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

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

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 (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

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

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!

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