Spotlight On...Nail Gems

As you probably know from my previous post, I have become unhealthily obsessed with diamante nail designs. Can you really blame me though?

My friends DEFINITELY don't blame me! I did a whole bunch of their nails last week and I thought, rather than explaining how to do the designs which are pretty self explanatory (just stick and go), i'd share the photos of the different designs we came up with!

Emily (nails pictured above), has never been one for nail varnish, but I came up with this fun and quirky rainbow accent nail which would fit her style. One day I WILL convert her.

Rachel (nails pictured above) has become quite a regular feature on this blog. She has great nails which are perfect for me to practice my designs on, so i'm always happy to give her a manicure. She had some problems with this as I don't think we used enough top coat to stick the gems on, so take note!

Nicole (nails pictured above) is a nurse, constantly washing her hands and BANNED from wearing nail varnish at work (sob). She had a few days off though and wanted something simple that she could easily remove. We went with a little bow accent nail on the ring finger and Bruton Street by Nails Inc.

And lastly there's me. I wanted something sophisticated (very unlike me), so decided on a VERY dark red/black colour by FrontCover with a line of clear gems placed along one side of the nail. It gave a 'high shine' effect as if the light was bouncing off my nails.

I hope you found inspiration from my gemstone designs. The most important thing when using gems is to use a good top coat to adhere the gems to the nail and to use as a finish once the gems have been placed.

Happy polishing <3

Nail Art: Girls Best Friend

Everyone knows that diamonds are a girl's best friend, so why not cover your nails in them?

 (ok these are plastic gemstones, not Tiffany, but shhh)

I ordered a shit-ton of gems from amazon way before Christmas, but they only turned up at the beginning of January, however these are SO worth it. I paid £5 for 7400 gems. If that isn't a bargain, I don't know what is.

Get them here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rhinestones--Amazing-Rhinestones-Gemstones-Cheeky-/dp/B005WTYEYW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357643571&sr=8-1

Of course, you can use these for things other than nails, but you won't regret giving your fingertips a sparkly jeweled makeover!

The polish I used:

Barry M Nail Paint Limited Edition in Christmas Blue (SLE 2012 A)

This was SO easy to do. I started with a base coat and then painted each of my nails with a coat of this shimmery turquoise colour. 

I chose a matching colour of gems and applied them one by one using a damp cotton bud (Q-tip). I dipped each gem into clear polish to adhere it to the nail.

Once i'd done that (be warned, it can take a while), I painted the non-jeweled nails with another coat of the blue and then finished everything off, including the gems, with Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails top coat. I gave the jeweled nail two coats for good measure.

So far, this manicure has lasted a week so I am chuffed!

Everyone should give this eye catching design a go, it's great for parties and nights out!

Happy polishing <3

Christmas Nail Art: Snowflakes

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!! 

Well, no. England is crap and we still haven't had any of the fluffy (sludgy) white (actually kind of brown) stuff. But, i'm not letting that quash my ridiculously hyped up Christmas spirit this year.

This week, my good friend Rachel (haiiii gurl) offered up her nails for me to practice a Christmas design on, so I went for a classic symbol of winter, snowflakes! I LOVE how these nails turned out...

The polishes I used:

M.U.A Nail Varnish in shade 8 - Red

Saffron London Nail Polish in shade 12 - White

I painted Rachel's nails with one thick coat of the red polish. She'd already put on a base coat which saved me about ten minutes, what a babe.

I waited for that to dry and then, using a tiny brush from my set, I painted a full snowflake on her ring finger and half(ish) of one on her index finger in white. This took a fair amount of patience, but you can play around with the snowflake designs, just Google it mate.

I then used a medium, small and teeny tiny dotting tool to create random dots (snow) on all of her nails.

As always, I finished off with Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails top coat, and there you have it, festive snowflake nails!

Happy polishing <3

Christmas Nail Art: Christmas Puddings

Christmas pudding in my experience, just like marmite, is a bit of a love or hate food. An acquired taste some would say. 

I happen to love the sticky, fruity, alcoholy, alcoholy, alcoholy goodness that is a Christmas pud...mmmmm brandy.

One of my favourite things about Christmas day comes after I've stuffed myself silly on smoked salmon, 15 pigs in blankets and enough potatoes to feed all of Ireland...when the lights are dimmed and my dad sets that gorgeous pud on fire. The blue flames on that baby just get me going, and somehow I always find myself eating 2 bowls of the stuff and several mince pies.

Is it obvious yet that I kind of like my food?

Anyway, I digress. These nails will serve to please both the lovers and haters of the famous Christmas pudding.

The polishes I used:

Barry M Nail Paint in 317 - Blue Moon

Barry M Nail paint in 310 - Mushroom

Barry M Nail paint in NP47 - Black

M.U.A Nail Varnish in shade 8 - Red

Nails Supreme Paint in Forest Green

Saffron London Nail Polish in  11 - White

I started with a base coat and then applied 3 coats of pale blue nail polish. You can use any base colour you like. 

Next I used a thin nail brush dipped in black polish to create the pudding shape at the end of each nail. I filled in each pudding with the mushroom colour (brown) mixed with a drop of black to make it slightly darker and used a cocktail stick dipped in black to make tiny dots on the brown (raisins!).

I used a medium dotting tool dipped in red to create the berries (you can use a bobby pin/hair grip if you don't own dotting tools) and then used a tiny brush to paint on the holly.

I finished by using a small angled brush dipped in white (be sparing) to create the icing sugar.

Finish with a top coat and voila! Easy Christmas pudding nails which look good enough to eat!

Happy polishing <3