Today's Nail Art - Sticky Tape and Part Painted Nails

Today's ingredients for sticky tape and part painted nail art:

Sticky tape, Sally Hansen nail strengthener/clear base coat, BarryM nail polish, Andrea Fulerton nail art paint, Sally Hansen clear top coat

A very close friend of mine sent me some nail art photos that she stumbled across on Instagram of sticky tape and part painted nail art. I said to her that when I next painted mine, I would give it a go and then send her some pictures of the finished result.

You do need to set aside some time to do sticky tape nail art, especially if you are trying out some intricate designs. It is really important to allow each coat of nail paint to dry fully before you peel off the tape that you have used to mask sections off - otherwise you will pull/drag the wet paint off or across from the nail, which will spoil your design.

I painted a clear base coat on each nail and then proceeded to mask off triangle shapes at the base of each nail. Once done, I painted the main colour on, two coats, allowing each one to dry fully.
I used a Barry M nail paint, it's NP318 Peach Melba and I have used it a lot with some of my other nail designs that I have tried. I love this shade!

Once dry, I pulled off the tape carefully and then using the Andrea Fullerton nail striping paint on gold, I painted a 'V' over edging where the peach meets the clear base coat, giving it a neat and tidy finished look.
Once that was dry, I painted a clear top coat over the top.

For a bit of fun I didn't mask off a couple of my nails but instead painted them fully in the peach colour and then added gold stripes on top of them.

Here is the finished result!

This is the first time I've had a go of sticky tape and part painted nails and I will definitely be experimenting with this style again!

lvy <3

Magnetic Nail Paint

Going for the plunge and trying out Magnetic Nail Paint:

I must admit that I was a little bit apprehensive about magnetic polishes and just brushed them off as a fad. But I was given a Nails Inc one as a gift from a colleague at work who couldn't hold the magnet still for long enough required to draw the pattern out of the polish. I guess it was the perfect excuse to give it a try, and needless to say, I really loved it!

Unfortunately I dropped the bottle onto laminate flooring and smashed it :'(
So I needed an affordable replacement. I bought a magnetic nail paint by Barry M in shade NP345, which is £4.99 and it works just as well, the paint goes on a bit thinner than the Nails Inc versions, but really comes up a treat and I have since bought another shade which I equally adore as well.

For anyone who is new to magnetic paints or is thinking of trying them - definitely do it! You just need a steady hand!

Paint a clear base coat first. Then paint a full coat of the magnetic polish on top and allow it to dry fully.

Now for the fun part! Paint a generous second coat on top and then quickly but carefully hold the magnet close to the nail for a good 5-10 seconds (but don't let the magnet touch the wet paint) in order to draw the pattern out of the metallic polish. The little ledge above the magnet allows you to rest the cap onto your finger whilst you are holding the magnet against your nail, which is extremely handy!

Do allow the nail to dry fully before you pop a clear top coat on top.

These polishes are extremely eye catching and i'm sure you will get a lot of people asking how you did it and where you got them done!

Which Magnetic Nail Paints have you tried so far?

lvy <3

Colour Splash Graffiti Nails

If you haven't got a steady hand, why not give colour splash graffiti nails a go?

Back when I bought my first pot of crackle nail paint by Barry M, I quickly got bored of painting the crackle effect over the whole nail. Why not just use it sparingly over parts of the nail rather than all over? BTW I love the crackle effect, watching the effect come to life once you've painted it onto your nail!

One way in which you can use the crackle paint is to create interesting and colourful designs such as what I tried out here.

After prepping each nail with a clear base coat, I painted them in a gloss white colour by Barry M (two coats) and then I randomly painted on splashes of colour on top. Once the splashes of colour were dry, I proceeded to add a quick brush of the crackle paint over the colour splashed areas.

I painted on a quick clear top coat and before it dried I added some holographic glitter from the glitter shaker that comes attached to the top of Andrea Fulerton's nail striping nail paint pots for a bit of sparkle. I then added another layer of top coat to seal it all in.

Colour Splash Graffiti Nails Pics

Colour splash graffiti nails are fun to do, very eye catching and does not require a steady hand at all :)

Give it a go and do share your pics!

lvy <3

Tiger Stripes Nail Art

Bring out your feline side with Tiger Stripes Nail Art:

Hi all, I thought I would share with you my pictures from my first attempt at drawing proper tiger stripes nail art on my nails.

I have some Stripe & Sparkle nail art tools by Andrea Fulerton which I bought from Superdrug. They are £4.99 each and even though they may seem a tad pricey, they do last for a long time because the amount of product you are given is quite generous.

What I like about these bottles is that the nail brush in the pot is long and thin, which makes drawing stripes quite easy on the nail surface. The colour pigment is perfect as well, you can paint the stripe on once and it will be visible enough without you having to go over it again.

Also, on the top of each lid are glitter shaker pots - they are perfect and I use them all the time on various designs.

With striping designs you can really use your imagination and mix what ever colours that take your fancy at the time. I used a lovely Champagne shade by Models Own and then a black shade of nail art paint to create the stripes, followed as always, by a decent lick of clear top coat. To change it up a little bit, I painted a couple of nails in black by Rimmel and then used Andrea Fulerton's gold nail art striping paint to create gold tiger stripes on top.

Tiger Stripes Nail Art

Let me know what you think!

lvy <3

Nail Art with Nail Striping Tape

Dedicate some time to experiment with Nail Striping Tape:

I found some nail striping tape when I was doing some online shopping on the New Look website. I decided to randomly add it to my basket so that the total amount would enable me to qualify for the free p&p offer that they had at the time.

I'd not given nail striping tape much thought before, so I must admit that I didn't try it straight away. However, when I got a bit bored one day and had a lot of time on my hands, I decided to give it a whirl to see how I'd get on with it.

I paid £2.99 for it. I think Topshop stock this particular brand as well, but as with a lot of nail art tools, you can easily find striping tape online, you just have to search for it. Amazon and EBay are quite good for these kinds of things.

Nail Striping Tape

As you can see, each roll of tape is quite narrow, so you may find working with the tape quite a fiddly experience, but luckily I have nimble fingers so I managed to get the hang of it after a while.

All you need to do is cut the tape to size and apply it directly to your dry painted nail and trim any extra length away from the nail. It is as simple as that. Press each piece of tape down well and when you are finished, apply at least one coat of clear top coat over the top to seal it in and to add a glossy shine.

You don't need to be highly skilled to work with Nail Striping Tape, you just need to be patient and set aside plenty of time for it. You definitely don't want to be in a rush to go out when you decide to start on this kind of project!

Here are some pics from the first time I used Nail Striping Tape. The colour I used to paint my nails was a lovely deep purple navy colour from Barry M.

How did you get on with your nail striping tape and where did you buy yours from?

lvy <3

GOSH Glitter Nail Dust

The possibilities are endless with GOSH Glitter Nail Dust!

I have used just regular craft glitter before but quickly gave up with that stuff because each flake was too bulky. It didn't matter how many layers of clear top coat I applied, I just couldn't flatten out the rough edges of each flake and so each nail surface ended up being quite bumpy and rough.

GOSH Glitter Nail Dust

I stumbled across this glitter nail dust in Superdrug. It's by GOSH and is quite pricey at £3.99 for a small pot. There are several shades to choose from so you do have to stop yourself from buying them all!
I chose gold and also a pot of ruby coloured dust.

You can dip a freshly painted nail directly into the pot to create glitter tips, or even sprinkle some of the glitter dust onto a wet nail. I also like to sprinkle some dust sparingly over freshly painted nail art to add a little sparkle and life to my creations.

Below are some pics of gold glitter dust lightly sprinkled over a glossy black nail paint from Rimmel. I like to sprinkle the dust onto a layer of wet clear top coat and after that has dried I apply a second layer of clear top coat to seal it in and to add shine.

Rimmel Nail Polish in Black and Gold GOSH Glitter Nail Dust

I like this stuff because a little does go a long way. You don't have to buy fine glitter dust from this particular brand - you can buy it online, you just need to search for it and be sure that you are buying fine dust rather than the bigger glitter flakes that I find are harder to work with. Some of the online images are hard to make out!

The reason why I bought it from GOSH is because it was readily available at the time and also it was just to to try it and see if I would be able to get on with it - in the future I'll most likely buy it from somewhere else too.

Where do you buy your glitter nail dust from?

lvy <3

Newspaper Nails - How To

How to create your own Newspaper Nails:

I remember seeing newspaper nails for the first time and I instantly thought 'Wow! I want!' But like with my first encounter with the galaxy nails, I didn't attempt this style for a very long time because I thought it would be difficult and also I wasn't too sure how to do it, or if it would be worth finding the rubbing alcohol needed to do it.

So is it worth it? Yes! And all you need are the following items:

Your chosen nail paint; clear base and top coat; an article of your choice from your favourite newspaper; a small pair of scissors to cut the newspaper to size and some rubbing alcohol/surgical spirit.

I tracked down some surgical spirit at Superdrug but had to buy it online because they didn't sell it in my local store. It was only £1.35 for 200ml and luckily they were offering free p&p at that time, so I was pretty happy despite having to wait a short period of time for it to arrive before I could finally get cracking.

To create my newspaper nails I decided to get the preparation work out of the way first. On my commute to and from work there are free newspapers that I can pick up, which is great, because to make this nail art more fun I decided that I would always use cuttings from an article that is on topic and hot off the press.

Choose an article of your choice, preferably one with decent sized font where eat letter would be easily readable on your nail. Cut out 10 nail sized cuttings, for me, each one a little larger than the size of your nail.

Once you have done that, you can paint your nails. Apply base coat, then the colour of your choice and be sure to let each coat dry fully.

Now for the fun part! I opened the spirit bottle and poured the liquid into its own cap (quite handy), the amount you use should be just deep enough to fully cover each nail. To transfer the newspaper font from the cutting onto the nail, dip your painted (and fully dried) nail into the spirit for no longer than 5 seconds (you don't want your polish to melt) and then gently press a newspaper cutting onto the nail before gently peeling it off to reveal the nail art. Be careful to directly apply the cutting onto the nail without slipping or dragging it across, or you will end up smudging the print across the nail.

Repeat this process with the rest of your nails.

Allow each nail to dry for a few minutes before applying a clear top coat to add a glossy look and also to protect your hard work.

Newspaper Nails

The nail paint I used was a lilac pastel shade by Revlon and the article I used was from the paper that I had picked up on my way home from work that day - Red Bull and Felix Baumgartner's freefall jump from the edge of space! Other nail colours I have also tried this art on are a peach pastel shade and a white pastel shade by Barry M. I must say, it comes up really nice against the white! You should try it.

Let me know your thoughts on Newspaper Nails and your first time experiences with this too!

lvy <3

Creating Nail Art with Sticky Tape

Sticky Tape Nail Art - so simple to achieve!

I would say that Sticky Tape Nail Art is one of the easiest ways to create stand out nails, especially if you are new to nail art or are short of time.

All you need are two colours of nail paint (or you could mix it up and use more than two colours of course), sticky tape and a small pair of scissors to cut the tape with. I always use a clear base coat and a clear top coat to seal the art work in and to add a bit of gloss over the top at the same time.

You can create many different looks with sticky tape and I decided on this occasion to paint coloured triangles at the base of each nail. I used a glossy black nail polish by Rimmel as the main colour and applied two coats (allowing each one to fully dry) on each nail.

Now for the tape! You have to be very careful with what tape you use because a cheap one could leave sticky remnants behind on your painted nail, and also a really strong tape could pull off some of the colour or the chemical on the adhesive part could warp the paint ever so slightly. 

I used the first roll of tape I could find at home and tested it out by starting on my little finger nail first - my logic for this is that if it went wrong I could always repaint it again and use a different tape if necessary. I cut a small strip of tape and stuck it onto my nail to form one side of the triangle shape and then again for the other side. Note: after cutting each strip I patted the sticky side with the pad of my finger to make the tackiness less potent so as to avoid ruining my painted nail.

I taped up a few nails at a time then painted/filled in the taped parts with a contrasting nail paint - this time I used a metallic gold shade called champagne by Models Own.

Sticky Tape Nail Art - Work in Progress

Afterwards, allow the paint to dry fully before adding a second coat (if required) and then you must allow the nail to dry before you carefully peel the tape off, to prevent from pulling some of the nail paint across the rest of the nail.

Once you have removed the tape, apply a generous coat of clear top coat, allow it to dry and then sit back and admire your handiwork!!!

Sticky Tape Nail Art - the finished result

What other colour combinations do you think would go well for Sticky Tape Nail Art?

lvy <3

Galaxy Nails

Get Creative with Galaxy Nails!

Okay, so I have seen a lot of different takes on Galaxy Nails and have always been intrigued by it, but also a little scared to try it myself as it looks so complicated!

But after a lot of chin scratching (lol) I decided enough was enough - it was time to take the plunge.

The beauty about this look is that it really is what you make of it, you can use what ever colours for your galaxy that take your fancy and also, the outcome will be very unique compared to everyone else's, unless you follow their attempts to a T, even down to what products and tools they use.

For me, I wanted to do it my way, as in, taking inspiration from other people's attempts and recreating the look using the tools I had without having to go out and buy anything new (cheap and cheerful!).

To start, I chose the nail paints that I wanted to use and then after applying a clear base coat, I applied the base colour (2 coats, allowing each one to fully dry).

The colour I selected for this was a dark metallic grey colour called 'Intense' by Collection 2000.

Galaxy Nails - preparation

Next is the fun part - creating the galaxy! This requires a lot of patience and a steady hand. I chose to use cotton buds to help me create mine. You can use a bit of sponge (tear up a cheap make up sponge or something) but all I had at my disposal were cotton buds so that is what I used.

First of all I dipped a bud into my pot of white Barry M nail paint then smudged it onto each nail in a kind of S shape fashion almost and then allowed it to dry. I then took another bud and dipped it into a dark green No7 nail paint and smudged that on top wherever I fancied (you can allow your artistic side to take over) and then allowed that to dry too. And you carry this process on with the colours you decide to use until you are happy with your end result.

Don't worry if you make a 'mistake' - the aim isn't to make every nail look the same, if you keep starting afresh every time you feel that you have made a mistake you will end up taking forever to paint your nails! Just keep on going and you can always mask slight slips with the next layer and colour of polish that you choose to use.

Galaxy Nails - a bit like arts and crafts

To really bring it to life, add some 'stars' by dotting some gold nail paint around each nail (I used my Andrea Fulerton nail art polish for this, bought from Superdrug) and then paint some glitter paint on top of each galaxy to make it sparkle. I didn't have any glitter based clear polish so I roughly smeared a little clear polish on each galaxy and then sprinkled some holographic nail glitter dust on (so that it would stick) before I applied a couple of coats of clear top coat over the top, allowing each coat to fully dry.

I love the finishing touch of applying the clear top coat because it really seals in your hard work and also brings in all those layers of polish into one, giving it a very lovely shine and look. I use a diamond shine Sally Hanson top coat - it works wonders on painted nails, but be careful not to apply too many strokes per coat else you risk smudging your hard work as it is quite a powerful varnish.

Overall, I had a lot of fun creating this look and can't wait to give it another go again, with some other colours!

Time to admire my Galaxy Nails

Have you tried this look before? How did you do yours?

lvy <3

Dr Jart Regenerating Beauty Balm

Achieving a flawless look with Dr Jart Regenerating Beauty Balm:

All though BB creams have been out for a while now, I have only just recently been made aware of them due to seeing the ever increasing advertising for the UK versions that have recently been marketed by the likes of 17, L'Oreal and Garnier to name a few.

I've recently finished my pot of day cream so thought i'd jump on the BB cream bandwagon too  and see what all the fuss is about. These creams claim to do every thing in one - offer coverage of imperfections, moisturise, contain sun factor and more, so for me, I was quite keen to try this out!
At the moment my morning routine consists of applying moisturiser which contains sun protection followed by another moisturiser which adds a bit of glow, and then some concealer, foundation and powder (only where required on dark circles or imperfections).
Surely switching to using just one product in the form of a BB cream would save me so much more time!

Now there are many different ones to choose from, but because these creams have long been all the rage across the water in Asia, I decided to go for one made by Dr Jart which is readily sold in Boots.
Dr Jart make a few BB creams to suit different skin types and ages - and after careful, lengthy consideration I opted for the Regenerating Beauty Balm which comes in the silver packaging.

Dr Jart Regenerating Beauty Balm

It costs £21 for 50ml - so it isn't cheap, but what I found is that a little of this product luckily goes a long long way. And the packaging is quite pretty too!
I have quite pale oriental skin and there is only one shade option to suit all, so you may find it a bit risky buying this without trying it first. Some Boots stores may have testers, otherwise you'll have to brave it and hope for the best.

It's easy to apply, slightly thicker in consistency compared to my usual moisturiser. I used my fingers and dotted it onto my skin then worked it in. It doesn't cover dark under eye circles completely, so you may need to use a little concealer first. Depending on what kind of look you are going for, you could skip the blusher and opt for pale skin and dramatic eyes or lips, or, you could add blusher/bronzer to prevent your complexion from looking too washed out.

Dr Jart Regenerating Beauty Balm

I found that it lasted all day, when I was rushing around at work my skin did start to feel a little greasy and shiny, but overall I was pleased with this product. It evened out my skin tone and made getting made up for work a lot simpler.

Have you tried this Dr Jart Regenerating Beauty Balm before? What did you think? What other ones do you or have you used?

lvy <3