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

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

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. 

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

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

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!

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

Sugar Spun Nails

I discovered this lovely creation on the web a while back but didn't get round to it until recently. I found a lovely tutorial on Nailasaurus' blog (http://www.thenailasaurus.com/2013/06/sugar-spun-nail-art-tutorial.html) which came in handy to try out this design!

I love the textured effect of these nails and have found it great fun wearing them!

 The downside though is that it took a long time to do...but I think every second was worth it.

To complete this bumpy design I used Barry M denim and La Femme Beauty Rickpink cream as base colours, I then used a top coat BEFORE the Barry M gold foil effects on top. This meant that once the gold was applied, as the Nailasaurus's tutorial suggests, I could leave it without a top coat so it was as textured as possible.

The technique used to do the sugar spun effect took some time and persistence. My technique wasn't as perfected as I wanted but I like how it ended up turning out. You can see the rounded blobs where I was trying to pull the varnish string across but accidentally touched my dotting tool to the nail, but fortunately, I did this enough times it looks like that's how it's meant to be!! This was my first time trying this technique so it goes to show you don't need to practice it lots before you can wear it out as even the mistakes look good with this effect!

There are some really cool sugar spun nails out there with combinations of colours too, I decided to stick to the one for my first go, but maybe I'll try two colours the next time I find enough time to tackle this technique again!

~ Heather

Banksy Nails

I was looking for inspiration on the web and came across this lovely design on Smashley Sparkles blog which I thought I'd give it a go!

 http://www.smashleysparkles.com/2013/02/the-digit-al-dozen-does-love-heartbreak_13.html

The design is a nail art version of Banksy's famous graffiti art the girl with the balloon. It was quite a fiddly design to do but surprisingly didn't take too long!

The design began with a base of Barry M white, I used Nina ultra pro red fox for the balloon and NYC black for the girl and string. The balloon was done with a dotting tool which allowed me to get a nice curve for the heart shape and the rest was completed with nail art brushes and Rimmel's Matte top coat.  It was hard to get the girl looking good, the black base was easy enough, but then deciding where the white highlights should go was hard. I'm still not sure I'm happy with how it ended up, but felt it was a good first attempt so thought I'd share the design anyway!

I really love creating designs with well known pictures or characters on them! 

Think I might try another Banksy creation on my nails in the near future (if I can find one that's not too complicated)...so watch this space!

~Heather

Summer inspired nails

I was searching through my favorite blogs for some inspiration for some summery nails, and came across a design on probably my actual favorite nail blog Pshiiit.com. It is in french but as I did French for A level and it is pretty much all picture related, I get on ok. So, for this blog post, I have shamelessly completely copied this blog post. 

I was actually surprised by how easy this was to do! so I painted my nails with the Barry M Gelly, Lycee as my base. Then painted the stems in black with a striping brush. Then blobbed on a bit of yellow (Maybelline Colour show, another brand I am falling in love with!) left that to dry for a little while, then added the detail on the flower all with a stripier brush! And as always topped it off with a coat of Sally Hansen - Drys Instantly, cus I don't have time to wait!!

I love these nails!! I never want to take them off!!! I love them so much, and they worked so well, I have even posted a picture of BOTH HANDS! Which I never usually do as my right hand is usually a train wreck, but this time, it almost looks better!! These nails are like Art that i would put on my wall! Did I mention that I love them?

Give it a try yourself! I bet the results will be better than you think!

-Faye. 

Cookie Monster!!

I loved creating and wearing these nails! For the same party as Faye's Cartoon Nails I created this little monster!

Created with dotting tools and a brush for the mouth, I decided to show off what the Cookie Monster does best...eating cookies!

I used a nude colour for the base to give my nails a healthy colour then Barry M's mushroom for the cookies and a mixture of a couple of blues for the Cookie Monster colour (you'd think with all the colours I have I would have one that's right without mixing!). 

Mixing colours is a good way to get ideal colours, just find something to use as a palette and off you go!

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

~Heather