The graveyard shift

Well I had to do it... spooky nails for Halloween is a must. Unfortunately I'm not going to any Halloween parties this year so this is purely for my own enjoyment (and yours of course!)...

As you can see I have a creepy graveyard design which is on top of a purple grey gradient.

I started out with a base of deep purple. I used a really old bottle of a colour that I love but it's one of those cheapo brands of the market called 'La Femme Beauty' (!) and has no shade name sorry. Any deep purple will do,  just think stormy night sky - Revlon in Plum Night is a good option.

I then layered on a gradient of Mavala in shade 12 Berlin, using a cosmetic sponge. Best way I've found is you paint the polish onto the sponge and dab on the nail starting by covering as far down as you want the gradient to start. I did all 10 nails and then went back to the start to allow each layer to dry.  Then dabbed on more just starting a bit further up the nail tip so to create denser colour towards the end. Trick is to keep loading the sponge. If you allow it to dry out you just end up sponging the polish off the nail.

To finish off the gradient and to add some sparkle to the misty graveyard scene I sponged on a bit of Barry M Nail Paint in Silvery Lilac where the grey met the purple. Here's the gradient before the graveyard was added...

I then freehand drew on the graveyard using a black nail art pen and a yellow one for the moon.

For the spiderweb, use a black nail art pen and draw three diagonal lines from one corner of your nail to 3/4 of the way down. Then connect these with evenly spaced curved lines. I added a bit of silver with a nail art pen for extra pop.

Finish off with a quick dry top coat - I used Save the Nail 45 Second Top Coat... and there you have it!


Happy Halloween... the nailist xxx

Snow leopard

I sorted my nail polish collection out this weekend (I know.. rock n roll lifestyle!) and it's official, I have a serious addiction! I own 366 nail polish, 22 nail art pens and a ridiculous amount of base coats, top coats, nail wraps and nail decorations! No doubt there are more lurking in the recesses of handbags and drawers yet to be counted! I had to relegate 11 to nail polish heaven as they were gloopy beyond repair.

So after dealing with my silent shame, I have beautifully arranged them all by colour in a variety of boxes so at least I can start to make use of my whole collection, rather than the same old faithfuls. I would say that I  have enough and won't be buying anymore... but I would be lying!

Apart from my undeniable obsession with nail polish I also love animal print. Be it zebra or leopard I always find myself heading straight for the bold prints when clothes shopping, although I draw the line at zebra print trousers! Lucky for me animal print looks fab on nails too... check out today's design

Here's how..

I used Sally Hansen's Miracle Nail Thickener as a base coat as my nails seem to be splitting a lot recently. Once your base coat is dry, apply a base colour in a light grey or beige, I used Models Own Nail Polish in Concrete Mixer. Then create a gradient by sponging on three layers of a metallic grey or silver such as No7 Stay Perfect Nail Polish in Sunshine, going about half way down each nail.

Step 1 - created a graduated base with a grey/beige and metallic grey/silver

Now for the animal print... using a black nail art pen draw on a leopard pattern. Best way I can describe to do this is by drawing jagged circles, interspersed with a few blobs. So if you don't have a steady hand.. don't worry because shaky is a bonus!

Step 2 - Animal print it up!

Then to accent the print, fill the jagged circles in with a dot of white, again using a nail art pen or thin brush. Let it all dry, clean up the edges and finish with a high shine quick dry top coat.

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Sunset wonder

One of my favourite things in the world is sunsets... they never since to amaze me. I saw a fantastic sunset sky this weekend while have a boozy picnic in Hyde Park, which has spurred me on to try gradient nails. They're really on trend right now and there's some amazing combos being created in the blogger community. There's two techniques - sponging or merging the colours by sweeping an acetone dipped brush along where your chosen colours join. I decided to try the sponging technique and here's the result...

I'm pretty pleased with the colour combo, given it's my first attempt, but I definitely need to work on the blending and layering!

I started with two coats of Marks & Spencer Nail Colour in Soft Orange and once dry I started the sponging process. Just using a cut off section of a regular washing up sponge, I painted on a layer of Stargazer Nail Polish shade 121 directly on to the sponge, which I then dabbed over the top half of each nail. This created a dappled effect. I repeated this, moving the sponge a little further up the nail so a graduation of colour was created. Finally, to give a more dense colour on the tip, I painted directly on to the very top of each nail and then used the sponge to soften any lines. I finished off with a coat of INM Out the Door quick dry top coat.

The kit

Next time I'm going to try three colours and concentrate on blending!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx