Nails on Sunday - Colour Block Ombré Nails!

This week I decided to channel some of the colour blocking I have seen at fashion shows recently onto my nails, but with my own little twist. Instead of using pastels, I went for bright Blue fading into Green, ombré style if you will.

For this look I used:

Nails Inc Basil Street

Topshop Green Room

& Other Stories Twill Blue

Models Own 6 in 1 nail buffer

Tesco Baby Sponge

I started off by painting one coat of Nails Inc Basil Street. I'm not sure why I use a colour as a base instead of a dedicated base coat, I just always have and I find it works really well as it's quite thick so smoothens out any bumps easily.

I then painted two coats of my new polish I picked up in & Other Stories this week, Twill Blue. I have to say I don't think the formula of this nail polish is the best I've ever tried. It came out really thin and streaky to start with then as I started to dip it back in, the brush picked up way too much polish and it applied really thick. The brush is handy though, it's very similar to the Rimmel 60 Second nail polish, a curved shape that allows you to easily cover the nail in three stripes.

To achieve an ombré style finish, I used a sponge to apply one coat of Topshop Green Room to the tips of my nails. This came out really thin as I hoped, and then I painted the ends with the brush. Using a sponge helps to create a transition effect, so that the nail does not go straight from Blue into Green. I think a makeup sponge would be ideal for this as they're smaller, but sadly I couldn't find any in Tesco yesterday when I purchased this one.

(Please excuse the messy bits around my nails, I can't find a cotton bud to remove them with!)

What do you think? If you have any ideas for new looks I should try out, please leave a comment below!

xxx

Nails on Sunday - Tangerine Flowers

I am calling today's look tangerine flowers, and it is based on a bold floral nail art design but with a muted Grey backdrop.

The polishes I used in this tutorial are:

Rimmel London in 705 Tangy Tangerine

Rimmel London in 805 Grey Matter

Nails Inc Basil Street

Topshop Nail Art Pen in Pink

Models Own nail art pen in Fluorescent Pink

Models Own nail art pen in Black

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails top coat

Models Own 5 in 1 nail buffer

Firstly, file and buff your nails so they are an oval shape with a smooth finish. Apply one coat of Nails Inc Basil Street as your top coat, to smoothen out the nail and prevent any staining.

The second step is to paint two coats of the Grey nail polish, I used Rimmel London in 805 Grey Matter.

Using a peachy colour, lightly spot three circles onto each nail. Do not use too much nail polish as it will become too thick and heavy and take too long to dry.

Then, using a Black nail art pen, I used my Models Own one, draw semi circles around the side of the nails and a few smaller dots or lines on top of the Orange circles, to resemble the top view of a flower.

If I'm honest this was my favourite stage and I wish I hadn't painted the Pink over the top as I think this looks a lot better. But, I did it so I'll show you anyway and let you make up your own minds. 

My Pink pen had gone a little gloopy so it was hard to paint to second semi-circles without them looking messy. The consistency varied, in some places it applied a thick and heavy coat, and in others I really had to squeeze the pen to even get a light coat out of it. 

To finish off this look, wait until the nails are fully dry and apply one coat of a clear top coat nail polish. I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails as it keeps my nails strong and chip free for a few days.

What do you think of this look? Do you prefer it without the Pink like me?

xxx

Nails on Sunday

 I've been doing these Nails on Sunday for a few weeks now and I'm overwhelmed by the lovely feedback I get on each one, so thank you all! For this week's post I wanted to try out a design I had never painted before. My inital thoughts were that I would try a Tiger stripe design, but after a quick search on Pinterest I decided to turn it into more of a stripy pattern.

This is an easy - medium skill look to recreate, you only need a base coat, an Orange-y colour and a Black nail art pen.

Here's the nail polishes I chose:

Bourjois 1 Seconde nail polish remover

Nails Inc nail polish in Basil Street

Barry M nail polish in 296 Coral

Models Own Black nail art pen

Firstly I removed my current nail polish using the Bourjois 1 Seconde nail polish remover. This tub is a godsend if you are similar to me and hate the tedious task of removing your polish with a reel of cotton wool and a standard bottle of strong smelling remover. All you do is pop your nail in, twist, and the pull out a nail polish free nail. It doesn't exactly take a second, but for three-ish seconds you can't really complain can you?

I then painted one coat of of my base, Nails Inc Basil Street. This smoothens out the nail surface and protects against staining from the highly pigmented Coral I'm about to use later.

I then painted two coats of Barry M 296 Coral.  You can substitute any colour of your choice into here, just ensure that it is bright and vibrant! I bought this nail polish yesterday and featured it into my haul post here. Don't worry if you paint over the edges, you can always remove that with a tactical cotton bud soaked in nail polish remover afterwards.

I then started to paint my stripe pattern onto my nails. Using my Models Own Black nail pen, I carefully drew a large 'V' shape starting through the top centre of my nail and bending in to about halfway down my nail. I drew another smaller one inside it, then formed my straightline stripes around it. This creates a pattern like feel to your nail art, instead of straight stripes all the way over it.

If you are nervous about painting an entire line, try making small dots and joining them up to form a line instead, this is an easier way and will build up your confidence to paint lines!

What do you think of this design? Can you recommend any that I try out for next week?

xxx

Nails on Sunday

I'm really into nail art and painting my nails, and as I had lots of lovely comments on my last nails tutorial, I thought I would make it a regular post. I needed a name for my new regular post, so after a long think, Nails on Sunday was born!

Today I have painted my nails a marine Blue-ish colour, with Green Glitter over the top. To achieve this look, I used the following:

Bourjois 1 Second Nail Polish Remover

4 in 1 Nail file / buffer / smoother / polisher

Nails Inc nail polish in 'Basil Street'

Models Own nail polish in 'Dancing Queen'

Topshop nail polish in 'Blue Monday'

Sally Hansen 'Hard as Nails' top coat

Nail polish remover pen

Firstly, I took off my previous nail polish using the Bourjois 1 Second Nail Polish Remover. I cannot recommend this product any higher, please see my previous blog post for the review! I used my 4 in 1 buffer to file my nails into an oval shape, then buff and smooth the surface. 

Using Nails Inc Basil Street, I painted one coat as my base to smooth out any creases I had missed and protect my nails from staining.

I used Topshop nail polish in Blue Monday for the colour, painting two coats to ensure good pigmentation on the nail.

To achieve the little glitter sprinkle look, I painted two coats over the top of Models Own Dancing Queen. If you want more glitter on the nail, add another coat.. and another, until you reach your desired look.

I finished the look off with a coat of clear nail polish to 'polish' off the nail and went around the edges with my nail polish remover pen.

Did you enjoy this tutorial? Will you be having a go at this look?

xxx

Floral Nail Art

I haven't done any nail art in a while, but judging by the amount of nail related products I received for Christmas, I feel like I would be cheating everyone if I didn't immediately get back into it!

I'm starting of January with Navy floral print nails, which are really easy to do but look a bit more quirky compared to your average leopard print art.

I started off by painting a base coat of Nails Inc Basil Street, then going over it with Nails Inc Motcomb Street. As the Navy Motcomb Street is really dark and thick, I only needed one coat.

 I then used the Blue nail art pen from this kit I got for Christmas to draw little open triangles all over my nails. The floral print needs to look like a pattern, so don't be afraid to draw randomly all over the nail, and ensure that you draw a few near the edges so it looks like it would carry on.

If you are just starting to use a nail pen and don't feel completely comfortable using it to draw yet, an easy way to get started is to draw tiny dots instead of a whole line.

After the Blue open triangles were dry, I filled in their centres with small Green dots. This forms the flower.

 To get rid of the tiny mistakes and spillages on my finger around the nail I used this nail polish removal pen. This was also a Christmas present but I have since seen them on eBay here.

Do you like nail art? Leave a comment below if you can think of any styles I should try out! xxx