31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 2, Orange

For day 2, I decided to paint orange slices at the tips of my nails. The orange is Sun Kissed from Sally Hansen and the white is acrylic.

alt="orange nails" title="orange nails">

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 1, Red

I've decided to start a nail art challenge. However, it won't be exactly 31 days. It'll take more days most likely, since school is starting up soon. But, I will eventually complete all the challenges, even if I'm breaking the rules. :p

Anyways, here's day 1.

 So, I know technically, it's a nail art challenge. But it's been a busy weekend, so I went for the easy route by just painting a single colour.

The red is Gypsy Queen by Misa. It's a yellow under-toned red, while I normally prefer blue under-toned reds, but this one is really nice. The formula is awesome and goes on perfectly. I used two coats of Gypsy Queen, but it would have been fine after one. 

Stay tuned for day 2!

Elvis Presley was a model citizen...

I'm sure most of you are sitting here, reading this title and thinking, "Huh?" Well, for those of you who know Lilo and Stitch, you'd know that Lilo (and eventually Stitch) idolize Elvis Presley. So when Lilo is "training" Stitch, she uses Elvis Presley as an example of a good citizen.

Anyways, since I loved the gradient I just did, as well as the Lilo and Stitch nails from a few months ago, I decided to paint some Stitch nails. 

alt="Lilo and Stitch nails" title="Lilo and Stitch nails">

The gradient is made with Ogre-the-Top Blue from OPI and You Belong to Me from Essence. The base for the Stitch nails is also Ogre-the-Top Blue. All the details are in acrylics. 

Stripes and Gradients

Since the Olympics are over, I had to paint a new mani. And since it's summer, and it happened to be a busy weekend, I went for something simple. I made a blue gradient with TheNailasaurus technique. The colours shown are Ogre-the-Top Blue from OPI and You Belong to Me from Essence.

This nail was my favourite gradient. 

So then a day later, I added stripes of Black Satin from Rimmel on my ring finger and thumb. 

And here's a close up of the stripes over the gradient.

London 2012

Yes I know the Olympics are almost over, but I just got around to doing Olympic nails.

alt="Olympic nails" title="Olympic nails">

On the pinkies, I painted the German flag, using Mellow Yellow, from Sally Hansen, Wocka Wocka from OPI and Black Satin from Rimmel London. The ring fingers are the London 2012 logo and the Olympic rings. The gold is Amazon's Flash from L'Oreal and the colours are acrylics. My middle fingers are the Canadian flag, painted with Whirlwind White, Sally Hansen and Wocka Wocka. Finally, my pointer fingers are the Slovenian flag. They're painted with Wocka Wocka, the blue is Yoga-ta Get This Blue by OPI, Whirlwind White and acrylics.

Have you been watching the Olympics? What's your favourite part?

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!

My First Guest Post

Hi everybody!
Check out my [first ever] guest post over at Kelly's blog, http://www.devilish-polish.com/!

Play With Fire

Or rather don't. But do listen to the Rolling Stones. Especially today, since it has been 50 years since their first gig. And, in celebration, I painted my nails.

alt="Rolling Stones nail art" title="Rolling Stones nail art">

The black is Black Satin from Rimmel London. On my thumb, I have the Union Jack. The blue is a Migi nail art pen, the white is a Stripe Rite striper and the red is acrylic. On my ring finger, I painted the Forty Licks logo. This was painted with acrylics. 

So, Happy Fiftieth Rolling Stones!