Hamsa Polka-dot Nail Art

Hola everybody!

I hope you're all doing well.

This week has been very draining on me. I think I might be coming down with something, but it's taking its time getting here. It's causing some serious headaches, so I'm sorry if this blog isn't my strongest. I'll try my best, and hopefully my lovely boyfriend/editor will be able to help.

I took some inspiration from a few images on one of my Pinterest boards. See if you can figure it out which one I used, here. I try not to take directly from other people's nail art, rather just draw inspiration and ideas from them. I had a vague idea of what I was doing, I just needed to pick some polishes and a stamp.
I recently picked up some discounted Sinful Colors from the pastel neon matte collection that has been sitting in the "to be used" section of my polish shelf for a little while now. Obviously, I had to use them. I'll leave the details for now, but you can find a list of polishes and tools just below. 

Hamsa Polka-dot Nail Art 

These are the polishes I used:
Under The Inbluence by Sinful Colors
Quick Study by Sinful Colors
Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly
Top and Base Coat by Rimmel
Big Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Big Matte Top Coat by Sally Hansen

I also used these tools:
Stamping Plate BP-05 by Born Pretty
Medium dotting tool
Large clear stamper
Scraper
Mani Saver
Sandwich bag

Hamsa Polka-dot Nail Art with Quick Study

I started by applying Top and Base Coat. After drying, I applied two generous coats of Quick Study. I say generous because these polishes have a habit of drying too quickly and then I end up pulling the polish off my nails, which is not a good look. Unfortunately, this dose means a longer drying time, but it wasn't too bad.
Once that was finally dry, I grabbed a sandwich bag and placed a drop of Under The Inbluence on it. Taking my medium dotting tool, I dipped it into the polish and began creating a polka-dot design on each nail. I did this by creating a zig-zag pattern with the dots.
Next, I grabbed Stamping plate BP-05 and my other stamping tools. Choosing 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 onto my middle nail. I placed the image on the lower half of the nail, with it angling to the right. Cleaning the plate with my mani saver and a cotton ball, I repeated this step with my ring finger, but angling the image to the left. As you can see, I didn't place this image quick enough and some of it didn't transfer, but that happens.
I then applied Kwik Dry Top Coat and, once that was dry, finished off with Big Matte Top Coat. 

Hamsa Polka-dot Nail Art with Under The Inbluence & Quick Study

I'm pretty happy with the results of this one. I have always enjoyed a good polka-dot design. These colours are perfect as well; there's nothing better than pastel polka-dots!

I have been trying to use all of my stamping plates; I still have so many with the blue film on them and I haven't bought any in months! The image I used came from one of these plates, which worked out pretty well for me. 

The Hamsa goes well with all the yoga-related designs I've been doing lately. I do realize the last yoga design I did was very similar in the way of stamping placement and that it was also matte. Obviously I liked it though, so why not do it again?
I'll try and be a bit more creative with the next one.

What do you think?

Do you follow me on social media? Check out this page to find me.

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

Chevron Nail Art

Hi all!

I hope everyone is doing well!I didn't think I was going to make it in time for this post today. My computer is slowly on the way out and I have a bad habit of leaving my photo editing until the last minute, which means I was about ready to give up.
But, I got it together and here we are!

This week I was inspired by a canvas I found on Pinterest. It looked so exciting, so I decided to put my own spin on it and turn it into a nail art design. I did keep it a little less messy, simply because I did not want to spend too long on clean up (I'm a bit lazy, ha ha). It's a combination of dry brush and chevron vinyls. Dry brush being my favorite technique and chevrons being my favorite pattern (besides paisleys, but that's a different story).

Chevron Nail Art

For this design, I used these polishes:
In Your Elemelon by Sinful Colors
Wonder Mint by Sinful Colors
Acid Test by Sinful Colors
Lilac Out Loud by Sinful Colors
Lady In Black by OPI
Nail Base & Top Coat by Rimmel
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Big Matte Top Coat by Sally Hansen

As well as these products:
Chevron Vinyls

Chevron Nail Art with Lilac Out Loud

I started this design with Nail Base & Top Coat, then applied two coats of In Your Elemelon. After allowing this to dry, I grabbed Lilac Out Loud. Using the neck of the bottle, I wiped the excess polish off the brush, then swiped the brush across each nail in various directions.
I repeated this with Wonder Mint and Acid Test, taking care not to overpower the In Your Elemelon underneath. I did go back in with Lilac Out Loud to make sure it came through. This dries pretty quickly, so I was able to do one colour after the other.
Once I was happy with the dry brush, I applied a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat. I allowed the top coat to dry completely so I could apply the vinyls without ruining the whole design.
I placed two thin chevron vinyls on the lower half of my index finger (I only had thin ones, but you could use thick ones if you would prefer), making sure there was no space between them. I then applied two on my middle finger, leaving space between them. Skipping my ring finger, I placed two more on my pinky nail in the center, again, making sure there was no space between them. Before moving on, I made sure each vinyl was secured to the nail. Using Lady In Black, I painted over all nails except my ring finger nail, removing the vinyls before moving onto the next nail to avoid making a mess.
After allowing Lady In Black to dry, I applied Kwik Dry Top Coat. 
To complete the design, I applied Big Matte Top Coat.

Chevron Nail Art with Acid Test

I was pretty happy with the final look. It's not exactly like the image I got the inspiration from, but that's how inspiration works!

This one was fun to wear as I love chevrons, pastels and black... so all my favourites were covered in this design!

Most of these Sinful Colors are from their Pastel Neon Matte collection, so they're obviously made to go together. I do wish I had the whole collection, though!

What do you think?

Where do you find your inspiration?

Let me know by leaving a comment below, or find me on social media here.

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!

Boho Gradient Nail Polish

Good afternoon readers!

I hope you are all well.
As for me, unfortunately I've had a cold for about a week now, but it's slowly working it's way out. Luckily, I am currently well enough to do some nail art.
Let's hope it get better from here!

As you're most likely aware, I didn't get a post out last week... For that, I'm slightly sorry. Only slightly because I was extremely exhausted after my trip. But, I did have fun while I was there. Happy to be home though, always happy to be here.

This week's nail art was inspired by two polishes that I had sitting next to each other...Happens all the time! I love my organization skills, haha!
I decided to do a gradient for this one, but soon realized it was missing something. So I added some stamping!
I present to you now, the Boho Gradient!

Below you'll find a list of polishes and tools I used to create this mani. 

Boho Gradient Nail Art 

These are the polishes I used:

Summer by piCture pOlish 
Orchid by piCture pOlish
Sparkling Cyan-ide by Hit The Bottle
Tipsy Grasshopper by Hit The Bottle
Ready To Take Off by UNT Cosmetics
Big Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

These are the tools I used:

Cosmetic sponge
Stamping plate BP - 152 by Born Pretty
Large clear stamper
Plastic scraper
Cotton balls
Mani saver
Liquid latex by LuLaa

Boho Gradient with Orchid 

I started by applying one coat of Ready To Take Off base coat. Once dry, I applied liquid latex around each nail, then painted two coats of Summer on each nail.
After allowing to dry, I grabbed my cosmetics sponge and brushed Summer and Orchid across it. I then dabbed it on each nail, re-applying polish to the sponge after every few dabs. Once satisfied with the gradient, I removed the liquid latex.
After allowing ample time for everything to dry, I applied Big Kwik Dry Top Coat. While that was drying I grabbed stamping plate BP - 152, a stamper, a scraper and the stamping polishes. I chose the design I wanted, then painted a few blobs of Sparkling Cyan-ide and Tipsy Grasshopper over the design. I then scraped off the excess polish, which also blended them together, then picked up the image and pressed it onto the nail. I did this for all five nails, then finished off with Big Kwik Dry Top Coat.

Boho Gradient with Sparkling Cyan-ide & Tipsy Grasshopper

I enjoyed this design, both wearing and creating it. I did mess up a couple of the stamps, due to the polish drying out a little too quickly. But, that's nail art life for you! Ha ha.
These colours are so fun together. So much holo!

The gradient was a little harder to do than usual. Both of these polishes contained glitter, which meant I was basically just dumping it straight onto my nails.
I did get there in the end though, and turned out amazing, if I do say so myself. 

What do you think?
Do you like this as much as I do?

Thanks for stopping by!

Frozen Waterfall Nail Art

Hello lovely people.

I hope everyone is having a good day. We had a lovely taste of winter at the end of this week and it was fabulous. Rain, fog, and lots of warm drinks! I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to the real winter to kick in. My feet are aching to get my snow boots on again! 

As I mentioned in a post not too long ago, I have been struggling with inspiration. Therefore, this week I decided to recreate a design that I first tried a while back. You can see the original design here.

I decided to do a fire-inspired colour scheme for that one. This time, I broke out the blues and went with an ice theme. It helps that the vast majority of my polish collection is blue! As always, you can see a list of polishes and tools that I used for this design below. 

Frozen Waterfall Nail Art

I used these nail polishes:
Head In The Clouds by BYS Cosmetics 
Sparks Fly by Sally Hansen
Boys Boys Boys by Chi Chi Cosmetics
Tiffany Case by OPI
Extra-Terrestrial by BYS Cosmetics
Celeb City by Sally Hansen 
Big Primer Base Coat by Sally Hansen
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

As well as these tools:
Thin Striping brush
Sandwich bag
Liquid Latex

Frozen Waterfall Nail Art with Tiffany Case

For this nail art I started with a Big Primer Base Coat. I continued by applying two coats of Head In The Clouds, allowing each layer to dry well. I then applied liquid latex around each nail and let dry. Taking a sandwich bag, I applied a few drops of Tiffany Case. Using a thin striping brush, I dipped it into the polish and made a few vertical lines of varying size down the nail from the cuticle. I continued this with Celeb City, Extra-Terrestrial, Boys Boys Boys and Sparks Fly until the entire cuticle area was covered, making sure to clean the brush with acetone between each colour change. I went over the more glittery and sheer colours to make them more prominent against the background, then removed the liquid latex carefully. Once I was sure all the polish was dry, I applied a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat to finish off the design. 

Frozen Waterfall Nail Art with Head In The Clouds

An awesome design that's quick and versatile. Comparing this nail art to the original fire-inspired nail art, it's hard to believe that they're pretty much the same design, only with different colours. That's the beauty of this particular design, in my opinion anyway.

I've got a bit of free time on my hands at the moment and am planning to try out some new designs, so hopefully I have some fun things to share with you soon. Then again, I might have a few nail fails on the way, haha!
Wish my luck! 


What do you think?
Do you like the ice or the fire version better?

Let me know.

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!

Marble & Stamping Nail Art Design

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to start by saying sorry for my extended absence recently. I have had a lot going on in my personal life, some good and some not so good things which have kept me occupied. Unfortunately, I have been a little too busy to do my usual weekly posting or even nail art in general!

It appears that the dust is finally settling and things are returning to some form of normal. In my time away, I have made a few changes. I'm currently playing with the idea to change the day I put out new posts, although I'm undecided on when/if that will happen. I am still very interested in doing this blog, because I do enjoy it and it's a little bit of a routine I'd like to keep. So, all I can ask is that you bare with me over the next few weeks until everything comes together. With that, let's get onto the nail art!

I have mentioned in other posts that I want to start doing more involved nail art, so I decided to throw a few things into one design and created a marble background with stamping over top. I have these seriously beautiful stamping polishes from Hit The Bottle and they're just sitting there looking pretty, so I'm breaking them out and giving them some time to shine. If you'd like to know how I created this mani, keep reading.

I used these polishes:
Big Primer Base Coat by Sally Hansen
Sparkling Cyan-ide by Hit The Bottle
Paint The Town Violet by Hit the Bottle
Lady In Black by OPI
Blanc by Essie
Cocktail Bling by Essie
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

Side note, these nails were done about three weeks ago, and I forgot to take note of which grey I used so there's a possibility it could also be Sunny London by Essence.

The products used are:
Stamping Plate 181 by Born Pretty
Plastic Scraper
Large Clear Stamper
Liquid Latex by Lulaa
Thin Striping Brush

I started with one coat of Big Primer base coat, allowed to dry then applied two coats of Blanc for the base. Whilst drying I applied liquid latex around each nail. Using Blanc, Lady in Black and Cocktail Bling, I applied a few drops of each polish to my stamper. I tried to use as little black as possible as it tends to overpower the other colours. I then pressed the stamper onto the nail, rolling and dabbing to get a good blend of colours. Once I was satisfied with the marble, I used an orangewood stick to remove excess polish around the nail and removed the latex. I repeated this for all nails. Once I had finished stamping the marble design, I decided to add just a little more black. Using my thin striping brush and Lady in Black, I created some thin wavy lines. I then used a little bit of acetone to blend it out. For the stamping, I reapplied liquid latex to each nail. After drying, I grabbed my stamping plate, stamper, scraper and Paint The Town Violet. I painted the polish over the portion of design I wanted, then scraped off the excess. Picking it up with the stamper, I quickly pressed the image onto the nail, then removed the latex. I did the same for all nails, except switching to Sparkling Cyan-ide for my middle and pinky nails. To finish off the nail art, I applied a Kwik dry top coat.

I thoroughly enjoyed this design. It was so fun to create and even more fun to wear! I'm sure everyone went through that marble stone obsession that took over the internet in the last year or so, but I'm still stuck on it. 
I love the way these stamping polishes look over the marble. Especially this enchanting blue! It's such a beautiful colour. I wanted it on all of them, but I thought the purple would look just as good. I think I was right, ha ha.

What do you think?
Are you still obsessed with marble too?


Thanks for stopping by!

Foliage Stamping Nail Art

Hello people!

Can you believe it's almost the end of the year?
I definitely cannot.
Where the heck does all this time go?
Take me back to being a kid when everything seemed to last forever, or work, ha ha. I thought I'd keep you guys up to date with my blog plans for the next few weeks, so this will be my last post of 2017. I'll be travelling to Sydney to see family and friends over Christmas and will be thoroughly enjoying some time off at home. I'll be back in the new year with more summer nail art, which I'm really excited for. I've got to get planning my Australia Day nail art! If you follow me on Instagram, I'll be posting a few designs I have stored away in this time, so keep an eye out for that. 

For this week's design, I've done a fun foliage stamping nail art. I'm currently really obsessed with these kinds of patterns and I happen to have several plates full of these beautiful leafy designs. So here it is; keep reading to see what I used to create this mani. 

Foliage Stamping Nail Art

I used these polishes:
Wham Bam by BYS Cosmetics
Tipsy Grasshopper Stamping Polish by Hit The Bottle
Cinderella by Sinful Colors
Big Primer Base Coat by Sally Hansen
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

And these products:
Stamping plate BP-L076 by Born Pretty
Large clear stamper & scraper
Sticky tape
Cotton balls
Mani saver
Paper towel
Clean up brush
Acetone

Foliage Stamping Nail Art with Green 

I started with Big Primer Base Coat, then applied two coats of Cinderella. Once dry. I set up my 'stamping station'. Placing paper towel under stamping plate BP-L076, I applied Wham Bam to the pattern I wanted and scraped off the excess polish. Taking my stamper, I picked up the image and stamped it onto my middle finger. Before it dried, I took a piece of tape and used it to remove any polish that transferred to my skin. Usually I would use liquid latex, but I currently don't have any and this works well enough. I then cleaned my stamping plate using a cotton ball with acetone (held by my mani saver) and continued with my ring finger. For my index and pinky fingers, I used the same method outlined above, although with  different design and Tipsy Grasshopper. Once I was finished, I applied my Kwik Dry Top Coat.

Foliage Stamping Nail Art with Green

This one was pretty easy. Gotta love stamping!
I was going to stick to just one design for all nails, but I decided there were too many awesome designs on this plate and I just had to use another one. The pattern on my index and pinky fingers is a really cool leaf vein style. I wish the colour was a little darker so you could see the detail because I really love it. I guess I'll just have to buy more stamping polish. Watch out Hit The Bottle, I'm coming for you! Ha ha ha. 

What do you think?
Are you loving this foliage trend as much as I am?

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe end to the year and I'll see you next year!
Thanks for stopping by!

Ohh Shiny! Sequins & Metallic Nail Art

Hello lovely people.

I know we are currently within the holiday seasons, but as I detest all things Christmas, I won't be doing any kind of festive nail art this year (Here is one from last Christmas). Instead, I am opting for my usual style, what ever the heck I feel like, gosh! (little Napoleon Dynamite reference there). I will be focusing mainly on summer themes. This one how ever, is something I've wanted to do for a while. I have purchased a multitude of these nail sequins and they're just sitting in my nail art box, waiting for the day I'm brave enough to try them out. That time has finally come!  

Ohh Shiny! Nail Art

I used these polishes:

Ready To Take Off by UNT Cosmetics (peel off base coat)
A Mermaid's Tale by Face Of Australia, from the Calypso Bay collection
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

The only products I used were the sequins which happen to have the longest product name ever! They're from Born Pretty store and the 'colour code' is 11.

Ohh Shiny! Nail Art with A Mermaids Tale

For this nail art, I applied a thin coat of Ready To Take Off. I did this so it'd be a hell of a lot easier to remove the sequins. I'm really not sure how these would go with acetone, but I can imagine it would not be fun. Once that was completely dry, I applied two coats of A Mermaids Tale. I then removed a small amount of the sequins from the jar and spread them out on my desk - this makes it a little easier to pick them up. I have a bottle of Kwik Dry Top Coat that's gotten a little gluggy with age, so I used this as a glue. I placed a small dot of polish onto my ring finger, placed a sequin on the polish and pressed it onto the nail using my finger. I continued this using various sizes to fill the nail as much as possible. I then placed a small dot of polish on my index and middle finger, then placed a large sequin on each of them. I finished with my non-gluggy Kwik Dry Top Coat. 

Ohh Shiny! Nail Art with Born Pretty Sequins

This didn't turn out exactly as I had planned it in my head and I know exactly why. Some of these sequins are thicker than I had originally thought. Being that I was applying a flat, non-malleable item onto a rounded surface, there were bound to be some issues. If you look closely at some of the larger ones you'll see they are slightly raised when placed outside the center of my nail. I think if I were to do this again I'd use a lot more of the smaller ones and stick to the center of the nail for the larger ones. 

I do love these colours together, though. The metallic polish being so close to the greeny-blue sequins was pretty exciting. I haven't really used this polish much, due to the streaky nature of it. But for this, I think it totally works. 

What do you think?
Do you like sequins in nail art?
Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Inspired Ocean Shore Nail Art

Hello everyone.

I hope you're all well.

I am stepping a little out of bounds with this weeks mani.
I'm not typically the kind of person to follow the rules, so I figured I should apply my regular life choices to my blog and create a summer inspired nail art design in the midst of spring. I have been wanting to try this design for quite a while and I had this amazing nude colour staring me in the face, so I decided to just do it. 

Ocean Shore Nail Art

For this I used these polishes:

Do You Take Lei Away by OPI

Sky's The Limit by BYS

Blanc by Essie

Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen 

G'day Matte Top Coat by Picture Polish

I also used these products and tools:

Liquid latex by Lulaa

Plastic cup

Water

Spray bottle with water

Cotton bud

Make up sponge

Once Shore with G'day Matte Top Coat

I started with two coats of Sky's The Limit for a base. Once dry, I applied a layer of liquid latex around each nail and allowed to dry. Taking a make up sponge, I applied Sky's The Limit and a smaller amount of Do You Take Lei Away, and dabbed it onto the nail. I continued this until I was satisfied with the gradient and opacity. I allowed this to dry completely before moving onto the next step. I then grabbed my plastic cup and spray bottle and filled them with water. Next, I applied liquid latex to each of my nails. Using Blanc, I placed a few drops into the cup and allowed them to spread. Taking the spray bottle, I then sprayed a little over the polish, which causes the polish to separate in an interesting pattern. I'm not gonna lie, this took a fair few tries because I didn't like the way it was separating. I finally just gave in and dipped my finger into the polish. Using the cotton bud, I cleaned up any excess polish on the surface of the water, then continued this with all nails before removing the liquid latex. Once the polish was dry, I dabbed a cloth over the nails to remove any leftover water from my hands.
To finish off, I applied Kwik Dry Top Coat, followed  by G'day Matte Top Coat. I feel like matte top coat always works better over the top of a regular top coat. 

Ocean Shore with Do You Take Lei Away

I was rather pleased with the outcome of this nail art, although it was a little hard to judge the way the pattern was going to turn out when looking in the cup. I think that's why I was a little skeptical at first and had to try it several times. I feel if I was to do this again I'd just close my eyes and let the polish do it's thing.

Also, I don't have a large collection of nude colours. I think I'm currently sitting on three, one of which was a gift for being part of my best friend's bridal party. I think this was probably a bargain buy which is why I have it. If I ever see a bottle of OPI for less than $10 I will just grab it. I love their polish, but it is so expensive! Another reason it took so long to try this nail art. 

What are your thoughts?

Have you tried this design?

Let me know by leaving a comment.

Thanks for stopping by!