Wednesday 31 August 2011

Go Fish.

Bit different today. I painted a fish on my finger. Not an actual fish, well anyway here it is - 



I also painted my thumb to look like.....sea grass? I've no idea what it's called! - 


Don't really know why I did this look. For fun I guess! Who ever said you can't paint a fish on your nails anyway?!

Quite a few colours for this one - All Barry M - 
- 294 Cyan Blue
- 66 Matt White
- 301 Block Orange
- 290 Spring Green
- 299 Racing Green
- 47 Black

- So to begin, two basecoats
- Two coats of blue -


- I physically cannot get over how beautiful this colour is.
- Next I started on the white details - 

 



- I used a small dotting tool as a pencil to draw the bubbles, and a small brush to do the base for the fish and grass
- You want to do a white basecoat when using bright colours like orange and green, as they will show up a lot better and true to colour. If I were to use them straight on top of the blue they would come out dark and murky! Trust me I tried it!
- I next finished off the fish - 


- Again I used a small brush to paint the orange over the white, and a dotting tool to do the eye and mouth. I used two sizes of dotting tool to do the eye, to get the smaller white dot inside the black dot.
- Next I finished off the grass using the two shades of green - 


- As before I used a small brush to do the light green and a dotting tool for the darker green, just to create a bit more dimension
- Finish with a top coat.


Not the most obvious choice of nail design, granted. But like I said, why not eh?!!!

See you Friday!

WN x

Sunday 28 August 2011

Time For Teal

Those of you who follow me on twitter (@WellNailed), will know that I have been searching for a teal varnish, and I found one!! It's from Boots No7 Range, it's called Totally Teal, and it looks like this - 



It costs £7, but I had my £5 voucher so it was only £2! Bargain! This is with two coats. It's such a gorgeous colour! Perfect for the Autumn transition too. 
A lot of people either love or hate teal, bit of a marmite effect!! But I absolutely love it!!!
Now, being me, I can't just leave a plain colour on my nails, so I painted them to look like fish scales - 



Obviously.
I used a little dotting tool like a pencil to just draw the design on.
The colour is Barry M 288 Silver.

That's it for this one really! I just wanted to share my fabulous new purchase.

'Till next time...

WN x

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Gooooooldfinger!

Last week I received my first ever Glossybox, and I was so excited! Partly because I got a nail product, which I was chuffed about, so I could share it with you guys, but mainly it was because I won a prize! 
Now, I must point out that I actually do never win anything, so I cannot tell you how giddy I am about getting my prize! (Obviously I'll be letting you all know what it is when it arrives!)

So, if you don't know about Glossybox, basically you pay a monthly subscription of £12.95, and every month you receive a gorgeous pink box with 5 products inside. The products are pretty generous sample sizes but also full size too, which is just fabulous!! I know they have Birchbox in the US also. Such a brilliant concept. Check out www.glossybox.co.uk for more details! 


Anyway, why I'm telling you all this is because inside my box I got a set of gold Rebel Nails nail wraps! 
I would just like to say Oh My God.
I've never really got into wraps (I'm hardcore varnish!!) but dude, these things are amazing!
I cannot recommend them highly enough!


Here is what they look like finished - 



I mean you can see how shiny they are from the flash of my camera! Also I can actually see myself in them. Can you tell I'm excited?! I bloody love 'em!

Anyway, this is the packaging - 


That's just a sticker on the front telling me I'd won my prize!!

- So in the packet you get 16 stickers in eight different sizes Two of each. Obviously.
- With the clear size guide, you wrap it around your nail to decide which size sticker you will need.
- When you've selected your size, you need hold the flat edge between your thumb and forefinger, and warm up the sticker at the curved end, until it begins to curl - 


You can see it's just beginning to curl at the bottom corner.

- The instructions recommend using a hairdryer, but I actually held mine over a candle! Ofcourse I did. Careful not to hold it too close though, otherwise it will melt!! You want the sticker about 20cm away from the flame.
- Next, lay the sicker, curved edge to cuticle, on your nail.
- Smooth out until it lays flat on the nail surface - 


- Then simply file off the excess to finish. You want to file at a 45 degree angle to your nail in a downwards motion.

DONE!

Sounds like a lot to do, but they really take no time at all (once you get the hang!) and you can power through them no problem.
Lat fabulously aswell. At the time of writing this post, mine are three days old and still look as good as they did when I first applied them.

So - For fabulous, easy, quick nails check out www.rebelnails.co.uk
    - For more info on Glossybox check out www.glossybox.co.uk

Also NO, I wasn't paid to promote them! I'm doing it because I love them!

Stay fabulous guys :)

WN x

Half Way Line

Sometimes, I just pick up colours and go with it. And this was definitely one of those!
I find inspiration in a lot of places, but a lot of the time I just really fancy doing something new and spontaneous. Sooooo, here's what I did - 



Nice!

The colours were all Barry M once again, 307 Lemon Ice Cream, 301 Block Orange, and 291 Cobalt Blue.

- To start, two basecoats
- Next the yellow - 


- It needs three coats to come out this opaque
- I then painted half my nail with the orange - 


- I didn't tape off my nail or anything like that to do this. Partly because I couldn't be bothered, but I also wanted to see how it looked if I did it freehand. Not too bad, I don't think!
- Next, using my dotting tool, I did the blue dots down the line where the colours meet
- Top coat, to finish

I think designs come out better when you just get creative and do whatever you feel like.

Super easy and a fabulous effect!

See you next time...

WN x

Friday 19 August 2011

Pick Your Own

I know, practically EVERY blog out there has their own example of this look, so I thought why the hell not?!?!
I don't know if you may have guessed from the title, but today's look is the famous Strawberry.
Congratulations if you did guess it by the way.
So here is my take on the Strawberry nail - 


Nom.

Three colours for this, all Barry .
- 262 Bright Red
- 290 Spring Green
- 66 Matt White

I also used a dotting tool for, well, the dots. Obvs.

- Two basecoats to begin
- Then two coats of the red
- Spray of quick dry - 


- I then painted two coats of the green diagonally over each corner of my nail - 


- Next, using the dotting tool, I added the white dots
- Top coat to end.

I really like this look (any variation of it!). And I think it's just so fun especially for summer when you actually can pick your own.

This is me trying to extend the summer for as long as I can! 

Enjoy kids. Also if you have your own version of this look I'd love to see it, so feel free to tweet me a picture! - @WellNailed

Bye for now

WN x



Thursday 18 August 2011

Watch It Glitter!

So, unintentionally, this look has kind of come out a bit Christmassy! Never the less, I still love it and I think it looks fabulous. Here they are -  



Right?!

Anyway, only one polish for this look Barry M 288 Silver.

- So I started, as always, with two basecoats.
- Then three coats of silver - 



- This polish needs three coats to make it this opaque.
- Spray of quick dry.
-You want the nails to be dry before you pour over your glitter as if they are still wet, glitter will stick where you don't want it!
- Next I painted clear varnish across the tip of the nail
- Over a folded piece of paper, which has been laid out flat, pour the glitter over the tip of the nail - 


- I used my 'Hobbycraft' glitters, and a fanned brush to get the excess from my finger.
- As the paper already had the crease in it from the fold, I could just fold the paper back in half and pour the excess back into the tube.
- Top coat to finish

A bit more festive than I had in mind! I do think the effect is great though. I would probably only do one colour, if I was going somewhere, like an event or party, to keep it sophisticated.

I do love a bit of sparkle all year round!

Tata kids and Enjoy! :)

WN x

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Ooooh, Poisonous

So last week, my sister and I went to see Batman live. Firstly OMG. If you like batman, seriously, go. Now. Also, we went dressed up. Obviously. 
I went as Poison Ivy and naturally, I painted my nails to match. And here they are - 



I'd just like to say, I love these. 

So the colours are both Barry M 262 Bright Red and the aptly named 300 Acid Yellow. I thought it was quite a good name for this look!

- Firstly two basecoats
- I then put a manicure strip on the bottom of my nails like so - 


- Next, I painted three coats of the yellow below the strip. I needed three coats to make the colour nice and opaque.
- Spray of quick dry to keep the line sharp - 


- Then, two coats of the red from the yellow up to the tip of the nails.
- Top coat to finish

Super easy and I properly like the effect! And I think the colour combination is so fabulous :)

Enjoy guys, and have fun! 

WNx



Tuesday 9 August 2011

Fall Like Dominoes

For those of you who haven't already, please check out WAH Nails! They are so fabulous, and inspirational, and just really, really cool.
I saw a recent blog post from them, in which one of the nails had been done to look like a domino. So I thought, why not give it a go?!


And here's what happened - 



Not bad.

I recently learnt about dotting tools. And now I love them.
I was having a little look around my old painting kits and found one in a watercolour kit from about 4 years ago. Win! - 


Colours I used obviously black and white. Obviously Barry M.
No's 47 and 66. Obviously.

- First off, two basecoats
- Next, two coats of white - 


- To be honest, I bloody love white nails, so I was tempted to just leave them :)
- Next, I took one of the thin brushes from ebay and painted a black stripe across the middle of the nails - 


- I then used the dotting tool to make the numbers on each domino.
- Top coat to finish!

Again, another first for me with the dotting tool. I think I did o.k!
I think my nails are a bit short for this, and it would look fabulous on longer nails.
But I still like the look loads!
Keep on playing ;)

WN x

Inspiration : Joules

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the clothing shop Joules. It's so fabulous. Kind of like country/equine wear! Anyway, last winter I bought the most beautiful navy blue duffle coat, and kept the tag, just cos I liked the pattern on it (I have a pin board full!) - 



Snazzy! So I saw it swinging away on my pin board and thought 'I know, I'll do THAT on my nails!'. So I put it on my nails - 


Equally as snazzy.
So kids the colours I used for this look - 
- Barry M 134 Yellow
- Barry M 66 Matt White
- Barry M 291 Cobalt Blue
- Barry M 273 Raspberry

I also used some striping tape to create the yellow line, but we'll come to that later!

- So as usual, two basecoats to start
- Next, two coats of the yellow
- Spray of quick dry 
- You want to make sure the varnish is pretty much dry before you apply the tape, as when you remove it, it may take some of the varnish with it if it's still wet!
- Next, I applied some of the striping tape in a diagonal pattern across my nail - 


- Then, I painted a layer of the white over my whole nail - 


- I then painted two coats of the blue down the middle section of the nail, inbetween the lines of tape - 


- Next, I finished off the pattern with two coats of the red on the outside sections - 


- Spray of quick dry
- You want the nails to dry before you remove the striping tape, as this will make sure the lines stay sharp. (As you can see from my attempt, I was impatient!)
- Remove the striping tape, and top coat to end.

This look took quite a long time to do, but I think really cool and a great effect!
I don't think it's too bad for my first go......
I do tend to just have an idea and go with it, and it doesn't always work, but I'll share it anyway!
And you see, you can get inspiration from anywhere :)

Enjoy yourselves!

WN x

Sunday 7 August 2011

All Kinds Of Sorts.

Another fabulous purchase from sparkly-nails.co.uk!
I got some fimo slices which (apparently!) look like liquorice all-sorts which look like so- 



And here is was I did with them - 


Tasty.
So Just one colour for this! I know, weird. This one is Barry M 284 Emerald Green.

- Obviously to begin - two basecoats.
- I then taped off my nails using scotch tape, where I wanted the green the end - 


- Next Two coats of the Emerald.
- Spray of quick dry to keep that line nice and sharp - 


- I then painted a small amount of clear varnish over the end of the nail where I was going to put the fimo slice
- Then, using tweezers, I carefully placed the slice on the edge of my nail and pressed it down - 


- Top coat to finish.

I love these fimo slices and, as I'm sure you're all fully aware, the come in all kinds of designs and colours! So there's a million and one designs you can do with them.
I found them super easy to work with even as a fimo first timer!

I think I'm gonna go shop around for some more....

See y'all soon :)

WN x

Friday 5 August 2011

Oh Stop It!

Like most people in love with nails, I'm also in love with pretty much any form of cosmetics. One of my faves is Chanel because I think the products are just so glamorous! Current favorite is this gorgeous blush - 


So I thought, why not paint my nails to look like it. Obviously.
I love the way Chanel has incorporated the pattern of their famous tweed into the cosmetics. So here they are - 


Now, as you guys know, what I post on this blog is my first attempt at things. I don't like to make everything perfect, as I'm not a professional and I'm trying to show you that anyone can do it!!
However, I think not being perfect is exactly the reason why I love this look!
The kind of mis-matched effect and the difference between each nail is, I think, really fun and super pretty!
It was also relatively easy to do. Just quite a bit of layering

The colours I used were - Barry M 318 Peach Melba
                                    Barry M 305 Pink Flamingo
                                    Barry M 302 Fushia

- So obviously, two basecoats to begin!
- Then two coats of the Peach colour - 


- Next, using a brush from my fabulous kit from ebay, I painted various shapes onto the nail, using Pink Flamingo, to try and resemble the tweed pattern! - 


- Then I filled in a few of the gaps to just leave little bits of the Peach poking through - 


- And for the finishing touch I used a thinner brush to layer on the Fushia to finish off the pattern.
- Top coat to end.

This look was so fun to do and obviously you can use any colours you want to do your own patterns.
I hope you like and/or find this useful!!

Bye for now....

WN x









Laced Up

I thought I would try something a bit different after my recent trip to hobbycraft. (I know, I love it!) I picked up a few bits and bobs, which included some beautiful white lace. And here is what I came up with - 




Definitely a bit different!
I think this look is super pretty, however it's one for an event I feel, as it didn't last very long.... 
Anyway let's get started. This look took quite a while to do but I think that's because I'd never done anything like this before and once I got a bit of a roll on, I got through it quite well!

Colours - Barry M 66 Matt White
             Barry M 273 Raspberry

- Two basecoats to begin
- Once they're dry I taped off my nails where I wanted the colours to meet - 


- Next, two coats of the white.
- Spray of quick dry
- Remove the tape - 


- Then paint the rest of the nail with two coats of the red colour
- More quick dry spray! - 


- You don't have to worry about the line where the colours meet being too neat, as it will just get covered up with the lace.Obviously it wants to be a bit neat though!
- This is the lace I used- 


- I cut sections of the lace to roughly the size of the area of the nail I wanted to cover.
- Next I applied the lace by first painting on a top coat and laying the lace over the top while the varnish was still wet. I did each nail separately beacuase if I did all the top coats and then went onto the lace, the varnish would have dried, and the lace wouldn't stick.
(I hope that makes sense!)- 


- Then to finish, I just trimmed round the lace, using nail scissors, so it fit the shape of my nail and gently pressed it down so it would stick.

The End.

I really like this look. It was a lot of fun to do, and I like experimenting with different materials other than varnish! 

Happy experimenting guys :)

T.T.F.N

WN x