New nail art discovery: Using gel polish for a super quick way to add detail to nails!!

 

 

Hiya guys!  Hope you are all doing great!

 

This week I thought I would do another wee nail art post as I’ve not done one in a while.  This design is a little bit different because I used gel nail polish for the nail art instead of just regular nail polish!
 

I have to say gel nail polish is super easy to use for designs!  As gel polish is thicker than regular polish and doesn’t air dry (because it is designed to be dried with a UV/LED lamp), you can take your time when creating the design on your nail.  And the fact that each nail dries in 30 seconds - 1 minute, ideal!

 

I bought this little starter kit a couple weeks ago because I wanted to try the gel nail polish and see what the fuss was about, as everyone talks about it, you know?  I’ve only tried it out once on my natural nails…it didn’t go very well.  However, this was only because I was and still am new to the gel polish!  I just need to practice!   

So I gave it another go and this is how it ended up… 

 

 

 

Quite cool, eh?  

 

So, like my usual nail art posts, I will explain the steps I took to create the look!

 

 

 

What I used: 

 

·        False nails (Yes, you can used them on these too…which is fab!!) 

·        Practice hand (You don’t need this if you are using false nails - just stick them to a flat surface with Blu Tack or to the back of sticky tape!) 

·        Gel polish starter kit

 

 

 

·        Pale pink regular nail polish - as the starter kit only has one colour I used regular polish for the base coat 

 

·        Dotting tool

 

 

 

·        Small 10/0 paint brush

 

 

 

·        Nail file, to file rough edges of the nail

 

 
 

 

Steps:

 

 

1.     Started off by picking the size of nails, suitable for myself, and stuck them to my practice hand with some sticky tack.

 

 

 

 

2.     Next I applied the base coat of pale pink and waited for a few minutes until this was completely dry.

 

 

 

3.     Once all the nails were dry, I started the designs one nail at a time then cured the polish under the LED lamp.

 

 

 

 

·        Basically, all I did for the designs was to put a blob of polish into a small art palette and use my dotting tool to put a blob onto the nail, and then the small brush for detailing.

 

·        To be honest, I got idea for the leafy designs from latte/coffee art (I know, I’m a wee bit strange.  But you know, you can find inspiration from anywhere!)

 

 

4.     Lastly I applied a fast drying top coat!  Although a top coat isn’t necessary with gel polish, I wanted a bit of glossiness to my nail!

 

 

 

So there you go!  A super quick and easy way to do nail art!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay guys, thank you SO SO much for reading!  I really hope you enjoyed this post J and I will catch you all next time!

 

As always, have a fab week and take care! Xxx

 

 

Nail Art Designs - Old and New!

Hiya guys!  Happy last day of November!!  Hope you've all had a great week and are looking forward to the Christmas festivities!  I know I can’t wait to get a wee peppermint mocha and walk around Glasgow all wrapped up and cosy.

This week my post is about nails again – a couple of nail art designs I have completed.  More of a picture post, but I will do two tutorials near the end of the post on the designs I have come up with.  

 

I have done the designs on false nails as I’ve had no time to sit down and try them out on my own nails.  However, I’m still going to use them - I’m actually wearing the triangle mosaic design just now and I love it J 

Anyway, here are the nail designs...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have always just used nail polish for the arty details.

 

The tools I normally use are: 

-        Dotting tools – These are actually embossing tools but they were on sale in an art shop! I thought ‘why not try them as nail dotting tools?’  So I did, and I have used them ever since.  They are quite easy to use for nail designs.

 

(If you don’t want to spend a lot on nail art tools you can always

use cocktail sticks, old ball-point pens or Kirby grips as dotting tools.  

These are what I used when I started my nail art hobby.)

 

 

-        Paintbrushes - I bought two different-sized brushes - again from an art shop.  One is a size 10/0, the smallest, which is good for small details and fine lines.  The other is a size 0, which I cut to make a striper brush for long thin lines.

 

 

 

So, using these tools I created two nail designs this week, a triangle mosaic design and my favourite leopard/cheetah print design.  Below, I have explained the steps I took to create the nails.

 

Triangle Mosaic Nails

 

 

 

 

 

Steps:

1)     After shaping the nails to fit my own nails I put on one coat of very light blue/grey polish as the base.

2)     I picked six different colours: metallic dark grey, lilac, orangey red, light blue/green, teal and baby pink.  These were the colours I wanted for the triangles, but you can pick any colour you like.  You can also just use one colour for the triangles, if you prefer.

3)     I used the small 10/0 brush to paint the triangles in different sizes and shapes.

 

4)     After the triangles were dry, I put one coat of a translucent sparkly white glitter on top. Originally I wasn’t going to do this, but the nails were looking a little flat.  So I thought if I used this polish this would give them an edgier look.  

5)      Lastly, a final coat of clear nail polish sealed everything in!

 

 

Leopard/Cheetah Print Nails

 

Steps:

1)     I applied two coats of black nail polish.  One coat was too translucent and I wanted it more opaque.

2)     I chose to use gold nail polish for the detail as I quite like the contrast between the two colours - the gold is a bit glittery and it works well against the shiny black. 

3)     I then painted the leopard/cheetah spots on with the 10/0 brush.  

(Here is a step-by-step photo of how to do the leopard/cheetah print.  It is really easy to do, and it doesn’t have to be super neat either – it is much better if it isn’t too neat anyway as it gives it more character!)

 

 

 

4)     Once all the spots were dry, I put a coat of clear nail polish on top and…voila! Finished!

 

So that’s basically it!

Hopefully these little tutorials helped!  They are honestly quite easy to do, so have a go at it and see what you come up with! J 

Well, that’s my post for this week.  I’m looking forward to my upcoming posts in December - I’m going to try and keep to a Christmas theme…and am hoping they will inspire some of you out there! 

Okay guys, thanks for reading!  I really do appreciate it! 

Have a good week and I’ll catch you next week!  Until then…see ya!