Neon half moons

Oh what a horrid rainy day it is in the UK. So I thought I'd post some summery neon nails to cheer myself up. Come on sunshine!

This neon is one of my favourite polishes! I started with a base of Models Own Pro in French White all over the nail. Then the neon, which is Models Own in Pink Punch, over the top, leaving a half moon gap at the base of each nail. And then as an afterthought, I added the defining black line using a Models Own nail art pen. So it's a Models Own takeover!

Putting the white underneath the neon makes it even brighter!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Be my valentine

Quick post tonight...my cheeky Valentines nails are currently on Boots Facebook page! They seem to have split the vote - some people loving them but others seem to think I have crusty hands, lol! Best get myself to Boots for some hand cream!

This is two coats of Models Own Pro in French White Tip. Followed by a free hand painted design using Models Own Nail Art Pen for the black and Bourjois 10 day anti-chip in shade 20 for the red.

Happy Valentines everyone! Right, best go and get scrubbing these crusty hands of mine! Feel free to comment and share the Boots FB post if you disagree

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Funky matte french

So I'm not a huge lover of matte top coats - often finding they just make you look like you've scratched the sheen of a nice glossy polish. But I think it all depends what colour you're top coating and also the quality of the top coat. I've found one I really love from Models Own Pro which gives a lovely satin finish rather than dull matte.

This twist on the classic french manicure is two coats of Essie Nail Lacquer in Fancy Pants, followed by a free hand striking fuchsia tip using Models Own in Purple Passion (I personally think it's more pink than purple!). Finished off with the Models Own Pro Matte top coat. You can't really tell from the photo but the finish is a lovely muted sheen rather than being completely dull matte.

I think the colour combo works really well. The key is to use a muted sophisticated colour for the base and then a colour that really pops for the tip. It's a great way to venture into nail art or to take a boring work mani to the next level without being over the top!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Mixed up monochrome - Nailed It's Two Bottle Challenge

Hey peeps

The first challenge of the week was Polish Days' MAN-icure, now it's time for Nailed It's 'Two Bottle Challenge' to celebrate the blog's one year anniversary and reaching an amazing 555,555 views, whoop!

The rules are simple - use two bottles of polish to create a design without the use of stamping or embellishments. You are allowed to mix the colours to create more colours but for me it had to be plain black and white because I love the monochrome look and you can create really striking designs. I also love mixing up designs because I'm a girl who wants it all - not just happy with the one design so I get carried away. So here it is...

My two bottles were Models Own Pro in French White and Barry M Nail Paint in Black. I used striping tape to create the straight lines on the ring finger and a dotter for the polka dots, but everything else is free handed.

I then did the same designs but mixed them up on my right hand...

I love it! Hope you do too. Head over to Nailed it to check out the other entries and of course her fab blog. Happy Blogiversary Nailed it!

Happy painting.. the nailist xxx

Muted bling!

I love Autumn! My favourite season is finally on the horizon (although the weather seems to think it's summer - finally!) -  I love crisp sunny days and amazing sunsets, layering clothes and scarves and the knowledge that I'll soon be able to put my boots back on, instead of showing willing and wearing sandals but inevitably getting wet feet due to our unpredictable British weather.

One of the main things I look forward to is the autumnal warm muted colour palettes, in both fashion and nail polishes. Some of my favourite polishes are beiges, heathers and smokey grey, however, I do still like a bit of bling. This is what's inspired today's design...

I used two coats of Nails Inc in Caramel as the base colour. Followed by a central stripe of on each nail of Models Own Pro in Swan Lake just using the width of the brush. I had to apply a million coats to get the effect, as this is one of those polishes which looks amazingly dense in the bottle but in fact the glitter covering is frustratingly thin. I should have used a denser glitter (I have enough!) but I really love the tone of this polish - it's basically a champagne/beige glitter rather than gold or silver, so really complements the base colour.

I was going to leave it at that but last minute added definition with a black nail art pen... I fear this was a mistake as the design went from subtly sophisticated to looking a bit clumsy  - note for next time!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Polish Days - Geometry

So although I'm a nail art pro amongst my friends, it has become very apparent that I'm a novice in the blogger community. A whole new world has opened up to me... I had no idea how big the nail blogger community is... and I love it! The challenge is... how to break in to this cyber world of loveliness? Some of these bloggers have been posting for years with professional looking sites and thousands of followers. Some of my personal favourites are The Nailasaurus and Polly Polish and it's Polly who's presenting an opportunity for me to feel part of the vast blogger community.

She's created 'Polish Days', where a theme is set and all subscribed bloggers post a design around that theme all at the same time, with links to all other blogs.

So this is my first stab at the latest 'Polish days' theme - 'Geometry'.

My first thoughts were of the doodles often created in the margins of many a school work book where you end up with lots of little triangles, which inspired the design on the thumb. And things developed from there... basically, it's all about angles with a tribal neon theme to make them pop.

I started with a base of Models Own Pro Limited Edition in French White. Then I created the designs with three Models Own nail art pens in yellow, black and pink (I'm not sponsored by Models Own, honestly!). Then finished off with a layer of Seche Vite top coat. I repeated the designs on my right just mixing up which design was on which finger.

You definitely need a steady hand for this one, so for those of you who want to try something more simple, I've resurfaced a previous 'geometric' design from last month.

You can see the 'how to' here

Check out what the other bloggers have done...

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Cupcake dreams

So one of my many dreams (I'm a bit of an idealistic dreamer!) is to one day own a cupcake cafebar, famous for the best cupcakes in town which you can buy to take away or sit in an enjoy with a cocktail. There would of course be somewhere to get your nails done while sipping your cocktail. I imagine the decor will be retro glam - think American diner meets Breakfast at Tiffany's! Well, one day maybe... In the meantime the dream has inspired my latest design, 'Cupcake Dream's, and here's the how to.

(By the way, it would be really good to hear your thoughts on my blog. I know I have some followers via facebook but it would be great to get your comments and following on the actual blog)

This is a bit of a complex one so here goes...

Step 1  - Base colours

After a good base coat to avoid staining, apply a light pink to eight nails and lavender colour to one nail on each hand - choose a different nail on each hand. I used Bourjois So Laque Ultra Shine in Rose Satin for the pink and Prevail Nail Lacquer in Lush Lounge for the lavender.

Once dry, using a white nail art pen such as Models Own Nail Art Pen in white draw a deep semi circle on the lavender nails

Step 2 - Outline semi circle

Then fill in the top half of the semi circle with one coat of white - I used Models Own Pro Limited Edition in French White

Step 3 - Fill in outline

Allow the white to dry and then create the cupcake base by adding a pink tip with a 'frilly' base. Just paint across the tip moving the brush in a zigzag motion to give the impression of frosting. I used Models Own in Pastel Pink.

Step 4 - add cupcake base

While that dries, start applying the various designs to different nails. Firstly, I created candy stripes using a thin brush and Bourjois One Second Texture Silcone Gel Nail Enamel in Rose Cupcake (apt name!)

Step 5 - Candy stripes

On another nail I did a 'hundreds and thousand' style design adding random small dots of various pastel colours, just using the corner edge of each brush. My selection of colours were Rimmel 60 Seconds 620 'How do you Lilac it', No7 Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Minty Fresh, Nail Paint by Barry M in Lemon Ice Cream, Ruby & Millie Nail Colour in Green 710C and Bourjois One Second Texture Silcone Gel Nail Enamel in Rose Cupcake.

Step 6 - Hundreds and thousands

On my little fingernail I created a simple white polka dot design using the dotter on the Models Own white nail art pen.

Step 7 - polka dots

Now, going back to the cupcake fingers apply vertical stripes to define the cupcake case. I used a Models Own Nail Art Pen in Pink.

Step 8 - Define cupcake base

On the last nail add a wide tip using the lavender base colour of the cupcake nail

Step 9 - Lavender tip

Now back to the cupcake finger, using the colours used on the 'hundreds and thousands' nail add some small random flecks to the white part of the cupcake and a bejewelled cherry on top. I used a pink rhinestone from an assortment pack, Broadway Nails Fashion Diva 3D Art Deluxe Nail & Body Art Kit. The best way to apply these is to add a dot of clear top coat to the nail and then using a toothpick, deep the end in some clear top coat, pick up the rhinestone and dot it on.

Step 10 - Finishing touches to cupcake

Add a shiny top coat to all nails and there you have it... nails good enough to eat (not literally!)!
Here's a shot of the other hand...

and here's the kit

The kit

Happy painting...the nailist xxx