I was due for a fresh set of gel polish this week, and have been craving black and white lately. I don't usually gravitate towards dark nail colors, because I feel like they make my nails look small and (sometimes) weird. #truenailconfessions. BUT, I've been seeing black and white nails all over my feed lately, and it had me wanting it on my own fingers.
Since I try to ride out these gel polish sets as long as possible, I can't slack on the nail art for my right hand. I figured constellations would be easy enough that I could pull off something passable using my left hand.
I started with two coats of my new favorite black gel polish, Presto #060 Minaccioso. Next, I used Wildflower's Art Paints in Powder to paint on constellations and stars. Then, I used two coats of gel topcoat to seal the paint details in. Easy peasy!
P.S. They're all based on real constellations! I wanted to do my zodiac sign, but who knew Sagittarius had so many stars in it?!?!?
For today's prompt, "inspired by a song," I decided to do some nail art inspired by The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black." The song is about depression and loss, and wanting to paint everything black to match those feelings.
If you're familiar with the song, the obvious choice would have been do a red door and then put some black on it, but I wanted to go for something a little more colorful and (only slightly) less literal. I opted for a bright base, splattered and smeared with black paint.
I began with a white base to help the colors above it pop.
Then I cut off a strip of a makeup sponge, and painted swipes of my three base colors directly on to the sponge. I used China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights, and Girly Bits Hip Hoop Hooray.
For the big black swipe, I wiped most of the polish off of the brush of Salon Perfect Oil Slick, and then dry brushed it across my nails. I used a small nail art brush to add the splatters and drips, then finished with topcoat.
The challenge theme for today is "inspired by a color," and like I've done in many years past, I've decided to do a nail art interpretation of a nail polish's name. The nail art that I ended up with is stylistically simple, especially compared to the galaxy nails that I just posted, but I think it's more wearable and a little more mystical.
My base color is the polish I was inspired by: JINsoon "Nocturne." It's a rich, smoky black with a slight metallic sheen to it. It looks like satin, but dries to a glossy finish, and covers perfectly in two coats. You do have to be a little attentive towards brushstrokes when applying, but it wasn't too difficult.
I then added small white stars and a crescent moon using Formula X White Matter and my small nail art brush.
Check out my "inspired by a color" looks from past years:
IT HAS ARRIVED! Galaxy day of the 31 Day Challenge! I love this day because I never do galaxies, even though I should, and they're so easy to do, and they always turn out lovely, and the sparkles are overwhelming, and yeah. Galaxies are the best.
As with all my galaxy manicures, I started with a base of black polish.
Next I added the bitty stars! I always use China Glaze Fairy Dust for my stars. The key is to swipe it on randomly, instead of covering the entire nail!
The final step was to add the individual stars. I used a pinpoint dotting tool and Polish My Life's Saint, then added some lensflares on a couple of the stars.
I totally love how these came out and honestly they took me maybe 30 minutes to do. A win all around!
Just a simple look for the "glitter" prompt today! I always do a glitter placement for this day of the challenge, and today is no different, though I didn't go all-out like I usually do. Instead, I opted for a chic reflective pressed glitter gel manicure, and then layered a bold accent nail over the top.
This is a gel manicure, so I started with proper nail prep and a gel base coat. Next, I applied two coats of Presto #104 Sordino to my nails, curing between each.
After I applied the second coat and cured, I took loose glitter and used a French brush to press/scrub the glitter into the tacky layer of my color gel. In this case, I reached for Artiglio Willy, which I think worked beautifully with the grey base. (Quick sidebar: I NEED to use it for a full rockstar -- the photos on the Artiglio site are tantalizing!)
The honeycombs were created using black polish and honeycomb vinyls from Love, Angeline. I sponged the black over the vinyl to avoid pooling, and then removed it to reveal the pattern. I placed single pieces of loose silver hex glitter in the center of each hexagon.
Floral print! I love a good floral and have been doing a lot of these varied-size daisies for clients lately. I decided to pop them onto a dark background with some smoky swirls of color and ended up with these electric daisies. I've never been to the Electric Daisy Carnival, but I imagine these would fit in there, too!
I started by polishing my nails with two coats of Salon Perfect Oil Slick and letting it set.
Next was the colorful smoky background. I mixed a few shades of Wildflowers Art Paints with some water to thin them out, then loosely brushed them on to my nails and let them dry. The shade I chose for this look are Kisses, Bright Blue, Pollen, and Pansy.
I painted on the white daisies with Formula X White Matter, then added the centers with the same art paints that I used in the background.
This design is pretty straightforward, but like the Mario Kart Rainbow Road, can be challenging when going around the curves.
I started with a base of 2 coats of Zoya Storm. Such a winner for them, yeah? It's too gorgeous and I love the coarse fleck.
Then, I painted the rainbow stripes freehand using Zoya Yana (pink-red), Zoya Darcy (yellow), Zoya Tilda (green), Zoya Ling (blue), and Zoya Malia (purple). The intention was to make the rainbow line up between all my nails (see the first pic for the best representation of that), and I think it turned out pretty well!
Black and White day of the 31 Day Challenge is always my favorite, because everyone’s nail art always looks so striking. There’s something just so magnetic about black and white as a pair, isn’t there?
I didn’t have any particular inspiration for this nail art, but I did know that I wanted to do white patterning on a black base. I started out with two coats of Orly Liquid Vinyl, and then used my trimmed town super skinny striper brush to add on some arcs and circles with Formula X White Matter. Thin lines were a priority for me this time, so if my white lines got too fat in any areas, I went back in with black and thinned them down.
I added a coat of quick dry glossy topcoat, let it set, and then finished the manicure with a layer of Nicole by OPI Matte Topcoat. If you’re ever doing a matte topcoat, I recommend going glossy first to seal in your nail art, flatten the profile, and provide durability.
Black and white with a pop of color is a tale as old as time. It's such a classic combination: black and white on either end of the spectrum, with a color that falls somewhere in between. I had this manicure in my mind for a while now, and just had to pick the perfect base color. I found it in Gelish Tokyo A Go Go, a beautiful, bright pinky-purple.
And there's good news for those of you that don't wear gel: this pretty pink is also available in regular lacquer form from Morgan Taylor!
To begin this manicure, I applied Gelish Foundation before adding two coats of Gelish Tokyo A Go Go. It's just... ugh. So pretty. I'm obsessed.
Then, I used Akzentz Gel Play Paint in white to block out the general shapes of the waves. It was pretty opaque, but I went back after curing the first coat to fill in a couple of patchy areas. I used Akzentz Gel Play Paint in black to add on the thick and thin wavy lines.
Finally, I finished the manicure with Gelish Top It Off.
I was really happy with the outcome of this manicure and enjoyed wearing it quite a lot! It's always satisfying when a manicure you have in your mind turns out how you hoped it would on the nail.
Purchasing Information The Gelish Hello Pretty collection is available from Esther's Nail Center, as well as Amazon.com. You may still be able to find the LE collection in Gelish MINI at Sally Beauty. Morgan Taylor lacquer equivalents are available from Loxa Beauty. Akzentz products can be purchased through Gellipop.
This tutorial post is sponsored by Macmillan. Today's nail art tutorial is inspired by B.T. Gottfred's novel, Forever For a Year. Since the book is all about romance and first love, I've created a look that's perfect for date night. This sultry bordeaux gradient is accented with a gold jewelry-style half moon. It's a look that is chic, romantic, and put together... with just a touch of flash.
Forever For a Year has also provided a date night prize pack for a giveaway! Head to the end of the post for details on how to enter.
For my date night nail art, I used: LVX Cameo (burgundy) OPI Lincoln Park After Dark (dark purple) Essie Good As Gold (gold)
You'll also need a cosmetic sponge, cotton swabs or a latex barrier, and dotting tools in three sizes (large, small, and pinpoint).
With this easy gradient nail art, you'll be date-night ready in no time! And no matter where the night takes you, you know your tips will be looking fresh.
About Forever For a Year When Carolina and Trevor meet on their first day of school, something draws them to each other. They gradually share first kisses, first touches, first sexual experiences. When they're together, nothing else matters. But one of them will make a choice, and the other a mistake, that will break what they thought was unbreakable. Both will wish that they could fall in love again for the first time . . . but first love, by definition, can't happen twice.
Told in Carolina and Trevor's alternating voices, this is an up-close-and-personal story of two teenagers falling in love for the first time, and discovering it might not last forever. In stores now.
Giveaway So now that we've got a plan in place for your date night nails, you're gonna need some supplies! Forever For a Year is hooking up one (1) lucky reader with the following prize pack:
A copy of Forever For a Year;
$25 Sephora gift card;
nail polish and compact mirror.
To enter, just comment on this post describing your dream date night activity!
Here are the rules:
One entry per person.
Giveaway open to US addresses only.
Must comment with a valid email address to be reached for your prize.
Must be 18 years or older (or have parent's permission) to enter.
Entries close Friday, July 31st, 2015 at 11:59pm MST.
Chosen winner will have 48 hours to reply to the notifying email, after which a new winner will be chosen.
I remember when I was a kid, one of my favorite times of the year was when we released ladybugs into the garden during Sunday School. They had boxes of ladybugs for us, and we got to set them free into the garden to help manage the pests. They'd crawl all over us, and we'd run around looking for where they'd landed in the dirt. Their bright red backs always stood out against the dark soil.
I think that butter LONDON has nailed that bright, vibrant red-orange ladybug color for this lacquer, fittingly named Ladybird. I applied two coats for the base - the formula is smooth and even. It has that sort of squishy feel to it, without showing any nail line.
Then, I added some black spots in various sizes to take the ladybug look even further! Try using a pencil eraser to "stamp" on the largest spots, and a dual ended dotting tool for the other sizes.
You may or may not know this about me: I'm obsessed with CND's work at Fashion Week. For this look, I was inspired by their nail artistry for The Blonds F/W 2015 show. The theme was the ultimate contrast between utopian and dystopian, with post-apocalyptic elements and all the amazing drama we've come to expect. If you're at all interested in high fashion nail art, I highly recommend you check out the CND lookbook for the show.
Some of the elements in their nail design focused in on black and white, and I wanted to do the same. I ended up with a manicure that felt somewhat abstracted, sort of tribal, very contrasted.
I used CND VINYLUX Weekly Polish in Black Pool and Cream Puff for my interpretation, and while I tried my best to channel the "hopeful apocalypse" look, I think I need a bit more practice with the theme!
Do you keep up with Fashion Week comings and goings? I know I'm a bit late, timing wise, with this one, but I just couldn't let it pass.
Nail decals aren't a new thing, but when I first saw them, WrapArtist's water decals immediately stood out to me. The designs are awesome. They just totally get it, you know? The decals are chic, cool, and trendy, not to mention fully opaque, sometimes metallic, and really simple to use. I put together this look in just a few minutes, and it feels like something that could have come out of a New York nail art salon!
Each set of water decals comes on a small sheet like this. To use a decal, you just cut it out of the sheet, soak it in water for a ~20 seconds, and then slide the decal off of the white backing paper. Position the decal on your dry nail and dab it on a paper towel to remove any excess water, then finish with a topcoat.
One thing I really appreciated about these decals is that the clear part of the decals around the designs are already trimmed. You don't have to cut super close around the design to avoid excess clear around the edges...the work is done for you! Just slide it and stick it.
You can also use them in gel to get a lot of mileage out of your WrapArtist manicure.
I added decals from two WrapArtist sets: Being Negative and Say What. The Say What set is especially awesome for those of you that like to get a little saucy, as it includes profanity & other buzzwords.
If you are interested at all in these decals, I highly recommend browsing the Wrap Artist site. There are lots of killer sets, and I've only given you a taste of the awesomeness here. I'm already scoping out some additional sheets to grab for myself.
WrapArtist decals are available at wrapartistnails.com. Decals range from $5-6 per sheet.
Today is my birthday, and if you can believe it, my nails are actually naked right now! THE HORROR! I'm hoping to put something fun on them after I get home from work, but for now, I wanted to share a manicure I spent a lot of time on recently.
I am calling it wasabi and caviar for reasons that I hope are obvious! This entire design is handpainted with regular nail polish. It's some of my best linework to date, I think. Hooray for improvement there!
If you want to attempt a design like this, I've got some tips!
Get a small brush. I can't tell you how long I used a thicker nail art brush, cursing my lack of talent rather than the tool I was using. Once I got a thinner brush, it helped me immensely. I still had to keep practicing, but my old brush was definitely part of the problem. Trim down an old brush with cuticle nippers if you don't have a super thin one.
Keep it clean. If you're using polish (instead of acrylic paint or gel), clean your brush frequently with 100% acetone and regularly put down more polish onto your palette. Polish dries quickly and can wreck your fine lines if it isn't the right consistency.
Small mistakes aren't the end of the world. You can use a clean nail art brush dipped in acetone to gently "erase" small mistakes from your work; just be careful not to go too crazy or it will eat through your base color. In this case, I put a layer of topcoat between the wasabi shade and my black linework for extra protection.
Be patient. This shit isn't fast. When you factor in my previous tips and the detail of the work, you just gotta know it's not going to be easy to bust it out in 45 minutes. I like to put on Netflix and take breaks every so often to stretch out.
I just love this kind of strange green color, and the thick blingy stud nail is just the right amount of "odd" to go with it.
Have you been keeping up with Oxygen's Nail'd It!, the nail art competition show? I've been watching it every week! I love how it starts off with a client-based challenge, and then moves into the high concept sculptural work. In this week's episode, three previous competitors are back for their second shot at the finale. Their challenge is to create nail art inspired by their nightmares.
Here's an insider tip: if you tune in to tonight's episode, you'll get to see yours truly! I'm sharing a quick tutorial for stenciled star nails during one of the commercial breaks. Eee!
My nightmare-inspired look represents my childhood fear of the dark. I've toughened up a bit since then, but can definitely still psych myself out at times when I'm all alone in a dark room. This design represents the darkness as an entity, creeping up on me. Be sure to watch the tutorial above to see how you can achieve this look for yourself!
Tune in tonight to Nail'd It at 9/8c, only on Oxygen. Keep up with the show on their Facebook page, and join the conversation by following Oxygen on Instagram and using the hashtags #NailedIt and #ShowMetheMani. Don't forget, I'm briefly on tonight's episode! Disclosure: This post has is sponsored by reps from Oxygen and Nail'd It!. Press sample provided by Cirque Colors. All opinions are my own.
I don't think it's possible for me to wear textured polish anymore without eventually stamping over it. As I've said before, textured stamping is just so great! It tends to disguise imperfections in the stamping, that may or may not be a direct result of my *ahem* lack of stamping skills. Plus, it looks really interesting to boot!
Last time I wore a stamped textured look, you guys really seemed to like it! This one isn't quite as subtle or glamorous, but has a strange appeal all its own.
I'm wearing two coats of the textured polish in these photos, and added the stamping after about a day of wear. The nice thing about the spotted image on the Vivid Lacquer plate is that it's SUPER wide, which allows you to randomize the pattern across your nails (no two nails will look alike)!
I did have a bit of trouble with the large open spaces in the plate though. When I scraped the excess polish off, my scraper tended to clean out more of the image than I'd have liked. I'm not sure if that's due to the plate or my own inexperience.
As the texture begins to degrade and smooth out from natural wear, the stamping will be affected too. But, I got a few solid days of wear on top of my one day of wearing the texture naked!
