Cool Art Deco - TbT

Dear Nail Diary,

I'm not feeling so good, so I thought I'd take advantage of Throwback Thursday and post an old design.

It's using my favourite design medium - tape.
The design itself is one I adapted to my own tastes from this article.  There are some cool tutorials including the one I used for this, which is the 3rd one down about Chevrons.  I made the lines thinner and changed the colour palette so it had an Art Deco feel to it.
Hopefully I'll feel up to posting something new soon.  My nails are in treatment right now, so they might be in better condition for the next post.

P.S. I think my squovals will be back.

=:x

Watermelon Gradient Tutorial

Dear Nail Diary,

This mani was inspired by my dirty laundry, if you can believe it!  There's a pile of things waiting to be washed in the bathroom and a green t-shirt and coral PJs caught my attention.  It looked like a cool colour combo and kind of reminded me of watermelon candy.

I've made a picture walkthrough below, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Things You'll Need:

• Base Coat
• Green Nail Polish
• Makeup Sponge
• Coral or Red Nail Polish
• Small Dotting Tool
• Dark Brown Nail Polish
• Angled Brush
• Acetone or Nail Polish Remover
• Top Coat

Gold Shards

Dear Nail Diary,

I'm on a matte kick at the moment, everything just seems to look better.  I think it's because the rest of me is so shiny in this heat, I don't want my nails to be too.  Does that make sense?

I randomly picked up the Rimmel Pearly Queen.  I fell in love with it instantly when I bought it, but I had any inspiration to use it recently.  With the matte coat on it looks gold-like, however it's iridescent and changes colour from a pearly white, to a lilac, to a greeny-gold shimmer.  I applied two coats and one coat of the gorgeous China Glaze Luxe & Lush, from the Hunger Games - Capitol Colours Collection.  It looked good as it was, but as I said I've been on a matte kick, so out came the O.P.I. Matte Top Coat.  The finished look is not something I would have picked out for myself.  I was worried that the iridescent shards in the China Glaze would be overkill with the Rimmel, but it's really quite subtle.

=:x

Wedgwood Mani

Dear Nail Diary,

It's Mani Monday and today's is inspired by the Wedgwood pottery my Gran had.  Also as I now live in the Potteries (specifically Burslem where Josiah Wedgwood was born) what better way to officially start my nail blog?  I apologise for the sorry state of my cuticles, but I've been letting my care routine slide.  On to the mani...

Wedgwood Inspired Mani

I've been looking for a reason to use my recent haul of Nails Inc. polishes and while updating my swatch collection I came across Little George Street, which is a gorgeous powder blue colour.  After applying my base coat I painted two coats, then allowed it to dry.  I then painted Barry M - White onto Pueen plate 44 and sealed it with OPI Matte Top Coat to complete the pottery look.  Pueen Plates tend to be quite big, so there was a bit of clean up involved, however I'm pleased with the end result.

=:x

'Merca Day Mani

Dear Nail Diary,

I don't often do flag inspired nails, mainly because my Mom has been asking me to do them for World Cup games and every time I have they've lost!  I didn't see the harm in doing this homage to Independence Day.

I didn't want to do a traditional Stars 'n' Stripes - mainly because I'm lazy!  So decided stretch it out across my whole hand. On my thumb and index I painted two coats of Barry M - Indigo and then sealed it with a coat of Seche Vite.  Once dry, I stamped Barry M - White with Pueen Plate 44 and there are my stars.
For the rest of my nails I painted two coats of Barry M - White, sealed with SV and stamped the curiously named China Glaze - Aztec Orange with Pueen Plate 32 turned on its side to create the stripes.
I finished with a final coat of SV.

=:x