31 Day Challenge - Day 13 - Animal Print

Hi guys!

Here is my second potential nail fail in the 31 Day Challenge line-up so far!

So the thirteenth prompt is 'animal print', and I decided to think a little outside of my usual box (the box full of leopard print, giraffe print, zebra print, etc...) and I went for birds feathers instead. I had seen this look multiple times on Instagram and thought it looked so effective, and this was the perfect opportunity to try it out. 

I bought a pack of dyed feathers from a local craft store, and chose a pretty black and fuchsia pink spotted feather for this mani. I applied a base coat of Sinful Colors 'Mauve' to all nails, and painted a waterfall design onto three of my nails using a striping brush and OPI 'Significant Other Color', OPI 'Unfrost My Heart', Barry M 'Sugar Plum', Seche 'Takes Chances' and Make-Up Gallery 'Purple Sheen'. Then I added one coat of Rimmel 'Clear' polish to my other two nails and carefully placed the feathers onto my nail. After trimming the feathers to fit my nail, applied two thick coats of Glisten & Glow 'HK Girl' to seal it in and add a glossy finish.

Although I do like this mani, there are definitely improvements that need to be made. Showing a little bit of base colour is important to define the feather, otherwise it just looks a bit like a blob on your nail (see my ring finger). Also, the feather needs to be trimmed slightly shorter than the nail so that you don't accidentally scratch yourself on the face (lesson learned!)

What do you think of this look? Yay or nay? 

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

PS Check out other designs in this challenge on Instagram by searching the hashtag #31DC2015

31 Day Challenge - Day 12 - Stripes

Hi guys!

Moving swiftly on with the 31 Day Challenge, we are now up to prompt number 12 - stripes. I never really know what to do when it comes to striped nails and I wanted to do something a little bit different to what I originally planned (nautical nails, anyone?)

Here's what I came up with:

Using China Glaze 'Fairy Dust' on a naked nail is one of my most favourite things to do ever in the world of nail art. Look at how sparkly it is! I thought it teamed perfectly with the colourful stripes, and gives the design more of a 'fun' feel to it.

On top of my Fairy Dust base, I added strips of striping tape in random widths along the nail, filling in sections with 'Mating Surfaces', 'No Nails, No Life' and 'An Even Bigger Splash' by WAH London, and Barry M's 2013 limited edition yellow, which annoyingly doesn't have a name! (Why do Barry M do that?!)

I finished the look with some clear rhinestones from a gem wheel that I picked up in Poundland, and sealed it all in with WAH London 'Classy Glassy Glossy Topcoat'.

Hope you like them :)

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

31 Day Challenge - Day 11 - Polka Dots

Bonjour!

The eleventh prompt on the 31 Day Challenge is polka dots, so I did a glitter placement! *Proud face*

If you've seen any of my regular polka dot manis, you will be aware that I am not the neatest 'dotter'. I am still learning how to get my dots equally spaces, the same size and un-smudged, so after a failed attempt at a simple dotticure, I took inspiration from @simplynailogical who's mantra is that glitter fixes everything. 

For this mani I started with a base of Essence 'Black Cat' which is a latex effect polish that dries semi-matte and is just lovely! As it was drying, I quickly added my loose glitter (also from Essence) in a polka dot pattern. As you can see on my middle finger, some of the pieces of glitter did not stick flat to the nail. I didn't add topcoat to this as I wanted the latex finish to be apparent, but if I was wearing this out of the house then a topcoat is a must to seal in the glitter. For my ring finger I added Rimmel 'Clear' nail polish in strips up my nail and placed the glitter pieces on by one to cover the full nail. This takes a lot of time but the effect is so cool. I found it difficult to line up the hexes so that they lay flush with each other, but that all comes with practice I guess!

All of this glitter has made me want to make everything look like a disco ball, so be expecting more glitter placement manis soon!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

PS Check out all of the other submissions for the 31 Day Challenge on Instagram by searching the hashtag #31DC2015