Polish Post #6: Coloured Corners

A really easy one this time. You won’t need any nail art pens, dotting tools or fancy skills for this one. Just a simple way to make your nails look jazzy.

I started off by giving my nails a bit of prep this time as they looked in need of a spruce up. I used the Models Own 4 Way Buffing Block to file, smooth, buff and shine the surface of my nails creating a super smooth surface for my polish.

Models Own 4 Way Buffing Block

The polishes I used for this particular design were black and pink but you can use whatever colour combinations take your fancy.

L-R: Sally Hansen Base Coat, Rimmel London 60 Seconds in Black Out, Rimmel London 60 Seconds in Pulsating and Rimmel London Pro Wear Top Coat

Give your nails the customary swish of base coat, once dry add a couple of layers of black polish.

Then taking the other colour of your choice (in my case pink) clear any unnecessary/excess polish off the brush and paint a diagonal line across the corner of your nail(s.) Don’t worry about getting any polish on your fingers, you can clean that off later with a Q-tip. Depending on the thickness of the polish you use you may have to go over this a couple of times to make it really stand out. Once your happy with the look of your ‘corner’ give it a lick of top coat.

To give this design a little something extra I then added some small glitter stickers to the centre of my nails. You can choose to leave out this step if you wish and just stick with the corners.

The stickers I used are not actually nail stickers just bog standard sticky back glitter circles which you’d be able to find in craft/stationary shops.

Simply place a glitter sticker in the middle of each nail putting on a bit of pressure to make sure they stick, to seal them in place and give the design a nice shine finish with a another top coat or two.

Jemm xoxo

Polish Post #5: Lace Look Nails

I spent my bank holiday monday chilling and trying out this new nail design. I rather like it, although I do feel with a bit more practise I’d be able to get it that little bit neater as a degree of steady-handedness is required. This look would be easy to modify and change up by using different colours.

Here’s how I achieved this effect.

L-R: Sally Hansen Base Coat, Bourjois 1 Second Innovation in number 9, Models Own Snow White, Rimmel London Top Coat, Dotting tools.

I began with the usual base coat then painted on two coats of the Bourjois polish. Wait for this to dry.

Then using the white and making sure the brush wasn’t overloaded with polish I painted a diagonal section across the corner of each nail. Because I used white I needed to go over these sections a couple of times to get the coverage I wanted. Once again I waited for this to dry.

Then by taking the green dotting tool and dipping it into the white polish I went along the edges of the diagonal lines to create the frilly look of the lace.

Next I used the purple and slightly smaller dotting tool to place three dots over the white sections making the holes in the lace. Once this was dry I gave my nails 2-3 coats of top coat to seal the design and make it shine.

Jemm xoxo

Polish Post #4: Ombre (fade) Nails

The ombre trend is pretty hot right now and it’s not just confined to your hair. Get more nail colour for your money by adding the fade out, why have just one shade on your fingers when you can have two? Or three if you’re really pushing the boat out.

Here’s the how to:

To begin with these were the products and tools that I used to create this effect

L-R Sally Hansen Base Coat, Models Own Snow White, Models Own Bubble Gum, Models Own Nail Art Pen Black, Rimmel London Top Coat. Cut up make up sponge.

First off give your nails a base coat, then apply the white polish. Usually with white polish you don’t get the opacity you need right away so it may take a couple of coats, I applied three.

Once dry take your sponge and dip the edge into some pink (or any colour of your choice) polish. Dab this onto the tips of your nails gradually taking it lighter as you move downwards. Don’t worry about it looking messy or a bit uneven, the effect doesn’t have to look perfect. Continue this process on the rest of your nails.

If you like you can finish at this point by just adding a top coat but I wanted to give this design a little something extra. I added a flash of leopard print to an accent nail. 

To create the leopard print design I used a black Models Own nail art pen. To get the leopard effect draw shapes like these:

Give it a good five minutes for the nail pen to dry as it does have a tendency to smudge if you put on a top coat too soon. Give your nails more than one swish of top coat to really protect all your hard work and to ensure that you get a good shine. 

And Ta-Da! The finished product!

Jemm xoxo

Polish Post # 3: Glitters

Something quick and easy today folks because some days you just don’t have the time or the inclination to spend on nail art. But that doesn’t mean that your little finger canvases should go unadorned. Glitters are the perfect way to jazz up your hands and the best part is there is  little to no skill or effort required. God bless you glitter.

Here is the look my fingers are rocking at the moment: 

I’ve had a few requests to show how I did it so here is the easiest step by step EVER (brought to you on Mamma Smith’s nail so snaps to ya Mamma Smith:)

Its always a good idea to start with the products you need

L-R: Sally Hansen base coat, Rimmel London 60 Second polish in Black Out, Models Own polish in Juicy Jules, Barry M polish in Pink Iridescent, Rimmel London Super Wear top coat.

First off I painted on some base coat and then gave my nails a generous two coats of black polish

I let the black polish dry before adding glitter polish ( Models Own Juicy Jules) to the base of my nail, working my way up the nail to approximately half way. You may need more than one coat of glitter to get the opacity required.

I gave the Juicy Jules glitter already on my nail a minute to set then used the Barry M Pink Iridescent glitter above it to take the glitter coverage on my nail to about three quarters.

To finish off I gave my nails a few minutes to set then covered them in two coats of top polish to really make them shine. And boom! Your done.

Glitters are usually renowned for taking for- freaking- ever to dry but the two that I used are my faves as they get the job done in a matter of minutes and even better they’re both dirt cheap. Winner.

If those take your fancy here are some other sparkle designs to give you a bit of inspiration:

Glitter Tips

MIdnight Nails

Glitter Base

Or for something a bit extra spesh how about

Glitter Leopard Print

Jemm xoxo

P.s. This isn’t turning into a nail art blog, promise! There will hopefully be a new post up in the coming week : )

 

 

Polish Post #2: Florals & Polka Dots

With all this lovely weather we’ve been having I wanted to fashion up my fingers for spring, and on the day I decide to paint on some finger florals, it rains. Typical. 

I love this design as it looks super effective but its actually really simple to achieve. You can also mix up the colour combinations and make it as bright or as neutral as you prefer. I’ll probably stick with more pastel shades for spring then brighten this design up in the summer by using vivid hues and neons. 

These are the products I used:

(L-R) Sally Hansen Base Coat, Topshop Mannequin, Rimmel London Pulsating, Topshop Parma Violet, Topshop Gone Fishing, Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black & White, Rimmel Top Coat.

I started off by painting on one cover of base coat and then two coats of my chosen base colour which was Topshops ‘Mannequin’. I then added circular blobs of Rimmel London’s ‘Pulsating’ (to four fingers) and Topshops ‘Parma Violet’ (to one finger, creating an accent nail.) For the leaves I added little flicks of Topshops ‘Gone Fishing.’ Like This:

I then went round the edges of these blobs and flicks, defining them as flowers and leaves by out lining them using my Models Own black Nail Art Pen:

I added the white polka dots in-between the floral design using the white Models Own Pen and voila!:

I left the design a good 15-20 minutes to dry before adding any topcoat as I didn’t want the design to smudge, however once it was fully dry I added a generous two coats of top polish to really protect my floral work of art!

Jemm xoxo

Polish Post #1: Galaxies

Hello lovely readers! This little idea here is probably one for the ladies (but if there are any fellas interested then hey I’m good with that!) Now I don’t confess to being a beauty blogger, a quick scroll through the posts on this blog makes that pretty obvious and there are far too many brilliant beauty blogs out there for me to want to muscle in on the action. But I have to admit to kinda liking this little idea.

I’m a bit of a nail polish enthusiast and can never resist trying out a new design that takes my fancy. In the past when I have posted up pics of my fabulous fingers on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram I’ve received lots of comments on what products I use, how I do it etc etc. Recently a friend asked if I could keep a photo diary of my decorated nails and I suggested doing a series of short posts (polish posts) on here every time I paint a new design. I asked various other readers if they would like to see such posts on the blog and they told me to get right on it! So here it is. These polish posts will keep you informed every time I fashion up my fingers with a funky new design. I’ll also post up some pics of past polishes, as I seem to have accumulated quite a few!

Here’s the look my nails are rocking at the moment:

Galaxy Nails

Here are the polishes I used:

Sally Hansen Base & Top Coat, Models Own Top Coat, Models Own In The Navy, Models Own Snow White, Barry M Vivid Purple, Rimmel London's Pulsating, Models Own Nail Art Pen in white & Bourjois Glitter.

Wedge shaped make-up sponge with the top cut off. I used this to create the design.

If you would like a more precise step by step explanation of how I create my nail designs let me know in the comments and I will include this  in future polish posts.

Ciao for now.

Jemm xoxo