how to create a funky flower nail bed

Spring is here! It must be given all this lovely sun. I love this time of year when the sun is out and warm but it is still breezy and cool.. The time of year I don't have to wear suncream!

So in hope that this summer will last, I rejigged my previous floral design (see it here in the original post) and have done a little tutorial, a wee step by step for you to kick start your summer!

What you need:

NYC In a Minute

Nails Inc Gel Effect in Mayfair Lane

Gosh in Splish Splash and Misty Mauve

Models Own in Pukka Purple

Rio Professional Nail Pen in Bright Pink

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Base Coat

Dotting Tool

1. Apply your base coat , then on top give yourself a nice generous coat of your base colour (I used my NYC shade of blue). 

2. Use the larger end of your dotting tool to create the base of your flower (or the petals if you will) dotting in a circle and then filling the centre (you can use as many colours as you like here but make sure you have a lighter shade in them for the next step), like below:

3. Use the smaller end of your dotting tool (the smallest you can find) and put little dots on your flowers to create a more textured/3D effect in lighter shades, like below:

4. Now, again with your smallest dotting tool, ad some little green leaves. by placing your tool down as though creating a dot, but dragging to the side slightly as you pull away (don't worry about it being perfect, not all leaves are the same!), like below:

5. Apply your top coat et voila! TIP: Always use a base coat when applying nail art/design/dots of any kind as a good top coat smoothes out everything!

Hope you like and find it as easy as it is!

@pawsandclaws101 - Always Instagramming

@pawsnclaws101 - And Tweeting

xxx

gelly on a plate

Finally decided to give this gel effect varnish craze a go as the idea seemed interesting. And even though I've never had the real thing .. My friends and mum get them regularly and recommend them for their long lasting quality and no chip policy. However appealing this sounded I was never keen to invest due to fact I have a tendency to change my nails 2-3 times a week (I've even had those rare quiet weeks where I've had time to redo them every day)...

So, this alternate polish sounded really quite perfect. I picked the Mayfair Lane shade by Nails Inc and gave it a glitter tip and even added, on researching, a non chip coat of my all time love, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat.

The result?

I loved the result, I was expecting a really thick consistency but it went on and felt like a regular polish. Once it had dried it just looked and felt the same as a good polish... no different really.

The chipperness?

I don't really have a job that means I am prone to chipping my nail varnish however I always manage to somehow. So, I was bound to chip them .. and so I did today.. I applied the nail varnish 3 days ago and honestly this is 2 days over my average wait to chip a nail. So I was impressed with the wait.. I think on anyone else it would have been a week!

The aftermath?
The only thing I am not very impressed with this polish is that my nails now feel really brittle and they were just starting to feel strong.. especially the tips where I've been chipping away the nail polish on the tube ride home, which means I have broken two of my nails ahhh!

I think despite the aftermath, if I treat my nails with something, the polish is successful in it's mission and I do think I'll invest in some more gel effect polishes. Will you?

what's black and white and not so red all over?

The answer to that would be my Louis Vuitton nails - inspired by the S/S 14 showstopper that Edie Campbell strutted along the catwalks inspiring every designer possible to tear fashion limb from limb, scribble all over it, stick some feathers on it and create themselves a masterpiece -

As print is going to be a huge trend, more specifically lettering/typography, this Spring/Summer season this stunt of body graffiti done by Stephen Sprouse is well in fitting with what we will be wearing in a couple of months time - some already. 

And as the whole show set to inspire thousands based on LV's past 16 years of fashion experience and artistry in turn it inspired me and my next set of nail art. I am entering a little instagram competition by @Glittr and the theme is black and white. So, instantly I was going to enter a totally 'Black and White Ball' design with elements of my Wolf on Wall Street design (see it here, it's a massive favourite of mine!).. But for some reason I just couldn't nail it. (excuse the pun)

And as my nails got weary of the reapplication of white polish I remembered how much I loved the design that I transferred onto my nails a little white ago (here is the post) and bada bing bada boom - hey presto - voila.. this is the result...

Hope you love! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

giving in to the gradient

So I promised all my insta-followers I would pop up a tutorial of the latest marbling I've done.

This is probably my favourite design (however it's not in my favourite colours) and I am going to do a black/white version tonight (for a little competition) that I'll post up tomorrow for you all to see. Either way everyone that has seen them has asked 'How did you do that?' 

And when I say 'With a tool, its actually much easier than it looks' - They do not believe me! 

So a quick tutorial to show how easy it is is just want we need. I'd love to do a video but I can't video myself! - however much a tried holding the camera with my chin/propping it up on my dvds/getting my teddy to hold it - I failed everytime.

Hopefully though this step by step will still help and you can have a go yourself and instagram/tweet me the results because I would love to see if it really is as easy I think!

what you need:  

a small dotting tool/needle if you don't have tools

two shades of polish you think work perfectly together - 

I chose Cheeky's Minted and Purpl-exed shades (these are currently available on the website at £7.00 each, just click the names to get to wear you want to go)

step one

 Apply - to a primped and prepped nail with a shiny base coat - your first polish to the bottom half of the nail like below, (don't worry if it isn't neat or straight or over half way for that matter).

step two

Apply your second polish to the top of the nail - making sure as much of the nail is covered as possible, like below:

step three

Now, quickly before it dries, swirl the tool/needle through the nail polish. Working from one colour to another in circle motions creating the below:

Now if you aren't happy with your design you can always redo it, like I did...

Once happy with your design you can carry on with the rest of the nails and then give yourself a shiny or matte top coat and you can end up with something like the below:

You can use this design as a feature nail or use three colours to make things more interesting!

Have fun lovelies x

@pawsandclaws101 for instagramming

@pawsnclaws101 for tweeting