Purple Heaven

This is one of my favourite nail art designs yet. I tried my first one stroke flower and used gem stones for the first time. 

Step 1

Apply a base coat. Paint on the base colours: white on the index, middle and little fingers; lilac on he ring finger and dark purple on the thumb. 

Step 2

Use a striping brush to apply dark coloured diagonal stripes on the index finger, and a lilac on the little finger.

Step 3

Dot on a lilac onto the middle finger with a smaller sized dotter. 

Step 4

Create a one stroke flower on one side of the ring finger. You need a one stroke brush to do this, its got a slight angle to its straight top. Make sure its damp but the excess water is wiped off. Dip the longer end in the purple and the shorter end in a white acrylic paint. Make a few brush strokes to mix the colours slightly. Make curved strokes to form each petal. I created two layers, one on top, then three petals on the bottom to finish the flower. 

Step 5

Time to apply the "gems". Have 4 lilac gems on the surface right way up and a dotting tool with a blob of topcoat at the ready. Stripe a line of topcoat down the thumb. Dip the dotting tool in topcoat and use it to pick up the gems, place them evenly down the stipe of top coat on your thumb. Using the same technique apply a silver gem to the flower where all the petals meet. 

Step 6

Apply a base coat to all the nails. 

Breaking Bad Nail Art

How amazing are these? My inspiration was the up coming release of the new series of Breaking Bad (on of my favourite ever shows) on the 11th of August and a mash up of a few designs I've seen on Google Images. 

Step 1

Apply your base coat on all nails

Step 2

Apply the MUA fur effect nails on your index and little finger. Click the link to find out how: MUA Fur Effect Tutorial. You could use any textured blue nail art for that. 

Step 3 

Paint your middle and ring finger with a green paint. I used acrylics since they run less when applying a top coat so don't mess up your design. 

Step 4 

Paint your thumb with white paint.

Step 5 

Paint the lines and letters on the middle and ring finger in white. Again, I went for acrylic, though if you used green nail polish, I'd use white nail polish rather than acrylic to match. 

Step 6 

Draw Heizenberg on your thumb with black paint in the following order: hat, face shape, glasses, nose then moustache.

Step 7

Top all but the blue textured nails with a top coat to protect your design. 

MUA Fur-Effect Nails Application and Review

Step 1

Apply a base colour coat of nail varnish as usual. Pick a colour to co-ordinate with the fur. I've gone for Nails Inc Baker Street.

Step 2

Take the sifter off your fur-effect pot. This is messy so I'd do it on a piece of paper to catch any excess, you can put this back into the pot. Tip about a quarter of the fur into the lid of the pot. 

Do the following steps on each nail in turn

Step 3

Apply a second coat of your base colour onto one nail. Make sure there is a piece of paper underneath to catch the excess fur. Quickly, while it is still very wet, shake fur from the lid of your pot over your nail. Pile it up all over the nail, don't worry about waste, we'll salvage any excess. 

Step 4 

Press on the piled up fur onto your nail. Turn your finger to the side and tap it to tap off the excess fur onto the paper. 

Step 5 

Fold the paper in half and tap the excess fur back into the lid.

Repeat this process on all nails. 

Don't use a top coat on this manicure because it will spoil the effect. 

Review

MUA Fur-effect nails is sold at £3 in Superdrug. I only used about an eighth to a sixth of the product, so it's good value. I really hate the sifter, it stops the product being tipped out so I took that off straight away (poked a dotting tool through one of the holes and prised it off) and got blue stuff all over the couch. Apart from that, its a really easy to use product with a great effect. I'll add in later the long term review. 

Watch out for a Breaking Bad nail art tutorial I will be doing soon when the new season is aired. 

Dr Who Nail Art for Manchester Comic Con

These are the nails that I wore to Manchester Comic Con. I chose to paint my nails in a nerdy fashion instead of wearing a costume. I find unless your willing to spend a lot of money on a costume it can look a bit silly, and it was unbelievably hot so I'm glad I didn't dress up. 

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy comic com too much. I'm not a big fan of cartoons or Anamai, I essentially went because Nathan (the other half) wanted to go and I heard Warwick Davis and Robot Wars were going to be there. In the end the queue for Warwick Davis was so long and hot that I thought if I stayed there long enough to get to him I'd probably faint (I tend to faint standing up in the heat for too long). I was so hot and bored that we left before Robot Wars started, it looked small and rubbish anyway, not like the cool show I remember. I think I expected it to be like what I have seen of the San Diego Comic Con, with characters from my favourite shows giving talks. It wasn't like that at all. The costumes were interesting to look at, and there were some cool memorabilia like Olivander Wands, Canvas pictures of the avengers and Game of Thrones T-shirts. I won't be going to Manchester's Comic Con again. However, if I happen to be in San Diego when Comic Con is on, I'll give that a go, I might even dress up. 

Glossy and Matte Black Nails

You will need 

• Base coat
• Black nail varnish 
• Sellotape
• Scissors
• Matte black nail varnish or matte top coat

Step 1

Use a base coat to protect your nails. I use OPI Nail Envy Matte, which can also double as a matte top coat. 

Step 2

Paint two coats of glossy black nail varnish on all your nails. 

Step 3

You can either leave it to dry COMPLETELY without a top coat, or add a fast drying top coat which should speed up the drying time but still leave it for a while to let it dry hard. 

Step 4

Cut up your Sellotape to make two equal rectangular strips. Place one on the bottom half of the nail, the edge ending in the middle and one on the top half of the nail, the edge ending in the middle but protecting the other side of the nail.  Do this to all your nails, make sure the bottoms are all protecting the same side and the tops are all protecting the same side. 

Step 5

Paint the unprotected nail with matte nail varnish. 

Step 6

Allow the matte nail varnish to touch dry, then remove the Sellotape while its not hard dry to prevent chips coming off. 

You're done!

This is a great way to jazz up a plain black nail you've had on for a couple of days before a night out. 

Rainbow Dots

Dotted nails are one of the easiest, fastest and yet eye catching nail art designs there are. This is just one of the ways to do a dotted nail. I think it looks bright and summery,  perfect for this weather. 

There are just two easy steps a dotted nail: apply a base colour (you don't even need that if you don't want), then add your dots. 

The above photo shows two sizes of dotting tool. You can get a set of 5 cheaply from amazon or ebay. The largest the ball at the end, the larger the size of the dot. You could substitute a small dotting tool for a tooth pick for certain designs. 

Pop a blob of polish on a spare piece of paper. Touch your tool to the polish as far in as it can go. Then dot on to your nail. 

Tip: Keep your tool evenly covered with polish and make sure  the pressure you use to dot onto your nail is even. This keeps the dots the same size. 

Have fun with the different colour combinations and different sized dots you can use. Keep posted for some more dotted designs. 

Tip: Search "dotted nail art" for inspiration. 

Bunny Rabbit Nail Art

Step 1 

Apply a base coat to your nails. 

This provides a good base for your nail varnish to stick to and protects your nails from staining. I go for OPI Nail Envy, I believe it helps my nails grow stronger and longer. 

Step 2 

Apply two coats of a base colour. In this case I have gone with a lilac colour. Any colour except white can be used at this stage. 

Step 3

Add a large rounded white tip to your nails. I use the nail varnish brush at this stage: make a brush stoke in the middle about a quarter up your nail, then join that stroke to the corners of your nail with a rounded stroke. This stage often needs two coats. Don't worry if it's not perfect, bunnies are fluffy anyway!

Step 4

Add two ears to each rounded tip. I use a dotting tool for this (tooth picks, or bobby pins can be used but if your interested in nails I'd invest in some dotting tools since they're about £2 from Amazon... ). I place a blob of white nail varnish on some paper, dab my dotting tool in it and dot two fairly straight lines, slightly fatter on top just off centre on the rabbit's head. 

Step 5

Add the eyes. I use a dotting tool again with a black or very dark colour. I dotted below each ear. 

Step 6 

Add the nose. I use a dotting tool with some pick. I dotted just below and between the eyes. 

Step 7

Add the pinks of the ears. I use the same pink that I used on the nose. Use a very small dotting tool to place the pink inside the white of the ears, making a small line, again, fatter on top than bottom.

Step 8

Seal in your design with a top coat. I chose Albert Bridge Top Coat by Nails Inc. 

DIY Manicure

Get yourself comfortable and follow the instructions below to relax and get beautiful healthy nails. 

You will need:

• Nail varnish remover
• Cotton pads
• Nail file 
• Nail buffing block
• Hand cream
• Cuticle oil
• Nourishing base coat

Step One

Remove all the previous nail varnish from your nails. 

Tip - I find it much easier to douse a cotton wool pad in nail polish remover and leave it on my nail for about 30s and the nail varnish just wipes away. If I try buff it off, the nail varnish tends to stain the tops of my fingers. 

Advice - I'd go for an acetone free nail varnish remover. Acetone is a strong chemical that strips the nails of its natural oils, which can cause peeling or weak nails. 

Step 2 

File your nails to the desired shape. 

Tip - Try to make them all the same length and shape!

Advice - Leighton Denny's Crystal Nail File is AMAZING does the job perfectly and you have a life time guarantee. Be light handed because it shortens your nails quickly. 

Step 3 (occasional)

At this point if my peeling nails are looking particularly gross I use a 4 way buffer to buff away the peeling bits and ridges. Don't do this too much though, because this can weaken your nails

Step 4 (optional)

At this point there's fine nail dust around (a bit gross) so I tend to wash my hands (if I'm not too comfy) . 

Tip - If my nails are looking a bit stained, I give them a good scrub with whitening toothpaste. Weird? But it works. Have a look at the pictures below. My before nails are yellow and gross, and after scrubbing and buffing they look pretty healthy and white. 

Step 5

Now, I smooth in plenty of hand cream, then apply some cuticle oil and let it do its magic. After a while, I use the tool on the end of the cuticle oil to push back my cuticles. Do it gently, nothing worse than a sore cuticle (I know there is really, but hey hyperboles rock). 

Advice - My personal favourite hand cream is Hand Food by Soap&Glory. I know its good because after I use it, without telling him I've used it, my boyfriend Nathan, always tells me how soft my hands are. Also it smells beaut! 

Before and after pictures so far ... 

Left ring finger before. Stained a bit yellow. Peeling. Ridgy. Gross.

After most of the DIY manicure . At this point I have filed, buffed, scrubbed with whitening tooth paste and used cuticle oil. Same nail but awesome. It has a nice shape, can't see the peeling, doesn't look like it has ridges. 

I'm pretty impressed!  

Step 6

With all those oils on your nails the base coat and nail varnish won't stay on your nails. Soak another cotton pad in nail varnish remover and hold it on your nails for a few seconds and wipe away. 

Step 7

Paint on your base coat to protect your nails, and help nail varnish stick better. 

Advice - I personally use Nail Envy (matte was the cheaper option). I've really noticed a difference using Nail Envy, the Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File and Nails inc Non-acetone Nail Varnish Remover combo. I'd really recommend all of those products. 

I hope you've had fun and didn't have the temptation to move while your base coat is drying (like I always do). Take a look at my future posts for some great, easy nail art tutorials. 

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