80s disco ball

Very quick post tonight as I'm mid gift wrapping and general Christmas business!

I absolutely love this glitter polish - and the W7 brand in general... they have such a wide and usual variety of shades and, although on the budget end of the market, they're great quality. Nail Polish Direct have a good selection.

The glitter polish is two coats of W7 in Moondust (I even love the name!). Then, as the glitter reminded my of a disco glitter ball, I added an 80s inspired zig zag line. First, a single line using a Models Own nail art pen in black. Then, a line either side of the black using Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique dot & flick pen in pink.

Here's my right hand...

All finished off with a coat of W7 top coat.

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Studded pink party nails!

It was my work Christmas do this week so I set about creating some party worthy nails. I bought some silver ball nail art studs a while ago so, as I was aiming for a bit of bling, I thought I'd try them out. I'm really happy with the result but did struggle firstly, with the top coat which went a bit bubbly for some reason and secondly, with actually taking a decent photo - believe me they look a lot better in the flesh!

I started off with two coats of Max Factor Nailffinity in Onyx. Once dried, I free hand added inverted pink triangles using Bourjois 10 days no chips in shade 15. Then the time consuming bit began... the balls are individually stuck on using top coat and a cutcile stick. So one nail at a time I painted top coat on in a line where I wanted to add the balls. Then, by adding a bit of top coat to the end of a cuticle stick you can pick up the little silver balls and dab them onto the nail. Add the top coat line by line and nail by nail, otherwise it will dry too quickly.

Then to make sure they were all sealed on, I finished three coats of Seche Vite quick dry top coat. I think I added these too quickly one after another  - hence the bubbling... lesson learned for next time!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Unleash your inner pink

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month so I'm unleashing my inner pink in support of the campaign!

I started with a one coat base colour of No7 Stay Perfect in Milan, which is gorgeous dense glitter polish... one of my favourites. Then free hand painted the baby pink, which is Models Own Nail Polish in Pastel Pink, over the full nail leaving a slightly curved peek-a-boo triangle at the base. I actually originally added a defining line of bright pink with a Models Own Nail Art Pen but it was too luminous, so I went over the top using a striping brush and Bourjois 10 Days No Chips shade 15 - which is why the lines look a bit like country lanes! Oh well.. it's for charity!

Check out Breast Cancer Care's Pink Friday's fundraising page for ideas of how you can 'Unleash your inner pink'

Happy Painting... the nailist xxx

Stamping!

As you will see I've given the blog a bit of a facelift today - if you normally view on a mobile take a look on a desktop if you can. Hope you like it!

Now I've been obsessed with nails and nail art for over 20 years but it's only since starting this blog that I've discovered nail stamping. I've always been a free hand nail artist and pride myself on having a pretty steady hand but there's only so much detail you can achieve. So after reading about nail stamping on various other blogs and seeing the amazing designs that can be achieved, I decided to invest in some Konad stamping equipment. I bought a stamper and scraper and the Bundle Monster 25pc plates from Amazon and got started... turns out there's obviously a knack which hopefully comes with practice! My first attempt isn't great and I was in two minds whether to share but thought I might as well so hopefully we'll see some progress in future posts.

I started with two coats of Max Factor Limited Edition Nailfinity in Onyx. Then, taking plate number BM-205, I used No7 Anniversary Colour 50's Bobby Socks to create the butterfly design. You basically paint the colour onto the plate, scrap off the excess, lift the design off the plate with the stamper and then stamp onto your nail in a rolling action. There's loads of tutorials on YouTube. Konad is the main manufacturer and they do have Konad polishes, which they say you should use, but looking at other blogs you can use normal polishes too, although I suspect there's certain ones which work better.

The kit

Watch this space for better attempts!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx