Nail Art Style

Hi everyone! Today I've created a mani for The Polish Party's December instalment. This month's theme is 'Black & White', which I first assumed to be pretty simple, but in fact turned out to be rather tricky. There's only so much you can do with two colours, and I decided to challenge myself further by not allowing the use of any extras, like gems and glitter. After a bit of pondering, I decided to try a zebra design. Rather than sticking to zebra stripes on all of my nails, I thought I'd attempt to add a face in as well. I'm not really that pleased with this design, partly because I painted the eyes too big so there wasn't any room left for a nose, and also because I ran out of top coat so the final product is a bit bumpy and lacks a good finish. Never mind. I'm not exactly selling this manicure am I?! Anyway, keep on reading for a few more pictures and details...

The polishes I used are Sinful Colors 'Snow Me White' and 'Black On Black'. I applied three coats of white, and once dry, I added the details using a fine paintbrush. I hunted Google Images for some inspiration, and picked the zebra that appealed to me the most (there are a lot of zebras on there). For my thumb, index and little finger nails, I picked a small section from an area of the zebra and then copied the stripe pattern from that. 

For the eyes, I painted a small circle and then gradually thickened it up until I was happy with the size (though, as I said, I wish I had done them smaller). Then I added the other details, including a 'glint' in white. I painted more zebra stripes around the eyes, trying my best to replicate the zebra's face and create a 'rounded' look. Since I'd run out of my favourite Essie 'Good To Go', I used Jessica quick-drying oil to try and speed up the drying process and protect the design. I really recommend this product if you're in a rush, but I still don't think it matches up to the lovely smooth finish of Essie's top coat.

Hi everyone! Today I bring you my first manicure of the Polish Party collaboration. A group of us got chatting on Twitter and decided to start up our own monthly nail art challenge, and the first theme is 'Autumn'. I wanted to do something a little bit different, so I settled on a mix-and-match red squirrel and acorn design, which I'm still trying to decide if I like or not. I also got to use some of my newest Sinful Colors purchases in this manicure - this brand never ceases to amaze me! Each polish is only £1.99, and although you tend to need around 3 coats for opacity, the quality is definitely fantastic for the price. Plus there's a huuuuuge range of colours, so if you happen to pass a bigger Boots store in the future, make sure you pop in and check out the Sinful Colors stand!

Sinful Colors 'Snow Me White'

Sinful Colors 'Courtney Orange'

Sinful Colors 'Pistache'

Sinful Colors 'Nirvana'

Sinful Colors 'Black On Black'

Models Own 'Fashionista'

Models Own 'Bare Beauty'

No. 7 'Totally Teal'

Essie 'Good To Go'

Fine nail art paint brush

To create the acorns, I used Models Own 'Fashionista'. If you read my previous review of the Models Own & Ford Fiesta 'Glam It Up A Gear' collection, you'll know that I am NOT a fan of this greeny-gold shade. However, it seemed the perfect choice for acorns, and the shiny metallic finish adds a nice 3D effect. I used two coats, then applied Sinful Colors 'Nirvana' to mimic the shell, and added extra details using black and a fine paint brush.

The squirrels were not so simple to achieve. I used Sinful Colors 'Snow Me White' as a base, and then the beautiful 'Courtney Orange' for the heads. This is the perfect autumnal shade - it's rich and very pigmented, and adds a real pop of colour to the manicure. For the face I used 'Bare Beauty', then applied black and white details using my paint brush. At first my squirrel looked a bit too much like a fox, so I added some little teeth to make them look more 'rodenty'.