Happy Halloween!

Hey guys! I just wanted to shout out a Happy Halloween and Feliz Dìa de los Muertos (Day of the Dead kicks off today!)! I was planning on putting my Day of the Dead manicure up today, but unfortunately I just got home, and the lighting has been horrible for days. I know, I know. I can take photos with a lamp or flash, but they just don't look the same as with natural lighting. Anyways, hopefully the pictures will be up tomorrow!

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

Hey guys! I've got four Halloween tutorials coming to you over the next few days, but I was wondering if you guys had any Halloween requests? Halloween is getting close, so let me know if there's a tutorial you'd like to see! Email me at thenailguru@hotmail.com or comment below.

My [non-nail art] Art

Hey guys! Today's post isn't about nail art. Instead it's about just plain old art. I've got a few of my drawings to show you!

This is a drawing of my friend's goat, Turnip.

Here's my Ian Somerhalder drawing, which I drew for my friend who is a die-hard fan of Vampire Diaries.

This is my winning entry in the 2011 Raptor's Art Contest.

And here's a recent drawing of a horse I did.

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 25, Fashion

It took me a while to come up with my fashion inspiration. Don't get me wrong, I love fashion. Shopping and clothes are awesome, but I don't really follow major designers (e.g. Gucci, Prada, etc). But then, I happened to be reading a Daily Nail  post (awhile ago) and she was talking about the new Kate Spade bag collection. So, I went over to Kate Spade's site, and checked out the bags. Ohmygod. Can I just say I'm in LOVE with her bags! They are gorgeous. Check out her new Knock on Wood collection (there's this adorable clutch that looks like an old Woody car!). Anyways, enough blabbering, time to get to the nails!

The ring finger was based on this Bon Shopper bag. The base was Black Satin from Rimmel and the writing (Joie de Vivre), as well as the heart, were acrylic. The other nails were inspired by this bag.The base was Black Satin , with White On from Sally Hansen for the dots. On the middle finger, I also painted Kate Spade's logo, which was with Designer De Better from OPI.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 24, Book

It took me forever to figure out what book I wanted to use as my inspiration for this design. And then in hit me. When I was a little kid, I LOVED the Little Critter books written by Mercer Mayer.

On my pinkie is the little spider that always happens to pop up in the books. The base is White On from Sally Hansen and the spider is acrylic. My ring finger is Little Critter (who I think is a guinea pig) and the base is Dreamer from Revlon. I sponged a bit of white over Dreamer, then painted Little Critter with acrylic. Finally, on my middle finger is Little Critter's puppy. Once again, it's a base of White on with acrylic details. As for where my pointer finger is, it's a mix of being lazy, having lots of homework, and the fact that it has a bad tear in need of repair. So, in my next manicure, my pointer finger will make an appearance. :p 

Anyways, I hope you guys like this!

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.

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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! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey guys! I've been done my inspired by a movie manicure for a couple of days, but it's been really hectic lately. I'm not sure if I'll get the pictures posted today, but they'll at least be up tomorrow! Anyways, I'm off to Thanksgiving dinner soon, so I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to any Canadians or anyone else celebrating today! Enjoy the food!