Day 2: Orange nails

Happy Friday! I hope everyone is as excited for the weekend as I am :)
I'm loving this challenge already, and its only Day 2! But, I can say that the hardest part is having to take change my designs after wearing them for only one day. Oh well, on to bigger and better things!

Today was orange nails, and I tried something that has caught my eye for a while now- Monarch Nails.
Being a zoologist, I love anything animal related. Fun Fact: Monarch butterflies are in fact poisonous- their pretty colouration acts as a warning to predators and helps them avoid being eaten.

I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Sun Kissed". I then used one of my nail art brushes to freehand the patterning of the wing with black polish, and used white acrylic and a dotting tool for the spots.

Not only have I included photos with and without flash, but I also wanted to compare each hand. Surprisingly I think my left hand looks neater (despite me being a lefty!!)

I also have discovered that orange is not my colour, and just when you think you've tidied everything up- a close up shot reveals more.

Anyway, I have a big weekend ahead of me so I'd better finish up. Have a lovely weekend and enjoy!

31 Day Challenge!

Hello again! Over the past couple of days I've been thinking that I need something to get me into the habit of posting regularly. What better way to do this than a 31 Day Challenge !!

I found this particular 31 day challenge featured on a number of my favourite blogs:

Chalkboard Nails

Nail Art 101

The Nailsaurus

(just to name a few...)

I've decided to just jump straight in- Day 1: Red Nails.

Yes yes, I know they aren't just red, but I like to be different! Its actually quite an achievement to get these done- I had drama after drama tonight. Knocking things over, spilling bottles, polish coming off- it was a disaster. 

Anyway, I'm excited to start this challenge. Have you done this, or similar challenges before? How was it? As always, feel free to leave a comment or ask a question!

Tetris Nails

This is something I have been meaning to try out for a while now. I have finally got to a point where I felt comfortable enough with my brush work to even attempt this, although I am not 100% happy with my line quality. Inspiration was taken from my amazing leggings- I cannot get enough of them!

I started with a black base- my go-to black is from a brand called "Jezy" found in many chemists in Perth. I love this brand- its usually fairly cheap, they have a huge range of colours, and the application is brilliant.

The Tetris blocks were free-handed with acrylic paint. I'm fairly new to using acrylic paint for nail art. and so far my attempts to try and paint prime colours straight onto black polish have resulted in faint designs. To try and counter this I mixed a small amount of white acrylic, which made the colours more opaque.

I decided that on the other hand I would paint the individual blocks- I did try to do the same design on both hands, however it was nowhere near as neat using my non-dominant hand so I opted for this instead. 

So, what do you think? Maybe next time I will use striping tape to achieve straighter lines. I haven't used it, but it seems to be used by many nail artists. Has anyone used it before? Feel free to leave a comment, or any advice for next time !

Im a bit green at this!

So- after months and months of talking about it, I've finally got around to creating a blog for my nail art. What started as simple curiosity has grown to be a very large (and sometimes expensive!) obsession. 

I'm not sure what sort of things people include in a first post- a little bit about me? 

Well, I have just recently graduated from university and started full time work. Having so much spare time takes some getting used to. I still don't think it has quite sunk in yet to be honest. Other than that, there isn't that much more to tell.

Anyway, here in WA, Spring is around the corner, Everything is so green, and it has inspired me. This particular design is fairly easy to accomplish:

I started with two coats of Australis- Limited Edition 2. 

I then used a mixture of Limited Edition 2 and Sally Hansen Emerald City to create the blades of grass

 I decided to add a flower to my ring finger. I think the accent nail really finishes the design off.

(No flash)

(With flash)

  

So there you have it- my first post. Please feel free to comment or send me a message if you have any questions. Oh, and I promise I'll try not to make too many terrible puns ;) Enjoy