Summer Nail Challenge - Day 12

Today is Day 12 of Makeup Savvy's Nail Challenge and todays theme is striped nails, if you don't know what I am talking about then you can see more info on, or if you want to get involved yourself you can find all the information HERE.  I also did the challenge on day 6, 7, 10 and 11 so if you want to see my glitter nail post then you can HERE, if you want to see my neon nails you can HERE, if you want to see my gradient nails you can HERE and if you want to see my metallic nails you can HERE.

Okay so today's theme is stripes and I know what you are thinking when you look at the picture, I know I have used dots but I have made the pattern of stripes.  I am not good at creating the conventional stripe pattern on my nails because my hand is not the steadiest and one of the important things about the stripe is that it is relatively straight, and does not end up being a shaky mess on my nail, which mine mostly is.  So to avoid this problem, and to help any of you that are not the best at doing stripy nails, I have created this look which I hope you like, and now I will explain how I did it.



For the base coat of my nails I used this gorgeous colour by MUA called "U R FAB" which is from their love hearts collection.  I love this product for so many reasons and I have actually done a separate review HERE so if you want to find out more about this product, pricing, where to buy etc then you can but in short: the colour is so unique, the application is amazing, the opacity is great 2 coats is plenty to create an opaque nail and the drying speed is amazing.  I am a massive fan of MUA anyway as they are so affordable and when I got this I was bracing myself to not be impressed with the polish because it was so reasonable, but I have to admit if I had paid more money for this product I would not have been disappointed, so if you are near a Superdrug any time soon check out the MUA stand.



After the base coat had dried I used a white polish to create the dotted effect on my nails, the white I used was from a Primark set from a while ago but any white polish will give the same effect.  A lot of you may think that this design can only be achieved if you have a nail dotter or another nail tool, which is not the case at all.  I simply used a bobby pin, or a hair grip which ever one you call it, which if it has the tiny little grippy bobble on the end of the grip will do this effect, you can pick these up so cheaply from most stores so it is a cheap but very effective alternative to a nail dotter or nail tool.  Just dip this bobby pin into the nail varnish and then create the design on the product. Simple.  Obviously the more product on the end of the grip means the larger the dot, so you might want to vary this depending on which nail you are doing.  



I then created 2 lines of these dots down the central third of my nail as the first part of my striped nail design.  You could just leave the design here as I think it is a simple yet very effective design, and this was my original idea, but I decided to go one step further and add some more dots to create a more patterned nail.  You can also vary the colours and designs of these dots to create millions of designs, and when you have mastered the design believe me it is so simple, yet people will always question how you have done this design.

Next I chose to use this gold colour by Nails Inc called Lanesborough Place which is a colour that I also used in my metallic nails design from yesterdays challenge.  This is a gorgeous colour and also quite subtle on this design, that adds a little bit of colour but this is not too bright or overwhelming for the nail design.  I then added 3 stripes of dots on both sides of the white dots and one in the central part of my nail.  I think that this just made the nail slightly more busy and filled up than with just the white stripes, but you could have used more than just 2 colours for this design which might have made the striped design more obvious but I think that this is quite a subtle design.

So there you go, my not so traditional striped nail design, but I think that it is a bit more unusual than the normal striped design and definitely something to try out if you are not so steady handed or do not have time to spend hours doing extremely precise nail art.

If you have entered todays challenge feel free to leave a link to your blog in the comments section below, or feel free to email or tweet your photos to me, all information on how to contact me can be found on the right side of my blog.  If you haven't entered today feel free to head on over to Makeup Savvy's page to see tomorrows category HERE and see if you are up for the challenge on Day 13.

Summer Nail Challenge - Day 10

I'm back after a few technical glitches and today is Day 10 of Makeup Savvy's Nail Challenge and todays theme is gradient nails, if you don't know what I am talking about then you can see more info on, or if you want to get involved yourself you can find all the information HERE.  I also did the challenge on day 6 and 7 so if you want to see my glitter nail post then you can HERE or if you want to see my neon nails you can HERE.

This was quite a tricky theme for me because I did not want to do a design using glitter because I recently did a summery glitter design, and I am not to good with the gradual change of colour from dark to light on a single nail.  But at the same time I wanted to challenge myself and not just stick to a plain colour on a nail.  So whilst reading through some blogs last night I found this gorgeous design that Lacqueerisa created, it added some texture to her nails and the design was very eye catching, so I decided that I would have a go myself but using a light colour underneath a brighter shade, and when the design was completed I hoped it would give a different sort of gradient of colour.

10 nail polishes later this is the design I created and whilst it did not go quite to plan I think that it is a different technique that after a few goes will probably be a lot better, but in the mean time this has challenged me to try a new design I probably otherwise wouldn't have done, so its a learning curve.  If you want to see what inspired me to do this design, and how the design should look then you can see the lovely Lacqueerisa's design HERE.



So instead of giving you little reviews of the colours I have used for each nail I'm just going to explain how I did this design, as otherwise this would be a very long post.  Although, I have already done reviews for some of the polishes which I will link, but if you want to know anything about the colours I used then leave a comment below and I can always do some reviews if requested.

Okay so here we go... First of all I chose the base colours for my design which I wanted to be slightly lighter shades so that I could create the gradient effect that todays theme required.  I also tried to do a a gradient effect going along the nails starting with yellow and white right down to blues on my little finger.  To start with I painted my thumb a white colour to then be topped with yellow as I didn't have 2 shades of yellow, but actually in the end I quite liked the colour difference between the yellow and white.  This white was a basic white colour that I got in a Primark manicure set a couple of years ago.  



On my index finger I then used in colour 452 which is a peachy orange colour by Miss Sporty which is very pretty and summery colour that I have been wearing a lot this summer.  On my middle finger I have used this baby pink colour by 17 which is called Cupcake which I think is the perfect name for this extremely girly colour.  On my ring finger I have used this gorgeous light purple colour called Purple Sherbet from Ciaté which I have done a full review on which you can see HERE if you wish.  Finally on my little finger I have used this light blue colour from Barry M called Blueberry Ice Cream number 306.

After letting these colours dry I then chose colours that were similar but a shade or two darker so this would create the gradient effect that was required for todays theme.  For my thumb I chose this bright yellow colour by Miss Sporty number 453 which I also used in my neon nail challenge on day 6 and a few other reviews and designs.  On my index finger I used this bright neon orange from Miss Sporty number 303 which I also used on my neon themed nails on day 6.  On my middle finger I used this bright pink colour from 17 which again I used in my neon nails so if you want to know anything else about these 3 polishes you can see more on my Neon Nails post HERE.  




On my ring finger I used this bright purple colour from Barry M, suitably called Bright Purple number 303.  And finally on my little finger I have used another Miss Sporty polish in the colour 060 which is such a beautiful colour and has been a firm favourite of mine both last year and this year for summer, so I may be doing a review of this soon, so keep your eyes peeled.




Once I had painted my nails I waited for a few seconds so the polish begun to set on my nails before using a cocktail stick to create the textured pattern on the nails.  I ran the cocktail stick across my nails scratching some of the product away revealing the colour underneath.  This may have not worked perfectly on all the nails but I think that you can see some of the lighter colours coming through from underneath and so I think it does qualify as gradient I just wish it had worked as well as I thought it would.

Overall I am pleased that I have tried this design out and it is something that after a bit of practice will be something to do, that will be extremely eye catching and that people will ask how you have created the design so look out for some more designs from me using this technique as I love it!

If you have entered todays challenge feel free to leave a link to your blog in the comments section below, or feel free to email or tweet your photos to me, all information on how to contact me can be found on the right side of my blog.  If you haven't entered today feel free to head on over to Makeup Savvy's page to see tomorrows category HERE and see if you are up for the challenge on Day 11.

Jubilee Nails

For an easy way to navigate around my blog I have create a compilation of all the photos of Jubilee designs that I created so that if you like the design you can click on the matching number to the design that you like and you will be taken to that design...now thats what I call magic!

1. Simple Red, White and Blue

2. A Glittery Twist

3. Union Jack accent nail

4. Union Jack Nails

5. Diamond Crackle

6. A British Manicure

7. Patriotic Spots

8. A Spot of Jubilee Colour

9. A Spot of Jubilee Colour

Have a wonderful Jubilee bank holiday and let me know if you try out any of my designs!

Jubilee Nails - A spot of colour

For my final post of the Jubilee bank holiday I have decided to go for something that isn't the traditional designs that I have mostly shown before, instead this is something a little different but still with the red, white and blue theme.


For this I used the same colours as I used in the first design which can be found HERE but you can use whichever colours you already have or that take your fancy.  I simply painted my nails a white colour all over, before adding the colour detailing on top.


You can obviously use more technical tools such as dotters along with many others but what I used, which is just as good and much much cheaper...a hair grip, curvy grip or bobby pin whatever you want to call it.  I got a pack of 50 for £1 at Poundland and they are in my eyes just as effective.  Just dip the curvy grip into the nail polish, and the more you use the bigger the dots that you create, simple.


For the first part of this design I chose to use alternating colours of blue and red dots on the design, which you can leave as a final design, but I then decided to add to this design by also using the opposite colour to the one that I had already applied to the nails to create more of a busy design what incorporated red, white and blue into all nails.

I think that these nails are very easy to complete and are something that you could even wear after the Jubilee celebrations because they aren't as obviously Jubilee related, unlike some of the designs that have Union Jacks on.

Jubilee Nails - Patriotic spots

When I created my previous design, a twist on the traditional French manicure which you can find HERE, I decided that I actually wanted to develop this idea to make it more unusual than the first design.  So after creating the design which you can see from the previous post I had a white tip design, which I then decided to decorate into another design.  I wanted to keep the design of red, white and blue for the obvious patriotic theme that I have tried to show in all of my designs.  I wanted to create an interesting design in the small space that I had left on the tips of my fingers and so I decided to create a dot pattern.

These patterns can often be over thought and seen as too difficult to even attempt but I think this is actually much easier than people expect, so you can make people think you have amazing skill, when in reality it doesn't take much.  


You can obviously use more technical tools such as dotters along with many others but what I used, which is just as good and much much cheaper...a hair grip, curvy grip or bobby pin whatever you want to call it.  I got a pack of 50 for £1 at Poundland and they are in my eyes just as effective.  Just dip the curvy grip into the nail polish, and the more you use the bigger the dots that you create, simple.  


I personally chose to use contrasting colours to the base of nail colour, but you could also use 2  or more colours on the nail tip for different designs and ideas.  Overall I think that these nails are very interesting designs that incorporate very simple and quick techniques to make a nail design that looks like it takes a lot more time and effort.

Jubilee Nails - British Manicure

For this design I created a unique take on a French Manicure design, which looks a lot harder to achieve than it actually is.  To see what colours I used as part of the design click HERE to see the original post I did about Jubilee colours.


For this I simply painted my nails alternating blue and red colours, I deliberately left out the white nail because I wanted to use the white for the tip of the nail, but you could easily have a white nail and use alternating red, white and blue tips for another design idea.

After painting my nails a block colour I then used a white colour to create a French tip, however recreating the perfect French tip can be a tricky manoeuvre especially to get 10 nails looking vaguely similar.  So I changed the design slightly and made the white tip slightly diagonal as to create an interest to the nail as well as making it easier for myself as they could be slightly different and also allowed for error!


I think that these nails are very simple but overall look pretty and are a nice alternative to French manicure or a block nail colour of red, white and blue.  Of course if you have a steady hand or have a tip for getting the perfect French tip then you can also use this for the nails instead of the diagonal design.  Also this diagonal tip can also be transferred into any other design throughout the year, as well as adding this to a nail that has begun to chip and wear throughout the days as a quick touch up tip.

Jubilee Nails - Union Jacks

Quite a while ago I saw these Union Jack nails  in Savers for about 60-70p and thought that I just had to pick them up, as they were an offer just too good to pass by.  I'm not sure if you can still pick these up anywhere else but I know that there are probably a few nail wraps or stickers or something that will give the same impression.  Also if you were feeling really creative and you have a steady hand, you could also paint a Union Jack design onto your nails.
Unlike most false nails or stick on nails that require glue to apply them, these were really simple to use.  They came with sticky adhesive patches that you simply stick onto your nails and then press the nail design on top to secure.  The patches were also really easy to adjust to the size of your nail by simply using scissors to cut off any excess from the surrounding nail.  These nails came with a squared off nails design which can be seen in the photo, but the pack also comes with a small nail file so you could always file these to the desired shape and size.


These were surprisingly simple to apply and there was non of the mess or sticky patches left that you normally get from the nail glue which makes them easy to apply in a rush.  You can also easily peel the nail off the adhesive patch after you have finished and keep them at the back of your cupboard for another time where you are feeling a bit patriotic or there is another royal celebration.


I think that for the price these nails are really good, and extremely relevant if you want to get into the patriotic mood this weekend.  They aren't necessarily something that I would wear everyday but for a special occasion, like this bank holiday, I think that you can go full out on the design for a very eye catching design that will get peoples heads turning.

Jubilee Nails - A glittery twist

For this next design I have simply developed the first of my Jubilee designs so if you haven't seen that post yet then you can click HERE.  I have used the same base colours as previously but this time I have added a slight glittery touch to the nails to make design slightly different and a bit more fun than a simple red, white and blue pattern.




                                     On top of my Rimmel "Rapid Ruby" base I have added a coat of Barry M's polish number 150 which doesn't have a name but I would call it ruby slipper or something along those lines as the bottle is purely red glitter and reminds me of Dorothy's shoes.  This polish is amazing and unlike many glitter polishes that normally tend to have hardly any polish and you have to do about a million coats to get a vaguely opaque colour, this probably could have been done with a couple of coats.  I only used 1 coat though as I already had the red base underneath.  This adds a subtle touch of glitter and sparkle to your Jubilee design and is perfect if you are going to be going to any parties or even if you are just sitting in the garden having a BBQ with family and friends as the glitter will catch the light.


On top of the white polish I decided to use a clear polish with finely milled multi-coloured glitter, but from far away this looks relatively silver and just gives a sparkly touch to your nails and for this I used MaxFactors "Sheer Glitter" polish number 866.  I have to admit that I have had this polish for years and you can probably tell from the old bottle shape, but it is such a gorgeous polish that I still have it and still love to use it.  Although I doubt you can still get this exact shade there are bound to be many other glittery polishes out there so you can take your pick on the exact shade for your Jubilee nail designs.

Over the blue polish I chose to use NYC's polish "Lights, camera, glitter" number 105 which is a glittery polish that has finely milled silver glitter throughout with larger glitter pieces of blue.  This polish is amazing and so amazing, especially over a darker blue, or any other dark polish, because you can see how much silver glitter there is as well as the larger, more obvious chunks of blue.  Although I wouldn't want to use this completely on its own because I think that it would take a fair amount of coats to create an opaque finish, over another colour I think this polish is amazing.

Red glitter- Barry M 150, White glitter- MaxFactor- "Sheer Glitter" 866, Blue glitter- NYC "Lights, Camera, Glitter" 105

This simple addition of a glitter polish over the top of the basic red, white and blue design, makes this design more jazzy and good if you want to have a slight glittery appearance that is perfect for this time of year and the jubilee celebration.

Jubilee Nails - Simple Red, White & Blue

As we are gearing up for the Jubilee weekend I have decided to create a serious of blog posts linked to jubilee nail designs that can hopefully inspired you to get a little patriotic and bring out the red, white and blue.

First I started with just a basic nail design using red, white and blue to reflect the colours in the Union Jack.  This is a simple design that can be done in a rush before that jubilee party you are off to with just a couple of coats of red, white and blue and you're ready to go!

     The red that I used for this deign is a Rimmel London polish in "Rapid Ruby" number 320 and is a deeper red than most of the other reds that I have, which I thought was more true to the colours of the Union Jack.  This polish was really opaque and after one coat was pretty much perfect to go, but I used 2 just to make sure it was completely opaque, this would also make it super quick to apply if you are in a rush and no one needs to know that you didn't spend hours creating the perfect opaque red!

The blue that I used is Mavala's "Deep Blue" number 269 and is a gorgeous deep blue as the name suggests, but it has a beautiful green and turquoise shimmer through it.  Although this shimmer isn't essentially seen in the Union Jack I think that this shimmer adds a little something to the nails, and it is not obvious unless it catches the light.  You could also use a plain navy colour as this would link back into the union jack theme, but I love this Mavala one as it has such a creamy formulation which applies like a dream onto the nails.

The white that I used here was a basic white that I got in a Primark french manicure set for christmas a couple of years ago, and whilst it may not be the best quality, for these designs it is perfect.  The consistency of this polish is quite thick and gloopy but in regards to creating a white nail that is relatively opaque and a true white colour then this one does the job.

So here is my basic Jubilee nail design that I will build upon in future posts and show how you can either just use this simple design, or use this as a base to build on and create a more interesting and unique design.

Red- Rimmel London "Rapid Ruby" 320, Blue- Mavala "Deep Blue" 269, White- Primark