Pastels

Before the nicer weather goes away and I have to give in to fall colours, I decided to do a design with my two favourite pastels. I love these colours together! The pink takes a few layers so I painted it first as a base and then painted the mint on last. The silver is striping tape that was put on when the paint dried. Simple as that!

Essie in Fiji and American Apparel in Office.

Lil Cupcake

These nails were done for baker who likes all things girlie and pink - a good fit. I keep seeing cupcake nails floating around the internet and I just had to try it out. The fun part is I did these nails while drinking wine! I think I did pretty good? Steady hands is all you need. 

There isn't much to say about them as they were done by hand. The middle fingernail has an ombre effect on it that can be done with a makeup sponge. There are a couple ways to do it and many different tutorials online, but this one by the Nailasaurus is easy to follow.

Orly in French Tips and Lollipop, Essie in Fiji, Sally Hasen Insta-Dri in Blue-Away and Lickety-Split Lime, Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in Lacey Lilac.

Set in Stone

I am in love with these nails! The best part? It's so easy to do! To get this effect paint one coat of sparkles 3/4 down your nail and then a thicker 2nd and 3rd coat at the base by dabbing it on instead of brushing it. It creates a pretty gradient affect with the sparkles. Voila! Way too easy.

Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in Mint Sorbet and Essie Set in Stones.


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Patterns

Had my friend over to do her nails. She picked out this design! It was all done by hand so it took many hours to complete, especially with all out chatting. First I painted on the triangles as a base and finished with the poka-dots and stripes.

China Glaze in Lemon Fizz and Shocking Pink and Orly in Lollipop, Charged Up and White Tips.

Pretty in Pink

These were some nails I did for my friend. I love them! I used microbeads and placed them all on the nail by hand. This Essie polish takes forever to dry, so I placed the beads on carefully while it was tacky. Gently push them into the polish when you place them on, either with a dotting tool or tweezers. Once you have covered the whole nail put on a good quality top coat. I used Orly Polishield. Melissa has reported back to me that the manicure is lasting very well, despite the abuse she is putting them through. If the polish dries too fast and you can't get the beads to stay on, use a dotting tool to put a bit of clear coat on as glue and place the bead on top.

The ring finger is detailed with silver striping tape I bought off eBay. Make sure the polish dries completely first before pushing the tape on.

Essie in Fiji

Herringbone

Right now one of my favourite patterns is herringbone. I love this design. You can change it so easily with different colours. For these nails I first painted the three stripes of colour on and second I hand painted the lines on. All this takes is a steady hand and some patience!

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Blue-Away, Stripe Rite #1C24 (pink), Kiss Nail Art Paint #BI1025 (yellow), Sally Hansen Salon in black. 

Cherry Blossoms

I did these nails for my Mom in a colour that she would never normally wear. My Mom doesn't usually wear nail polish on her hands, and when she does it's the same boring colours! So I convinced her to let me take control and this is what I came up with. I'm happy to say it's actually growing on her and she's even excited for the next manicure.

This was a fairly simple look to complete. I used a striping brush to pain on the branches. You want to paint those wider at the base and make them come to a point at the end. After that I used a dotter to create the light pink flowers. I didn't make them perfect and I varied the amount of pedals from flower to flower to make it more natural. The centre of the flower is a dark pink.

Nicole by OPI Alex by the Books, Essie colour #152, and a mixture of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Fuchsia Power and Orly Lollipop.