Barry M nail art pen

With the new(ish) arrival of the Barry M nail art pen, we thought we'd have a go a few designs and let you know what we though of it!

Heather - Here I went for the aztec look, this silver pen was brilliant to get intricate designs, I enjoyed trying to think them up. The problem came when I tried to do the same on my right hand, it didn't turn out quite to the same standard but I'm sure I'd get better with practice.

The pen was quite easy to use, took me a few minutes to get the pressure right (so make sure your base colour is completely dry first!) but you soon get the hang of it. With this design, I didn't get chance to put a top coat on (whoops!) and I found that because of that the pen design rubbed off within the next day or two so a top coat is a MUST! Personally for now I think I'll stick with the brush and varnish...but maybe I just need a few more tries with the pen and then I may grow to love it! 

Faye - This is my first attempt with the pen (my left hand only as my right looked like a child did it!) And I really love it! Again, I found it difficult to get the pressure right as Heather did, but after a few practice runs I think I got it! My only issue is that it is a lot harder to do your right hand (drawing with the left) but maybe that is something that will come with time? I'm not sure I would choose using the pen over a striping brush and polish but I would defs use it again for the more detailed designs!

Overall, we think it's a good handy tool to have in your nail kit, it just takes some time to get used to it!

Let us know what you think about the pens!

Multi-coloured flowers

Hello nail art lovers! 

Another design created when glamping! Some multi-coloured flowers!

Started with some Barry M Lycée as my base, a favourite here at the nailsketeers, then used some other colours to do the petals and then did the black dots in the middle with the Barry M nail art pen. I think they turned out quite well, and they were a hit with Alison who is wearing them, who doesn't usually paint her nails! Have we got a convert!? 

Hope you liked it! The inspiration for this did come from another nail art blog, but it was so long ago I have forgotten which one!! Sorry if it is your design, get in contact and I will link to the original if it is!

Thanks!

- Faye

Gruffalo nails

"Silly old fox, doesn't he know...there's no such thing as a Gruffalo!"

I think Julia Donaldson is a great author (I am a self confessed big kid!) and Axel Scheffler a great illustrator and one of their best known stories is The Gruffalo! I wanted to try to create some nails from the story and they turned out better than I imagined they could!

To start this design I began with a white base coat on all nails then when dry, drew on the characters using an old liquid eyeliner which gave me the outline to then just colour in! To do the filling in, I used various colours from my extensive collection (I won't list them because that would be tooo much!) using dotting tools to apply. For the gruffalo himself I used a circular motion to apply the brown which meant it made a kind of textured effect that worked really well as his fur. The others had no special technique to apply it, but I did find that I needed to go over some of the outline once the colour was applied. A matte top coat finished it all off nicely.

I hope you enjoy this design as much as I enjoying creating and wearing it!

~ Heather

Banksy nails #2

I enjoyed the last Banksy nails I did so much (http://thenailsketeers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/banksy-nails.html) I had another look at his art work hoping to be inspired again and here it is!

The design was not the easiest to create and it didn't turn out as well as I imagined it would, but I think it was still quite effective. The yellow lines and flower I did using a striping brush. The flower I had imagined as more delicate I guess than it turned out, maybe the lines are too thick, or maybe my nails are just too small, who knows! The painter I created using dotting tools (I find dotters easier to control than brushes) and then finished it all off with a top coat.

I may try another Banksy design sometime, or maybe I'll have a look around for another artist to inspire me! Let me know if you have any ideas, I'd love some suggestions.

~ Heather

Stripy Gradient

A design idea inspired by the Nailasaurus's post: http://www.thenailasaurus.com/2013/07/nonoo-resort-2014-inspired-nail-art.html

I loved the effect of the stripy gradient so thought I'd give it a go! As I'm not too quick with striping tape, I need more practice, I decided to only do the stripes on two nails on each hand. But turns out I like the contrast of the stripes from the other nails, which was even more exaggerated by doing the gradient in the opposite direction.

This design is quite technically challenging as it includes both the gradient technique and striping technique so I will explain both separately below. For the design I used Barry M's gelly colours Lychee and Plum.






* Gradient effect

To create this effect you firstly paint the whole nail the lighter colour, in this case, Barry M's gelly Lychee. Next you find a mixing plate (I use an old plastic lid) and put a blob of each colour next to each other. Grab a cocktail stick and where the two meet, mix them along the join. To apply the gradient to the nail use a sponge. I use a make up sponge (as in the picture), but even a clean washing up sponge would work (it would give a slightly more speckled finish but could add an interesting effect!). Put varnish on the sponge as it is on your palette then dab it onto your nail on top of the base colour. I find I need to top up the varnish on my palette quite regularly but you get into the swing of it. This technique takes time, but try not to rush it! If this isn't quite as clear as I thought there are some great gradient tutorials on the internet so just have a search and see what you find!



*Striping effect

For the stripes you need some striping tape (which is available very cheaply on ebay) and scissors. some people also use tweesers to handle the tape but I find it easy enough without. So to create the stripes, begin with a base coat of the lighter colour. Once this is dry put your pre cut strips of tape where you want the stripes to be, taking care to keep them parallel (if you want yours parallel!). Then, in the same way as the gradient technique, dab the gradient colour over the top of the stripes. Straight after this when varnish is still wet, take the tape off and there you have your design!

Finish each nail with a top coat once dry and tidy up using nail varnish remover and nail brush around your nail.

Any questions about these techniques or anything else just ask! I'll answer as best I can.

~Heather

Strawberry Cheesecake

Using Barry M's Lychee and some pink and silver glitter I created this tasty design!

A pretty simple and quick design to do giving a lovely finish! The base coat of lychee was applied, and given time to dry. Next the pink glitter was applied with the brush in the bottle trying to get a fading effect by applying more just at the tip of the nail. Then one layer of silver glitter was put over the top to add another dimension to the colours! Finally, a gloss top coat was applied to finish the whole design.

When designs are this quick and easy why not give it a go!

~ Heather