Aurora Borealis Tutorial

I got a request to make a tutorial on this a while ago (sorry it took so long Nicky!) I honestly forgot this post existed!

The final picture in the collage should be your final product. For some reason, my camera decided to not capture the Aurora Borealis very well for the tutorial. The photo above gives you a better idea of the shade of blue to use.

1. Start with a dark blue base, preferably with some sparkle to it. I used one coat of Black Satin from Rimmel, followed by one coat of Yoga-Ta Get this Blue from OPI.

2. Next, sponge on various colours. In my case, I'm making a blue and purple galaxy. I sponged on (near the centre of my nail) Frostbite by China Glaze, Grey-t to Be Here by Essence, Curaçao by Sephora, Stars In Her Eyes by Ceramic Glaze, Plum Seduction by Revlon, Hello Marshmallow by Essence and Miss Universe by Essence. You don't have to use this many colours. I only did to get the glittery night sky effect I was going for. Basically, you want to lighten the centre of the nail, and add sparkle. 

3. Using a white nail polish thinned with polish remover/thinner or watered down white acrylic, start painting the Aurora Borealis. To do this, make an "s" shape from near your cuticle up to the tip of your nail. Go over this shape in certain places to make parts of the Northern Lights pop. In other spots, fade out the white to make more of a glowing look. Just as with galaxy nails, reference photos to make your design more realistic. 

4. Finally, using black polish or acrylic, paint a silhouette of trees. 

And there you go. An Aurora Borealis manicure!

Out of This World

I LOVE galaxy nails. Ever since I first tried them, I have. I don't really paint galaxy nails that often though, so I thought it was about time for some more. As well as an updated galaxy tutorial.

1. Start with a black base. I used Black Satin from Rimmel.

2. Choose two colours at this point that work well together. For example, green and blue or blue and purple. In my case, I chose blue and purple, which are generally seen it actually galaxies. Starting with the first colour (blue, Frostbite by China Glaze), sponge onto the nail. Make the colour more concentrated in certain areas. 

3. Using your second colour (purple, Back in My Gloria Days by Nicole (OPI) and Tomorrow Never Dies by OPI, sponge onto the nail. Overlap with the other colour in certain spots. 

4. [Optional] Taking a lighter shade of your first colour (Let's Get Lost by Essence), sponge onto spots of the galaxy that you want to be lighter. At this point, take a white polish or white acrylic, and lighten certain spots of the galaxy. 

5. Now that you have the white on the nail, take this time to add any more of the colours you chose, overlapping some of the white. 

6. Add stars using white. And add lots of them. Focus on clustering the stars. Wherever the galaxy is the lightest, that's where you should put more stars. Finally, top coat.

And here are some of my old tips, and some new ones. 

Tips:

i) Rip the makeup sponge; don't cut it, for a more natural, organic and realistic look when sponging. 

ii) Reference photos of galaxies to produce a more realistic design. I can't stress this enough. Looking at photos will really help you to get a more realistic look. 

iii) Don't be perfect. Galaxies are irregular in shape since they naturally occur. 

iv) Each nail doesn't need to be the same, since once again, galaxies are natural and don't all look the same. Make each galaxy unique!! Remember, there are spiral, elliptical and irregular shaped galaxies (plus more).

v) Wherever you make the galaxy the brightest should be where you put the most stars. 

vi) Make stars of various sizes for a more realistic look. 

vii) By using mainly metallic or glittery polishes, you'll achieve more of a space feel with your design.

Alright guys, I hope you enjoy and good luck!

But wait! There's more! A ton of underwater photos to capture the colours of the galaxy!

Alright, spamming of underwater photos done. I'll be posting again soon. Probably tomorrow... :D

Seeing Dots: Tutorial 2

Here's day 2 of the Seeing Dots tutorials.

1. Apply your base colour. I used Watermelon from Essie.

2. Using a mid sized dotting tool (I used a pen tip), make an arc of dots starting at the base of the nail and curving out. Make sure the dots gradually get smaller.

3. Using a second colour, slightly overlap the dots and repeat by making an arc of dots. Once again, make sure that the dots gradually get smaller.

There you go. Another super simple tutorial that gives a really cute look. Enjoy!

Seeing Spots.... Or Dots

During the next three days, I have some cute and quick nail art tutorials for you guys that are centered around... dots! Here's day one.

1. Apply your base colour. I used Turned Up Turquoise from China Glaze.

2. Using a large dotting tool, make 5 dots at the top of the nail, ensuring they follow a pattern.

3. Using a slightly smaller dotting tool, make three dots.

4. Using another smaller dotting tool, make 5 more dots.

5. Finally, using the smallest dotting tool you have, make 3 dots. Your final design should come to a point towards the cuticle (dots should form a triangle).

Here are the dotting tools I used. A pin stuck into a pencil eraser makes a great large dotter. A pen tip is good for a medium size. And mechanical pencils and flossers are good for tiny dots. Tooth picks work really well too.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's tutorial.

Comic Book Love

I've got another Valentine's design for you guys. This time, it's inspired by vintage comic books and pop art.

1. Start with your base colours. Go for pastels or pinks/reds since it's Valentine's. I used (from left to right) Pink Lingerie from Revlon, Mellow Yellow from Sally Hansen, Mint Sorbet from Sally Hansen and Blue-Away from Sally Hansen.

2. Tape out the "explosion" using triangles of scotch tape. You can do this for all the nails, but I only did an accent finger. Paint this in with white. I used White On from Sally Hansen.

3. While the white dries, use a toothpick to make tiny polka dots on the other nails. 

4. And now you have your white explosion. If you haven't already, remove the tape. Clean up any mistakes. 

5. Outline the explosion in black. I used acrylic for this.

6. Using the toothpick again, make white polka dots on the nail with the explosion.

7. Finally, write something in the explosion using black. I chose "XOXO", since it's love themed.

You guys can use this tutorial for any time of year. 

I also have a question for you guys. What do you want to see more of? Nail art? Tutorials? Reviews? Tips and tricks? Let me know in the comments below!

Vintage Valentine's Day Inspired Nails

I don't know if you guys remember, but several months ago, I painted a vintage inspired nail design. I really liked the design, and I got great feedback on it. So, for a Valentine's manicure, I decided to do a design very similar.

The lightest pink is Sweet as Candy from Essence. On the middle finger is Pink Lingerie from Revlon Top Speed. Finally, the darkest pink is Presto Pink from Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. The hearts, stripes and roses are all acrylic.

The hearts were super easy to make. You just start with two dots (make these with a toothpick). Then, drag down the dots to a point and you have a heart! 

For the roses, you pretty much just keep make sort of squiggly comma shapes.

I hope you guys enjoy this! 

It's Snowing!... On my nails at least...

Not sure about wherever you guys are, but here in Southern Ontario, we've yet to get snow that stays on the ground. It's looking like we'll be having yet another green Christmas. But, to avoid having no snow, I went for a snowy nail design, complete with tutorial.

1. Start by painting three triangles at the tip of your nail, using a white striper. Then, add in three light blue diamonds; one in each triangle. 

2. Using the striper, make a white line between the right triangle and the centre triangle. Repeat on the opposite side. 

3. Add in two small chevrons at the end of each line.

4. Using a dotting tool, add "snow" dots cascading down the side of the nail.

For the other nails, start with a simple french manicure and add in the "snow". I used White On from Sally Hansen for the french, along with French Rose from Rimmel. The striper was an It's So Easy Stripe Rite in white. 

Once again, Happy Holidays everyone!

Holly Tutorial

Hey everyone! I've got a quick Christmas-y tutorial for you!

1. Start with a basic white french. I used White On from Sally Hansen and French Rose from Rimmel. 

2. Next, using a green striper, paint on two holly leaves; one horizontal to the french and one vertical to the french. Press down the striper brush against the nail, then pull and lift for the points of the leaves. I used Show Me the Greens from Misa.

3. Finally, using a dotter, add three holly berries in red. I used Wocka Wocka from OPI.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Peter Pan Collar Tutorial

Here's a quick tutorial for you guys!

1. Start with a black half-moon manicure. I used Black Satin from Rimmel.

2. Add the two rounded flaps of the collar in white.

3. Finally, add to white dots for buttons.

And you're done! Simple, eh?

Halloween Tutorials --- Friday the 13th

Channel your inner Jason Voorhees with these Friday the 13th inspired nails.

1. Start with a white base. I used White On from Sally Hansen.

2. Sponge on some brown polish to age Jason's mask. I used Bare Necessity from Avon.

3. Paint on the eye openings of the mask in black. Add the red, triangular designs onto the mask.

4. Add four black dots above the triangle over the eye opening, and one dot over the last dot on either side on top of the triangle. Ad three dots on the "cheeks".

5. Paint a black dot for the hole for the nose. Paint 4 dots in an arc below the "nose". And two dots beneath both of the center dots out of the four.

6. Finally, shade around the nose in brown to make it look three dimensional. Add silver dots beneath the red triangles on each side as screws for the mask.

For the other nails, thin some red nail polish with nail polish thinner. Place drops at the tips of white nails. The blow at the red, so that it goes towards your cuticle. There you go. Some "blood" covered nails.

Halloween Tutorials --- Monster Mash, Part 2

Here's part 2 of the Monster Mash tutorials.

1. Start with an orange base. I used Sun Kissed from Sally Hansen.

2. Paint a green leaf for the Jack-O-Lantern's "hair".

3. Add some black eyes.

4. Paint on the nose.

5. Finally, give your Jack-O-Lantern a toothy grin!

1. Start with a white base. I used White On from Sally Hansen. *Optional: Add a glow in the dark polish over the white. I used U Glow Girl from Sally Girl.

2. Paint on the black eyes for the skeleton.

3. Add the nose by making to thin lines.

4. Shade in some cheekbones with grey.

5. Finally, paint on teeth with black.

1. Paint your nails with a colour which matches your skin tone. I used Sheer Nude from Orly.

2. Take a make up sponge and sponge on some green, black and brown. I used Khaki from JOE, Black Satin from Rimmel and Bare Necessity from Avon.

3. Use black to give the zombie some hair.

4. Using a dotter, make two black eyes. Add a red pupil.

5. Finally, give your zombie a black nose and smile.

1. Start with a white base. I used White On followed with U Glow Girl.

2. Add two long, black eyes.

3. Add white to the eyes.

4. Finally, give the ghost a shocked looking mouth. 

And here are some glow in the dark shots. 

The ghost.

The skeleton.

I've got one more Halloween tutorial coming to you guys tomorrow. Let's just say this one will be creepier than the Monster Mash nails. 

Halloween Tutorials --- Monster Mash (Part 1)

Here's another (or rather four more) tutorials for you guys!

1. Paint your nail with a brown nail polish. I used Bare Necessity from Avon.

2. Using a large dotter (I used the end of a paint brush), make to white circles for eyes.

3. Give the werewolf some lime green irises and black pupils. Give him a big black nose.

4. Add some white fangs for the werewolf.

5. Finally, add some fur.

Grrrrr!

1. Start with a pale nude base. I used Sheer Nude from Orly.

2. Using black, paint the vampire's hair.

3. Add two white circles, followed by red dots for the eyes.

4. Add a nose for the vampire with brown. Paint on a mouth, along with two white fangs.

5. Finally, give the vampire some arched black eyebrows to look menacing. :p

And there you have it; your blood sucker.

1. Paint your nail with a green nail polish. I used High Line from NYC.

2. Add Frankenstein's triangular hair using black.

3. Next, using a dotter, make some white circles for the eyes. Follow with black pupils. 

4. Give Frankenstein a black nose and smile.

5. Finally, add Frankenstein's trademark stitches with a black striper.

There you go. Once misunderstood monster!

1. Start with a white base. I used White On from Sally Hansen.

2. Sponge on some brown and black to "age" the mummy. I sued Bare Necessity and Black Satin from Rimmel.

3. Use a dotter and make one eye. Add an orange iris and black pupil.

4. Finally, use a black striper to make the mummy's bandages.

I want my mummy!

There you go! Monster Mash nails! Enjoy!

Halloween Tutorials --- Spiderwebs

This is one of my favourite nail designs. I painted it last year for Halloween too, so I was excited to paint it again. It's much less creepy than the zombie nails and it has a sort of pop art feel.

Alright, here's the step-by-step tutorial.

1. Paint your nail with an orange nail polish. I used Papaya from JOE.

2. Using a white striper, outline the background for the spider web. Fill this in with white polish. I used White On from Sally Hansen.

3. Use a black striper to make the lines on the web. Top coat.

And that's it! You're done! Simple, right? Enjoy!

Halloween Tutorials --- Zombies

So, seeing as Halloween is coming up, I have decided to put my 31 Day Nail Art Challenge on hold for some Halloween tutorials. Yes, I am aware that I am already onto month three of my challenge, but I'm back a school now, and since it's senior year, things are hectic. Anyways, let's get to the tutorial!

Today's tutorial was inspired by the un-dead, as in zombies. I'm not a fan of the whole "zombie movement", but it's near Halloween and zombies and Halloween go hand in hand.

I came up with this design when I was searching the internet for Halloween nail inspirations. I kept coming across zombie nail, but they were basically all on fake nails where people cut them up. This got me thinking, "hey, aren't there some people who want to dress up as zombies without tearing their nails to bits?" :p Anyways, here's the [gross] tutorial.

1. Prep the nail and apply a polish onto your nail which matches your skin tone. At this same time, apply the same colour onto a plastic baggy. Use two coats on the bag. I used Sheer Nude from Orly.

2. Once the polish on the baggy is dry enough, peel some off. Using a exacto knife or scissors, tear a jagged hole in the DIY nail sticker. 

3. Apply the sticker to your nail. *You don't have to be perfect in the application. You want the "skin" to be lifting and puckered. 

4. Take a makeup sponge and sponge on some brown and an olive/camo green. I used Bare Necessity from Avon and Khaki from JOE.

5. Next, where the "skin" is lifting, gently sponge on some black (I used Black Satin from Rimmel). You can also sponge some black onto the rest of the nail, focusing on parts which are lifting or puckered. 

6. Fill in any gaps where the skin is lifting with red to symbolize blood. I used a mix of Wocka Wocka from OPI and Gypsy Queen from Misa.

7. Finally, splatter on some more red to look like blood. 

Remember, these don't need to be perfect! They just need to look...dirty. 

Enjoy!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 23, Movie

It took me a while to choose from the many movies I love for my inspired by a movie manicure. Finally, I settled on Harry Potter. I've painted Harry Potter nails before, which was for the release of the final movie (shown below). The thumb was inspired by the poster of Harry and Voldemort with the Elder Wand between them. Then I had a random design on the pinkie, the Dumbledore's Army logo, the Deathly Hallows and the Harry Potter logo, splattered with blood.

Anyways, let's get to my new Harry Potter manicure.

alt="Harry Potter nails" title="Harry Potter nails">

My thumb is the Harry Potter logo, with a base of Black Satin from Rimmel. The logo is painted with acrylics. My pointer finger is the Golden Snitch, painted with acrylics on a base of Black Satin. My middle finger is the Dark Mark, painted in acrylics with a base of Black Satin. My ring finger is the Undesirable No. 1 poster. The white is White On from Sally Hansen and the black is acrylic and a black striper. My pinkie is the Deathly Hallows, with a base of Black Satin. The white is acrylic.

I also happen to have a really random Harry Potter tutorial from a design on my right hand.

If you have ever felt like being a one eyed-evil wizard-hunting-auror, then this tutorial is for you.

Here we go. A Mad-Eye Moody "eye" tutorial. This can be painted directly onto the nail or on a plastic bag.

1. Paint a clear coat onto a plastic bag. *If painting directly onto the nail, simply apply your base colour.  When the base is dry, use a large dotting tool and make a white circle. 

2. Paint on the brown leather straps.

3. Next, rim the white circle with gold.

4. Once the white and gold are dry, make a blue circle in the eye. This will be the iris.

5. Add some light blue for detail to the eye, then add a slightly lopsided black pupil.

6. Add white highlights to the eye.

7. Add some shading to the bottom of the eye to give a more three-dimensional look.

8. Finally, add details, such as the silver and black screws holding the eye together.

I hope you guys enjoy! 

How to Clean Nail Art Brushes

I recently had a request for how to clean nail art brushes, so here we go. How to clean nail art brushes.

I mainly use my brushes for acrylics, so they aren't too "beat up". When I clean acrylic craft paint off my brushes, I use water.

Once the brush is in the water, gently push it against the bottom of the container and swipe back and forth. Make sure you use room temperature or cold water. Otherwise, the bristles of the brush can fall out.

When I use my brushes for nail polish, I use polish remover to clean them. Follow the same method as with the water. Take a cotton pad soaked in polish remover and swipe the brush back and forth on it until the colour comes off. I use non-acetone remover, which is not only easier on my brushes, but also on my nails. 

I had the problem a couple of years ago where I dipped my brush in polish remover to clean it and then rubbed off the paint and the bristles came out! Since I've cleaned my brushes this way, I've had no mishaps. I hope this helps!

Glitter, Torrential Rains and School

Sorry for ditching my challenge for a couple of days and sorry that this post doesn't have anything to do with the nail art challenge either, but a lot has been going on. First of all, school just started up again today, which I'm sure many of you know, whether it's you having gone back, a sibling, friend or child. I don't know about you guys, but I'm bummed that summer is over. Did everyone have a good summer though? Do anything interesting? Anyways, Hurricane Issac has made it's way to the province of Ontario and has brought some crazy rains all day. I hope that any of you dealing with the more serious side of Issac are doing okay. But why don't we get to the point. Nail art. And today, I have a tutorial for you. 

alt="glitter nails" title="glitter nails">

I decided for the first day of school I wanted something fun and simple on my toes, so I went with glitter toes. :)

1. First, paint your base colour of polish. You only need one coat here and make sure it is close to your glitter colour. I used Yoga-ta Get This Blue from OPI.

2. Make a little tray out of paper to pour your glitter over so that it won't get everywhere and will make for easy clean up. 

3. Apply a second coat of your base colour and sprinkle on the glitter. Shake off excess.

4. Clean up around your toes and top coat several times. 

There you go, glitter toes! This works the same way for fingers. 

DIY Nail Stampers

Hey guys! I came up with a really awesome (and easy) tutorial! It's how to make your own nail stampers!

alt="nail stamps" title="nail stamps">

1. To start, you're going to need something known as plastic clay. Well known brands are Sculpey and Fimo and they are available in most craft stores, such as Michael's and Curry's. Make a ball of the clay.

2. Roll the ball out until it is a couple millimeters thick.

3. Next you will need something to imprint onto the clay. I'm using the handle of a clay tool, but you can use lace, needles, toothpicks, etc. 

4. Gently imprint the object into the clay, ensuring it isn't too deep. I carefully rolled the handle into the clay. Now bake the clay in the oven according to package directions. Mine baked for 10 minutes at 275 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Now for the How-To on using the stamper.

5. Paint your nail. I used two coats of Stone Cold from the China Glaze Hunger Games collection.

6. Apply a nail polish to the stamper. Make sure it is a thicker, opaque polish. I used Whirlwind White from Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. Scrape of excess polish. I used a piece of cardboard, but if you own actual stampers (which I don't), you can use the scraper.

7. Press a make-up sponge onto the design, then press onto your nail. 

8. Remove the sponge. Allow the design to dry, then top coat.

My design was snake skin, but experiment with different textures!

Go ahead and email photos or post links of your own DIY nail stampers! Happy creating!

Minnie and Mickey Mouse

Here's a tutorial for you on Mickey and Minnie Mouse nails.

alt="Mickey Mouse nails" title="Mickey Mouse nails">

1. You need assorted nail polish, a dotter (dotting tool, toothpicks, pins, pencils, etc.), tape or hole punch reinforcements and scissors.

2. Prep your nails. Apply a base of black (Black Satin from Rimmel London) for Mickey and white (Whirlwind White from Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) for Minnie.

3. When fully dry, apply tape or reinforcements to create a half moon mani. Apply red (Wocka Wocka from OPI).

4. Using a dotting tool, apply two yellow (Migi nail pens) dots for Mickey's buttons. Apply white dots for Minnie's polka dot dress. Add bows for Minnie.

Nail Stickers: Go Wild!

I love making my own nail stickers, but I don't do it much. They're easy to make, and look really good. My latest were some zebra print ones. And I made a tutorial to go with them.

1. You need a plastic baggy, assorted nail polish, an exacto knife or scissors.

2. Apply nail polish to a plastic bag. I used Black Satin (Rimmel London), Ogre-the-Top Blue (OPI), I layered Gold Coin (Revlon) and Amazon's Flash (Loreal Paris) and a black striper (It's So Easy Stripe Right) for the stripes.

3. Next, after allowing your stickers to dry, either peel them off and cut them with scissors or use an exacto knife to cut out the shapes.

4. Go wild! Apply them to your nail however you want! The silver is silver acrylic craft paint.