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?

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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!  

Pastel Grunge Dry Brush Nail Art

Hello everyone.

I hope you're all doing well. It's currently a lovely sunny day here. I am enjoying being able to have my windows open and letting that beautiful breeze in. It's a nice change from the icy winds and grey skies last weekend. 

This week's nail art is one of my all time favorite techniques, dry brush. In fact, you can see me using the same one here & here. This is the beauty of the dry brush, as you can see, each mani is always totally different. You can use as many or as little colours as you like and it always seems to work.

So here's my finished mani. Below I'll list all the products I used and my method to achieve this really cute and grungy dry brush nail art, as well as a some photos.

Pastel Grunge Dry Brush Nail Art

These are the products I used to create this pastel grunge nail art:

Be Happy + Smile by Essence

Funny Face by Essie

Orchid by piCture pOlish

Lady In Black by OPI

Camo Coat by Celestial Cosmetics

Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

Pastel Grunge Dry Brush Nail Art with Be Happy + Smile

I applied three coats of Be Happy + Smile as my base. This colour is a little sheer so it does require that additional coat for complete opacity. However, you could probably get away with two coats - being that this is a grunge style, it could add a little more depth to the mani. Once dry, I used Camo Coat around each finger for easier clean up. I have a seriously bad habit of making a huge mess with this technique and although the clean up is usually pretty minimal, I still prefer to use latex. Taking Funny Face, I used the bottle neck to wipe off as much excess polish as possible, then began lightly swiping across each nail in different directions. Occasionally I like to re-dip and wipe as the brush tends to get very dry (duh) and awkward to use. Polish tends to dry very fast when doing this as there is only a small amount of polish on the nail. By the time I'd completed all five nails, I was able to move onto the next colour, Orchid, straight away. I did the same thing with this polish, wipe off excess and lightly swipe. I then used Lady In Black in the same way again. I let black dry a little longer as I wanted to avoid any smudging when applying the trusty Kwik Dry Top Coat to finish.

Pastel Grunge Dry Brush Nail Art with Funny Face

I am really pleased with how this turned out. I feel like it suits my personality so well. Light and fun with a little bit of darkness. I was originally going to use white as a base, but I decided that it would be too vibrant and I didn't want that. This pearly, dusty pink is actually perfect. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I made a good choice. Haha. 

These colours seem to go together so well. If I had of used another colour, I think I might have ruined the design. Some times, less really is more.  

Pastel Grunge Dry Brush Nail Art with Orchid

That's all for today! I hope you enjoyed my post this week.
What do you think?
Do you love dry brush as much as I do?
Leave me a comment below, I'd love to get your feedback. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Mint & Orange Nail Art

Hello everyone!

You may have noticed my absence recently. Things have been really busy over the last few weeks. I wasn't even sure I was going to get this one out! But here we are and I'm glad that I have. I've really missed posting & doing nail art. Since this break started I've had one single colour on my nails for far too long! Luckilyy, I recently purchased some amazing holographic polishes, so I got to try those out during this time. 

I have also been having some issues with my nails. Lots of breaking and tearing, which I think is a side effect of my dermatitis, so I have been trying to get that under control and keeping them all even.

Prior to this break, I had done these cute geometric pattern mint and orange nails, which I haven't gotten out yet, and will now be this week's nail design. If you keep reading, you'll see what I used for this design and how I did it. Please enjoy.

Mint and Orange Nail Art Design

To create these lovely mint and orange geometric pattern nails, I used the following items:
South Beach Bling Bikini by Chi Chi Cosmetics
I Feel Good by Chi Chi Cosmetics
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Stamping plate BP - 77 by Born Pretty 
Large clear jelly stamper (I don't recall the brand)
Scraper (This came with my stamper, so again I don't recall the brand)
Camo Coat by Celestial Cosmetics

Mint and Orange Nail Art with South Beach Bling Bikini

I started with two coats of I Feel Good and allowed them to dry. This polish is a bit thicker than usual polish so it does take a while to dry (I recommend thinner coats for faster drying time). The best way to know this polish is dry is when it becomes fragrant. Once I was satisfied they were dry, I applied Camo Coat around each nail to allow for easier clean up. I then took stamping plate 77, stamper, scraper and South Beach Bling Bikini, and applied a generous amount of Orange to the stamping plate. Taking my scraper, I dragged it evenly over the design and off the plate. I picked up the image with my stamper and lined it up as best I could with the nail. Unfortunately for me, the bottom of my scraper is scratched, which makes it hard. As the polish turned out a lot lighter than I was expecting, I decided to do a second stamp over the top of the first. I then removed the Camo Coat from that nail and repeated these steps for my middle finger and thumb. As for my index finger, I used a different design from the same plate, using the same steps as my previous nails. And of course, I finished with a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat.

Mint & Orange Nail Art with I Feel Good

Although I love these Chi Chi flakies, they always seem to jut out, which you can see on my pinky finger above. This is mostly a visual problem, however I do find that they catch on things like clothing a fair bit, which is always annoying and can cause the polish to peel up. I would love to see them do the flakie colours but without the flakes.

Aside from that, I'm pretty pleased with how they look. These colours look so good together and I do love the patterns on this plate. 

What do you think about this simple pastel nail art design? Leave me a comment below. 

P.S. I am looking for a little feedback on what your overall opinion on my posts are, good, bad and/or ugly. You can leave a comment below, or send an email to theaustralnailian@gmail.com. I'd really appreciate it. 

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Pastel Chevron Gradient Nail Art Design.

Hello hello!

I hope everyone is doing well. I am still getting over a cold, but I am well enough for nail art, so I am happy. Haha.

I'm not sure that you guys know this yet, but I am pretty much obsessed with pastel colours. So I decided to create a simple gradient with a chevron pattern.

Pastel Chevron Gradient Nail Art 

I used these items for this design:

Coral Silk - Ulta3

Tingle - piCture pOlish

Blanc - Essie

Chevron Nail Stickers

Cosmetic sponge

G'day Matte Top Coat - piCture pOlish

Camo Coat - Celestial

Pastel Chevron Gradient with Coral Silk - Ulta3

I started with two coats of Blanc as a base. Once dry, I applied a quick dry top coat and then painted Camo Coat around each nail. I then placed two chevron stickers on my middle and ring finger, making sure each was securely pressed to the nail. I painted Tingle and Coral Silk onto a cosmetic sponge and dabbed it over each nail. As these colours are somewhat softer, it did take a fair few coats to get them just right. Once I was happy, I removed the chevron stickers and the Camo Coat, then finished with a G'day Matte Top Coat.

Pastel Chevron Gradient with Tingle - piCture pOlish

I left the stickers on a little too long because of the gradient, which caused a little bleeding in the design. But, I kind of like the distressed look that this made. I also wish I hadn't overlapped the colour on the sponge so much as it made this purple-ish-grey tone between them. All in all though, it still looks really awesome. 

Pastel Chevron Gradient with G'day Matte Top Coat - piCture pOlish

I do just love these colours together. This blue-green tone has to be my favorite colour at the moment. 
What do you think?
Let me know below!

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring Inspired Gradient & Stamping

Hello lovelies!

We have had some beautiful spring weather the last few days, so I thought this mani would be fairly fitting.

I really love the way they turned out. I think I could wear this design all year long! At the moment I am trying to break out of my comfort zone a little and try new techniques. This one isn't too far from what I usually do, but I'd never tried a vertical gradient before. I tell you what, I really like it. I think it brings a whole new depth to nail art!

For this one I used:
BYS - Isn't She Lovely
BYS - Matte Violet Frosting
BYS - Matte Mint Candy
BYS - Sky's The Limit
Essie - Blanc
Born Pretty - White Stamping Polish
piCture pOlish - D'day Matte Top Coat
Born Pretty Stamping Plate - BP - X05
Celestial - camo coat.

I started with two coats of Blanc for a base. Once dry I applied Camo Coat around the cuticles. While that was drying I applied three coats of Isn't She Lovely to my pinky nail, and Matte Mint Candy to my thumb. I took Isn't She Lovely and Matte Violet Frosting and painted them onto a makeup sponge, applied a thin layer of Blanc over the Matte Violet Frosting to de-saturate it a little, then dabbed it onto my ring finger, making sure Isn't She Lovely was on the left side. I continued to do this until I reached the right opacity, which was quite a bit due to the pale colour of Isn't She Lovely. I let each layer dry for a few seconds before continuing. Once that was complete, I removed the Camo Coat on that finger. I did the same steps for my middle finger, but used Matte Violet Frosting and Sky's The Limit instead. Same again for my ring finger, except with Sky's The Limit and Matte Mint Candy. Once they had all dried I grabbed my BP - X05 stamping plate and White Stamping Polish, and stamped the same design onto each nail. I finished with G'day Matte Top Coat to soften it even more. 

I really enjoyed this design, but it was a little time consuming. Probably the most so far. But I am okay with that because every time I looked at them, they made me smile. What do you think?
Thanks for stopping by!

80's Retro Vinyls Nail Art

Hey hey everybody! 

I hope everyone has been well.

I took a little inspiration from my "brother-in-law" for today's design. He and some really cool Canadians do an awesome podcast about synth wave & 80's styled music. You can check them out here. 

80's Retro Vinyl Nail Art

For this design I used Bundle Monster stamping plate 601, BYS - Cotton Candy (a very soft purple pastel scented polish), BYS - Applause (a very soft pink pastel) & Born Pretty Black Stamping Polish. 

Starting with two coats of Cotton Candy as a base, I used Cotton Candy & Applause to make a gradient (which doesn't show up very well in the photos because they're very similar colours). After applying a top coat and letting it dry I painted the black stamping polish onto the BM - 601 plate, scraped and then stamped on the nail. I used two different design patterns for this one. Once dry I applied a top coat. 

80's Retro Vinyl Nails

As you can see, I had a little smearing from the stamping polish which is always a bit disappointing. There always seems to be one! *sigh*... All in all I think it's a pretty cool design and I'm happy with it. I'm glad I bought this particular plate. 

80's Retro Vinyl Nail Art

80's Retro Vinyl Nails with Stamping Polish

I originally wanted to do this with 80's pop colours, but changed my mind to a more pastel look. I think if I was to do them again it would be with a hot pink or something like that. What colours would you use?


Thanks for stopping by!