Wednesday 27 November 2013

Thanksgiving Nail Art

I know I am not American and do not actually celebrate Thanksgiving, but I have a lot of followers of my blog who are, so this nail art post is for you guys across the pond. Not that I need an excuse to paint my nails :)

My boyfriend pointed out that Thanksgiving is not only a day to be thankful, but its about family, friends, food and football (which he is vey excited about Thursday Night Football by the way, THREE games!!!!)



I started my manicure by prepping my nail with OPI's base coat, and applied two layers of Leighton Denny's 'Hint of Mint' followed with a coat of SV to help speed up drying time.



I decided to do a turkey accent nail on my ring finger. I used a nail art brush to draw the outline of the turkey with Barry M's ' Mushroom' and filled it in on the tip of my nail. I added eyes and a beak using a dotting tool with Barry M's 'Matte White', Nail's Inc 'Black Taxi' and an orange nail polish which doesn't have a name, from the Fraulien collection. I then created an outline of feathers around the turkey using Nails Inc 'Rosary Gardens', Barry M's 'Lychee' and a yellow-gold polish from the Fraulien collection.



Using the same polishes to create the feathers on the accent nail, I created three feathers on all other remaining nails and applied them using a dotting tool on a diagonal on the corners of my nails finishing it off with a generous layering of Seche Vite.



There you have it, very easy Thanksgiving nail art. I would like to end this post saying that although I do not celebrate Thanksgiving, I am very thankful for my wonderful boyfriend and family that make my whole world complete. I hope every who celebrates has a wonderful day tomorrow.

What do you think? How will you be celebrating Thanksgiving? What are you thankful for?

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

Monday 18 November 2013

Christian Louboutin Nail art



Now that the party season is just around the corner with Thanks Giving, Christmas and New Years Eve in sight. I have put together a little nail art assemble to go with any LBD (little black dress.) When you hear 'Christian Louboutin' it may scream 'shoes' but those red bottom heels are not only for your feet, they are for your nails too.



I am very lucky to have my very own pair of Christian Louboutins in nude, which were bought for me by my wonderful boyfriend for my birthday last year. However to be more fitting with the wintry festive season, that will go with every outfit, I have opted for the glossy black version for the nails.



These nails are so simple to create, are very chic and I think they would look fabulous on any hand. They are very wearable, not just for the party season, but for those of you who don't like full on nail art and want to add a glimmer of colour to a dark nail too.



First I prepped my nails by giving them a good clean all over and painting on a coat of OPI's base coat to both the topside and underside of the nail bed and left to dry. Once dry the designer nails are ready to be created. For my 'soles' I used two coats of Nails Inc's 'Rosary Garden' which I applied to the back/underneath part of the nail using a thin square nail art brush to make clean up that little bit easier, making sure I capped the nail and topped with a coat of SV.



I then used Nails Inc's 'Black Taxi' all over the topside of the nail using only one coat and layered it with a generous helping of SV and left to dry.



To add a bit of festive sparkle I used a square rhinestone and placed it at the bottom of the nail bed at an angle to give it a bit of party bling using a clear polish and a toothpick. Once in place I gave my nails another coat of Seche Vite.



These nails are very addictive and I often find myself wiggling my fingers so I get flashes of red and a glimmer of sparkle as they really do look great when the light hits them. I guess a bit like when you are strutting yourself towards the party in those red-bottom heels, leaving everyone behind you 'oohing' and 'ahhing' and the flashes of red they see at you feet.



What do you think? Have you ever taken fashion as your inspiration to create nail art? Will you be creating these nails yourself? Let me know in the comments box below.


Until next time...


Laura-Jane

Saturday 9 November 2013

Remembrance Day Nail Art

Tomorrow is Remembrance Sunday and to mark the occasion I have been wearing little poppies on my nails.



I used two coats of Leighton Denny's 'Hint of Mint' as my base coat and applied a generous helping of SV to help speed up drying time and allowed to dry. I then used a Fraulien stripping brush in dark green to add four-five stems to all my nail starting at the cuticle.



I then used a small dotting tool dipped in Nail's Inc 'Rosary Gardens' to create the poppies. To create the poppy shape I carefully dabbed on four blobs of polish in a square shape to resemble the paper poppies you can wear to the tip of the stems.



I then took an even smaller dotting tool and applied a single dot of Nail's Inc's 'Black Taxi' to the centre of the square. To finish off my poppies I added tiny leaves using the same green polish I used for the stems.



I have also been wearing a very sparkly poppy on my winter coat, which was bought for me by my Mum (Thanks Madre.) I have received lots of compliments on it, and the money spent on is has gone to a very worthy cause.



To all those who have given their lives, this post is dedicated to you.

What do you think? How will you be remembering our fallen solders?

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

Monday 4 November 2013

Remember, remember the 5th of November......

 
 
 
Tomorrow in the UK is bonfire night, so I have decided to create my latest manicure around this day. I used the movie 'V for Vendetta' as inspiration, and if you haven't seen it before, I recommend that you do.

The Nails:



The Thumb:



I used 'Rosary Gardens' by Nails Inc for my base and topped it with SV to aide drying time. Once dry using  tooth pick I placed a gold coloured rhinestone and painted on gold lines using Barry M's 'Gold Foil' polish to create the fireworks.


The Index Finger:

 

This finger represents the symbol shown in the movie 'V for Vendetta'. I used 'Black Taxi' as my base, then using the same red polish I used for my thumb I drew on the symbol using a toothpick. As the red polish didn't show up very well on the nails, I decided on using an unnamed sparkly red polish on top of 'Rosary Gardens' to give it an extra sparkle. After all fireworks are sparkly!

The Middle Finger:



This nails is a similar version of the thumb design. I used the same techniques for this nail, but used 'Black Taxi' as the base, and Barry M's 'Silver Foil' to create the fire works.

The Ring Finger:



This little dude is my version of Guy Fawkes (the whole reason behind the 1605 gunpowder plot, and why we celebrate Bonfire night today.) If you have seen the movie or plan to watch it,  you'll also see a load of these in a form of a mask. I used Barry M's 'Matte White' as my base coat, I then used a toothpick to outline the mask shape and facial details with 'Black Taxi' by Nails Inc and then filled in the rest of the nail using the same polish. To create the rosy cheeks I applied 'Warwick Avenue' by Nails Inc using a small dotting tool and used 'Gilston Road' by Nails Inc for some of the other facial details.

The Pinky:



For this nail, I used Black Taxi as my base coat, and topped it off with two coats of Nails Inc special effect polish, 'Reading'. This adds a touch of sparkle to the manicure and also ties it all together with the red, gold, and black theme.



What do you think? Will you be creating your own Bonfire night nails?

Until nest time....


Laura-Jane