Splash Floral Nail Art

Hi everyone!

This week's prompt for the Weekly Nail Art Challenge over on Instagram is 'mint and lilac' with a summer theme. I decided to create an abstract flower design for this one :)

I started off with a base of Essence 'Wild White Ways', then using a torn sponge, I dabbed on Ciate 'Sugar Plum' and Essie 'Mint Candy Apple'. Finally, I added the flower outlines using a striping brush and two polishes from Claire's Liquid Metal collection - 'Teal' and 'Purple' (very imaginatively named, Essence!) 

I kind of wish I hadn't put two flowers on my middle and ring fingers, as it makes the mani seem a bit cluttered, but overall I'm really pleased with this one. It's a refreshing change as it's much more delicate than the neon designs I've been wearing recently! 

As always, head over to Instagram to see all of the entries into the Weekly Nail Art Challenge - just search #wnac2015 :)

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Cherry Nail Art

Hi guys!

I neglected the Weekly Nail Art Challenge on Instagram towards the end of July, but I'm going to make sure I complete all of the prompts in August! I love that the prompts this month are colour combos, with the theme of summer. The weather has just started turning sour here, so I definitely need some summery nails to cheer myself up!

The first prompt this month is 'lemon and cherry', so I decided to make use of two of my untrieds (I'm slooowly making progress with getting through all of my polishes!). I used Sally Hansen 'Sweetie' and 'Cherry Drop' which are both textured polishes from the Sugar Coat collection. I bought these on a whim, and as I'm not big into textured finishes I found them a little yucky. I thought I was being clever when I added a coat of Sally Hansen InstaDry Topcoat to smooth things out a bit, but it just made them look all mushy...

The detail was added with Maybelline 'Red Record', Color Club 'French Tip' and Ciate 'Mojito'. This was my first attempt at anything fruit related, and although it's not perfect I kind of like my cartoon-y cherries :)

I picked up these polishes in Poundland for, that's right, £1! They retail at around £7 in other stores, which I find overpriced as I'm not much of a fan of these polishes. But for £1 I can't complain!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Geometric Gradient Nails

Hi!

Originally I wasn't going to write a full post for this design, but I ended up using so many polishes that I thought it would be best to write them all here! 

This is my geometric gradient design that I created for the Weekly Nail Art Challenge on Instagram.

WNAC - Geometric Gradient Nails

I started off with a base of OPI 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls' and let dry, then I applied striping tape in a criss-cross pattern with a piece of tape running up the centre of my nail. I created a gradient on each nail by sponging two different polishes of each colour (plus 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls') on each nail:

Blue = Barry M 'Damson' / Rimmel 'Mind The Gap, Victoria'
Yellow = Sally Hansen 'Butter-Fly Stroke' / Essence 'Love Is In The Air'
Green = Rimmel 'Sea Green' / Barry M 'Green Berry'
Pink = China Glaze 'Sexy Lady' / Barry M 'Strawberry Ice Cream'
Purple = Models Own 'Pukka Purple' / Barry M 'Prickly Pear'

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

As always, head over to Instagram to see all of the entries into the Weekly Nail Art Challenge - just search #wnac2015 :)

Snakeskin Nail Art

Hello everyone!

The prompt for this week's Weekly Nail Art Challenge on Instagram is 'aminal print + gradient'. As I've worn leopard print on a few occasions recently, I wanted to do something a bit different. So I chose snakeskin!

I followed this tutorial on YouTube as I had no idea where to begin! The basic idea is to use one light, one medium, and one dark toned polish and do the following:

1. Paint your nails a light base colour and allow to dry
2. Wrap a mesh material around the nail and sponge on your medium polish
3. Carefully remove the mesh material, and repeat on all nails
4. Use a smaller mesh material to sponge on your dark polish (again, remove carefully)
5. Add topcoat, and you're done!

For this design I used another two of my 'untrieds' - my list is getting shorter! (I have had to purchase a whole new storage system for my untrieds as I have so many... but I'm working my way through them!)

Anyway, back to the polishes I used: OPI 'My Vampire Is Buff' (light), Ciate 'Gold Digga' (medium) and Revlon 'Jungle' (dark). I also used a tiny amount of black around the edges to add more definition to the 'scales'.

BM-612

For the little snake design I used Bundle Monster plate BM-612 and stamped with MoYou Black Special Nail Polish and my Creative Shop Stamper (bought from Rainbow Connection).

Although my index finger is by far the best, scale-wise, I'm happy with how these look! It's definitely not my favourite colour palette, it was nice to wear something different for a change.

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

As always, head over to Instagram to see all of the entries into the Weekly Nail Art Challenge - just search #wnac2015 :)

NEON WEEK: Dry Brush Technique

Hello!

Today I have this week's entry into the Weekly Nail Art Challenge to show you, and of course I'm sticking with the neon theme for it. The prompt for the challenge this week is 'dry brush + gradient'. I have only tried dry bushing once before and it made my nails look like I'd dragged them through mud so I wasn't hopeful for this challenge, but I'm pleased with the results of this one!

Dry brush using neon jellies

I started by painting my nails black using Rimmel 'Black Out', then once dry I dragged Color Club 'French Tip' white polish randomly over the black. The trick to this technique is to get rid of as much polish as you can from the brush before applying it to the nail. I found brushing it onto a piece of paper to remove the excess worked well. Finally, I took my favourite neon jelly polishes - the 'Northern Lights' collection from Kandy Colors and created a gradient over the nail by blending two colours together per nail. 

How beautiful are these jellies?!

The finished look

I tried this out using Barry M Matte Topcoat too, but don't like the effect as much. Glossy is nearly always better in my opinion!

Dry brush using neon jellies - matte

The colours appear slightly brighter on the nail with a matte topcoat added

What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

As always, head over to Instagram to see all of the entries into the Weekly Nail Art Challenge - just search #wnac2015 :)

Gold and Turquoise Nails

Hi guys!

Today I have a pretty gold and turquoise manicure to show you. I created these as June week 3 prompt for the Weekly Nail Art Challenge I'm taking part in over on Instagram.

Weekly Nail Art Challenge - Turquoise and Gold

To achieve this look, I first painted my nails in a base colour of Barry M 'Green Berry', which is a vibrant turquoise polish from their Gelly Hi-Shine collection. It's probably my favourite green and is perfect for summer.

After my base colour had dried, I blobbed random dots of Barry M 'Green Berry', Collection 'After Dinner Mint' and Models Own 'Gold Chrome' onto my nails, then pressed down on them with a piece of plastic (I just used a plastic food bag for this). I love the 'saran wrap' technique as it creates such a gorgeous smoky/marbled effect on the nail. Finally, on my index and pinkie, I used my Bundle Monster stamping plate #607 to stamp two patterns using 'After Dinner Mint' and then 'Gold Chrome'. Finally, I outlined my nails using a thin striping brush and voila!

Saran wrap technique and stamping

Oooooohhhhh macro!

I also decided to try this manicure with one of my new matte topcoats - 'Satin Matt' from Essence. I picked this up from Wilko for £2 and I'm actually quite impressed with it. I'm not sure that it is that different to a regular matte topcoat, but at £2 I'm not complaining!

Essence Satin Matt 

Matte gold and turquoise nails

I definitely prefer these nails glossy as I think the marbled effect has more depth than when they are mattified. What is your preference? Glossy or matte?

Thanks for reading!

Helen

Pretty Purple Pattern Over Holo

Hi everyone!

I'm currently taking part in a Weekly Nail Art Challenge on Instagram and this weeks theme is holo + patterns. 

My original idea for this mani included a neon water marble, however after a devastating incident involving liquid latex and my carpet I have given up on watermarbling once again. I *will* succeed one day, but today is not that day (nor is tomorrow, probably!)

After my disaster, I decided to paint two layers of GOSH 'Holographic Hero' and stamped the tips using MoYou London Pro Plate #4 and my Hello Kitty polish 'Respect'. Respect is actually a dark blue shade, but it came out a deep purple when I stamped over the silver holo. It's a lovely and unexpected combination!

Holographic Hero stamped with Respect using MoYou London Pro Plate #4

Unfortunately my camera just didn't want to demonstrate the holo-goodness of this polish no matter how hard I tried to capture it! You'll just have to believe me :)

Obligatory (but blurry) macro shot

Search the hashtag #wnac15 on Instagram to see all of the wonderful manicures other people have come up with as part of the challenge.

Thanks for reading!

Helen x