Tutorial Tuesday: Glitter Jellyfish

Hey everyone! Today I have a brand new tutorial tuesday for you, this time for some cute little glittery jellyfish. Don't forget to check out the tutorials tab at the top of my blog to see my previous tutorials! I've wanted to do jellyfish for ages, and I was really tempted to do them with needle dragging but I was in one of those 'it will probably fail so I wont even try' moods, and I'm quite glad because I like how these turned out. Perhaps I'll try needle dragging some time in the future instead. I'm starting to run out of ideas for tutorials, what would you'd like to see on future tuesdays? I only have a couple more tutorials left to post before I need to make some new ones, so any suggestions are welcome. Just don't ask for Christmas tutorials, I'm one of those spoil sports who doesn't even like the mention of Christmas before December begins. Anyway, the rest of the post will be after the jump! I've seen a few of you saying that you prefer it that way, as you can scroll through my blog much easier



The base for these nails was 2 coats of the gorgeous Orly FX - AquaPixel*, from the Pixel FX collection. As you can see in the difference in the photos above and below, topcoat transforms this polish, but it is also as equally as beautiful on its own. This polish is vaguely textured, but not to an extent that it's irritating. I really love this polish, and I think it really suits the underwater look too.



And now for the tutorial...

Step 1: Paint your nails with your base colour, preferably blue.
Step 2: Paint semi-circles in white, this can be either acrylic paint or white nail varnish, and fill them in for the top of your jellyfish
Step 3: Using a thin brush, paint wiggly lines down from the semi-circle for the tentacles
Step 4: Paint on eyes using a thin brush or dotting tool, I used acrylic paint but you can also use polish if you'd prefer
Step 5: Finish off with a topcoat to seal in your design

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
Alice

Askruk46

Born Pretty Skull Water Decals Review

Hello! I have another Born Pretty review for you guys today.

Today I am reviewing these Skull Water Decals


Let me start off by saying that I've never used water decals before so this was all new to me. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was though! Basically they are like tattoos for your nails.

Here's the instructions on the back of the package. 


Here's the simple version & what I did:

1) Cut out each decal you'd like to use
2) Peel off the plastic 
3) Put the sticker into a small bowl of water
4) Wait 20(ish) seconds 
5) Peel the sticker off and place on nails
6) Top coat!

It's so simple and virtually error proof. It took no time at all.

Now let's see how they looked on my nails!


In the past I've had trouble with stickers not laying flat but that was definitely not the case with these. They stuck nice and stayed put. 


I especially love the skull on my index finger. It's great that the sheet comes with so many decals too! You can make many manicures with just that one set.

Right now the decals are $1.99. I personally think this is a great deal. This is perfect for when you don't have a lot of time but want something cute and detailed. They have so many other patterns too so if you're not much of a skull person look here to see them all.

(side note: the polish is Sinful Colors "Envy" and it's absolutely gorgeous)

If you'd like to order these decals you can use my coupon code XKL91 for 10% off
and again they are found here.


*This product was provided for review. All opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by anyone.

Askruk46

The Body Shopin isänpäivä

Isänpäivä (monesti äitienpäiväkin) tuntuu monesti tulevan jotenkin yllättäen nurkan takaa ja harvemmin ehdin ajan kanssa miettiä miten kiittää isää tänä vuonna. Tällä kertaa monet verkkokaupat ovat onneksi muistuttaneet minua tulevasta isänpäivästä, joka on siis ensi su 10.11. :D 


The Body Shop* on alentanut mm. miesten suihkugeelien hinnat 10 €:n (norm. 16.80 €). 
He myös tarjoavat Shiny Nail Artin lukijoille -10 % alennuskoodin QQRU2ECU!!!

Koodi on voimassa 10.11 asti, mutta jos haluat varmistaa, että saat lahjan isälle ajoissa,  täytyy tilaus tehdä viimeistään ke 6.11  ennen klo 12.00. The Body Shop:lla on tällä hetkellä  lisäporkkanana tilauslahjana käsidesi, jonka saa tilaukseen kaupan päälle 10.11 asti (ei ostorajaa!). Minulle ainakin aika ajankohtainen tuotelahja tämän flunssan kanssa, haha. :)

kuva : The Body Shop


...Tarjouksia on myös mm. Hyvinvoinnin Tavaratalolla*, jossa on myös omalle sivulle koottuna isälle sopivia tuotteita ja alennuksia. Lakritsinen Born to Bio suihkugeeli vaikuttaa minusta erittäin jännältä ja hauskalta. :D

Sokoksella* muistetaan myös isää tarjouksilla. Sokokselta saa -10 % alennusta normaalihintaisista miesten tuotteista koodilla ISALLE! Koodi on voimassa enää vain huomiseen 5.11 asti. Sokos on koonnut erittäin runsaan valikoiman isälle sopiva tuotteita saman sivun alle*.

Millä te ajattelitte muistaa isää ensi sunnuntaina? :)


*Affiliate-linkit merkitty tähdellä

Askruk46

Up Nail Art

Hello everyone! 
Today's blog post is a bit delayed but better late than never right? 

Here are my official go with my Halloween costume nails.




That's right! Pixar's UP. 


This design is kind of recreation of a design I did about 8 months ago. (seen below)


I think I've definitely improved, especially with Russell. 


Just a quick rundown of the colors - the background is a gradient of Wet N Wild Teal Slowly and See and Zoya Blu (one of my favorite polishes ever). Everything else (as always) was done with acrylic paint and topped with Seche Vite. 

Onto the Halloween pictures! Whee I'm so excited!


Slight disclaimer: I'm not really one to post pictures of myself on my blog & such but I felt this was appropriate.

The photo above is of me and my boyfriend. In case it's not obvious, I am Russell and he is dressed as Mr. Fredricksen. I consider myself a decently crafty person and I put together both of our costumes myself. (lots of hot glue!)
I probably should have but I didn't really take any close up pictures of my costume. I made the sash out of brown fabric and foam and painted each badge with acrylic paint (hooray acrylic paint!) I actually painted my hat and flag (not too visible in the picture) with acrylic paint as well. 
Oh and our Ellie badges! Which I did take a picture of.


Again, acrylic paint. I actually topped them with nail polish top coat (haha!) Not perfect but I don't think anyone was looking that closely. 

We both carried around balloons all day at school. We got so many compliments, which I was honestly not expecting! It was a great feeling. 


One last picture. Isn't he a cutie!?  Oh & theres the little paper house I attached to the balloons. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this. Sorry it kind of turned into a personal post. 

Thanks for reading!

Askruk46

Suloisemmat Halloween-kynnet


Huh, tämä flunssa alkaa vähitellen viemään loputkin voimani. Luulin että olin päässyt jo pahimman  yli, mutta eilen oli taas kuumeilupäivä :'( Pidemmittä puheitta esittelen siis tämän vuoden Halloween-lakkauksen. 

Ei ollut kauheasti energiaa suunnitella mitään maata mullistavaa, joten onneksi olin tilannut Adeninalta söpön Halloween-siirtokuvasetin*. Yhdistin siirtokuvat Zoyan Cashmeres -kokoelman suklaanruskean Louisen* ja pirteän oranssin Color Club You Got Soul-arin kanssa. You Got Soul-ar toimi nimettömässä lakkauksen väripillkuna, kun taas muut kynnet saivat ylleen suklaisen sävytteen. Halusin vähän syvyyttä ruskeisiin ja kynsiin, joten töpöttelin niihin vähän kamelinruskeaa Zoya Flynniä meikkisienellä. Pelkäsin myös että siirtokuvien mustat kuvioit eivät erottuisi tarpeeksi tummasta taustasta, ja Flynnillä sain vähän vaalennettua sitä. Louise oli käytettävyydeltään perus Zoya-laatua. Se levittyi helposti, peitti hyvin ja kuivui nopsaan (kynsillä kaksi kerrosta). Kimaltavaa You Got Soul-aria tarvitsi kolme kerrosta.

Pikkurillin kynteen kiinnitin siirtokuvan sijasta pyöreän oranssin niitin (myös Adeninalta) ja mattasin sen essie matte about you* mattapäällyslakalla. Lopuksi tein vielä tavallisella päällyslakka pieniä kiiltäviä "koukeroita" sen päälle :p Myös etusormeen tuli mattapäällyslakkaa. En osannut päättää mattaanko oranssin kissakynnen myös, joten kokeilin molempia versioita. :D Postauksen kahdessa ensimmäisessä kuvassa kynsi on kiiltävällä päällyslakalla ja kolmannessa taas mattana. 



Mitäs pidätte? Nyt tämä painuu takaisin sängynpohjalle. No okei, menen oikeasti sohvalle kuuman teemukin kanssa katsomaan uutta lempi "flunssanpiristys sarjaani" eli Parks and Recreationia :P ...Postauksen kirjoitusvirheet ja mahdollisen sekavuuden pistän flunssan piikkiin.

Essie matte about you, Zoya Louise, Zoya Flynn, Color Club You Got Soul-ar,
siirtokuvia/ water decaleita ja pyöreitä niittejä.


*Essie ja Zoya-lakat, siirtokuvat ja niitit saatu blogin kautta.

Askruk46

The Wizard of Oz

I have another TV/Cinema inspired design today! I'm addicted now! I have even more planned, so I hope you like them.

For this design, I was inspired by the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. I actually never liked the movie when I was a kid, and hated when my mother would try to get me to watch it. But now that I'm older, wiser, and not a bratty teen, I truly love this movie. I've watched it quite a few times, and still have not tired of it. My favorite character would have to be the cowardly lion, the costume is just too cute. And yes, being the nerd that I am, I also own the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
I think another reason why I love The Wizard of Oz now is the Syfy miniseries Tin Man with Zooey Dechanel - I think that's how you spell her name. -. I LOVED that series, and currently own it on DVD. Obviously, since it is based on the classic movie, it inspired me to watch the original again.
And, side note, can I just say, the clothes the evil sister wears in Tin Man were Amazing! I wanted to be an evil queen just to wear them! Just, you know, minus being possessed by an ugly, creepy, witch... Spoilers!


I decided to do a Skittle manicure, - A different design on each nail.- so I could showcase different memorable parts from the movie.
I picked the places and characters that really resonated with me, and what I pictured instantly when I thought of The Wizard of Oz.


For my thumb, I used two coats of Sinful Colors Out of This World over a base coat of white polish to represent Tin Man. 
To represent the iconic ruby slippers, I painted a coat of Milani Rapid Cherry as my base, then two coats of Milani Red sparkle.
For my favorite character, The Cowardly Lion, I used a base coat of Sally Hansen Lightening, then four coats of Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat Peach Fuzz to get the full furry effect. Like the Lion's fluffy mane.
Of course, when I think of The Wizard of Oz, I think of the yellow brick road. So I applied three coats of Sally Hansen Lightening for full opacity, than I used a fine detail nail art brush and painted on a brick pattern using NYC Black Lace Creme. 
And finally, to represent the beautiful Emerald City, I applied a coat of Avon Sea Breeze as my base, then four coats of Wet n Wild Emerald the Crown Jewel for a bold, glittery look.
I finished the whole manicure with a coat of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.




In Sunlight.
This design was super fun to do. I am really starting to like skittle manicures! Especially inspired ones, so don't be surprised if I get stuck on them for a bit... Like in the next few weeks...
I wish I applied a base coat of white underneath all the polishes to make them more vibrant, and to also save me from all the countless coats I had to apply. But I was being lazy, and it backfired.

Thanks for reading! To check out all my past designs click here.
- Brittany

Do you love The Wizard of Oz? Who is your favorite character? Am I the only one who loved the series Tin Man? Let me know in the comments!

Follow on Bloglovin

Askruk46

Nail Art Brush Collection & Review

Hello! I have been working quite a bit lately, but I've managed to budget my time enough to be able to write a post before I head out to work today. Yay!
For this post, I thought I would share my brush collection, as well as review them for you. If you're just starting out doing nail designs it's always good to invest in a good set of brushes. While some polishes now come with thin nail art brushes built in, they are usually more expensive, or they come in a limited assortment of colors. By having your own set of brushes, you have your choice of any polish to design with! Or, if your into using acrylic paint -I am not, but to each their own.-, you can use them for paint as well.

My brush collection.
Set of 4 brushes from Sally's  - $12
My very first set of brushes I bought were from Sally's beauty supply. They were a bit expensive at $12, but I was running out of time and I needed them for school. I love the floral design on them, but as you can see, the constant cleaning of them has worn the floral decal away.


This set comes with four brushes: Two striping brushes, a detail brush, and a small squared brush.
I would not recommend this set. I am not really a fan of products from Sally's, but as I said, I was in a time crunch. The set was over priced, and frankly low quality. The brushes started to fray out quite quickly after purchase, and the floral decals wore away near the ferrules immediately. I honestly only use these brushes when I'm too lazy to clean my good brushes.

15 piece brush set from Amazon - $2.
It is so funny that I think the $2 set I own is better, and higher quality, than the $12 set from an actual beauty supply company. But it's true!
I love this set, not only because they only cost $2, but also because the brushes are really great to work with.
This set includes:


Three striping brushes in varying lengths. Yes, I didn't get to clean them before their photo shoot, sorry! If there wasn't polish caked on them you would be able to see that they have not frayed quite as much as the Sally's brushes.


Three detail brushes. No I didn't have a Hulk moment and bend that one. It actually comes that way to make it more comfortable when doing fine detail work. It is one of my favorites, as you can tell by how frayed it is becoming. I've had these brushes for almost two years now, so I think I will have to get a new set soon.


The set also includes another two detail brushes, three squared brushes, and an angled clean up brush I use with polish remover to clean up around my cuticles after my designs are finished. I don't use the squared brushes often, that's why they look so neat and clean, but when I do they hold the polish well, and are soft and pliable. As you can see, the white coating on one of them has been eaten away a bit from polish remover. Though not as badly as the other set thanks to the long ferrules.


And finally, the set includes two fan brushes. I haven't used them yet, as you can see by how nice they look. I kind of don't want to, just because they are so pretty! :p Though I think I will have to soon, since I have some feathered looks I would like to try. They are also wicked soft, so when I do use them, I already know they are going to be very nice and pliable.


Another great thing about my white set of brushes is that they came with not only a long, fine dotting tool, but it came with a 4 piece set of different sized dotting tools! I have eight here because I already had a set I bought from Amazon for only a few dollars.



Dotting tools are a great thing to have in your collection! I use them for very fine detail work, and obviously, polka dots and accent dots. The ones I have are actually double sided, so it's like having 16 tools. They also come in varying sizes so you can make different sized dots based on the look your going for. A great thing about dotting tools is that they are way easier to clean than brushes because of the coated plastic and metal.

So that is my brush collection! If your looking for a nice set of brushes I would recommend going to Amazon and picking up the 15 set white handled brushes, and skipping Sally's set. They are not worth the money whats-so-ever. 

If your curious on how I clean my brushes, I use pure acetone polish remover, dip the brushes in a cup of it, then I wipe them off, rinse them in water, and then dry them on their side on a paper towel. Just know that because acetone is so strong, it will eventually erode the brushes, but diluted polish remover is just too weak to really clean them. That's why it is best, if your going to use acetone, to buy brushes that are good quality, but also inexpensive enough to replace easily. Again, I only paid $2 for my white handled brushes and I've had them for almost two years, and they are still going strong!

Thanks for reading!
- Brittany

Do you have a favorite set of brushes? Do you have a favorite brand? Let me know in the comments!

Follow on Bloglovin

Askruk46

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)