Day 265) Fall leaves nail art

Fall leaves? Again!

Yes, been there but not done yet ;D

 

Today some fall leaves and a swirl design which stands for the wind.

Day 143) Simple elegance in greens

Tired and low on inspiration.
So, today's nail art is a simple one.

1) After the basecoat I painted my nails with 2 thin coats of Bourjois 1 Seconde - No. 27 Green fizz

2) Then I used a striper brush and a light green colour to make a wavy stripe (picture 1)
I repeated this step with a little darker green underneath the light one. Again a wavy stripe (picture 2)

1)

2)

3) Then I did a last wavy stripe with dark green underneath the second wavy stripe, only this time I made a swirl at the end

4) To give the nail art some more elegance I placed half pearls in the centre of the swirls. As glue I used my topcoat

For sure not my best nail art. But everybody has an off-day once in a while...today is mine.
I do like the colors though; great for summer!

Day 130) Nail art water decals white swirls

Like I said before: When I buy stencils or water decals I'm always looking for the designs that are hard to do by hand or at least not as perfect as when you do it yourself.
I think it's a waste of money when you can do it yourself.
Although I prefer to handpaint my nail arts, I do think stencils and water decals are an invention for those less   artistic.
That's why my blog also contains this kind of nail art.

Today's waterdecals are for the complete nails. Of course you can always cut them in other shapes if you like.
The pattern consists of white swirls and transparency, which means there's a see-through for your nail polish.

Arts Queen 

Professional Nail

Nail Tattoo

No BW009

White swirls

Step 1:

Paint your nails in the desired colour. I do recommend to use a dark colour because of the white swirls and the contrast it will make. Let it dry completely before you go further.

I've chosen to do an ombre to spice it up a little (and Iwanted to use my new polish ;-D )

Step 2:

Cut the water decals in the right size. Let it be well-cut at the curve of your cuticles and the width. The length should be longer than your nails; this is a further step.

Step 3: 

Remove the plastic film. This is a critical step and most of the instructions don't include this information! If you don't your water decals get stuck on the film and will be useless.

On the left: paper with water decals

On the right: plastic film

Step 4:

Put the water decals in some water. In a few seconds you can slide the water decals from the paper or in some cases this already happened on it's own.

Step 5:

Put the water decals on the nail surface (I use my index finger of the other hand). Gently push and smooth it. As long as the water decals are wet they are easy moveable. Sometimes too easy ;P When they are in the right place, don't touch them anymore but let them dry!

Step 6:

When you follow the instructions it will say you'll will have to remove the surplus part and then topcoat it.

I do it the other way because I don't want to risk that water decals move.

First use a topcoat and wait for it to dry. Then remove the surplus part (first cut with clippers or scissors, then buffer it). For the best result and longer lasting nails I recommend that you do another coat of topcoat after buffering. 

DONE!

They look great I think!

Only downside is that they are very fragile. The water decals easy crack when you're smoothing them on the nail surface. This doesn't show that well on the nails so it's an acceptable downside but it did frighten me.

What's your opinion on water decals in general? Are you a lover or a hater?

Day 116) SmART nails N019

SmART nails stencils are available in a lot of different designs.
I chose this one because it's hard to do this design by hand and have the same perfect outcome.
Note: Before you do any stencil or tape mani keep in mind that the colour you used as a base should be completely dry. When this is not the case you wil ruin your base colour by pulling some of it off with your stencil or tape. I recommend you paint your nails in the desired colour at least a few hours before you will do a tape or stencil mani (or have a very good fastdrying topcoat).
Before use make sure that you'll reduce the intensity of the glue by sticking the stencil (or tape) a couple of times on some skin or fabric.
Then put the stencil on the desired place and make sure it's flat and touches the nail well.
Apply the nail polish and remove the stencil immediately. Apply topcoat. Done!

I have 5 different designs for you:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

And this is the total look:

I used a lot of colour. But if you use only black and white or maybe some red you can get a very classy look.

Day 35) Nail art Happy Birthday (for my husband)

          My love

                                                        

Day 31) Nail art swirl