Easy D.I.Y. nail art: June 2012

Friday 29 June 2012

Heart Tipped Manicure Tutorial

Hey guys! Hope you are all enjoying my tutorials and finding them easy to follow. Today I'm going to show you how to do a heart tipped manicure. It's something a little different and I think stunning looking, perfect for those of you who like a rounded nail.

what you will need . . .

a base coat polish
a top coat polish
red nail polish
pink nail polish
a nail file

step one

Firstly you need to file your nails into a rounded tip, it's up to you how pointed you want your nails to be. Then ensure you remove any polish or oils etc.

step two

Apply your base coat to your nails as the red may stain.

These are the base and top coats I have used; nails inc kensington basecoat caviar and kensington topcoat caviar. *Links can be found at the end of the blog*

step three

Once your basecoat has dried apply the pink polish to each nail.

I used nails inc elizabeth street, as you can see in the picture above it's a nice subtle pink, nothing too strong, bright or white looking.

step four

Now that your nails have dried (I only used one coat) you are going to take your red, I used nails inc chester place to paint the hearts at the tips of your nails.

Trying to keep your brush as rounded as possible, either with the brush or with enough polish on the brush to make it look rounded. You want to make a sweep on one half of the nail down to the point (see picture one, on the left) so you have half of your heart (see picture two, on the right). Carry out the same technique on the other half of the nail to complete your heart (see picture three, at the middle). Complete on each nail to complete your hearts on your hand (see picture four, at the bottom).

step five

Ensuring your hearts have completely dried and set apply your topcoat, as shown at the top of the blog I used nails inc kensington top coat caviar.

Now that you know how to do a heart tipped manicure and how to do leopard print nails (see my tutorial if you don't), why not try out the two together for something funky, different and eye catching!

Please excuse the dry skin around my nail, I'm in need of some TLC!

step one (A)

Using the same steps as above you are firstly going to file and clean your nails, apply a base coat, and once dry paint a coat of purple nail polish.

You can use any colour as a base colour for this design, I decided on purple/lilac and chose nails inc palace mews.

step two (B)

Once the base colour has set and dried carry out step four above and apply the red heart to the tip of your nail.

step three (C)

Using two other colours and a kebab/cocktail stick you are going to paint the leopard print on the the remaining part of your nail.

I chose nails inc kensington park road for the centre colour of the leopard print and the black taxi polish for the outline.

step four (D)

Finally as always once your nails have dried and set you want to apply your top coat, I used nails inc kensington top coat caviar.

Have fun and be creative with the techniques you have learnt, feel free to use your imagination and put different colours and techniques together!

Links to the polishes used in this tutorial . . .

kensington caviar top and base coat http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/kensington-caviar-top-base-coat-duo/822/ (these can be bought separately)
elizabeth street http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/elizabeth-street-polish/344/ also available in a mini bottle
chester place - unfortunately they no longer sell this colour
palace mews - unfortunately they no longer sell this product
kensington park road http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/kensington-park-road-polish/1106/
black taxi http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/black-taxi-polish/341/ also available in a mini bottle

THIS IS MY FACEBOOK FAN PAGE, FEEL FREE TO LEAVE ME ANY COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS ON MY BLOG OR WHAT YOU'D LIKE ME TO DO. OH AND UPLOAD SOME OF YOUR PICTURES FOLLOWING THE TUTORIALS I'D LOVE TO SEE THEM ALL! :D https://www.facebook.com/pages/DIY-NAIL-ART/321393224615432?cropsuccess

Zane xx

OPI Nicki Minaj Collection Review

Hey guys! Today's blog is going to be about the OPI Nicki Minaj Collection, I know I'm always ranting and raving about nails inc but I'm always being told how great OPI is and thought I'd give it a go and see how it compares to nails inc.

I tried to find a link to buy this on the OPI website but was unable to, I found the site pretty tricky to use if I'm being honest. If you type it into google however many websites come up enabling you to buy it. I myself didn't buy mine online, I spotted mine in my local nail and beauty salon and purchased it from there. http://www.nailandbeautybar.co.uk/

time to put the polishes to the test

I decided to try out these colours on my toes, I thought the pink and light green/yellow colour would be great summer colours. So as always I removed all polish from my nails and filed and shaped them.

coat number one

These are my toes with one coat, the pink looked ok but a little streaky, the yellow/green colour looked horrible I really didn't like the shade, the dark green/blue colour came out well and the black glitter was very light.

coat number two

These are my toes again with the second coat, they all look a lot better with the two coats on them, I'm sure you'll agree. The pink evened out well without leaving any streaks, the colour of the yellow/green became a lot richer and better looking, the green/blue didn't really need a second coat, but with it it definitely makes the colour a lot richer and the black glitter look so much better with a second coat, there was a lot more coverage and more sparkle too.

my review of the products

I found the pink polish to be quite thick and sticky and you really needed alot on the brush to try and avoid a lot of streaks. The greeny blue colour again was quite a thick polish but went on really well (this was the best one for a one coat coverage). Both the yellow colour and the black glitter were quite watery, hence why the first coat was so light. However all with a second coat turned out well. I personally wasn't that impressed with my first try of OPI products especially for the price they charge.

If you use or have used OPI and found different results or recommend any I should try please let me know, I'd be really interested to hear from you and your opinion.

Zane xx

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Comic Strip Nail Tutorial

Hey guys, hope you are all liking my blogs and tutorials! Tut tut you lot, I'm still waiting for pictures! :) So today I'm going to show you how to do the comic strip nails. These are fab, so easy to do and really eye catching! So why not follow these steps and give them a go this weekend . . .

These are just 3 random nails of mine as I go through fazes of liking my nails all unique. It just shows you how diverse nail art can be, you can either do every nail the same, every nail different or every nail the same bar one. If you do decide to go for the last option then I'd say pick the nail art for your ring finger (the one beside the pinky).

Now I'm going to show you the nail art on just one finger but the steps apply to any nail you want to do, just change up the colours of polishes you use and what you want to write.

what you will need . . .

a base coat
a bright coloured polish
a white nail art pen
a black nail art pen
a top coat

This is the white nail art pen I use, I also use the black in the same brand.

step one

File and shape your nails (if needed) and ensure your nails are clean, no oils or polish. Apply a base coat to your nails as bright colours can stain your nail. *Remember always make sure each layer of polish completely dries.*

step two

Pick your bright coloured polish and apply one or two coats depending on the shade you want and how well the polish goes on.

This is nails inc kensington park road (for link see end of blog) with one coat, you may need two but I find I only need one as when I have the acrylics on my nails.

step three

Using your white nail art pen you want to draw a zigzag shape, either at the tip or base of your nail and then fill it in. You can either use the pointy bit of the pen or the brush, it's your own preference.

I used a little too much of the white here, as you can see it looks a bit thick and claggy looking. It took forever to dry due to this!

step four

Whilst you are waiting for your white filled zigzag to dry you can add some dots to the rest of the nail. I used the nail art pen again but as you can see from the pictures at the beginning of the blog I did paint one red with yellow dots. You can pick whatever colour you want and if you don't have a nail art pen in the colour you want to use you can just use the kebab/cocktail stick. (see http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7926081553613185029#editor/target=post;postID=5347760447589870587 for how to do this).

step five

Once the white has completely set and dried it is time to add the black outline and any comic style words or symbols you want to use.

Outlining your white zigzag really makes it pop, I outlined mine with the pointed tip of the black nail art pen as I feel you have more control with the pointed tip for smaller, more detailed things.

I picked 'lol' for this tutorial as it is pretty simple to write, but you can always practise different ideas on a piece of paper before you write it on your nails.

step five

This is the final step and I'm sure you've guessed it, time for the top coat. I used the nails inc kensington caviar topcoat.

Links to the polishes used in this tutorial . . .

kensington caviar top and base coat http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/kensington-caviar-top-base-coat-duo/822/ (these can be bought separately)
kensington park road http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/kensington-park-road-polish/1106/
white nail art pen and black nail art pen - unfortunately I couldn't find a link for the products I used, but I bought them in my local Claires Accessories for roughly £5 each.

Zane xx

Saturday 23 June 2012

Polka Dot Nail Tutorial

Hey guys! So today I went to afternoon tea with my bestie, and decided to fancy myself up a little, inspired by my gorgeous new blazer/jacket I treated myself to in Primark during the week. It's a gorgeous navy blue with white polka dots, so last night at about midnight (when I still couldn't sleep) I decided to polka dot up my nails to tie in with my jacket and outfit for this afternoon. This blog will now show you how to do it yourself! :)

what you will need . . .

a good basecoat
dark/navy blue nail polish
white nail polish
white nail art pen (optional)
a kebab/cocktail stick
a topcoat polish

step one

File your nails into the shape you want (if you need to), ensure your nails are clean of any oils or polishes, and apply a base coat to your nails. Most dark colours tend to stain your nails I find.

I used nails inc a&e advanced treatment as the base coat, just to give my nails some TLC. *links for the products I use can be found at the end of the blog*

step two

On every finger bar your ring finger apply your dark blue nail polish. On your ring fingers apply the white nail polish.

I used nails inc chandos place as my dark/navy blue and floral street as my white.

step three

Once you have let you're nails completely dry, on your blue nails you are going to apply white dots, this can either be done with the pen bit of your white nail art pen or using the cocktail/kebab stick, it is up to you. Try to keep your dots quite random and not too big or they will take forever to dry.

My dots were not exactly perfect or matching on each nail but it really doesn't matter so don't be worrying about it if yours aren't all the same.

This is my thumb up close as you can see dots are random. I always find these hard to do as you could keep adding dots forever, the thing is to know when to stop, you don't want too many but then again you don't want too little.

step five

Now it's time to do your white ring finger. If you wanted you could just leave this nail plain or do the same technique in step four with the blue polish (random dots).

However I decided to go for a sort of waterfall of tiny polka dots. This is the first time I have tried this technique out. I've seen loads of pictures online and thought I would give it a do as something a little different.

Firstly I started off at the tip of the nail using the blue polish and my kebab stick making tiny dots, I tried to keep them tight together and random, trying to not just paint them in rows. As I went down the nail I spaced the dots a bit more and tried to paint them randomly as you can see in the picture above.

step six

The final step as always is the top coat. I used the nails inc kensington caviar topcoat.

Why not go and try this technique out yourself this weekend and don't be worried about using different colours, mix it up and just use your creative touch.

Links to the polishes used in this tutorial . . .

kensington caviar top and base coat http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/kensington-caviar-top-base-coat-duo/822/ (these can be bought separately)
a&e advanced treatment (this comes in a set) http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/very-dry-and-damaged-nails-treatment-pack/199/
chandos place unfortunately is no longer available
floral street http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/floral-street-polish/411/
white nail art pen and black nail art pen - unfortunately I couldn't find a link for the products I used, but I bought them in my local Claires Accessories for roughly £5 each.

Zane xx

Wednesday 20 June 2012

French Manicure Tutorial

Hey guys! A friend of mine was telling me how much she enjoyed my blog the other day and was saying how she struggled to do a french manicure on herself. It's something that is really simple and easy to do at home yourself! I think it's something for any age and makes your hands just 'pop'. We have a wedding coming up soon so I have been doing my mum's nails for her (she never wears nail polish so I've started early to get her used to it) so she'll be my model for today.

what you will need . . .

nail varnish remover
nail file and buffer
cuticle oil (optional)
a base coat (your choice, not necessary)
a pink coloured polish
a white or cream coloured polish
a top coat
cotton wool buds

*links at the end of the blog for the products I used

These are the polishes I've chosen to use, all nails inc:

- elizabeth street - pink colour

- floral street - white colour

- a&e advanced treatment - used as a base coat

- kensington topcoat caviar - fast drying top coat

step one

Start off with clean nails (no polish). You are now going to file your nails into the shape you want them, I personally like a square shape, but my mum likes hers round.

step two (optional)

The bottom part of your nail where it starts to come out from the skin if you look closely has a bit of skin I suppose you could call it on the bottom of the actual nail, this is your cuticle. With the cuticle oil you want to go along each nail painting it horizontally along the nail bed over the cuticles. Leave them for about 3-5minutes to let the oil sink in then using either a cuticle remover or your own nail push them back, don't push too hard or too much, this is not meant to hurt!

There are many different cuticle oils you can buy on the market, the two I have are Gok Wan's and a make called Solar. You can use what ever one you can get or prefer, there is no right or wrong.

step three

Again this is optional, however I think it's always good to apply a basecoat as it can protect your nails. You need to make sure using a paper towel for example that the nails are clean again and oil free. Then apply a basecoat over the nails and wait till they dry.

Mum's nails with the basecoat.

I used the nails inc a&e advanced treatment as a basecoat as mum was saying her nails needed a bit of tlc.

step four

Time for the iconic white tip. This is the part most people think they cannot do or dread to do, but I'm going to show you you don't need to be perfect at it or have a steady hand.

Starting at the top left and going in a clockwise direction you can see how you sweep the brush in a 'u' shape along the top of the nail, if possible following the shape of the nail. If your 'u' shape isn't perfect don't worry, in the next step I will show you how to correct and perfect it.

step five

Make sure your white tip is completely dry! Now you are going to take your cotton wool bud and dip it into the nail varnish remover (sometimes it's easier if you pour a wee bit into the lid). You are going to use the cotton wool bud to tidy up your nail, you can go around the edge and remove any polish you have got on your skin. You also use it in a sweeping movement to tidy the 'u' shape of your white tip. Don't be worried to reapply the nail varnish remover and if you take off too much you can always reapply the white or touch it up.

Starting at the top left and going in a clockwise direction you can see how this is done and in the bottom left hand corner the finished nail.

step six

Once you are happy with your white tips and again they are completely dry you are going to paint over a coat of your pink polish. You don't want anything too heavy or too pink so you can't see the white tip.

I've chosen nails inc elizabeth street.

This is it on the nails and as you can see it's not too pink, just looking quite natural.

step seven

This is the final step and I'm sure you've guessed it, time for the top coat. Once the top coat had dried I also applied some cuticle oil again to my mum's nails to leave them in a good condition.

Well that's how to do a french manicure yourself, simple and easy. The key thing to remember is ensuring your nails are completely dry after each step! If they aren't the next step you do will take ages to set and dry and in the end will smudge, something you don't want after all the effort you have put into them.

Links to the polishes used in this tutorial . . .

Kensington caviar top and base coat http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/kensington-caviar-top-base-coat-duo/822/ (these can be bought separately)
elizabeth street http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/elizabeth-street-polish/344/ (also available in a mini polish http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/elizabeth-street-mini-polish/940/ )
floral street http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/floral-street-polish/411/
a&e advanced treatment (this comes in a set) http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/very-dry-and-damaged-nails-treatment-pack/199/

* nails inc also have a french manicure collection http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/french-manicure-collection/296/ Although you can chose any make of polish as long as you have a pink and white colour for the french manicure

Once you've mastered the french manicure why not try other designs like the one below. However you will need to paint on the base colour first and then do the tip with a steady hand, using the cotton wool bud to tidy up the 'u' shape will not work for this design.

Zane xx