Alphabet Nail Art Challenge : A for Aztec

Helloooo everyone ! So I'm back with a new post sooner than I had anticipated as I've found a great way for me to try to post more often this month ! I've been thinking of doing a nail art challenge for a while, and I found this "Alphabet Nail Art Challenge" image floating around the internet so I decided I'd give it a try ! From what I've gathered, this challenge was developed by atxlacquerista ! Here's the outline for the challenge :

So as today is the first day, let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start ♫) ! "A is for Aztec", and it's been almost a whole year since I last had a go at aztec/tribal print ! I looked through a few google pictures to give me some inspiration for the design and then I just went ahead on did different designs on each nail !

For this design I started by doing a watercolour design for the base and then I painted the aztec print on top. I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and I used OPI Planks a Lot, OPI Sparrow Me the Drama and Essie Mint Candy Apple for the watercolour, then I used my Models Own black nail art pen to draw the design. I ended up leaving my right hand with just the watercolour base as I couldn't be bothered to do such an intricate design (I tried on my thumb and it looked awful so I just stopped there) !

You may have also noticed that I chopped all my nails down... as much as I liked the mini-pointed-nails look, I didn't like the length and I just decided it was time forme to have short nails again. I much prefer the size now, and they're much easier to look after !

So that's all I've got for you today ! I'll be back again tomorrow with tomorrow's challenge : bows, although I'll be sad to see this aztec design go, I REALLY love the way it looks, definitely one to try again in the future !

NOTD : Framed Watercolour

Hellooooo everybody ! So I'm doing a really quick post this evening as I've got to get moving, staying with a friend tonight so I won't be able to post anything at my usual time ! I actually did my nails at a reasonable time today, which means that this  post is ready to be done nice and early before I have to go !

So I hadn't initially planned on doing framed nails, as I was going to attempt doing "spotted" nails, however that failed miserably, and my watercolour base needed something to make it pop ! I think this design looks far more effective in person than it does in the photos, as the close-up really shows up the imperfections !

For this design, the nail varnishes I used were OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, OPI Dim Sum Plum, OPI Planks A Lot, OPI My Very First Knockwurst and Essie Mint Candy Apple. For the framing, I used American Apparel Hassid, some nails turned out better than others, especially on my left hand compared to my right hand, but it's minor when looking at them from a distance !

So that'll be all for this evening ! I'll hopefully do my nails again tomorrow if I finish my homework early enough, we'll have to see !

Have a great evening everybody !

NOTD : Pink Watercolour

Hey there everyone ! So these are today's nails, my official moving-back-to-the-UK nails ! As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm moving back to England to study at the University of Bath, so I've got a huge relocation of all my stuff to do ! Don't worry though, all my nail polish is coming with me, I'm not leaving anything behind ! So I wanted something fun and bright for today's nails, as I don't know when my next opportunity to change them will be, and I'm really happy with how they turned out !

I've tried a similar design to this before, my first ever watercolour nails in fact (which I haven't posted on this blog) with a similar colour scheme, but the brush I used to achieve the watercolour effect was far too small and fine, and the result didn't end up as I would have wanted it to ! I think that this watercolour design looks a lot more as though I'd used saran wrap, even though I didn't, I think it's because the colours don't really contrast at all, but I love it like this !

For this design I used OPI Steady As She Rose for the base, I put a coat of Seche Vite over that and then for the watercolour effect I used OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, OPI Dim Sum Plum and OPI Strawberry Margarita. All I did was blob down each colour, one at a time, and then dab them with a large brush dipped in acetone. You have to make sure you wait for the topcoat over your base colour to dry completely though, because otherwise the acetone just works straight down onto the nail and gets rid of any polish you have on your nail !

So that's it for now everyone ! No more NOTDs for another week, but... I can now reveal what the theme for this week's series is going to be : TMH Fashion Week ! I have a whole week of fashion-inspired nail art for you all, so make sure you stay tuned, as they'll be scheduled to post in the evenings !

Also, I forgot to mention yesterday, I hit over 100 followers ! I'm so happy, I can't believe it's only been 2 months since I first started posting on here, and I can't believe how quickly it's all going ! I also have a giveaway for you to all look forward to, which I'll post once I get back to regular posting after I move in at Bath, so keep a lookout for that !

Oh, and I haven't shown you the outcome of the Essence Peel-Off base coat ! I'm kinda on the wall for this one, as much as I hate taking gitter off with the foil method, taking the glitter off this way didn't save much time ! For some reason the glitter didn't just peel off in one big sheet, I had real trouble trying to lift it, and in fact the nail which lifted off easiest was the nail I didn't leave to dry completely ! Who knows ! Any tips/advice you can give me from your experience ? Here's a photo of the carnage after I finished taking off all the glitter !

Have a great week everyone ! See you a week on Monday !

As Seen On : Rebecca Likes Nails

So at this current moment I am on holiday in Cologne (and will be for the next few days), so I've got a whole 6 days of scheduled posts for you, as part of an "As Seen On..." series. So from Monday to Saturday, I'll be featuring some of the very first nail blogs I started reading, bloggers who inspired me to start my very own nail art blog, and re-creating one of their manicures for each day of this series !

Hey there everybody ! So here we go for the first day of my "As Seen On..." series, and I'm kicking it off with the lady who inspired me to set up these scheduled posts : Rebecca from Rebecca Likes Nails ! Rebecca's blog was one of the first ones that I discovered when I first started searching for nail art on the internet, and I have now been a loyal reader and follower for over a year now. She does an "As Seen On..." series every time she goes on holiday, and I figured it'd be a great way to keep in contact with my followers whilst I'm on holiday ! So, on to what you all came here for : the nails !

The first design I chose to feature this week is Rebecca's pastel watercolour leopard nails. I loved this design as soon as she posted it, and I can't believe I never got round to re-creating it before now ! I used her watercolour tutorial with similar colours to the original ones she used to create the base, and then just stamped over the top once the base design was dry.

So the polishes I used were unfortunately all different to Rebecca's original design, but I think the end look turned out pretty similar ! I used OPI Alpine Snow for the white base, then for the watercolour base I used OPI Strawberry Margarita, Barry M Yellow, Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream and Barry M Bright Purple. I then used the leopard stamp from my Konad M57 plate to stamp on top of the watercolour base using Konad Special Black.

I seriously loved this design during the small amount of time it was actually on my nails, that being said, I really couldn't resist not trying out some of my nail mail that arrived from the Born Pretty Store when I had this design on !

And that's it for today's post guys ! I hope you enjoyed today's kick-off for this week's series ! Also, don't hesitate to go and check out Rebecca's blog if you haven't already done so ! Her work is amazing, and good news : she's starting to post more nail art on a regular basis ! This makes me happy !

Enjoy the rest of your day !

15 Day Nail Challenge (Day 8) : Leopard Print + BONUS Photos

Hey guys ! So today for Makeup Savvy's nail challenge the theme is leopard print, which just so happens to be one of my favourite designs EVER, so I'm really super excited to be sharing this manicure with you today.

Ta da ! Traditional leopard print ! I did contemplate doing a different colour scheme for this design, but I ended up going for the traditional colours because they're my favourite ! Maybe some day soon I'll do some nice different coloured leopard print, but for now I'm happy sticking to this.

So the polishes I used for this leopard print design were OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh ?, OPI You Don't Know Jacques and my Models Own Wah Nails nail art pen in black. I love how the nail art pen manages to just bring all the design together, it's been ages since I wore a full blown leopard print design and I love it !

And that's it for the leopard print today. But before I go, as you saw in the post title I have some bonus photos of some friends' nails I did today for a wedding they're going to next week, so here they are ! On the left is Sheelagh who had a teal/turquoise watercolour design to match her dress, and on the right is Thalia who had purple skittles to go with her purple dress she'll be wearing.

And that's it for today ! Hope you liked the leopard print as much as I do !

Floral Watercolour

When I woke up this morning I still had no idea as to which of my previous nail designs I was going to post for you today. However, my mum asked me to do her nails earlier on and she wanted this particular design I did about two months ago.

I had seen this tutorial by Rebecca and decided I could apply it in a different manner to just plain watercolour nails (I tried this design a few weeks beforehand). And so, the watercolour floral was born. I quite liked this design, but wasn't head over heels about it, my mother on the other hand absolutely loved it !

Sadly, this mani only lasted about 24 hours as I used cuticle cream and other moisturisers after having taken off my previous nails, and forgot to go over them with remover before starting to paint. I spent the whole of the next day at school peeling off the dried polish in whole pieces (so much fun) and took them all home with me !

The colours I used for this manicure were (careful there's quite a few) OPI Alpine Snow for the base, then for the actual flowery bits I used Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream, OPI Mermaid's Tears, OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, OPI Strawberry Margarita, OPI Big Apple Red, OPI Skull and Glossbones, P2 Hug Me !, and then I used my black Models Own nail art pen to do the little black accents on the flowers.

Bonus photo of my right hand as I think it turned out pretty good in comparison to my left one. I guess it's a pretty easy design to make look good on both hands seeing as it doesn't really require any real precision. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, these and colour scheme were roughly inspired by these shoes at Irregular Choice (man, I love their shoes !).

Anyway that's it for today ! See y'all tomorrow !