Showing posts with label favourites. Show all posts

7 Deadly Sins - Wrath






































Hi guys :) This is my final manicure for my self-assigned theme of the Seven Deadly Sins. Today it's 'Wrath', and I really struggled to come up with a design to represent anger. Luckily, I'd just researched a few water spotting tutorials, and decided that combining red, orange and yellow would create a lovely fiery background. So, I set to work with water spotting (I made a BIG mess...), and once they were complete, my better half suggested a volcano design. I suppose volcanoes are angry in terms of natural disasters, so I'm not straying too far from the actual sin. Anyway, here's the tutorial...
The equipment:

Barry M Limited Edition 'Yellow'
Models Own 'Fuzzy Peach'
Classic red
W7 'Black'
Fine nail art paint brush
A plastic cup
Water
Hairspray
Nail polish remover
Cotton buds
Models Own 3-in-1 clear coat

I started out with my bases, alternating yellow and orange ('Fuzzy Peach', but it's technically orange!) on my nails. Then, while they were drying, I set up my water spotting tools. I used bottled water in a plastic cup, and made sure it was around room temperature. Then I got all of my polishes ready with the lids off, as you have to work quickly!
So here is the dry yellow base of my middle finger. I took the orange nail polish and dripped it into the water, and waited a couple of seconds for it to spread. I swirled the water gently to help with this process, and then when I was ready, I took my hairspray and held it around 10cm away from the cup. I squirted VERY gently, because if you squirt too hard/too much, the nail varnish just shrinks away and turns into a tiny little ball.
I dipped my finger into the water spotted nail varnish, then pulled it out carefully. Sometimes it clings to itself and piles up on your nail, so it's a good idea to have your other hand (or an implement, such as a cocktail stick) ready to catch any residue. I let it dry, and repeated the process with red nail varnish.
So here's the final product. It looks kind of gross prior to the cleaning process... Never mind! I used a cotton bud soaked in nail varnish remover to get rid of the excess, and added a clear top coat to save it from chipping.
As I had alternated the base colours of my nails, the ones with a 'Fuzzy Peach' base received water spotting with yellow and then red. The effect varied between each of my nails, which is perfect for a volcano design, because it looks just like bubbling lava. When they were all dry, I took my fine paintbrush and added the volcano design in black. I think the manicure looks good without the addition of a volcano, but it just seemed too perfect to not attempt. What do you think? Have you ever water spotted your nails?

Askruk46

7 Deadly Sins - Pride

Happy Sunday! (And Father's Day, if I happen to have any readers who are daddies...) Today I'm presenting you with a tutorial for my next Seven Deadly Sins manicure, 'Pride', and I've worked with the concept of peacock feathers ('Proud as a Peacock', I think the saying goes). I've seen lots of a peacock inspired nail art, and I love the combination of colours and the simplicity of the design.

The equipment:

Rimmel 'Azure'
W7 'Neon Green'
Missguided 'Misslead'
No. 7 'Hot to Trot'
No. 7 'Totally Teal'
Models Own ' Gold Finger'
Rio black nail art pen
A fine nail art paint brush
I started out with a lime green base, using two coats of W7 'Neon Green'. I initially painted my thumb nail the same as the others, but I soon decided that this would alter at the end of the manicure!
Next, using No. 7 'Hot to Trot', I added ovals of gold in the centre of my nails. I used a fine paint brush to neaten up the edges.
Once dry, I used the gorgeous Rimmel 'Azure' to add tear drop shapes inside the gold ovals. I absolutely adore this colour, and it's absolutely perfect for a peacock design. I also topped the lime green sections with Missguided 'Misslead', which is a subtle shimmery polish in yellow.
Then I added small black circles to the bottom of the azure tear drops, and using the striping brush end of my nail art pen, I painted a line up to the base of my nails.
Next, using No. 7 'Totally Teal' and the paint brush, I added darker green details to the feathers. I also added sparkles to the gold section of the feather, using Models Own 'Gold Finger'. It's a very subtle effect, but it makes the feathers sparkle when they catch the light!

Finally, as can be seen in the first image, I painted my thumb nail with Rimmel 'Azure' and then wrote 'Pride' using the black nail art pen. I also added a few more sparkles using 'Gold Finger', which ties the whole manicure together.

These are the first photos I've taking using my DIY light box (courtesy of my lovely boyfriend). I think I may post a tutorial of the whole process, because it was so simple and yet it works a treat! There are lots of DIY light box tutorials out there, but mine is slightly different, and I think it was actually much easier. Watch this space...

Askruk46

7 Deadly Sins - Envy

Evening folks! So I've been noticing the 7 Deadly Sins challenge going around at the moment, and was kinda disappointed when I realised that the manicures it dictates aren't technically related to the sins (e.g. 'Greed' requires you to use your most expensive polish, rather than painting a greed-related image). Anyway, I admit that the challenge is a really good idea, however I've decided to start my OWN challenge which is much more specific. I'm going to attempt seven designs over the course of the next couple of weeks, focusing on Envy, Greed, Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, Lust and Sloth.

So obviously my first design is Envy! I decided to create a green-eyed monster to represent the sin, however I didn't really fancy having a monster on my nails so I made her into more of an Ariel/Jessica Rabbit type of girl. Obviously she has big green eyes, and I opted for flaming red hair as the colours complement one another (plus I'm repping the gingers!) I also used some gold sparkles to bling it up a bit... I just can't resist!
I'm gonna be a lazy bones and just say I used A LOT of equipment for this manicure. It would take ages to list everything, but throughout the tutorial I'll let you know of any colours that I think are important :) Since I'm missing out my usual 'The Equipment' list, here's my initial sketch for the design! As you can see, the original nail shapes I drew turned out to be too big, and I had to alter the shapes of the eyes a few times before I was happy. Planning is important for designs like this!
Once I was happy with my design, I painted on the bases. I don't have a good nude tone so I had to make do with pale beige topped with Essie 'Not Just A Pretty Face', and for the green I used Models Own 'Jade Stone' as a base and topped it with W7 'Neon Green' and Missguided 'Misslead'.
Once dry, I used a fine paint brush to paint on white almond shapes for the eyes, and Models Own 'Peach Fuzz' for the beginnings of hair. 
To outline the eyes I switched between my black Models Own nail art pen and a fine paint brush. The eyelashes were the trickiest bit as they're so tiny! I used the same green combination to create the iris, and a little black dot for the pupil. With the hair, I used red and a sparkly orange to add streaks.
This stage was the hardest... I struggle to get my own eye make up matching, imagine trying to paint even eyeliner flicks on 7mm eyes?! I also added eyebrows and some more hair. I really wanted the design to 'flow' through my nails and I think that painting 'wind swept' hair has helped with this.
And here's the final product! I evened up the eyes and added a bit more eyeliner, added some more streaks to the hair, and then thickened up the eyebrows to make her look as envious as possible! I also painted 'envy' onto my thumb nail, which was a lot easier than I thought, especially since I'd practised the font on my initial sketch. I finished off the manicure with a sprinkle of gold glitter, and it looks gorgeous against the lime green base.

What do you think of my green-eyed nails? Are you taking part in the 7 Deadly Sins challenge? 

Askruk46

Peach & Yellow Gradients With Butterflies

I'm feeling rather sorry for myself today as I have yet another ear infection. Most of my friends are out partying the night away, and since the wife is working nights at the moment I have to find some other way to entertain myself! So, as I always do, I scrubbed away the manicure I created earlier and started another design. I've entered these into a competition for Ombre nails, but to be honest I'm still pretty rubbish at the whole gradient thing. I avoided a step-by-step tutorial anyway, as I knew there'd be lots of mistakes, and there's plenty of brilliant gradient tutorials out there!

Anyway, after using my trusty kitchen sponge,  I added some little black butterflies and gems. They're very similar to my Pastel Butterfly Nails, but I actually think they look even better on a gradient background. Plus the colour scheme is nice and summery :) What do you think?

Askruk46

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?

Askruk46

Big Cat Nails!

I'm so excited about this post, but dreading how long it's going to take... Just a warning, this is going to be A LOT longer than my usual tutorials, because it involves such intricate designs. There will also be lots and lots of photos, but I guess that's not a bad thing! Anyway, I've been planning this manicure for a very long time, ever since I first created my Cat's Eyes nails. As the old saying goes, practise makes perfect, and I think I've come a long way since I first attempted this design.

I know I normally list all the equipment I use, but this would honestly take forever. Instead, I'm just going to say that I used about 17 polishes, 2 nail art pens, and two nail art brushes. In my step-by-step photos I will try and mention each colour I used, but apologies in advance for anything I miss! Anyway, here's where I found my inspiration. Good old Google images! I found lovely detailed photographs of a lion, a leopard, a snow leopard, a tiger and a panther.
I decided to use the panther for my little finger, as there's not as much to it. Initially I painted it black as you will see throughout the tutorial, however I eventually realised that it would work best in a dark grey with added black details.
I applied the bases, using Fearne 'Lemon Drizzle' matte yellow topped with Missguided 'Misslead' shimmery yellow for my thumb, Models Own 'Nude Beige' topped with shimmery gold for my index finger, matte white for my middle finger, 'Fuzzy Peach' topped with Fearne 'Burnt Out' (a sparkly orange) for my ring finger, and then black (eventually swapped to Barry M 'Grey') for my little finger.
Once dry, I started adding the details. For my thumb, the lion, I used 'Fuzzy Peach' to shape around as the mane. I did this using a fine paint brush, and then added further details using the sparkly orange. For my leopard, I blobbed on a brown/purple colour for the beginnings of leopard print, and did the same for my snow leopard using grey. I then added white highlights for the eyes and snouts of my lion and tiger, and used Models Own 'Nude Beige' for these sections of my leopard. 
I then started adding the black details, using my trusty Models Own black nail art pen. I added a few more details to my lion's mane, making sure that I didn't squeeze too hard on the bottle and cause any casualties! My nail art pens are old faithfuls, and I use them so regularly that I know exactly the amount of pressure to apply and the speed of the flow. If you don't have nail art pens, or don't trust yourself with them, then a fine paint brush and black polish will work just as well!
I added further detail to my leopard print, bordering the original dots and then adding a few more little black dots. I discovered that small, tight leopard print looks best when doing my Pink Leopard Print Nails, so I made sure that I did this throughout.
I did the same for my snow leopard, ensuring that I shaped around the edge of my nail and left enough room for the cat's face. I could already tell that the snow leopard was going to end up being the prettiest cat; black and grey on clean white looks so effective!
Using the same black nail art pen, I added some tiger stripes, along with a few little 'splodges'. I decided  to make these stripes a little bit haphazard, rather than keeping them very structured as I did in my Animal Print Nails.
I then added blue or green dots for eyes, using Models Own 'Feeling Blue' and 'Jade Stone'. Obviously the panther was later wiped away and begun again in grey, but I still kept blue for the eyes. I knew that the tiger would look best with green because it contrasts well with orange, and the same for the snow leopard.
Now it's time for some more black detailing! I outlined the eyes in almond shapes, leaving enough space to fill in with white. I then added a little nose and whisker dots.
I did the same for my snow leopard. As you can see, the eyes look a little bit wonky, but you can hardly tell with the finished product! It's so hard to make everything perfectly symmetrical in nail art, but you can always cover up mistakes. 
My leopard ended up very cross-eyed, and you can tell that I squeezed a bit too hard on my nail art pen when outlining his eyes! Never mind...
I finally added more black details to my tiger, who is probably the most symmetrical cat! As you can see, I extended lines slightly beyond the noses.
Finally I added white to the eyes, and black dots for pupils. I used my finest paint brush and shimmery gold to add highlights to my lion, making for a more textured fur. I added the same final details to my other cats, using the shimmery gold again for the tiger. For the leopard I added further white highlights to the 'eyebrows', and did the same in grey for the snow leopard. I also took darker shades of the eye colours - No.7 'Totally Teal' and Rimmel 'Azure' -  and carefully outlined the irises, however you can hardly see this in the photos! My little panther nail was constructed in basically the same way as the other cats; grey base, white muzzle, blue eyes, and black details. I always seem to neglect my little nail, but it's just so small that the designs never look as good.
So there we go, Big Cat Nails! This manicure took sooooo long but I am really pleased with the results. I think this might be my favourite design yet... Let me know what you think! Has anyone else tried a design like this before? 

Askruk46

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)