A Few Favourites
Since my blue water marbling worked out so well (see blog post below), and I want to keep my nails like this for tonight, I thought I'd do a post about a few of my favourite nail designs from the past few months!
This was my first attempt at gradient nails. The effect was very subtle as I used colours from the same 'family' - grey, pale blue, and white. I used an old makeup sponge to achieve the effect, painting on horizontal lines with the colours and then pressing against my nails so they blended into one another. I then added a black vine pattern using my trusty nail art pen! (I think my little finger nail must have gone wrong, as it often does being so little. But painting over in pure black makes for a good statement nail!)
My butterfly nails! At this point, my nails were so gorgeous and long, so I had much more room for intricate designs. I began with a gold shimmery base, and then applied the wings. I started with two blobs of my desired colour (pink, purple or blue), and once dry, I used a corresponding Rio nail art pen to do the shaping and shading. I then used white to add light patches, and finished off with my black nail art pen, carefully applying the bodies and outlines. I love how these turned out quite sketchy and abstract, and the added silver gem makes then extra girly!
Ok so these are admittedly boring compared to some of my designs, but I don't see anything wrong with a good old Frenchie when your nails are in tip-top condition! I always wait until they're reasonably long, and feeling strong. I use a basic white nail varnish to carefully apply the tips (I generally use 2 coats), and once dry, I add two top coats of my chosen pink/peach shade. For these I think I used my NYC 'Pinstripe White' and 'Carrie'd Away', but Essie 'Not Just a Pretty Face' also makes for a lovely pinkish top coat.
Finally, my galaxy nails! I admit my cuticles aren't really up to scratch here, but I didn't want to apply any editing as it may have taken away from the effect. So I created these after seeing all of the galaxy nail art flooding the internet. It's such a lovely, easy design, and has received the most compliments out of all of my manicures! I began with a black base, and once dry, added patches of shimmery yellow, turquoise and purple. These weren't in a specific place or a uniform size, I just dabbed away using a cotton bud. I then added spots of white using a nail art pen, and while still a little bit tacky, I used another cotton bud (of course!) to press down on top of some. This was all a random experiment, but as you can see from the turquoise/white section in the centre of my index finger nail, it made for a lovely effect. Once dry, I added a sprinkle of glitter. The best thing about these nails is that they always turn out completely different, and you can achieve the look so easily. I will definitely be trying these again, and I'll make sure I do a more detailed tutorial involving pictures :)
Share story
.jpeg)
