Clawed: Gilded

I'm trying out new nail art, so I thought why not drips?  It's meant to look like the gold is dripping onto my nail.  It's not the best, but I like it.

 I originally did drips on all my nails, but it was looking too messy.  Hence the pink around my nails. 

It's actually really easy to do, in theory anyway.  First, apply a color as your base.  Let dry.  Then, use a dotting tool to make two dots of another color.  While thats wet, use more polish to drag it up your nail.  Then, paint your tip with this color, and touch up with a dotting tool to make the edges rounded.  You can add a dot or two to suggest more dripping.  Top with a top coat.  And don't worry if you don't have a real dotting tool.  I used a flat-top pin stuck into an eraser of a pencil.  You can also use the tip of a bobby pin.  Enjoy!     

Clawed: Minty

I like easy nail art, and what's easier than an ombre!  For this first try, I decided to use silver glitter (Nail Inc. Electric Lane) over a mint green (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mint Sorbet).  It's super-easy to do.  All you need is two colors, a makeup sponge, and a scrap piece of paper.  Here are the steps:

1. Paint your nails with your color over a base coat, if you like.  Let dry.  

2. Pour a bit of your second color onto the scrap paper.

3. Rip off a piece of the makeup sponge.  It doesn't have to be a big piece.

4. Dip the sponge into the still-wet second color.

 5. Starting about 3/4 down your nail lightly sponge the color on all the way to the tip.  Let dry.

6. Now sponge half your nail with the color, all the way to the tip.  Let dry.

7.  Sponge the color onto your tips only.  Let dry.

 8.Slick on a top coat, if you wish.

9. Clean up with a Q-tip or thin paintbrush dipped in nail polish remover.

This mani makes me so happy!  It's so cute and girly. I am going to try two colors, instead of a color and a glitter.  There is also another technique for an ombre mani, so I am definitley going to try it!  I hope this little tutorial made sense!    

Clawed: Sparkly!

I love sparkles.  This is escpecially true for nails.

 This weekend I went to Sephora.  I wanted to get an Ombre set from the New Black, but they don't have them in stores.  So I opted for this amazing Nails Inc. silver glitter.    

 So I did a silver glitter graident!

 It's easy to do: paint a base coat first, (I used an OPI polish that I don't know the name of), then add a thin coat of glitter about 3/4 down your nail.  When that's dry, add another thin coat of glitter about half way down your nail.  Then put a lot of glitter on the tips, and seal it with a topcoat!  The only downfall to this polish is that it's really thick.  I bet it will really work well covering my whole nail.

 I can't wait to get a matte topcoat to see what this baby looks like matte.

Clawed: Colorblocked

Spring has sprung and summer is calling.  To celebrate the season, I painted my nails in a colorblock design. 

 First, paint your nails, except for one nail, in one color.  I used a coral from OPI. I don't know the name of it and couldn't find it on the website.  Any ideas?  Anyways, I really love this color.  It's so bright and colorful.  It looks orange in photos, but it is more of a coral color.  Let it dry.  

 Then paint your accent nail another color.  I used Certainly Cherry by Sally Hansen No Chip 10 Day Nail Color.  Let dry.

Then, use your first color (coral) to make a half-moon. I did a straight half-moon, but you can use binder paper reinforcements to make an actual half-moon. There are many tutorials out there to help you do that. When this is dry, slick on a top coat.

The best thing about this manicure is that you can do so much with it.  You can use any colors to complete this look.  You can do the accent design on every nail.  You can use the accent color (hot pink) to make an opposite half-moon on the other nails.  And you can do different half-moon shapes: straight, curved, or triangle.  Have fun with it! 

Clawed: Stripes

Time for a polish change! I like to do easy nail art since I don't have a very steady hand. Stripes is the answer!

First I applied a base coat (Sally Hansen Double Duty), then a coat of marigold polish (Designated Driver by Spolied).

After letting the marigold polish dry, use a black polish pen or striper to draw stripes.

After the stripes are dry, apply a top coat to seal it all in! I love that you can use any color combination! And it's really hard to mess up. If you can draw a relatively straight line, you're golden.

Don't forget to enter Frayed Thread's giveaway:http://frayed-threads.blogspot.com/2012/03/birthday-extravaganza.html.

Clawed: Ikat

I love having long nails. But I have a problem. When I have bare nails, or even chipped polish, I chew my nails down so much it hurts. To keep my nails long, I keep my nails painted. And I like doing nail art. Simple designs, but nail art all the same. Since I'm doing my nails anyways, I decided I'll show them to the world! My first look:

IKAT!

I found a tutorial on how to do ikat nails through Fuck Yeah Nail Art. Google it; there is so much inspiration! I wanted to use these colors, not the coral and turquoise that the tutorial shows. For the base, I used Petal Power by Sally Hansen. It's a beautiful pinky nude. Then I dabbed a generic white in random sploches. When the white dried, I dabbed a marigold color, Spoiled's Designated Driver, over it to make the marigold brighter. The tutorial said to then use a black striper brush, but I used a black nail art pen instead. It works, I think. I put a top coat to seal it all in.

I like these nails. They're summery and fun. I like the colors too. It's such a nice break from all the heavy, dark nail polish looks from winter.