Black and white and geo all over

Ah, black and white. A perennially chic combination made cool and current with the addition of some can't-get-enough-of-it geometric detailing. I was so sad when these started to wear at the tips!

I painted all my nails white to begin, then used a striping brush to fill in the black to try and keep my edges as neat as possible.

Much as I loved this monochrome design, I have to admit that I've found myself craving brighter, sunnier colours in the last couple of days. What can I say; there's a grand stretch in the evenings!

Products used
Essie Fill The Gap
Essie Blanc
Nubar black nail art striper
Seche Vite top coat

Nail art für Oktoberfest

I started a new job at the start of the month - the green Scandi nails in my last post were actually the ones I wore to my interview - and since then I've been existing in a state of perpetual exhaustion, which is not exactly conducive to blogging. But I'm powering through the tired this evening because I just had to show you these!

mein Oktoberfestnageldesign

We had an Oktoberfest work night out in the Bavarian Beerhouse on Old Street last Thursday and I knew straight away what I wanted to paint on my nails for the occasion: pretzels and beer! The German and Bavarian flags were no-brainers, and as for the thumbnail 'tasche - well, it was the perfect portable mini-costume and I spent most of the evening posing with it on my upper lip.

I mostly used black, yellow and blue nail art pens here, and painted the pretzels with a small nail art brush using two different browns (Essie Mink Muffs and Collection 2000 Shiraz) because I am insane. (Actually: to get that delicious two-toned pretzel look.)

My thumb is Barry M metallic gold, the red in the German flag is Jessica's Alexis Ruby Empress, the beige background on my ring finger is Angelica's Au Naturel, and I used CND Vinylux in Cream Puff for the white in the Bavarian flag.

All together now: Wie komme ich am besten zum Beerhof Bahnhof?

Retro Scandi dot nails

I know, I know. Filter city. But it was the only way I could organise a remotely colour appropriate photo of this polish, which is a gorgeous vibrant emerald in real life. #Sorrynotsorry and all that.

The irregular dots are inspired by Kate Spade's AW12 manicures and last year's Yayoi Kusama x Louis Vuitton collaboration. For the similar but different accent nails, I approximated a kinda sorta retro Scandinavian design I'd seen on a teatowel.

Kitchen accessories make great muses, yo.

Products used
Orly Bonder base coat
Angelica Calypso
CND Vinylux Cream Puff
Orly dotting tool
Nubar black nail art pen
Seche Vite top coat

Lena Dunham's Emmys dress on mah nails

So yesterday on the Twitter machine, the lovely and brilliant Lorraine of John, It's Only Makeup! fame had a thoroughly excellent nail art inspo suggestion.

Um, YES.

Lena wore a teal Prada number with coral flowers, which it turns out is the perfect basis for a floral-not-frilly nail design:

Thanks for the inspiration, Lorraine!

Products used
Orly Bonder base coat
Rimmel Sky High
Rimmel Coral Romance
Rimmel Hot & Spicy
Black & white nail art pens
Seche Vite top coat

Last of the summer vibes

Has the much lauded Indian summer materialised where you are? I think it's forecast to arrive to my corner of north London this afternoon, but so far it's just humid and warm-ish and overcast and a bit yuck, really.

Since the sunshine might maybe possibly hopefully put in an appearance later, here's one of the treasures I uncovered over the weekend in the course of some not-spring cleaning. I painted this summer vibes nail art wheel more than two years ago - around the time I did those cloud and ice cream nails - and promptly forgot to photograph it.

No prizes for guessing which is my favourite design. SHEEP NAILZ FTW!

Negative space meets handdrawn lace

There's something super cool about negative space in a manicure. Long championed by LA nail art supremo Madeline Poole it looks fresh and edgy in a world gone nail art crazy, and allowing the naked nail to peep through au natural does away with the need for a base colour. What's not to love?

It's usually worn with a central unpainted portion of nail silhouetted by a polish around its edges, but of course I like to do things a little differently. Since I have such an awful time trying to find nude polishes that flatter my peculiar pale-but-sallow-but-pink skintone, I like think of my natural nail standing in for the perfect neutral base instead and use it as the background for all-over designs. (It's a trick that worked really well for the neon-tipped tribal talons I did on my holidays last year.)

Here's how things played out when I fancied some negative space black lace on mah nails:

Though I say it myself, I think these are definitely worthy of a "BOOM."

BOOM!

Products used
CND Stickey base coat
Black nail art pen
Seche Vite top coat

Fly me to the moonicure

I'm going back to retro basics with today's nails: a simple freehand scarlet half-moon mani.

Since my plans for the weekend mostly involve (brace yourself for the glamour) furniture restoration, gussying up a wall in the hallway, and sorting out unwanted clothes and house-y bits for donation, I was reluctant to paint on anything too intricate since my nails will likely be in shreds by, ooh, lunchtime tomorrow.

By the way, they're not actually chipped at the tips (yet.) That's just Seche Vite doing its super shiny thang!

Products used
Orly Bonder base coat
Rimmel 60 Seconds in Ready, Aim, Paint! (my very favourite proper postbox red)
Seche Vite top coat

My LITERALLY Kick Ass nails

We went to see Kick Ass 2 a couple of weeks ago, so obviously I did my nails up for the occasion. I decided to cartoon-ify the central characters and tried to capture something of their personalities in my representations of them, hence Kick Ass looking a bit simple, Hit Girl being awesome, and The Artist Formerly Known As Red Mist doing his best cross face.

Grrr.

Quick question: did the American accents and lack of enunciation in the first movie leave anyone else thinking that Chloë Moretz's character was called "Head Girl" rather than "Hit Girl"?! I only realised about halfway through the sequel. DOH.

Nailing it at Sundown Festival 2013

I arrived home in the wee hours of this morning having spent the weekend at a music festival.

Now, you might think there's nothing particularly unusual about me being at a festival the last weekend of August/first weekend of September, but this wasn't Electric Picnic and I wasn't there as a reveller: it was Sundown Festival in Norwich (ahaaa!) and I was there to WERK.

Together with Rachel from Effy Nails and Manami from Kitsune Nails, I packed up my kit and headed to the Norfolk Showground for two days of non-stop nail art and churros.

Here are just a couple of quick snaps of my lovely customers' nails from the weekend.

It wasn't just the ladies that wanted to get their nails did with us; we had quite a few blokes in, too. I painted an elephant on one guy's nail that apparently went down a storm all over the festival - his mates came back to us later Saturday evening and again on Sunday demanding something that would trump the elephant because it was getting so much attention - and painted anothers Barbie pink with a glitter fade at the tips.

I didn't manage to get photos of those but not to worry. I'm confident they'll turn up on social media somewhere!

Ladylike tribal nails

A pretty pale pink base colour with some skinny line graphic designs is bit of an unexpected combination, but I likes it!

I freehanded the black over the pink using a nail art pen, and unfortunately the pattern bled slightly in places when I then applied top coat.

I'll admit I did freak out initially at the blurring of my perfectly neat lines, but hey. Once I keep my hand at arm's length (which human anatomy has made rather easy) it doesn't bother me, and I think the overall effect is still pretty great.

Products used
CND Vinylux Cake Pop
Black nail art pen
CND Vinylux top coat

Going dotty for nude nails

I don't know why I keep trying to wear putty coloured neutrals, because they're a nightmare to get right with my pale but sallow skin. (Of course, that's exactly why I revisit them again and again: in a futile quest to find one that really suits me.) I don't usually blog about these failures (so unphotogenic) but thought I'd show you my latest attempt anyway. While it didn't look quite this Dead Hands in person, it certainly wasn't my most flattering mani ever.

Still, if a more skin-friendly nude shade was involved I think these randomly placed and sized white dots would make for some cute, subtle, and eminently DIYable nail art.

I just put a small amount of white polish on some tin foil and then used a double-ended dotting tool to apply. Simples!

Products used
CND Vinylux Svelte Suede
CND Vinylux Cream Puff
CND Vinylux top coat

Lilac leopard

Y'know, some days you just have to ask yourself the question "What would Bet Lynch wear today?" and when it's 30-plus degrees and the humidity is off the charts, I like to think that she'd go for a summery take on her trademark leopard print.

I proposed this lilac leopard design for my sister's toes when she was here with Mam over the weekend, but she opted for some irregular white polka dots on hot pink so I decided to do it on my fingers instead. (She has expressly forbidden me from showing her feet on the Internet, helpfully, but they did look awesome in the end.)

I've had these on since Sunday afternoon and they're still absolutely perfect. No chips or tipwear or nothin'. LUV U, LEOPARD PRINT.

Products used:
CND Stickey base coat
Angelica Palma Violet
Vinylux Blackpool
Jessica Amira Smitten Kitten
Orly dotting tool
Seche Vite top coat

Ooh La La or Eww La La? CND Shellac French manicure

Usually I'd rather eat a beret than wear a French manicure, but since I need to practise practise practise my new nail skillz I DIYed this Shellac French on myself a few weeks back.

Though the length is longer than normal, these are all my own nails! They had grown out very nicely under their previous Shellac mani, which I'd kept on for 3 weeks.

I confess that they weren't this rather sexy finger-elongating almond-ish shape to begin with - I'd actually filed my nails into their usual squoval before applying the Shellac, and only thought after the final cure that they would have looked much better if the nail shape was less blocky. So I took a chance and filed them again, conscious that breaking the seal at the free edge could lead to issues with lifting or chipping, but they stayed put with no problems.

These photos were taken at around the 10 or 11 day mark, I think, when the regrowth at the base and the reemergence of the natural nail's smile line under the white tip were beginning to get to me.

Still, as Frenches go, I think this one was pretty nice. And since it was only my second ever Shellac French, I'm trying to to beat myself up too much over its fairly minor imperfections.

Any closet French mani fans out there?

Colours used:
Cream Puff and Romantique (x2), topped with a layer of Beau

Shellac is a professional only product and should be applied by your nail professional; I get to play with it because I'm a tech-in-training.

Roses are... pink, sometimes

It has been gorgeously sunny and warm in London for the last few days, perfect for enjoying al fresco weekend breakfasts on the patio, Calippo ice pops, mooching around secondhand furniture stores, and discovering new-to-me cocktails.

It's also ideal weather for wearing pretty little roses on your nails, maybe rendered in summery shades of pink on a light and breezy base colour.

Much like this here mani, in fact.

I handpainted these bad (or good?) boys using the brushes of the polishes themselves. I applied one colour at a time to all the nails in a rose-ish shape (no need to be too precise) and simply built up the detail by adding a layer of colour to all of the flowers before moving on to the next shade of pink-ish polish.

To draw the fiddly stems and leaves, I used a small detailing brush. And that's about all the detail I can give you, because in a fit of domestic enthusiasm I tidied away the polishes I had used to create these nails before making a note of them.

DOH. Nail blogger fail.

But at least my sitting room was tidy.

The slightly iridescent fuchsia might be Essie Jamaica Me Crazy. Maybe. 

Of course, it doesn't really matter because you can use any selection of three or four shades for floral nails, as long as there's at least one lighter colour for highlights and a darker one for shadows (although those terms suggest a level of precision polish placement that's really not required!)

Art Deco stylee coral

I've been wrestling with text for this post for about the last week, so I'm going to stop trying to finesse the words now and just show you the damn nails.

Aaah. There we go.

These are inspired by a Jenny Longworth design for Revlon, which I came across here on fab new site Frillseeker. Longworth describes them as shell nails; they also remind me of fans and fanlights and have a serious Art Deco vibe which, of course, is very this season, daaahlinks.

Products used:
Lumos base coat
Essie Escapades
Black and white striper polishes
China Glaze Luxe And Lush
Seche Vite top coat

NOTW: Jennifer Lopez

I must be feeling subconsciously chic at the moment, because today's Nails Of The Week are another totally wearable two-tone affair. Celeb manicurist Tom Bachik kitted Jennifer Lopez out with this reverse French in shades of soft cream and nude that had echoes of 2010's Ruffian mani as well as Chanel's AW12 pink and silver paint jobs.

Here's the lowdown on how to recreate it from the man himself:

Not too taxing, amiright?

Let me know if you'd give it a whirl!

My first Rockstar Shellac: Photos!

My heart was broken trying - and failing - to capture the sparkle of this blingy CND rockstar Shellac manicure in pictures. It just looked a bit, I dunno, flat in every photo. That's why I made the video I showed you on Friday, which is colour accurate and gives the best representation of just how put-your-sunnies-on glitzy it was.

I used a small brush to scrub GOSH nail glitters in Topaz Lavender and Gold into a cured layer of Shellac Romantique (which is actually a sheer pink) before finishing with my Shellac topcoat.

And then, because I can never just leave well enough alone, I added a diamond to each ring finger using regular nail polish :)

Shellac is a professional only product and should be applied by your nail professional; I get to play with it because I'm a tech-in-training.

My First Rockstar Shellac: Video

Apologies for my extended absence over the last few weeks; unfortunately it was just one of those busy spells where there aren't enough hours in the day (or, y'know, month) to squeeze everything in!

Anyway, here's a little teaser video that shows off the sparkliness of one of the manicures that I wore while I was offline. Some of you will remember that I started a nail course a couple of months ago, and we'd just covered Shellac when I decided to try my hand at a super bling rockstar version.

This purple and gold glitter mani is what I came up with, and I enjoyed its beautifully OTT ways for nearly a full chip-free fortnight until the regrowth at the base of my nails got on my wick and I had to take it off.

Hopefully I'll get to post some still photos later so you can take a better look at the detail.

In the meantime, happy Friday!

Shellac is a professional only product and should be applied by your nail professional; I get to play with it because I'm a tech-in-training.

NOTW: Kerry Washington

Kerry Washington accessorised her monochrome dress with a matching mani at the LA premiere of Peeples, and I totally flippin' loved it. Easily my Nails Of The Week!

(Side note: how chic are Kerry's slender watch and box clutch?)

The colour combo, the illusion of pointed tips on oval nails, the chevron detail: yes, yes, and hells yes.

To replicate the look, start with a black base and add the white detail with a striping brush or nail art pen, or use tape to mask the edges and ensure a clean line. (You might find this tutorial I wrote for Beaut.ie on cheating the look of stiletto nails and this tutorial on tape manis helpful.)

Totally DIYing this one the next chance I get!

Images: Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America

Random romantic mix 'n' match

Just a little bit of randomness I doodled on my nails while playing with goodies I picked up at a beauty show a while back! I think the Comme de Garçons-style heart peeking at the free edge of my middle finger is my favourite aspect of this one.

Products used (thumb to pinkie):
Essie Fill The Gap! base coat
Essie Miss Fancy Pants + Topshop Crystal Clouds for bows
Essie Haute As Hello
Essie A Crewed Interest + Essie Head Mistress for heart
Essie Mint Candy Apple
Essie Blanc
Black and white Nubar nail art pens
Seche Vite top coat