Earthy Earth Day Nails

This is the nail art I created for the Earth Day challenge on Nailpolis. It was supposed to be leaves and vines in a style inspired by Aboriginal Australian art. I quite like the nails but they didn't turn out quite the way I'd planned and I don't think they scream Earth Day. Oh well.

I used Rimmel 60 Seconds in shade Captain Khaki for the base. Poundland have a lot of Rimmel polishes in stock at the moment so I picked this shade up on Friday when I realised I didn't own any earth-tone polishes to use for my Earth Day nails.

I used a dotting tool and NYC High Line Green, Maybelline Pow Green, MUA All Nude and Technic Canary to do the designs. I used Limited Collection Matte Top Coat to finish them off.

I think the most surprising thing about this nail art is that I now own a dark khaki-brown nail polish. Yuck!

What's the ugliest shade of nail polish you own?

Going Dotty

I treated myself to a set of dotting tools from Born Pretty and here is my first attempt at using them. At first it was a little tricky to find the right amount of polish to use with the dotting tools, but once I got going these nails were so simple to do that I even managed to do my right hand to match.

I used two coats of an unnamed turquoise-leaning peppermint coloured P.S. polish from the box of four polishes I picked up from Primark last week for £2. This polish is an almost identical shade to Pool Party from the Technic Pretty Pastels range but the P.S. polish is an opaque two-coater unlike the sheer Technic polish. It has a smooth, easy to apply formula and dries to a glossy finish but it is really stinky which is something I've found with all the P.S. polishes I've tried.

I used Rimmel Lycra Pro in shade Blue Vogue (Poundworld) and MUA All Nude (£1, Superdrug) to do the dots and finished it all with Konad Special Top Coat.

Even though the dots aren't neat and perfectly placed, I've really enjoyed wearing these nails. They just look so happy! They remind me of a t-shirt I owned in the 90s that had a big blue and turquoise tie-dyed circle on the front.

What do you think? Have you tried any nail art using dotting tools?

Inspired by Mara Hoffman

Recently I've been spending far too much time searching the internet for interesting fabric designs and looking at photos from New York Fashion Week in my quest for nail art inspiration. I found myself particularly struck with Mara Hoffman's Spring 2014 ready-to-wear collection. I've always been drawn to African and South American textiles because of the bright colours and geometric patterns, and her clothes have all that and more! There are two garments in the collection (this dress and this dashiki) which feature a brightly coloured beaded triangle pattern that I thought would make fabulous nail art, so I set to work.

I used three coats of MUA All Nude, a warm creamy white, for the background and the pattern was painted with Vallejo acrylic model paints. I used Konad Special Top Coat to protect it all and make it super glossy.

My wardrobe is best described as "Primark-chic" (although using the word "chic" is being a bit generous) so this nail art is probably the closest I'll ever get to wearing high-fashion! I love these nails, they feel so fresh and bold.

I do need to practice my freehand work to get the lines looking cleaner and crisper. I have just bought myself some nail art brushes and some wheels of plastic practice nails, so hopefully that will help. I've found so much inspiration in Mara Hoffman's designs that you can expect more nail art influenced by her work soon.

Do you have a favourite fashion designer or artist who has influenced your nail art designs?

The Lacquer Legion - Lucky Heather

The Lacquer Legion is a monthly nail art challenge and this is the first time I have taken part. The theme for March is "Lucky".

I took my inspiration for this nail art from heather. According to folklore the heather plant brings good luck and white heather is luckiest of all (hence the accent nail), plus Heather is my middle name so it seemed rather appropriate. There was a perfect heather-like design on the P48 plate that came with one of the Allura nail stamping sets I picked up last week at Poundland.

I used three coats of MUA All Nude, a warm creamy white shade (£1 from Superdrug) then sponged on a gradient with Rimmel Sweet Lavender (£1 from Poundworld) on most of my nails. I stamped the heather design three times on each gradient nail using MUA Frozen Yoghurt (which looks nothing like the colour shown on the website). I finished all my gradient nails with a coat of P.S. Matte Top Coat (£1 from Primark). I was really impressed that the matte top coat didn't smudge the stamping at all. For my accent nail I used two coats of a purple Primark P.S. polish (£2 for a set of 4) and stamped once with white Konad Special Polish followed by a coat of Konad Special Top Coat.

I'm really pleased with the way these nails look. They have a romantic, vintage feel to them. They remind me of the windswept purple moorland near my home.

After I'd already been wearing these nails for 24 hours I then spent two hours gardening, weeding, digging in compost and potting up plants with my bare hands. Even after a vigorous scrub with a nail brush the nails still looked perfect - not a chip in sight! I'm so impressed with the quality of all of these polishes and I've found that MUA polishes in particular seem to be almost unchippable.

We'll Gather Lilacs in the Spring

This is definitely my most feminine manicure to date, and after I'd done it I realised that I own a summer top in a very similar colour and design, so why not photograph my nails against it!

I started with a gradient, with Rimmel 60 Seconds in shade Sweet Lavender (Poundworld) at the base of the nail merging into Frozen Yoghurt by MUA at the tips. I'm rather in love with this MUA shade, and for £1 a bottle at Superdrug it is an excellent value polish.

I used Cheeky Jumbo plate N and white Konad Special Polish for the stamping, and on the accent nail I used a coat of Chit Chat glitter in Violet (Poundland). It's all topped off with a coat of Konad Special Top Coat, which dries quickly to a hard glossy finish and doesn't smudge the stamping when it is applied.

These nails make me feel like spring is on the way! What do you think?