Bow Down... To The Higher Power

The Dirty Nil is a local band I've been listening to for a while now. Back in February, they released their first full length album, Higher Power. I went to one of their record release shows, and of course, I painted some nail art in honour of it.

The nail art is based off of the album cover for Higher Power (you can see the album cover here), which was painted by Alex Roulette. This guy took about 5 hours to paint.

I honestly can't tell you what the base on this design was, because there was so much paint layered on top. I'm pretty sure I started with Sure Thing from Revlon, with a bit of Surfing Paradise from Island Girl Hawaii, but I'm not positive. I then proceeded to add all of the detail using various colours of acrylic paints. To create the blue smoke, I used watered down white acrylic paint, as well as blue Sharpies with rubbing alcohol compound.

A super close up to see the detail.

I later added a matte top coat.

So because I had so many layers of paint and polish, the whole design literally popped off my nail in one piece... I've never experienced this before, but it was certainly interesting.

Hope you guys enjoy! And if you guys like some rowdy rock 'n' roll, definitely give The Dirty Nil a listen!

It's Been Awhile...

So... It's almost been a year... And I could make a million excuses as to why I haven't posted in forever, but really, it just comes down to laziness. And also busy-ness. I went off to college, met new people, had fun, did (lots) of schoolwork, went to concerts, and went to Disney (by myself) on a whim. Very busy. That being said, there has been no shortage of nail art in the time since I last posted, but it's all been posted over on my Instagram rather than here. I want to change that. Time to get back to bloggin'.
I figure to start things off, I'll post one of my most recent designs, and kind of work my way back. Not sure how many of you are reading this, or any of you at all, but here we go.

So I went to a concert last week (I know, big shocker). The band I saw is one I've seen several times, an epic Canadian punk rock group called PUP. Small doggy dog. Now PUP just happened to have released their new album, The Dream Is Over, and in true Nail Guru fashion, I had to paint it.

Here's a close up. It took about 5 hours to paint this. I have no idea how many top coats are on this baby. What I can tell you is that I started with a base of Sure Thing from Revlon, used a ton of acrylic craft paint, and created the fire by using rubbing alcohol compound and Sharpies. More on this in a future post. This was followed by the above mentioned unknown amount of my new fave top coat, the gel nail polish in 01 absolute pure from essence. I've got like 4 bottles of the stuff right now... and it only costs about $3.00. 

And here's a super embarrassing photo of me and this poster both wearing The Dream Is Over... Soooo embarrassing, one of us is going to have to change. 

There you have it: The Dream Is Over by PUP on my nail. It was the best concert I've ever been to... and I've been to a lot... 

See you guys soon with more nails!

Budapest

I went to see George Ezra not too long ago, and I (of course) painted nail for that concert as well!

My pinkie was a base of Sure Thing from Revlon, which I then painted a map of Budapest (one of his songs) on using red, blue and black acryic. On my ring finger, I painted "George Ezra" in white acrylic on a base of Black Taxi from Nails Inc. I used a base of Sure Thing on my middle finger, then painted Paddington Bear (who inspired the album name) using red, black, white, brown and blue acrylic. Using white acrylic on a base of Black Taxi, I painted "#Petan" (a hashtag George made up). Finally, my thumb was a base of Sure Thing. I then painted on a map of Barcelona (another George Ezra song) using red, blue and black acrylic. 

George was absolutely amazing to see, and while I didn't get a chance to meet him, I did get to chat with his sister and show her my nails, which she loved!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Mindsweep

 I went to see the band Enter Shikari, and, as always, I painted my nails after their album artwork.

All nails were a base of Black Leather from China Glaze.For my pinkies, pointer finger and thumb, I used blue, purple, pink and red acrylic to paint synapses, as well as a bit of Plum Seduction from Revlon for a brighter magenta in certain spots. On my ring finger, I sponged on some of Yoga-Ta Get This Blue from OPI, then painted the Enter Shikari logo and synapses with white and blue acrylic. Finally, I painted "Enter Shikari" on my middle finger using white acrylic.

I got a chance to meet Rou and Rory from the band, and they thought my nails were awesome!

They also posted them on Instagram!

Hope you guys enjoy! 

Where Are Youuuu? And I'm So Sorrrry!

As many of you know, I am a serious music lover, so here are some more band inspired nails. This time: Blink-182.

I started with a base of Sure Thing from Revlon for all of my nails. I then dry brushed Plum Seduction from Revlon and Club Prive from L'Oréal on my nails. On my ring finger, I painted the logo on using black acrylic, then added the name using a light tan and black acrylic. Finally, I splattered black acrylic on m,y nails using a toothbrush.  

Hope you guys enjoy!

Ghost Town

Alright kiddos (I have no idea why I said kiddos), it's about that time again to show off some band inspired nail art. This past Saturday, I went to yet another Ghost Town concert, and did some more Ghost Town nail art (you can see the previous manicures here, here, and here). As before, the designs are all inspired by the wonderful Alister Dippner, who is the mastermind behind the Ghost Town artwork. 

Alright, let's start with the left hand. Both my pinkie and thumb were galaxies, with a base of Frostbite from China Glaze, then Plum Seduction from Revlon and white acrylic sponged on. I finished it off with some white acrylic stars. My ring finger is a base of Black Taxi from Nails Inc., and then the Ghost Town logo was painted with white acrylic. My middle finger is inspired by the cover for the song "Acid", with a base of Sure Thing from Revlon. All the details are acrylic, except for the galaxy on the hair, which included Plum Seduction. On my pointer finger, I painted part of the cover for "I'm A Disaster", starting with a base of Black Taxi, and a sponging of Miss Universe from Essence. Then the details were painted with acrylic. 

On my right hand, I my thumb was a "Pizza Kitty" in acrylic, with a base of Black Taxi and sponging of Miss Universe. My pointer finger was an Alister Dippner styled Pikachu, also with acrylic, on a base of Sure Thing. On my middle finger, I painted "Bessie the Cow" using acrylic, with as base of Black Taxi. My ring finger was an Alister inspired Mickey Mouse, with a base of Sure Thing and painted in acrylic. Finally, my pinkie was another a galaxy.

Here's a close up of "Acid".

Hope you guys enjoy!

Vote Zod

Well, it's starting to look like January has become all about music nail art, with this being my second band inspired design. This design is inspired by the Billy Talent Hits album that came out last year.

As I'm sure you all know by now, I'm a huge Billy Talent fan. You can see my past Billy Talent inspired manicures here, here and here. I fell in love with all the artwork for this album, so it was time for another BT tribute. I started with a base of Black Taxi from Nails Inc. on all of my nails. Then, I sponged on Suzy Loves Cowboys from OPI, Surfing Paradise from Island Girl Hawaii and Sure Thing from Revlon on my ring finger. After that, I painted on the bird's skull and skeleton keys featured on the cover of Hits using black and white acrylic. On my pointer finger, I painted a tie using Revlon Red, which if the name didn't give it away, is from Revlon.  Finally, I added a "Vote Zod" button on the tie with red, blue and white acrylic, which was based off of art for the song Kingdom of Zod.

Hope you guys enjoy!

111 Songs

So the rad dudes from Hollerado released some new music. And as always, I love it. But this time, it's a little different... Basically, they wrote 111 songs. Yeah. 111. That's a lot of songs. But there's a really cool concept behind it, which you can read more about here. Now, along with the first 3 of the 111 songs came the album artwork, created by this guy right here. It's pretty rad too. So rad, in fact, that I painted some nail art of it. Here we go.

I started with a base of Sassy from Revlon. Then, using black, yellow, white and orange acrylic, I painted part of the album artwork. 

Hope you guys enjoy!

Egyptian Flare

I wanted to do a simple manicure, but one which hopefully still had a pretty big impact. I feel like this design was exactly what I needed. Everyone who saw my hieroglyphic manicure loved it, which was totally awesome!

I started with a base of French Quarter for Your Thoughts from OPI, then using black acrylic, painted on the hieroglyphs. They spell out, from left to right, 'SING', as music is something extremely important to me. I also happen to be in love with Ancient Egyptian history, so this manicure combined a lot of things I love. 

Hope you guys enjoy!

Imagine

34 years ago today, John Lennon was shot and killed outside of his New York home. That day, a legend was lost. He may not be my favourite Beatle, but without him, that legendary rock band would never have existed. Today's design pays tribute to the legend himself, John Lennon.

I started with a base of Black Taxi from Nails Inc. for all my nails. Then, using white acrylic, I painted John Lennon on my ring finger, and wrote "Imagine all the people" on my pointer finger. 

So take a minute today to imagine all the people, living life in peace. And then, maybe we can actually try this living in peace thing. 

Hope you guys enjoy.

And we all shine on.

Take It Or Leave It

Yes guys, I went to another concert. I feel like that's all I do now a days. :p Anyways, I won tickets to see Cage The Elephant and The Black Keys. I of course did nails as a tribute to Cage The Elephant. Here they are.

My thumb and pinkie were a base of Sure Thing from Revlon with stripes painted on using a black striper. My ring finger was a water marbled base of Black Taxi from Nails Inc., Blue Away from Sally Hansen, Pink Lingerie from Revlon, Revlon Red from Revlon and High Line Green from NYC. Then, using white acrylic, I painted the Cage The Elephant cover from their album Thank You, Happy Birthday. My middle finger is also a base of Sure Thing. Then, I splattered, dotted and smudged on Sassy from Revlon, Lightening from Sally Hansen, Revlon Red, Let's Get Lost from Essence, and black, red and pink acrylic. Finally, my pointer finger was a base of Sure Thing, with an eye from the Melophobia cover painted using black, red, purple and blue acrylic. My right hand was very similar to my left hand.

This was the first concert in a long time I haven't hung out with the band after, but it was tons of fun and I love how my nails turned out!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Hollerado

On Thursday night, I went to see Hollerado... again. Some of you guys may remember the nails I did for a Hollerado concert back in January. And of course, being me, I had to paint my nails again.

My pinkie and pointer finger are based off of the stained glass windows on the cover for the album White Paint. I started with a base of Black Taxi from Nails Inc. then added the stained glass using Gypsy Queen from Misa, Blue Away from Sally Hansen, Frostbite from China Glaze, High Line Green from NYC, Sure Thing from Revlon, Sun Kissed from Sally Hansen and Tomorrow Never Dies from OPI. On my ring finger, I started with a base of Sure Thing, then painted "Hollerado" with black acrylic and all the colours mentioned above for the stained glass. I painted the doodle of Lonesome George, the tortoise on my middle finger on a base of Sure Thing. The tortoiseis painted with black acrylic, then I used watered down acrylic to get the water colour effect around him. Finally, my thumb is the cover for Record in a Bag. I started with a base of Sure Thing, then painted the record with black acrylic. I painted the beginning of the Hollerado logo at the top with High Line Green. 

The band came out after to talk to everyone, and I got a chance to show them my nails again. They all remembered me as the girl with the crazy nail art. I also had quite a good chat with the singer, Menno, which might lead to an exciting opportunity for me, but more on that later! And I finally me and the drummer in the band, Jake, so I now have photos with him too!

It was another amazing concert!

Hope you guys enjoy!

I'm Weird

On Friday I went to Warped Tour 2014. For those of you who don't know, Warped Tour is a huge music festival that is now international. There are over 100 bands and artists on the tour, so there's something for everyone to enjoy. It was my first time going to Warped Tour and it was an amazing experience. Here are my nails for the occasion.

My pinkie is a base of Black Taxi from Nails Inc. Then I sponged on Frostbite from China Glaze, Plum Seduction from Revlon, Back In My Gloria Days from Nicole By OPI and Let's Get Lost from Essence to create a galaxy. Finally, I added some stars with white acrylic. My ring finger is the Journeys logo, with a base of Black Taxi painted in white acrylic. My middle finger is part of the illustration for the Ghost Town song Monster. The base is High Line Green from NYC, and the rest is acrylic. On my pointer finger, I started with a base of Black Taxi, then sponged on French Quarter for Your Thoughts and Ski Slop Sweetie, both from OPI. I added stars and "I'm Weird" which is a new song from Ghost Town. Finally, my thumb is the Vans logo. The base is Black Taxi and the lettering is acrylic. 

Conor from Ice Nine Kills. 

And Bertrand from Chunk! No Captain Chunk! 

Warped Tour was definitely fun! And it was great to see some awesome bands! 

Hope you guys enjoy!

*UPDATE*

This is a tour vlog from Ghost Town. If you watch from about 1:05, you'll see me showing off my nails at the Toronto Warped Tour show!

Also, Warped Tour posted my nails on their Instagram!

MMVA's

On Sunday I went to the 2014 MMVA's or Much Music Video Awards. They're a huge Canadian awards show, and I definitely needed to do my nails for them.

The black base is Black Satin from Rimmel, and the white base is White Matter from Formula X. On my pinkie, I painted the Marianas Trench logo in white acrylic. My ring finger is the MMVA logo. On my middle finger, I painted the Imagine Dragons logo and Hedley's logo is painted on my pointer finger. Finally, my thumb is the Much logo. 

I don't have any concert photos, as I didn't stay for most of the MMVA's... It was my first bad concert experience...

But anyways, hope you guys enjoy!

Come A Little Closer

On Tuesday night I went to a Cage The Elephant concert. They're one of my favourite bands, and the concert was phenomenal. I know, I say this about every concert I see, but I've yet to go to a bad concert... :) Of course, I had to paint my nails for it.

 

My pinkie is based on the background for their self titled album, Cage The Elephant. The base is White Matter from Formula X (officially the BEST white polish ever), then I applied Curaçao from Sephora using the watercolour technique. I also dry brushed Lightening from Sally Hansen and Plum Seduction from Revlon on, and splattered Sassy fom Revlon, L.O.L. from Essence, and black acrylic. My ring finger is also a base of White Matter, then I painted on an eye from the album Melophobia with the band's logo. My middle finger is blue and magenta acrylic flowers which are based on artwork within the album Cage The Elephant. The base is also White Matter. On my pointer finger, I marbled various colours of acrylic paint together. Finally, my thumb is a base of White Matter with black stripes using a striper. All the designs are based off of the band's album artwork.

I also met the guitarist, Brad, as you can see below. 

And then this happened:

Now that's what I call crowd surfing... although I'd be scared they would drop me... Hope you guys enjoy!

So It Goes...

Oh yes. That time has come again: concert nail time. After going to 8 concerts last year, I figured I needed to step up my concert game this year :p, and go to even more. So why not start early?! Anyways, I went to see Hollerado; who is one of my favourite bands Sunday night. They're kind of an Indie Rock band. It was below 0°C, but the band rocked. It was a small concert, so I got to meet the band too! They're super cool, chill guys. And of course, I did my nails. Then on Monday night, I went to see Hollerado again. I met them (again), and this time got to show them my nails. Their singer, Menno was really excited by them. I think the coolest part though, was that their bassist, Dean, remembered me.

*So Menno, the band's singer, took a photo of my nails. He told me they were going on the internet. He didn't lie. Here they are on Hollerado's Instagram.*

My nails are based on Hollerado's albums. My pinkie, pointer finger and thumb on my left hand, as well as my pinkie and pointer finger on my right hand are inspired by their album Record In A Bag. My middle fingers are inspired by their album White Paint, and my ring finger on my left hand is their logo. All of the Record In A Bag nails were done with a base of White Away by Sally Hansen, a calligraphy pen, India ink and acrylic paint. The logo was a base of Black Satin from Rimmel, and acrylic. The White Paint nails were a base of Black Satin, with Gypsy Queen by Misa, Wocka Wocka by OPI, Art Nouv-Yellow by Finger Paints, High Line Green by NYC, Surfs Up by Sally Girl, Let's Get Lost by Essence, Frostbite by China Glaze, and Tomorrow Never Dies by OPI to get the stained glass look. On my left hand, I painted over the "stained glass" with white acrylic for the effect on the CD.


Signed by Menno (sadly, slightly smudged), Nixon and Dean. I never seemed to be able to find Jake, the drummer...

This one was only signed by Dean, but I love the extra "Stay Warm". It really was freezing the other night.

Prepare to be bombarded with concert photos.

Here's me with Menno. I got photos with the other guys too, but they're with my friend as well, so I didn't want to plaster them all over the internet.

As I always say after a concert, go check this band out!!!!

P.S. Do you guys remember my Ghost Town manicure? Well, after showing the guys from Ghost Town my nails, they did a live vlog on YouNow, and I was mentioned. Check it out here! Start watching at about 24:30 until about 25:15.