Pastel Butterflies!
Hi guyssss. Today I decided to do some super girly nails, with lots of pretty colours and sparkles! My last attempt at butterfly nails was way back in 2012, just as I had started to get into nail art. At the time I thought they were absolutely amazing and I was so proud, but I can safely say that I've come on leaps and bounds with this manicure.
The equipment:
Models Own 'Peach Sherbet'
Models Own 'Pastel Pink'
Essie 'Sweet Talker'
Fearne 'Cotton Candy'
Fearne 'Lemon Drizzle'
Models Own 3-in-1 clear coat
Models Own black nail art pen
Silver gems
A kitchen sponge
Yes, a kitchen sponge! I've tried using soft make up sponges for my nail art, but even with gradients I find my trusty kitchen sponge to work the best. Plus they're less than a pound for a pack of four, so they're bargainous AND effective!
So I started out with my base coats, applying 'Peach Sherbet' to my thumbnail, blue 'Sweet Talker' for my index finger, 'Pastel Pink' for my middle finger, 'Lemon Drizzle' for my ring finger, and finally the purple 'Cotton Candy' for my little finger nail. I decided to have different bases for each nail as I wanted a bit of variety, and I knew I'd be sponging the other colours on top eventually.
Once dry, I began work with my sponge! I snipped off a section so that I had a few different lengths and shapes to work with...
Using a flat edge of the sponge, I blobbed on the colours in different positions, and layered them up for a funky graffiti effect...
As you can see, the blue and purple stand out the most. For the paler colours I made sure to dab again with another blob of varnish on the sponge, but I didn't worry too much about the solidity of the colours as I knew I'd be adding another design on top.
I then used the sharper edges of the sponge for thinner, more defined patches of colour. These turned out really well on my thumb nail, middle finger nail and index finger nail, where the purple and blue cut through the other colours beneath.
Next I took my black nail art pen and applied the outline of my butterfly. As I always say, get to know your nail art pen prior to attempting complex designs, since the amount of pressure you apply to the bottle is important in the avoiding of mistakes! A fine paint brush would probably suffice if you don't have a nail art pen :)
Then I filled in the wings with little swirly patterns and dots. I also thickened out some parts of the outlines, and made sure that I was completely happy with the final design. Finally I added little silver gems for the butterfly's body! As you can see in the first picture, all the butterflies differ slightly in their angles and patternings, but I think this just makes more a more interesting nail design :)
Once 100% dry, I topped with my Models Own clear coat. I really love this manicure; it's so cute and girly, and the butterfly design was pretty simple to achieve despite it looking rather complex! Have you ever tried a design like this? And does anybody else employ the use of basic kitchen utensils in their nail art endeavours?
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