail art brush
Short nail art brush

Yoga Pants Inspired Nail Art with Mind That Mullet

I started with one coat of Ready To Take Off. After drying, I applied two coats of Sample. Once dry, I grabbed my brushes and a sandwich bag, then applied a few drops of Big Hair Don't Care to the bag. Using the fan brush, I picked up some polish and lightly brushed it across part of the nail. I did this for all five nails, making several passes, as Sample was quite dark and detracted from the lighter colour.
Moving onto Mind That Mullet, I applied some polish to the bag. Taking the short brush, I scooped up Mind That Mullet and painted the nail where Big Hair Don't Care hadn't been previously applied, whilst still leaving space for the third and final colour. Again, I had to make several passes on each nail.
Lastly, I repeated these steps for Mermaids Tale. This one didn't require quite as many coats, due to the iridescent nature of this polish. I then went back in with Sample to create some space in each colour, giving it more of a textured look.
To finish, I applied a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat. 

Yoga Pants Inspired Nail Art with Sample

I had a great time creating this design. It took a whole lot more work than I was anticipating, but it was interesting to see the way the colours reacted to each other. Mermaids Tale comes out pretty majestically over the dark colours. This is part of the fake Holo collection from BYS Cosmetics (they labeled it as Holographic, but we all know it's not). You can see more of that here.

It was pretty cool to have my nails match my clothing for a change. I always wanted to be someone who changed their nail polish every day just for the effect, but I struggle to find time to do them even once a week, let alone once a day!

Next time, I would probably use Big Hair Don't Care as the base colour. It would have been so much easier, but I wanted to stick with the inspiration as much as I could. I definitely learnt something from this one.  

What do you think of the mash of holos?

Have you recreated the design of your yoga pants?

Leave me a comment, photo or link.

Thanks for stopping by!

Holographic Aztec Inspired Nail Art

Hello everyone!

I hope you're enjoying the weekend. It has been raining on and off for the last few days here, which is amazing and much needed! I love rainy days; staying inside with cozy clothes and all the internet I can poke a stick at. I spent most of yesterday looking at various nail art to get some new ideas. It didn't turn out as successful as I had hoped, but it's always good to see what everyone else is doing with their amazing nail skills.

Today, I am bringing you this fun, holo-filled, Aztec-inspired nail art. I have these fabulous holographic polishes from Celestial Cosmetics that are dying to see the light of day again! I am always so scared to use holo in nail art, but I think this one has helped break me out of this a bit. Hopefully you'll get to see more of it. 

Holographic Aztec-inspired Nail Art

For this design I used these polishes:
Blanc by Essie
Classy, Sassy & A Little Badassy by Celestial Cosmetics
Hell In High Heels by Celestial Cosmetics
Broken Glass by Celestial Cosmetics
Crystal Ship by Celestial Cosmetics
Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly
Big Primer Base Coat by Sally Hansen
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

I also used these items:
BP-L048 Stamping Plate by Born Pretty
Large clear stamper
Scarper
Liquid Latex by Lulaa

Holographic Aztec-inspired Nail Art with Hell In High Heels

I started this design with Big Primer base coat. After drying, I applied two coats of Blanc. I then applied liquid latex around each nail. Taking Broken Glass, I wiped the excess polish off the brush using the neck of the bottle, then gently brushed it on to each nail. I continued with Crystal, Hell In High Heels, and Classy, Sassy & A Little Badassy. I did go back in with the polishes that I felt needed a stronger presence. I then took BP-L048 stamping plate, painted Black stamping polish over the design I wanted, scraped off the excess and used my stamper to transfer each design to the nail. I used three different designs, all from the same plate. After allowing the polish ample time to dry, I applied Kwik Dry Top Coat to finish. 

Holographic Aztec-inspired Nail Art with Broken Glass

So that's all for this one!
I love dry brush nail art - with the addition of holo and stamping over top, it's such a fun design! I love the colour combination of this design, the variation of strong bright colours with the soft ones create a nice juxtaposition. 

I decided to use different designs from the same plate. I don't do this too often, and I'm seeing why - I'm not all that pleased with how it turned out.
If I were to do it again, I'd use the diamond on my pinky, and possibly only on two nails, to really let that dry brush holo shine. Either way, it's still a cool design (in my totally biased opinion).

What are your thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Sweet Watermelon Nail Art

Hello everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season, whether celebrated or otherwise. I have been enjoying some time out with friends and family as well as exploring the beauty of North East Victoria. And of course, stocking up on some new polishes. I think I picked up about 20 new ones over the last two weeks, woops! 

I thought I'd start 2018 off with a super sweet summer-perfect nail art. A fun Holo watermelon design! I am not really to keen on using holos/glitters and the like in my nail art design, but I'm trying to get around that because I have some amazing Holo's that I don't often get to use, not to mention the thousands more I want to get my hands on. So, I decided to go all out with this one, holo everything! Well, almost. I also used a shimmer. Not that you can really see in these photos, but that's okay, I know it's there. Keep reading for a list of nail polish and tools I used to create this nail art design. 

Sweet Sweet Watermelon Nail Art

I used these polishes:

Paradise Punch by Lilypad Lacquer

Lime Zinger by Lilypad Lacquer

Mint Mojito by Lilypad Lacquer

Be Happy & Smile by Essence

Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees by OPI

Ready To Take Off by UNT

Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

The tools I used are:

French Tip Guides

Short striping brush

Sweet Sweet Watermelon with Paradise Punch

To create this nail art design, I started with with Ready to Take Off, then applied two coats of Be Happy & Smile as my base colour. Once dry, I applied Kwik Dry Top Coat. Giving this ample time to dry, I got Paradise Punch & Mint Mojito ready to go. I placed the french tip guide slightly above the middle of the nail, making sure to press them down tightly to avoid bleeding. Once in place, I applied Mint Mojito closest to the cuticle & Paradise Punch on the opposite side. Once I was satisfied with the opacity and prior to drying, I removed the guide. As you can see, with the first nail it was quite easy to remove, but as I went along it got harder and harder to remove each of the guides. This is because of the peel off base coat I used. I should have applied the guides to the nail as I did each one, rather than putting them all on at once. Lesson learned!
Moving on, I then took my short striping brush with Lime Zinger and created small lines over Mint Mojito. After cleaning the brush, I used Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees to create the seeds. I then finished off with a Kwik Dry Top Coat.

Sweet Sweet Watermelon with Mint Mojito

This is a design I've wanted to try doing for ages! I have no idea why it has taken this long, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, despite the lifting. I hoped the top coat would help weigh it down, but it clearly didn't. I have learned my lesson, though. This is not the first time this has happened, however I hope it's the last. I guess you could call this a bit of a nail fail.

On a side note, I always find it funny that most watermelon designs have seeds, considering most people hate seeds in the fruit, but I suppose it does add to the whole design. I think if I were to do this again, I'd probably use a dotting tool instead of the brush for seeds, as most of these look pretty terrible. 

What do you think?
Have you done this popular design?

Thanks for stopping by! 

Sweet Summer Strawberries Nail Art

Hey everyone!

Welcome back! My god it, feels like forever since my last post! I have been really busy the last few weeks and I am exhausted! I think a day of painting nails and blogging is just what the doctor ordered. 

This design was inspired simply by seeing these two colours next to each other as I was unwrapping them. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, I just knew they needed to be together... and this is the result!

Sweet Summer Strawberries Nail Art with Summer - piCture pOlish

To create this I used the following polishes:
Summer - piCture pOlish
Tingle - piCture pOlish
Glam Glitter - Silver Moon - BYS

Sweet Summer Strawberries Nail Art

To create this design I started with two coats of Summer on all but my middle finger (I used two coats of Tingle for that one). Once dry, I used Tingle to create these thick lines from the tips on my nail. I used two coats for this as the Summer was still poking through, then used one coat of holo over all the Tingle. Whilst it was still wet, I put a few drops of holo onto a sandwich bag and, using a toothpick, I picked up the large glitters and placed them where I felt was necessary. Lastly, I finished with a top coat. 

Sweet Summer Strawberries with Silver Moon - BYS

This started out as me trying to create an abstract design, but once I looked at the first complete nail, I decided it looked more like strawberries and so I ran with it. 
I really do love these piCture pOlish colours together. 

Sweet Summer Strawberries Nail Art with Tingle - piCture pOlish

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!
I know it's a little early for summer fruit nail art, but I do what I want, haha!

Thanks for stopping by!

My First Stamping Mani! Ft. Essence Holographic.

Hello everyone!

Let's get into it!

Today we have one of my favorite ways to create nail art. Nail stamping! This is my very first time doing stamping, and my very first plate. As soon as I got it, I had to try it out. I did some test stamping on some paper towels first just to see the opaqueness of the colours. After a few tests, I decided to do these.

Holo Flower Print

The plate I used is Born Pretty - 55. As I mentioned earlier, I hadn't done any stamping before this, hence the messy cuticle area and some of the misplaced stamp. I tried not to put them all in the same place on each nail so that they show different sections of the pattern. 
I used OPI - Lady in Black, which is a simple black creme, and Essence - Pink Parrot from the Exit to Explore collection, which I believe is a rich pink scattered holo. (I'm still not sure if this is a scattered holo) 

I love these nails because they look simple enough, but they're also mesmerizing. This pattern is the reason I bought this plate. I think these colours look so perfect together, they complement each other very well.

The process was pretty simple. I painted two coats of Lady in Black. Once dry, I painted Pink Parrot onto the stamping plate along the area I wanted, scraped it off once and rolled my stamper across it. Quickly and carefully I pressed the stamper down on my nail. As I applied pressure, I gently rolled it back and forth to make sure it was evenly on the nail. And as always, I finished with a shiny top coat. 

I love stamping (now that I've done it a few times) because it makes those crazy intricate designs so much easier. I cannot imagine trying to do this with a paint brush. It would look horrible! It's also simple and quick. Which is awesome!

Let's take a closer look.

I feel like this one shows off the holo a little better. You can see different dominating colours on different angles. 

Here you can see some holo in the bottle. 

I don't have a picture of the plate, but here's a link to the Born Pretty store, where you can check it out (I am not in anyway endorsed by them) Born Pretty 55

And that's all for today!

I'm thinking about doing a review on this polish, leave a comment below if you'd like to see that.

Thanks for stopping by!

Light Galaxy Nail Art With BYS Cosmetics Nail Polish

Hey hey, people!

What have we got today? Why, its nail art, of course!

This design is something fun and oh so easy! Literally anyone can do it! I like to call it "The Light Galaxy". It's a not-so-typical galaxy nail art. I love the galaxy look, but I wanted to use some lighter colours (almost like the center of a supermassive black hole) and make it a little more my own. I have so many blue polishes so I thought this would be a really good way to use them. Plus, how often do you see a galaxy nail that's not black, purple and white? 

So, here it is:

Light Galaxy Nail Art pictured with Glam Glitter - Silver Moon by BYS

Look at that HOLO! 

This was my very first attempt at galaxy anything. My nails were still rather short at this point and I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, but I'm actually really happy with them. I could not stop admiring them! I'd definitely do this again. 
A variety of different polishes were used for this.
We have...

Sky's the Limit - BYS: the base colour, a soft, pastel blue creme. 
French White - BYS: a white creme used as the focus point of the design.
Fools Paradise - BYS: a blue creme used over parts of the white.
Hocus Pocus - BYS: an amazing teal shimmer creme used over the majority of the nail.
Glam Glitter - Silver Moon - BYS: a holographic glitter polish with various sized glitters, and a clear base used to replicate stars. 

Now, for most of the other galaxy nails I've seen, people tend to draw stars with white polish or paint. I don't have a steady hand though, so I skipped this and just used the holo glitter instead...Which I am totally cool with because I think the holo adds just a bit more detail... and who doesn't love rainbows?

Firstly, I applied two coats of Sky's the Limit. Once this was dry, I painted some French White onto a small piece of make up sponge and then dabbed it onto my nails in continuous, uneven lines of varying direction. I then used a different side of the same piece of sponge and dabbed some Fools Paradise sporadically alongside the white polish. The same was done with Hocus Pocus, although spanning a larger area, while taking care not to cover too much of the colours underneath. Once all the dabbing was done and dry, I brushed on two coats of Silver Moon and rearranged some of the larger glitter pieces with an orange wood stick, so as to not have them so clustered together. Finally, a generous coat of shiny top coat and we're done! Now, we just sit back and admire our creative work! 

I love the idea of galaxy nails because they're so simple, but look so complex. With this, I can pretend I'm actually seriously talented. The best part is, there are so many different combinations with this and no two nails will ever be the same!

I'd love to see some other not-so-typical galaxy designs. Leave me a comment with your awesome nail art! 

Thanks for stopping by!