31 day challenge - Day 7 - Black and White

Today's challenge is black and white. I've done quite a lot of black and white designs in the past but have never tried this look so thought "why not?". I do quite like how this came out but I know I could've done a lot better. As they say, practice makes perfect though!

Nail art tools

Recently I was asked what I use and how I do nail art. After my nail care tips post I thought I'd follow it up with my nail art tools post!

Now contrary to popular belief you don't really need anything fancy to create some nice designs. A lot of my designs I'll use dotting tools or brushes that I bought from eBay in packs for a very cheap price. 

Dotting tools:

I picked up this set of 5 for just £1.45 here and they've served me perfectly since! They're ideal for not only doing dots (who would've guessed?), but also other designs like hearts etc. 

Brushes:

I also managed to find a great bargain on these at just £2.72 from eBay here and I've had absolutely no problems with any quality issues. This 15 pack comes with all you will need - striping brushes, smaller brushes and large fan brushes. 

Other than those I really don't use a lot else for the designs. Some looks I have used things like studs or stickers in but again you can pick them up at less than £2 from various eBay sellers! 

Nail care tips

A few people have asked me how I take care of my nails and prevent them from breaking/keep them strong. I thought I'd do a post on my tips to keep your nails strong, healthy and help them grow quickly.

Now, before I even start to think about painting my nails, on a several-times-a-day basis I'll use a hand cream. My favourite is the Vaseline Healthy Hands and Stronger Nails cream as it has made my hands very soft and moisturised since I started using it. You can pick it up pretty cheap from shops like Boots or Superdrug and it lasts a long time so it's well worth the cash.

 Boots - £3.27

Superdrug - £3.27

The next step I follow is using a cuticle cream/oil. I'm lucky enough to not really suffer with large cuticles so it's just a matter of protecting them and keeping them healthy. You can use any really but I've found two that I really like. 

The first is from OPI. I absolute love their polishes and it only follows that the cuticle oil is great too. It doesn't have the most wonderful smell but it's not unbearable. I've got the travel sized one as OPI is quite expensive but you can pick up a full 15ml bottle if you want to. 

The other is a Superdrug cream which comes in a little pot and again moisturises very well. It's a much cheaper alternative and is just as good. 

Superdrug cuticle cream- £2.99 

Boots - OPI Avoplex oil - £10.25

On to the actual nail care. This step is probably the most important one as it directly stops your nails from harm. My advice is to never, ever paint your nails without using a base coat of some sort. I've tried out many different types and finally found my favourite couple:

Essie's Rock Solid Ultra Strength Base Coat - Superdrug - £8.99

a-England - The Knight - £7.00

 Essie's Rock Solid Ultra Strength Base Coat is my favourite as not only does it protect my nails from staining but also does exactly what it says on the bottle - strengthens my nails. £8.99 is fairly steep but it lasts so long there is no question of whether it's worth the price!

a-England's The Knight is also a great base coat but what put me off what the fact that the brush section kept falling out of the lid which got very frustrating after a while. The product is still great though and definitely worth the £7.


The last piece of advice is to invest in some good remover and removing "tools".

For as long as I can remember I've used the Cutex Strengthening polish remover and it's worked great for me. The fact that it again strengthens your nails is a big plus! You can pick it up from Boots for £2.20. I've also picked up Superdrug's nail polish remover to try out after reading that it's fab - especially as you can pick it up for just £1.09 for 250ml.

The other staples in my routine are cotton pads and buds. Using the buds you can carefully wipe of excess from around your nails and the pads for totally removing the varnish. I've found that the Boots cosmetic buds are great and the Superdrug cotton pads don't tend to fall apart as badly as other brands that I've tried.

Boots - Cosmetic buds - £1.40
Superdrug - Cotton pads - £1.69


Those are my main tips for maintaining healthy, long nails (and hands!). If anyone else has some products they use and like, let me know!

31 day challenge - Day 6 - Violet

Violet. Better known as purple... or at least that's my excuse! I had a difficult time coming up with something for this one and tried a few different looks before settling on this. Adding the studs occurred to me afterwards and I'm glad because I think it really sets off the look!

31 day challenge - Day 5 - Blue

Blue. I love this theme and knew exactly what I wanted to do as soon as I saw it! I'm very happy with the way these came out!

31 day challenge - Day 4 - Green

Today's colour is green. Again I was slightly stumped on what to do but had a sudden thought of diamonds! Not sure why but... oh well! These turned out alright, but it shows how poor I am at getting things equal/central on my nails!

With flash

Without flash

31 day challenge - Day 3 - Yellow

Third day, third colour. This time, yellow! I had no idea what I really wanted to do here so settled on something pretty simple but effective. Not hugely fussed with this design but it fits the bill! It does remind me of Bumblebee from Transformers though so I do kinda love it in a way!

 With flash

 In the shade

With flash

31 day challenge - Day 2 - Orange

Day 2 of the 31 day challenge oversees the prompt of orange! I knew exactly what I wanted to do for this one and I really like the result. This is also an attempt to improve one of the first looks I posted - flames!

I did the usual of starting with a base coat before sponging on a gradient of China Glaze's Riveting and Peachy Keen before creating the actual flames freehand with a small brush using Nicole by OPI's Razzle Dazzle. I then topped it off using Essie's Matte About You and voila!

This turned out exactly the way I wanted and already I can tell that I'm going to hate removing each look every day!

31 day nail challenge - Day 1 - Red

After seeing many bloggers try the 31 day nail challenge I decided that I wanted to give it a go myself! The list of prompts is as follows:

The first day is red and this is what I came up with:

I'm not in love with this design (probably not a good way to start!) but it seemed like a nice variation of plain red! Tomorrow's challenge of orange is going to be much better (promise!).

Kawaii - Water Element review

Today I've done a review of Kawaii's "Water Element". It's described as a "colour shifting top coat" and wow, it certainly is! Unfortunately however, the pictures don't really do the colour justice. It's a clear base with a blue/purple/red/pink shimmer depending on the light. Just one coat of it over a plain black colour is incredible as it's so densely pigmented. Absolutely adore this nail polish!

You can get Jamie's fabulous polishes here: http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KawaiiNailLacquer?ref=seller_info (go buy, seriously this girl knows how to make polish!!)

With flash, dark background

With flash, light background

In shade

Close up!

Return of the Aztec

After getting the Barry M nail art pens a while back, I've wanted to retry the "aztec" look that I attempted before. I thought that it would be much easier to handle than a brush, plus it would allow me to do a lot more detail and boy was I right! I love how these turned out! It took me a while but ho-hum, it was worth it. This time I did a base coat of white (CG - White on White) with black detailing for all but the accent nail of which I did black (OPI - Razzle Dazzle) with white detailing.

Colours used:

Basecoat: Essie - Rock Solid
Base colours: China Glaze - White on White and Nicole by OPI - Razzle Dazzle
Designs: Barry M Nail Art Pens - White and Black
Topcoat: Seche Vite

Left hand - shade

Left hand - shade

Left hand - shade

Close up, left hand - flash

Right hand - shade (and to be right handed and have such success shows how good the art pens are!)

Both hands - flash

What do you think? :)

Vintage style rose nails

I haven't posted for a while because none of the looks I've done as of late I've thought were any good! However, I finally tried out the vintage rose look and absolute love how it turned out! It looks very simple but classy and is so easy to do.

Colours used:

Basecoat: Essie - Rock Solid
Solid base colour: Ciaté - Sugared Almonds
Flowers: OPI - Vant to Bite My Neck? and You're Such a BupaPest
Leaves: MaxFactor - Cactus Green
Topcoat: Seche Vite

Here's how they look!