Halloween Nail Art! Bats Emerging!

Hello everyone!

I hope you're all enjoying the long weekend - I sure have been!
It has been a while since we had a full weekend of sunshine and with the extra day, we've definitely taken advantage of it. 

Now, I know I'm a little early on this one. I was going to post this design next week but, due to my bad organization skills, you get it this week! Lucky you! Ha ha.
I 'accidentally' purchased several Halloween stamping plates a few months ago, so I have a lot of potential design ideas floating around in my head. But, let's start with something nice and easy; a simple gradient with some stamping. 

Halloween Bats Emerging Nail Art

I used these polishes for this mani:
Matte Purple by BYS Cosmetics
Mellow Yellow by Sally Hansen
Ready To Take Off by UNT Cosmetics
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Big Matte Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly

I also used these tools:
Liquid Latex by LuLaa
Stamping Plate BPL-031
Stamping Plate Celebration BPX-L007
Clear stamper
Scraper
Mani Saver
Cotton wool with acetone
Cosmetic Sponge

Halloween Bats Emerging Nail Art with Mellow Yellow

I started with Ready To Take Off for the base (this is just quicker than cotton pads and acetone, as I will be repainting my nails for an event next week). Once that was dry, I applied two coats of Mellow Yellow. For some reason, the second coat was taking quite long to dry, so I ended up applying Kwik Dry Top Coat over it to help the process along. While that was drying, I painted liquid latex around each nail.
After allowing that to dry, I applied Mellow Yellow and Matte Purple horizontally onto a cosmetic sponge and began dabbing it over each nail. I moved the sponge up and down to get even coverage whilst creating a slight gradient, reapplying polish to the sponge as necessary. Once I was satisfied, I removed the liquid latex and then applied another coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat before reapplying the liquid latex to protect my skin from the stamping polish.
Next, I gathered my stamping tools. I applied Black Stamping Polish over the design I wanted on plate BPX-L007, scraped over it, picked up the image and pressed it onto the nail. Cleaning the plate between uses with my mani saver and a cotton ball, I also removed the liquid latex after each stamp. I used this stamp on my index and pinkie nails. These steps were repeated for my middle and ring nails, with a different image on plate BPL-031. After allowing time to dry, I applied Kwik Dry Top Coat to seal it all in and finished off with Big Matte Top Coat. 

Halloween Bats Emerging Nail Art with Matte Purple

I'm pretty happy with this design. I didn't want to do another orange Halloween design like last year, so I decided to do purple and yellow because I feel that's still pretty Halloween-y. Plus, they're opposing colours of the colour wheel so you know they'll go well together!
I was aiming for a sort of creepy sunset look, with the bats coming out for the night. 

What do you think?
Do you do Halloween nails?
Leave me a comment below!

Don't forget to check out my social media pages.

Thanks for stopping by!

Funky Floral Nail Art Design

Hello lovely people!

Welcome back! I took a break last week (in case you missed it) because, well honestly, why not? Sometimes you just need to mix things up a bit and take a break from routine. Plus, this blog is a hobby, so if I don't get something out each week, I'm not all that fussed.

It is officially Spring here, (even if the weather doesn't know it yet, it's pretty cold right now) which means pastels, floral prints, and all the pretty girly things! I can't wait to do more of this stuff! So many stamps, so little nails, sigh... But, right now I have this fun, funky, floral design to kick things off, along with plenty more ideas up my sleeve!
Let's get into it!

Funky Floral Nail Art

For this nail art, I used these nail polishes:
Go With The Flowy by Essie
Off Tropic by Essie
Lime Zinger by Lilypad Lacquer
Ring in The Bling by Essie
Attitude Attitude by Essie
Black Stamping Polish by Emily De Molly 
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Top & Base Coat by Rimmel

As well as these tools:
Large clear stamper
Scraper
Stamping Plate BP - 98 by Born Pretty
Liquid Latex by LuLaa
Mani Saver
Cotton ball with Acetone

Funky Floral Nail Art with Ring in The Bling

I started this design with Top and Base Coat. Once that was dry, I applied two coats of Go With The Flowy (should have used a peel off base coat, so much glitter!). I then took Attitude Attitude, wiped the excess polish off the brush using the neck of the bottle and gently swiped it across the nail sparingly. I did the same with Ring in The Bling, Off Tropic and Lime Zinger until I was satisfied with the coverage.
I then took my stamping tools and plate BP - 98, applied Black over the image I wanted to use, then scraped, picked up and pressed the design onto the nail. This image is quite large and has a whole bunch of different elements to it, so I decided to use as much as I could by selecting different areas of it. I made sure to clean the stamper and plate between each use with my mani saver and acetone.
All it took then to finish off was some Kwik Dry Top Coat to keep it sealed and shiny.

Funky Floral Nail Art with Lime Zinger

I'm pretty happy with the end result of this nail art. I was going for something more edgy than just a typical floral design, which I'd like to think I achieved. Not exactly how I wanted it to turn out, but still pretty sweet, I think.
What I really should have done was a reverse stamp to get exactly what I wanted, but I'm honestly so nervous about trying it.
I'll do it one day, I promise!

What do you think?

What funky designs have you got lined up for Spring?

Don't forget to check out my social media pages. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Dry Garden Nail Art.

Hello lovely people!

I hope you're all doing well.

It has been a nice, quiet weekend for me; I spent a good portion of yesterday in my pj's. It was fun, it has been a while since I've done that and today has just been nail art. Pretty much my ideal weekend - the only thing missing is reading, but I'll be doing that as soon as this post goes live. 

I decided to create a winter-ish design this week. Since it's still quite cold here and winter is showing no sign of leaving anytime soon, it gave me a chance to use some of the colours I don't very often get to. I also got to use another "new" plate!
I'm calling this one Dry Garden, due to the use of the dry brush technique, as well as the dark colours. 

These are the nail polishes I used:

Snuggle Me by Face Of Australia

Instant Adventure by Essence

Mixetaupe by Essie

Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly

Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

Top and Base Coat by Rimmel

I also used these tools:

Stamping Plate BP-79 by Born Pretty

Large Clear Stamper

Scraper

Liquid Latex by Lulaa

I started with Top and Base Coat. After drying, I applied two coats of Mixetaupe. Taking Snuggle Me, I wiped off the excess polish from the brush using the neck of the bottle. Once I felt I had the right amount of polish on the brush, I gently swiped it across the nail in varying directions. I continued this for all five nails, reapplying when necessary.
The same was done with Instant Adventure, making sure to leave enough of the base colour showing through.
Next, I applied liquid latex around each nail, then allowed to dry before continuing. I then gathered my stamping tools (see list above). Taking stamping plate BP-79, I applied Black stamping polish over the image, scraped off the excess, picked up the design with the stamper and pressed it onto the nail - rolling the stamper back and forth to make sure the whole image transferred correctly. Again, doing this for all five nails, making sure to clean the stamping plate and stamper between each use.
Once the stamps were dry, I applied a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat to seal it all in.

I really liked this one.
I think it has a bit of an elegant feel to it, which I'm not so good at because, to be honest, I am not exactly very elegant myself! Hahaha!
I do like to dabble though. Besides, I like to do anything and everything on my nails.

I'm also trying to create more winter-themed nails, using those deep cozy colours. Every time I go searching online for ideas on winter nails, all I get is a bunch of snow related stuff, which is frustrating because it only snows in certain areas here, so it seems a little silly for me to do designs like that. 

I also get a lot of Christmas ones, which I don't even like to do during the holiday seasons. I'm not going to start doing them now. 

What do you think?

What do your winter nails look like?

Leave me a comment below with links to your nail art so I can check it out.

Are you following me on Instagram?
If not, you should be!

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

Happy Accident Nail Art (Black and White Line Design)

Hello people!

I hope you're all doing well.
It has been extremely cold here today, but that has not slowed us down!
We were working on a garden project this morning, which warmed us up quite nicely. 
I decided not to paint my nails today so that I could help out with the garden. It was fun, but I got so much dirt under my nails, I was a little horrified.
This week's nail art is a design I wasn't going to post, but I figure, why the heck not?
After all, it's not all that bad, just not what I had intended.

I started out with plans to create a Fall Out Boy (my favorite band) nail art based on the American Beauty/American Psycho Album cover (see here), but seeing as though I can't really draw, things went south pretty quickly!.
However, instead of starting all over again I decided to continue and see what would happen.
So here it is, Happy Accident Nail Art aka Black & White Line Nail Art!

Happy Accident Nail Art

I used these polishes:
Blanc by Essie
Lady In Black by OPI
Base & Top Coat by Rimmel
Big Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

I also used these tools:
Thin & short striping brush
Sandwich bag

Happy Accident Nail Art with Blanc

I started with one coat of Top & Base Coat. I am using this one at the moment to help my nails with the colder weather. Once dry I applied two coats of Blanc, then grabbed a sandwich bag and applied a drop of Lady In Black to it. 
Taking my thin & short striping brush, I dipped it into Lady In Black and started with two vertical stripes on my index nail; one in the center and one to the right. I intentionally made them imperfect (which was a little too easy, ha ha).
I then moved to my middle finger and attempted to create a star. After realizing I had made a mistake and wasn't going to get what I wanted, I turned it into a line pattern by duplicating the first line of the "star". I then added another straight line to my index finger to tie them together. Moving on, I added rough horizontal lines to my ring finger and some very lazy chevrons on my pinkie nail. To finish off, I applied a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat.

Happy Accident Nail Art with Lady In Black

I am a little disappointed that my initial design didn't work out, but I actually do like this rough line design. To be honest, I really like anything that looks slightly distressed, nail art or otherwise.
I plan to attempt the Fall Out Boy nail art again at some point in the future. I will probably use vinyls next time though, since I have no hope of actually drawing tiny stars at the best of times. 

What do you think?
Have you done band nails before?
Let me know by leaving a comment!

Thanks for stopping by!

Geode Nail Art

Hello everyone!

I hope you're doing well today. I had a good weekend, despite the crappy weather we had yesterday.
My sister came to visit, so that brightened things up a bit.


Once again, I got my inspiration from a collection of nail polishes I bought last week. They were a series of glitters and shimmers from Ulta3 that I could not resist. I put them on my newly installed nail polish shelf (that my amazing partner built for me), in the designated "unused" section. This is where I put new polishes that I have yet to use.
These polishes were staring me in the face every time I was on my computer, inspiring me with their glittery and shimmery goodness, so I decided to try out a geode design. I've been wanting to do one of these for a while, but the other methods I've seen look pretty time consuming and honestly, I don't really have the patience for it. Ha ha. 

Below, I've listed all the polishes and tools I used to create this glittering nail art. 

Geode nail art in direct sunlight

Here's the polishes I used:

New Years Eve by Ulta3 (Blue glitter)
Spark It Up by Ulta3 (Gold glitter)
Twinkle Toes by Ulta3 (Silver glitter)
Infamous by Ulta3 (Blue/Green fine glitter)
Enchanted by Ulta3 (Purple and green duo chrome)
Big Peel Off Base Coat by Sally Hansen
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

Here's the tools I used as well:

Short striping brush
Dotting tool
Sandwich bag

Geode nail art in indirect light

I started with a coat of Big Peel Off Base Coat, in order to assist with removing this mass of glitter.
Can you imagine trying to get this off with acetone? No thank you!
Once that was dry, I applied two coats of Enchanted as my base colour. While I waited for that to dry, I collected my glitter polishes, a sandwich bag and my brushes. Using Infamous, I painted a small amount somewhere in the middle of the nail, varying the shape and size of coverage on each nail to get a more natural stone shape. I did look up geodes online to get a rough idea.
I placed a large blob of New Years Eve onto the bag, then used a short striping brush to pick up as much glitter as possible and started painting it on around the previously applied Infamous. As it turned out, this brush didn't work out very well, so I switched to a small dotting tool instead. This enabled me to pick up more pieces of glitter and less polish.
I was then able to place the large glitters wherever I wanted to. 
Moving on to Twinkle Toes, I repeated this process, using the dotting tool to place glitters around New Years Eve. This created another layer to the geode.
For the final layer I used the short striping brush to paint a smaller amount of Spark It Up around the silver glitter. I decided not to apply as much gold glitter; as I still wanted the base colour to come through, I only applied small amounts randomly around the silver glitter.
After allowing plenty of time to dry, I finished off with a Kwik Dry Top Coat. 

Geode nail art with Infamous in indirect light

I lovvvvvved this design!
It's so shiny, I couldn't help but wriggle my fingers every time my nails caught the light.
So magical!
Each of these colours are so beautiful in their own way. 

On the downside, it ended up being so thick!
Due to the amount of clear polish going on with the glitter, it created a mini polish mountain (polish hill maybe? ha ha).
Luckily I put the peel off base coat on, otherwise this would have been a nightmare!

Geode nail art with Enchanted in direct sunlight

I was so happy that I managed to get all but one of these new polishes into this design. The other one is a bright red glitter, so it wasn't going to fit into this design very nicely.
That's okay though, I'm pretty sure I will be able to do something awesome with that one another time.
Keep your eyes out for that one! 

What do you think? 
Have you done a geode style nail art?
Leave me a comment below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gradient Garden Nail Art

Hello hello!

I hope my fellow Aussies are enjoying the long weekend. Usually, I'd be away right now. Sitting by the fire, wine in hand, looking over the dam. But, here I am, bringing you more of my nail creations. I'm okay with that though. It has taken me about 4 hours to get my photos ready for today (lesson learnt, I'll be getting my photos edited in advance from now on). Photoshop was being a pain in the butt, but I finally got it sorted, so here we go.

This week, I have a fun gradient with some stamping. I have no idea what to call it... gradient garden? I think that will do. It includes some of my favorite nail things; gradients (obviously), pastels and stamping! Details on polishes, tools and directions are below. 

Gradient Garden Nail Art

I used these polishes:
Rose Libertine by Rimmel 
Roll In The Green by Rimmel
Lovey Dovey by Rimmel
White Stamping Polish by Born Pretty
As Black As Night stamping polish by Hit The Bottle
Nail Base & Top Coat by Rimmel
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

I also used these tools:
Liquid latex by LuLaa
Cosmetic sponge
Large clear stamper
Scraper
Stamping plate 05 by Born Pretty
Cotton ball
Mani saver

Gradient Garden with Purple

I started with Nail Top & Base coat. Once dry, I applied two coats of Roll In The Grass. After allowing time to dry (at least to the touch), I applied liquid latex around each nail, then continued to let dry. Next, I grabbed a cosmetic sponge and applied one stripe of Roll In The Grass, Lovey Dovey and Rose Libertine across the sponge. I then gently dabbed over each nail, making sure each colour was evenly distributed on the nail whilst not blending them together too much. This took a fair few coats for all five nails, and I needed to reapply the polishes to the sponge a few times. Once I had an even gradient, I removed the liquid latex and allowed the polish to dry. I then gathered my tools and stamping plate 05. Picking my design, I painted White stamping polish across the design, scrapped off the excess and picked up the image with the stamper. I pressed the design onto my index nail, making sure to roll the stamper in order for the stamp to completely cover the nail. Then, using some tape, I removed what had transferred onto my skin (I may have forgotten to use latex this time). Remembering to clean my plate between each use with my mani saver and a cotton ball dipped in acetone, I repeated this on my middle finger. I did the same for my ring and pinky finger, only using As Black As Night stamping polish instead. To finish off the design, I applied a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat. 

Gradient Garden with Green

I initially intended on continuing with the white stamping, but after doing two, I decided black would look better. Since I had already done the white, I was not starting again and decided it was more fun with the two different colours. If I were to recreate it, I'd stick with black. I feel like it brings out the pastel colours underneath so much better. These colours deserve to shine! I love this green, I'm a little obsessed with it and I probably have about 4 similar ones. Woops.

What do you think?
Would you try this design?

As always, let me know.

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!

Namaste Nail Art

Hi there!

Wow, I feel like I'm on a roll!
I haven't posted this consistently in quite a while!
This roll will be temporarily interrupted next week though, unfortunately, as I'll be in Sydney for a family event. I am planning to have something done in advance, however, so I can post as soon as I get back.
We'll see how that goes!

Lately, I have been trying a lot of new things - one of those being yoga. It has been really good for me, and it's fun. When I came across this awesome plate I got from bundle monster, I just knew it was the perfect time to do a yoga inspired design! Keep reading for the polishes and tools I used to create this soothing nail art. 

Namaste Nail Art

I used these polishes:
Lucky Ducky by BYS Cosmetics
As Black As Night Stamping Polish by Hit The Bottle
Ready To Take Off by UNT Cosmetics
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Big Matte Top Coat by Sally Hansen

As well as these tools:
Liquid Latex by Lulaa
Mythology BM-XL405 Stamping Plate By Bundle Monster
Large Clear Stamper
Scraper
Cotton Buds
Mani saver

Namaste Nail Art with As Black As Night by Hit The Bottle

For this design I decided to use Ready To Take Off as my base coat, as I intended to doing another design soon after. Once that was dry, I applied four coats of Lucky Ducky. Due to the paleness of this colour, it requires a few coats to be totally opaque. Once dry, I applied liquid latex around each nail.
I then chose the design I wanted for my pinky nail. After applying a generous amount of As Black As Night over the image, I took my scraper and dragged it cross the design a few times. Using my stamper, I picked up the design and pressed it firmly onto the nail, aiming for the right corner and rolling it back and forth a few times. I do this for larger designs to ensure that the entire image transfers evenly to the nail.
After cleaning the stamping plate with a cotton ball dipped in acetone (using my mani saver), I repeated this for my index finger, applying the design to the left corner. Once again, I cleaned the plate.
At this point, I removed the latex from these two fingers to avoid the polish drying and flaking off as I remove it. Moving onto the middle two fingers, I chose the next image and repeated the same steps, only this time I went for the bottom corners of these nails. After removing the latex and allowing the images to dry completely, I applied Kwik Dry Top Coat. Finally, I applied a coat of Big Matte Top Coat to finish it off.

Namaste Nail Art with Lucky Ducky by BYS Cosmetics

I really love this design!
I had a bit of trouble choosing my colours as I wanted it to be calming, but still fun. I chose this yellow because I hardly get to use it, and yellow is the colour associated with happiness. Once it was done I knew it was the perfect colour!

I decided to go matte because I felt that glossy just wouldn't seem right for this design.
Once again, I made the right choice!

My only complaint is my pinky nail. I wanted to it be more like my index finger nail, but my stamper has a lot of scuffs on the bottom, which makes it hard to see proper placement.
Also, they are just so tiny!
Curse you pinkie nails!
Ha ha!

Does this nail art make you want to do yoga?
Would you try this design?
Leave me a comment with your thoughts. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Neon Dry Brush Nail Art

Hi there!
I hope you're all well!

I've had a great day doing my nails. I have been having a few struggles with nail art lately, which has been stressing me out and doing no favours for my motivation/inspiration.
BUT, today I was FINALLY able to get past my frustrations and continue without getting disheartened. I must say it felt really good! Hopefully this feeling sticks around because I've missed doing my nails regularly!  

This week I have drawn inspiration from a few lovely little pieces of "art" hanging on my wall. I say "art" with quotation marks because technically they are birthday cards, all with a similar design theme, that I thought looked really cool (see below for pictures).
So, I cut them in half and hung them in the perfectly sized space above my wardrobe. I love waking up and just staring at these cute little animals with all the neon colours surrounding them, and it didn't take long for me to realize that this would be a fabulous look on my nails! Unfortunately I am pretty useless at any kind of REAL art, so I omitted the animals and just went with the colours. As usual, keep reading for the nail polish and tools used in this design. 

Neon Dry Brush Nail Art

I used these polishes:
Blanc by Essie
Lady In Black by OPI
Tahiti by ULTA3
Big Primer Base Coat by Sally Hansen
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

Tools I used:
Liquid Latex by LuLaa

Neon Dry Brush Nail Art with Blanc by Essie

I started with Big Primer Base Coat. Once dry, I applied two coats of Blanc; the white base tends to amplify and really bring out the brightness of these neon polishes. Before continuing, I applied liquid latex around each nail. Once visibly dry, I grabbed Lady In Black and wiped a fair bit of excess polish off the brush using the neck of the bottle. I didn't remove too much as I wanted it to still be opaque and dense. I then wiped the polish onto the nail in various locations and directions, making sure not to be too heavy handed with it, as I wanted to keep a relatively even amount of each colour. Once I was satisfied with Lady In Black, I moved onto Tahiti and repeated the process - again, trying not to over power the other colours. I then removed the liquid latex and finished with a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat to seal it all in. 

Neon Dry Brush with Tahiti

I love this design, and I'm just a little bit obsessed with this awesome bright orange!
It's actually a perfect match to the design I pulled my inspiration from, which makes it even better.
I originally intended to incorporate a few different neon colours into this design - one on each nail or maybe just two different colours - but when I went to grab some colours, I found my collection TERRIBLY lacking in neon polishes and I was quite disappointed... So I DEFINITELY need to improve my neon collection!

All in all though, I think this design would work well with any colour; neon or other wise. Black and white goes with everything, of course! (I should know, half our house is black and white - haha)

As always, I'd love to know your thoughts!
Let me know what colours YOU would use to create this awesome design.

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!