Hi everyone! Today I've created a really easy manicure which, despite its simplicity, is very effective (well I think so). I've been struggling to come up with new design ideas recently, but was really desperate to paint my nails and achieve a pretty mani. So, as many of us do when we're lacking inspiration, I went for the old failsafe of glittery polish! Also, if you're a regular reader, you're probably wondering why my primary manicure photo has changed (normally I do a full 'claw' shot). For some unbeknown reason, my long-suffering iPhone camera had actually decided to focus amazingly for once. I thought it was well and truly dead after spilling acetone all over it, but evidently it can still manage to take decent shots every now and again. Anyway, since my blog generally lacks high quality photographs (but not for long - it's my birthday next month and I am expecting a camera-shaped surprise!), I thought I may as well showcase a half decent image!
The equipment:
Sinful Colors 'Black On Black'
e.l.f. Cosmetics 'Chic Confetti'
OPI 'Magazine Cover Mouse'
Medium nail art paintbrush
I used two coats of 'Black On Black' as a base, and then added 'Chic Confetti', which is one of the e.l.f. Cosmetics polishes I won a few months ago (the full prize and details are in this post). Although e.l.f. polishes aren't of great quality, and can be quite watery and take a while to dry, I have a real soft spot for their glitters and am never disappointed with the result.
Once dry, I used OPI 'Magazine Cover Mouse' to paint love hearts. This polish is truly amazing - it's a liquid sand, so once dry it has a lovely texture and sparkly finish. To construct the hearts, I used a medium sized paintbrush, and just dabbed on two dots, joined them together with a triangle, and then filled in the gaps.
I know this manicure isn't as complex as my usual efforts, but sometimes it's nice to have simple nails. Plus, how can you ever go wrong with glitter?! I'm kind of toying with the idea of a deck of cards mani now, using this same style but varying the hearts with diamonds, clubs and spades... And maybe inverting some of the base colours... Watch this space!
Hey everyone. Apologies for being such a rubbish blogger recently - my dissertation is taking over my life! I managed to squeeze in a little bit of nail art this morning, but I'm afraid it's nothing special. I decided to do mix-and-match nails of a few different nail art techniques, and I chose black and white polish to keep it simple. All of these designs were achieved by using basic tools, so if you fancy having a go at any of them, make sure you keep reading :)
The equipment:
Natural Collection 'White'
W7 'Black'
Fine nail art paint brush
Striping tape
Dotting tool
Essie 'Good To Go' top coat
So on my thumb nail I created basic stripes. To do this, I applied a base of white, and once dry I added striping tape. Then I painted black over the top, and after waiting for a few seconds, I removed the tape. I used to wait agesssss for the second coat of nail polish to dry, but then I realised that this caused it to pull and rip. Similarly, not waiting long enough causes the second coat to bleed into the first. So the best thing to do is wait until the polish is tacky rather than runny, and remove the tape very carefully. Obviously practise makes perfect, and it all depends completely on the type of striping tape and nail polish that you use!
On my index finger I added black polkadots to a white base. I used one of my largest dotting tools to do this, and tried to ensure that each dot was the same size and shape. On my middle finger I created chevrons, which I also used striping tape for (but freehanded with my fine paint brush to clean up any suspicious looking areas!) On my ring finger I added a chessboard, and finally on my little finger a curved, fan pattern. (I don't know the proper term for this sort of design?)
I finished off each of my designs with a clear top coat. Essie 'Good To Go' is my current favourite because it's rapid drying, although I've found that on top of cheap polishes (Sinful Colors, W7, for example) it tends to shrink. I think I might add a mattifying coat to these too, although that's always risky because matte polish is VERY unforgiving of mistakes! What do you think? What's your favourite simple nail art technique?
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