Tuesday 29 January 2013

Double Dutch

Hello again DarlingHearts.

Today we have some more ombré, but with a twist!


I was inspired to do these by a graphic design @mpnails posted on Instagram (note: don't open the link if feet creep you out..), and just had to work it out.


To achieve this look, I did the background gradient first, and once that was completely dry with the aid of a top coat, I taped off the triangles, and did that gradient.

Love the way these look, and how completely vibrant they are! I chose contrasting colours to really add an element of oomph.

What I used:
Revlon 'Rock' and 'Siren'
Essence 'A Lovely Secret' and 'Raspberry Swirl'


Thanks for stopping by!
xNai

Friday 25 January 2013

Red solo cup


Hello again!
Today’s nails were a challenge for me.
My friend, Sally, was going to an American ‘Frat’ themed party, and was dressing up as a cop. I discussed these with my brother, and he suggested college nails, so we came up with these!
They required some research, and I had to find some that weren’t identical – you wouldn’t believe how many of these colleges have the same colours, or similar logos!
My apologies for the dodginess of the pics, and the angles – been trying to teach Sally the way to pose hands…we’ll get there…:)

L-R: Yale, Princeton, MIT, Dartmouth, Harvard, NYU
Believe it or not, the fishtails on the pinkies were the most difficult part of this mani! They take ages, and the polish you use have to be one-coaters, otherwise it takes even longer.

L-R: Dartmouth, Harvard, NYU
L-R: Yale, Princeton, MIT
Then for the thumbs, we did some US flags, with glitter placement.

What do you think? Did I miss an obvious college with a different colour scheme?

As always, thanks for stopping by!
xNai

Tuesday 22 January 2013

Fading into the greenness


Hello there lovelies!
So firstly, I’d like to apologise for my unscheduled leave of absence, life got in the way a bit recently, and I haven’t found the time to schedule posts for you!
Anyway, I’m here now, and we’re back to business as usual.

Today we have some funky green gradients.

These nails were inspired by someone on Instagram (can’t remember who right now, will edit if I find the original), and in turn, inspired my This is Halloween Challenge – Skeleton nails.


I personally think the accent nail looks best – maybe because the dots blend in better with the tip? Don’t know.
What are your thoughts?

What I used:
Revlon ‘Jaded’ and ‘Emerald’

Thanks for stopping by!
xNai

Monday 7 January 2013

Crown Jewels

Hello again darling hearts!

Today I have for you some BYS Colour Change polish and glitter placement in a Nailside inspired design.

The purple used here is BYS 'Bright Purple (N288)'. This is a colour change polish that when cold is this first deep shimmery purple, and when warm, turns into a bright fuchsia.


This next image shows what each colour is like - I dipped my index and ring fingers in cold water, and then tried to get a pic of them all showing the diff colours.
I think I managed okay!

The base of this design is Revlon 'Cotton Candy', and for the triangles in the centre I used a base of Revlon 'Metallic' and NOPI 'Make U Smile' for the glitter placement. I used Metallic as a base, because I knew that the glitter placement would never cover ever corner, and I wanted the silver to really make an impact!

As always, thanks for stopping by!
Hope the new year is treating you well, and your resolutions are still standing. I know I don't even bother anymore - my commitment to the cause is pathetic! ;)
xNai

Wednesday 2 January 2013

Galaxy Nails

Hello again!
As promised, here is a tutorial for my version of galaxy nails.

What you'll need:
Basic black, white, and several galaxy-esque colours.
I use purple, blues, and a green for highlighting. I like to use a couple of polishes that have some shimmer to them, to help with the starry night effect. Here, the navy and purple are each shimmery.
Fine glitter polish, the one here is NYC 'Starry Silver Glitter'
A toothpick, and a cosmetic sponge. The same sort you use for gradients.

Remember, for a style like this, you can really use any colours that are even vaguely spacey. I prefer the darker colours, with a hint of lightness cos of the way they blend, but I've seen some truly excellent galaxy nails in pinks and purples, in yellows and oranges.



First you'll paint your base coat (especially important when using dark colours, as they stain), and the black. You can also use a deep navy, like OPI 'Russian Navy' or something equally as "nighttime sky-y".

Using the lightest of your colours, paint it onto a corner of your cosmetic sponge (like we did in the laser splotches tute), and dab it onto the nail in any streaky sort of pattern.
Make sure it's fairly wide, but not so wide that it covers the whole nail.
Cut the green corner off of the sponge.

Grab the light blue, and paint a small amount onto a clean corner of the sponge, and then dab it through the middle of the green.
This is how we begin to create the depth of the galaxy.
Cut off the blue corner of the sponge.

Using the purple, paint a very small amount on the sponge, and use it to blend and merge the edges of the brighter colours into the dark.

Do the same with the navy, but on a lesser scale. You don't want the navy to stand out, we use it here purely to blend the sharper edges of the lighter colours into the dark background.

Take the white polish and your toothpick/tiny dotting tool, and place some random small dots around the nail.
These make up some of the stars. You can place them wherever you like, just try not to go overboard.
I like to put a bit of size variation - mostly really small, with a couple larger. It adds a sense of distance.

Using the fine glitter polish, paint a light coat over the whole nail. This adds another element of starlight. Try not to get any of the larger glitters on the nail, and keep it just as the micro glitters.
A polish like China Glaze's Nova or Fairy Dust would be perfect here.

At this point, you can place some of the larger glitters on the nail for extra starriness.

Top coat your design to blend the colours together in a beautiful array of spacey goodness, and you're good to go!











Hope this has been useful!
Can't wait to see what you'll do with this!

A long time ago...

Hello again!
Happy new year everyone. I hope you had an amazing night, whatever that entails. Mine was fairly decent...:)

Today I have for you some galaxy nails on Nicole's hand.
My version of galaxy nails is a bit darker, more nebula than milky way.


I also used some glitter placement in this, to get those few larger stars.


I'll be putting up a tutorial a bit later, so stick around for that fun!


Happy to be back, and chatting with you guys!
xNai