Neon 80's Nails - Nail Art

First of all I'd like to apologise for my absence yesterday, my internet disappeared off for a day and I hadn't yet scheduled the post I had planned. It's just as well really as I have decided to take a slightly different route with it so now I have the weekend to tweek a few things ready for next week!

Anyway, today I have some 80's/90's style nails for you.

They weren't intended to be 80's/90's it just happened that way, but I really liked them anyway.

I used Barry M Matt White as the base then taped off random triangles with normal cellotape and used China Glaze Hang-Ten Toes and Surfin' For Boys on alternate nails. When that was dry I taped off the lines and used Barry M Black. I felt it needed a bit of sparkle so I added some silver Glequins from the Born Pretty Store (review HERE) and finished with a coat of Seche Vite.

 Like I said, I never intended for them to have an 80's/90's feel at all. It started as an abstract colour blocking idea I had but I just love the way it turned out. They remind me a bit of the Misfits from Jem and the Holograms!

♥ A ♥

Leopard Print & Half Moons - Nail Art

Here is my nail art post that was supposed to go up yesterday but then I fell asleep! Whoops!

I was inspired by this Pin I have on my Nail Inspiration Board on Pinterest.

Unfortunately after spending most of the morning and the afternoon up until now searching I cannot find where the original image came from to link back to, so if anyone knows please let me know so I can add the link.

*Edited to add link - HERE*

For these I started with two coats of Barry M Black on the Thumb, Middle and Ring fingers and two coats of OPI Skull & Glossbones on the Index and Pinky. I then free handed the half moons with Barry M Black and used  Models Own Bronze Rage and Barry M Black again for the leopard print. I added the Swarovski Crystals (HERE) on to a wet layer of China Glaze No Chip Top Coat and then finished the all black nails with a coat of Seche Vite. I didn't topcoat over the crystals as I didn't want them to lose their sparkle but they are still going strong 24hrs later!

♥ A ♥

The New 31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 10 - Geometric

You might have seen today's nail art somewhere else before.

And it was more than likely here on Copy That, Copy Cat blog.

Copy That, Copy Cat was one of the first nail art blogs I came across when I first started getting into nail art. It is an absolutely amazing blog full of gorgeous swatches and designs, I could sit and read it all day, in fact I think I did the first time I came across it!

Anyway, when the 3D Cube design was first posted I instantly loved it and thought firstly 'How is that even possible?!' and then 'one day I will be confident enough to attempt to recreate that'.

Apparently today was that day!

They are a bit wobbly in places but I love them. I think I might cry when I have to take these off tomorrow!

The polishes I used to recreate this look are two coats of Barry M Matt White as the base, Barry M Black for the patterns outline and Barry M Pure Turquoise, Shocking Pink and Yellow for filling in.

Tomorrows challenge is Splatter, another technique I have never tried before!

Don't forget to take a look at what the others have come up with today!

♥ A ♥

The New 31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 3 - Gold

Gold is one of my favourite colours to use in nail art, particularly with black. And I have wanted to do Baroque/Damask style nail art for a while now so when I saw todays challenge was gold I decided I'd cross both off my to-do list at the same time!

I used two coats of Barry M Black as a base then free handed the pattern using Barry M Gold Foil.

Instead of attempting an all over pattern I decided to take different parts of different patterns I found online by searching 'Baroque' or 'Damask' prints.

 The Thumb shows the top part of one pattern, the Pinky and Index both show edges of another pattern and the Ring and Middle both have random center parts.

I really wish I had some black flocking powder, then I'd have done a gold background with a black flocked pattern, but I'll just save that one for another day!

Tomorrows challenge is my favourite colour, Pink!

♥ A ♥

The New 31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 1 - Black and White

New year, new challenge!

I hope you all had a fun and safe New Years, mine was spent at home with MrGT, the MiniTips and my best friend, watching DVD's and eating sweets, I couldn't have asked for a better one!

I found out about this challenge a few days ago over on The Crumpet Blog but only decided this morning I was definitely going to do it. It looked like too much fun to turn down!

Day One is Black and White, so I sat down with my chosen nail polish and this is what I came up with.

I used Barry M Black and Matt White and free handed the stars and stripes as I was far too sleepy to deal with tape! I think I prefer it a little bit wobbly anyway so I'm not too worried about it.

I hope you like it and make sure you take a look at what the other lovelies participating in the challenge have come up with!

♥ A ♥

Lazy 15 Nail Challenge - Day 5 Galaxy Nails

Today is Day 5 of the Lazy 15 Nail Challenge and the challenge is Galaxy Nails!
I warn you now this is slightly picture heavy.
I love love love galaxy nails! They are fun, they are easy and they look amazing.
What's not to love?

I decided to do these galaxy nails a little different to the last ones I did (HERE).
Last time I tried to actually mimic galaxy shapes from images I had found on Google.
This time I wanted to do something a little bit less structured if that makes any sense?
This is where Google Images came in handy once again, I found three images that I liked (which I will include at the end of the post) and went about searching my nail polish collection.

I started pulling out some colours that I thought might work well then I remembered this post over on Truly Madly Beauty where the lovely Aysh layered Models Own Hayley's Comet over a black nail polish and it gave me an idea!

More after the jump...

Lazy 15 Challenge - Day 4 Water Marble

Today is day 4 of the Lazy 15 Nail Challenge and the challenge is water marble.

Water marbling has always been a challenge for me. I had my first marble success using the Rio Beauty Water Marble Kit a few weeks ago and since then I have been trying other polishes in my collection to see if I could complete a mani using those.

Lucky for me I managed it today!

For the base colour I used Barry M Black then used China Glaze Want My Bawdy, Swanky Silk, Deviantly Daring and No Plain Jane from the Bohemian Collection to do the water marbling.

I can't tell you how relieved I am that it worked!

It wasn't easy, I still quite haven't got my technique right as you can tell from the water bubbles and I had to re-do a couple of nails where I wasn't happy with the first outcome but I am so please with them.

I love how the China Glaze polishes give the most beautiful 'oil on water' effect over the black.

Next up for the Lazy 15 Challenge is Galaxy!

I cannot wait to give that another try.

♥ A ♥

China Glaze Bohemian Gradient NOTD

I had a whole other mani and post planned for today, but when I woke up this morning and saw THIS post from The Polished Mommy I changed my mind!

All of a sudden, the need for a Bohemian Gradient became urgent.

How pretty is that?!

This is done using the three colours that The Polished Mommy used on her ring finger.

I'd apologise for all the photos but I don't want to.

Just look at them!! 

They remind me a bit of oil on water.

There are just no words that do this justice.

I used my usual damp kitchen sponge technique over two coats of Barry M Black.

The China Glaze polishes I used are Swanky Silk, No Plain Jane and Want My Bawdy all from the Bohemian collection.

Must get back to staring at my nails.

♥ A ♥

Makeup Savvy 15 Day Nail Challenge - Day 9 - Red

Red is not a colour I use on my nails very often. I really don't know why, I like reds I just never seem to reach for them.

I wasn't sure what to do for todays challenge, so I just went with the first thing that comes to mind when I think of red, and that is roses.

I used Barry M Bright Red and Red Black for the roses, Barry M Black for the vines and highlighted with GOSH Gold.

I love these so much, I'm gutted that I now have to go build my daughters new bed and they will probably be wrecked by the end of it!

♥ A ♥

Makeup Savvy 15 Day Nail Challenge - Day 8 - Leopard Print

Day 8 of the 15 Day Nail Challenge is Leopard Print.

Who doesn't love leopard print nails? It's quick and easy to do and always looks good, plus there are endless colour combinations to try! After yesterdays neon nails I decided I'd use some pastel shades that I have been neglecting recently.

The colours I used are Barry M Berry Ice Cream, Mint Green, Strawberry Ice Cream, Blueberry Ice Cream and Peach Melba. Then I used GOSH Gold and Barry M Black for the leopard spots.

♥ A ♥