Criss-Cross nails

I wanted a design that was pretty but not too complicated to do and here it is!

I began with the base colours painted over the whole nail, next I used striping tape to section off the the bottom of the nail and to get the nice crisp lines using two strips for each nails. I then painted over these with Barry M frost nail varnish to create that lovely silverish/ivory colour. You need to take care when painting over the tape to not go over the tape on the side you don't want it - higher up the nail. But just doing it slowly meant it wasn't that hard!

This design would look great with different colour combinations also so have a go with the colours in your collection!

~ Heather

Nails for work!

Hi everyone, sorry it's been so long since our last post! Exams and deadlines got the better of us!

But here's a new design that's simple but effective.

I wanted to create a design for those of you without any special tools and full time jobs. So I thought something like this would go down well! Obviously there are millions of colour combinations you could create and if you wanted it to be a bit more noticeable you could do a contrasting nail with the opposite colours on your thumb and ring finger nails, but that's up to you!

I created this design with a base colour of Barry M Guava from the Gelly collection giving it the fantastic shine! There's not even a top coat on when this photo was taken! And I finished off the tips with Avon's sequinned turquoise to give the design something a bit more special with glitter! I did the tips using the brush that came in the colour and using a side to side motion on the nails, it takes a steady hand, but if you do it really slowly it doesn't always help, just a confident stroke of the brush should do fine!

So I hope this design can be worn by some of you for your jobs as you can tone up or down the colours to the level that's suitable for you! Enjoy!

~Heather

Birds soaring over a sunset scene

These nails were inspired by the migrating birds which gather in their hundreds, even thousands, before heading off from warmer climes.

Even though it's winter, there are some beautiful sunsets around. And they are made extra special when there are stunning murmurations of Starlings twisting through the air in front of them.
(Murmurations is the name of the shapes that large flocks birds make in the air - You learn something new everyday!)

This design took a few layers to get the gradient in the sunset - I used a pale yellow for the base then layered up with a bright orange, hot pink and shimmery gold. To get the gradient, I just used the brush that came with the polishes but wiped off most of the colour to be able to blend them together. To finish off the gradient, I used a pink to create a solid end on my nail - I really like the look of that!

 

With the gold, I striped it on over the top and it the glammed up the sunset.

For the birds, I used a small dotting tool with a black polish and created 'v' and 'm' shapes. I think the birds would have looked better if they were little bit smaller

To give it a beautiful shine use a top coat, I really like Barry M's clear (No surprises there!)
TOP TIP: Two thin layers of clear polish works a lot better than one thick layer. It will protect your design for a lot longer and make them shine wonderfully.

Hope you like this design (and the bird fact)!!

--Leah

All the glitters new years nails!!

So it's New Years! I thought I would use all the glitters and this is the result!!! Happy New Years Nailsketeers!!!! 

-Faye xo

Snowy christmas-y scene with cheeky rudolph

This is a little more of a complicated design which will take a bit more time to do, but the final product is just stunning! (a compliment I got today). But the amount of detail you include is completely up to you. 

To start I painted my nails a solid blue, I chose this blue because it looked like the sky on a winters evening. 

I then used a white shimmery striper to lay snow at the bottom of the nail. To make it look more like freshly fallen snow, I feathered the edge of the snow instead of having a harsh straight line. 

To make the trees  I used a green shimmery colour - by using a shimmery green it creates highlights and lowlights which look like individual leaves. I like detail and depth in a nail design, as you can probably tell.

Start by drawing a vertical line where you want to tree to be using a art brush and then dab the polish on starting from the bottom and working up to the top. As you get further up, make the dab smaller and smaller to create the rough triangle shape. 

To make the Rudolph, I used a medium brown and a dotting tool. I used little dabs to make the two legs first, then the body, and finally the head and ears. Having a picture of a reindeer to look at while you can do this may help get a better result. Because as much as you think you know what a reindeer looks like, when you come to painting one on your nails, you may forget the details. Its very odd, but it happened to me!

Remember to include the antlers, I used black for them so they would stand out against the blue background. And remember a red nose to make the reindeer Rudolph, I used a red glitter polish.

Next I used the largest dotting tool I had to make the moon with a white polish. 

To create the craters, I mixed white and black polish to make a light grey. I then dabbed the grey on with a little art brush. 

The final step was to make it snow!! I used my smallest dotting tool dipped in a white polish and then dotted snow flakes randomly over my nails. 

This have been the longest explanation I have ever done for the blog, but I think if you want to spend a bit more time on your nail design, it is definitely a design that anyone have a go at - even if you haven't done many detailed designs before. 

I hope you enjoy this design!

Merry Christmas!!!!

--Leah 

Christmas presents

These nails celebrate the art of wrapping presents...

 I love to have loads of matching wrapping paper, ribbons, bows and tags! I can spend hours wrapping presents to get perfect and colour coordinated gift. But every year I seem to forget that the care and time I put in to lovingly wrapping gifts, will only be sabotaged by an eager and excited recipient on Christmas morning. 

To solve my short lived art dilemma, I decided to create some present designs on my nails that may last a little longer. 

Here we go...

I used five different base colours, you can used any colour that is Christmas-y or that tickles your fancy.

To give the design a little more detail - I put dots, stripes, little curled lines (like leopard print) and glitter on the base colours. Feel free to do any design you want, you could do diagonal lines or stars for instance. Make it your own!

Then I used a gold glittery striper to make the ribbon and bows. I painted them on slightly to one corner to give enough room for the bow to 'hang'. 

I love this design and will definitely be doing it again next year too!

--Leah

Snowflakess

This incredibly christmas-y design was created by painting my nail with medium blue base coat. I then used a white striper to make snowflakes all over my nail by connecting short lines together. Using short lines will make the snowflakes a lot easier to create. I did different sizes and patterns of snowflake to give it a a realistic look. 

On some of the snowflakes, I put a silver gem in the centre to make them a little more luxurious and fancy - It is Christmas after all!!

I then put glitter on the top of the design to make it feel more like an wintery evening snow shower. But I'm not sure which design I like better  - either with or without glitter.

I would recommend using a small glitter, instead of a larger glitter, to give the effect of snow falling in the background.

This design is a simple but a strikingly classic design which will not take very long to complete but will get you plenty of compliments.

Merry Christmas to all!

--Leah

Reindeer nails!

So this was one of last years designs for me, but we didn't have the blog then so I thought I loved it so much I'd share it now :)

These gorgeous little reindeer were done on a white background with Barry M Mushroom colour applied with dotting tools, the noses, antlers and eyes were all done with dotting tools too! I remember enjoying this design a lot, and getting lots of compliments on it, it looks very effective and quite complicated to do, but it's actually quite simple, it's pretty simple shapes throughout that dotting tools can easily create. This design was finished with a gloss top coat, but a think a matte would look great creating a more cartoon feel to the design!

I'd highly recommend doing the white 'shine' dot on the noses too as it really just adds that bit more glam! And don't forget to hunt out you red for Rudolph in the middle!

Have a go at your nails for this festive season!

~Heather

Tis the Season!

First Christmas nails of the season! I'm sure there will be many to follow in the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled!

The base colour was a lovely navy colour which I recieved in my Birchbox (my monthly beauty box - click the link for more info!)

The silver is my trusty Barry M silver foil. I created the dotty snowy effect with a dotting tool (very cheap on eBay).

I finished the whole thing off with a speedy top coat from Sally Hansen!

Hope you like, post us back with #Nailsketeers

- Faye

Geek alert! #dayofthedoctor

So for those of you who know... it is a very special day today! #dayofthedoctor! These aren't the neatest nails ever. But as I am a massive doctor who geek I just had to do these and I wanted to share them with you all.

The base colour is rimmel pro in 313 cocktail passion which I love using because of the shape of the brush and how quickly it drys.

To do the doctor who shapes I used my dotting tools and rimmel pro 431 stormy skies. Then the gold detailing with collection hot looks shimmy shake and a dotting tool once the shape was dry.

I added a bit of blue to the tardis shape on my middle finger and decided to go for purple detailing so it stood out. Then I outlined it with my barry m nail art pen to define the shape.

I'm sure I will do some more doctor who nails at some point and hopefully they will be neater and more planned out. If you have any ideas for other simple shapes I could do then let me know!!

Lots of geek love,
Abbi. Xx

Hunger Games Nails

The Hunger Games number 2 film is coming out and I am SOOOO excited! I absolutely LOVED the first film and will be going to see this one ASAP! I am SO excited that I just HAD to do some nails in tribute (eh, Tribute, eh!) to the woman herself, the Girl on Fire. 

Once again - gone for the accent nails, one of the mockingjay, above (Quite a difficult one to do on such a small canvas) and then of the flames below. 

Obviously topped it all off with a matte top coat - our fav Essie - Matte About You, and we are done!

Materials for the Mockingjay - Barry M limited edition gold from a few years ago, and then a few pound shop glitters for the fire nail!

Any other huge Hunger Games Fans out there?

For this movie they are releasing a Capitol Makeup Range which will include nail varnish and nail decals - SO excited!!!!

Here is the Trailer for your viewing enjoyment! And if you haven't watched (or read) the first one - DO IT NOW!!!!

- Faye. 

Ghost-ies!

Obviously halloween requires some halloween nails! So I tried to think of the most simple design possible (as I should have been doing work instead of doing nails!) And I ended up very happy with my ghost-ies as I think they are super cute.

I used good old barry m nail paint in mint green for the base colour, which is one of my faves atm, (not too summery and not too wintery!) And I used a French manicure white for the ghosts.

To draw the ghosts I did a blob with the brush then finished off using one of the bigger dotting tools. Then I used different sized dotting tools each time to do the eyes, as I wanted each ghost to be individual.

Now my nails are all ready for Halloween even if I haven't decided what I'm wearing yet! Looking forward to seeing everyone else's halloween nails!

Abbi. Xxxx

Halloween nails

So halloween's here: time to dress up your nails for those parties too!

Here's the design I'm wearing for my halloween, inspiration was from a simple google search of 'halloween nails' and a combination of a few ideas!

The whole design was done using only 4 colours, black white orange and a tiny bit of green, but I love how complex it looks regardless! As usual, a dotting tool was used to create the designs.

Send us a photo on our facebook page to share your spooky nails!

~Heather

Halloween Nails (that are suitable for work)

So, Halloween is almost upon us. And for my first Halloween nails of the week I have gone for a spooky subtle accent nail! 

I have done these halloween nails a bit unobtrusive so that I can wear them to work (I don't like to be too loud with the nails at work). So its just a bit of ombre in a Halloweeny purple and a wee picture of a witch, flying over a full moon! 

Materials used: Barry M - Berry, Barry M Gelly - Plum, 17 - Mini Skirt (White), Natural Collection - Sugar Mouse (the shimmer over the white of the moon) and the Barry M Nail art pen in Black. And of course Sally Hansen Base and Top Coats. 

Hope you like! Please show us your own Halloween Nails by using the hashtag #Nailsketeers!

Just on a side note, if you are looking for halloween nail ideas - One Nail to Rule them All has a few brilliant posts that I will certainly be trying out myself!! 

Happy Halloween Week,

- Faye

RSPB nails

I created this design to wear for a charity bike ride I took part in called NightRider, which is a 100km (65 mi) bike ride through London at night with hundreds of other cyclists also taking part - I started at midnight and finished at 5:35am. It was a tough challenge but totally worth the months of training and the tri-weekly onset of 'jelly legs'. 

I chose to raise money for the RSPB and saw the opportunity to create a totally cute design with birds (I LOVE BIRDS!). I didn't have much time to do this design between the training sessions and travelling to London, but here's how I did it. 

 These nails were created by firstly applying a blue base coat, which I let completely dry. I added the dots in a lighter blue and a light turquoise around the white letters that I free handed on with a striper. The starling (Yes, its a Starling not just any old bird!) on my thumb was made by dipping a little brush into black polish and adding little flecks/dabs of orange/gold to the wing to give a more detailed effect.

I decided against adding more detail such as eyes and more wing definition because I liked the way it looked and I had very little time free.

I finished the design with a matte top coat, I used Essie Matte For You, to give it a more cartoon-y feel - which I thought was much better than with a glossy top coat.

Hope you enjoy this design as much as I did. 

-Leah xx

Cath Kidson Nails

As with many of my designs I got the idea for this one from The Nailasurus's blog (http://www.thenailasaurus.com/2013/09/cath-kidston-provence-rose-nail-art.html) I just loved the finish on this and how intricate it looked when it actually isn't too hard or take too long to do!

I started with a base of Barry M Blue, then once dry applied the Barry M white for the background of the flowers using a large dotting tool. The pinks were two from my extensive collection that are unbranded, I applied the lighter first, then the darker on top not in any particular pattern with a white splodge in the middle finishing it off. Using the smallest dotting tool I applied the green for the leaves. The hardest part was getting the dots around the edge consistent, take care when doing this! But as you can see mine aren't perfect, and I still got lots of compliments on them so it can't have been that bad! Finish it all off with a lovely top coat and you're ready to go!

If you have a go at any of our designs we'd love to see them! Find us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/thenailsketeers and let us see your creations!

~Heather

Galaxy Nails

This week I attempted the fairly in and quite on trend galaxy nails! 

Here are all the colours i used, and i just used a cut up sponge as my main tool, a dotting tool for the smaller stars and a small brush for the bigger stars!

Then I had the mad and brilliant idea to put a matte top coat on them (Essie - matte about you), and it looks AMAZING!

Here is a picture of my right hand with the glossy top coat, I love my little fingers I think they look the best, and surprisingly, again, my right hand doesn't look half bad! (I am right handed and so they were done with the left hand!).

Hope you all like them, and I would recommend giving them a go, I have put it off as they look so hard but it is actually fairly easy to make these look great!

- Faye

Blue marble effect nails

Hello Nailsketeer followers,

These nails were inspired by the sea, and the ripples and waves of water that flow through seaweed and around rocks in tide pools. Poetic maybe, but an elegant and magical design definitely. 

To create this look I used all the blue colours I had. The colours ranged from light blue, through turquoise (light and dark) right to navy blue. 

I used the standards brushes which came with the polishes and dabbed colour in random dabs and swipes on to my nails. There was no set design instead I just wanted to create a mix of colours. 

I started with a clear base coat to protect the nail and give the design something to grip on to. I used a light blue base and waited for it to dry, then started with the darker colours moving through to the lighter ones. 

I purposely painted over some of the underneath colours to give depth to the design, and it gives each nail an original and slightly different design. 




To create the movement of the water I used a striper in a light metallic blue and starting at the bottom, I striped upwards creating a wave towards the top of my nail. In the picture you can see the wavy lines I made on my thumb nail the clearest. 

To finish the design I dabbed a blue and a turquoise glitter to add the sparkle and shine of the sun on the top of the water. 

This is one of my favourite designs but it did take a few trial runs to get the design how I wanted it. I found the addition of glitter is what made the design so beautiful and alluring. I got so many compliments with this design, even my male friends couldn't help but grab my fingers and look at them closely (little bit weird but hey, its a compliment).

Because it is mostly a 'dab here and a dab there' job, this design takes no time at all to do. Be as messy as you like but I bet they will always look magnificent! Have fun with these 

Leah xx

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