I bought a set of resin 3D nail art supplies from +Bundle Monster a few weeks ago, which includes cute little ice creams, cupcakes, candies, bows, and more. Ice cream is a must for the summer, so I decided to do a cutesy ice cream design, using a color scheme based off of the resin ice cream bar.
Bear down, Arizona! Bear down, red and blue! Go, go, Wildcats go! Arizona, bear down! :) These red, white, and blue nails are in honor of my alma mater, the University of Arizona.
This double gradient design is easier than it appears. The hardest part is placing all the striping tape, so if you can manage that, then you can do this. Since the patterns are a bit crazy, I kept the colors neutral.
There's no tutorial for this. I just wanted to share my Fiery Beetle entry for Nail It! Magazine's #tinicontest3.
I used a mix of nail polish, acrylic paint, and foil to recreate the beetles shown in the mood board for the contest.
The foil adds a shiny iridescence that cannot be accomplished with regular polish.
The final round of the contest ends on August 30th. The prize package includes a 6-month subscription to the Lacquer Cabinet and a 1-year subscription to Nail It! Magazine. There is still time to enter!
The foil can be better seen in the natural sunlight.
This is another mani upcycle of my Foil Fantasy nails. To update the look, I double stamped some +Bundle Monster nail plate designs.
A real feather mani is a fun, natural, bohemian look that is easy to create. A soft pink base color pairs well with the hot pink feathers so the feathers stand out.
Foils are extremely iridescent and easy to apply. Here, I paired teal glitter polish with a purple/blue gradient foil. The foil naturally ripples over the uneven glitter surface, giving it a molten look.
Born in December, my birthstones are blue topaz and turquoise. I've seen a few different tutorials on how to create turquoise nails, but I decided to try the salt technique. I had some technical difficulties, so the end result didn't turn out like a traditional salt nail, but it looks like turquoise so that works for me. :)
Ever get tired of your mani, but you don't have time or are too lazy to repaint it? The answer - upcycle it! To upcycle my galaxy nails, I added some stamping on top.
Summer is slowly winding down, so here's an Endless Summer mani to brighten the remaining days.
Galaxy nails! This is my first attempt at a galaxy nail. I used a makeup sponge to dab on different shades of blue. This is a more realistic version compared to those that have the dotted and starburst stars painted on top. But I liked the simplicity at this point and didn't want to add any more.
I've been trying to use different nail plates that I own, but have never used before. With this swirling whirlpool stamp, I decided to do a chrome gradient underneath. Since the lighter chrome polish was a bit sheer, I just painted it straight on the nail instead of using a sponge to do the gradient. It works okay for under stamping, but it's not as smooth as sponging.
I always love a good military look. Military nails, jackets, accessories, I love it all. For this mani, I chose an army green polish, and added some gold start stamping and studs.
With all the summer flowers in bloom, bees are everywhere, so I thought I'd do some bumble bee nails. I mixed some hand-painting with nail stamping, and of course used yellow and black colors.
I first saw this design in InStyle Magazine. I have a thing for eyes...I like to draw them a lot when I doodle, and it is always my favorite part to paint when I do pet portraits.
Stamping is always a fast and easy way to create fancy nail designs. Here, I mixed a floral pattern with a bird on top. Overlaying stamps allows you to create more advanced designs in different colors, without having to reverse stamp or leadlight, so it doesn't take much time.
The last polish in the Disney Fairytale Nail Polish set is Ariel. I decided to paint the more cutesy POP version of Ariel for the feature nail. For the blue nails, I used several different glitter polishes that looked like a part of Ariel's world under the sea (see what I did there?).
Da-Dum, Da-Dum. Jaws!!! No tutorial for this, but I just wanted to share my creation for Shark Week! I used acrylic paint to paint the Jaws poster. It was hard to paint on my short nails (especially the tiny girl swimming), but I like how it turned out. I think we're going to need a bigger boat.
Round 2 of Nail It! Magazine's #tinicontest is inspired by Moroccan Architecture and Lauren Clay Artwork. For my first entry, I chose a bunch of Bundle Monster stamping plates with designs close to that of Moroccan architecture.
I've been wanting to do a nautical nail for a while, so I figured I better hurry up before summer is over. I kept the look navy blue and white with a couple gold accents.
Belle is the third of four polishes in the Disney Fairytale Nail Polish set. For this look, the tips of the nails are painted to look like Belle's gown.
McDonald's is probably my favorite fast food. I usually only order one of three things: (1) the Big Mac Combo, (2) the 10-piece McNugget Combo, or (3) an Oreo McFlurry or Cone with Fries. After painting the pizza nail for the Ninja Turtle mani, I was inspired to do another junk food related design. The McDonald's fries are probably the most iconic and have that unmistakably delicious smell, so I decided to paint that as the feature nail.
Poisoned apple anyone? Snow White is another polish in the Disney Fairytale Polish Set. With a bright red polish, I had to do the infamous poisoned apple.
For my final entry for Nail It! Magazine's #TiniContest Round 1, I have a simple black nail with holo triangle stickers.
Turtle power! Time for another movie mani :) So if you couldn't tell by the post title, or you don't know who those turtles are in the picture above, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is in theaters today! Initially, I was going to paint the turtles to look like they do in the current movie, but it wasn't turning out. So I looked online, and found this design by Jessica Vero for the turtles, and then added a pizza nail for the thumb.
Hi Everyone! Today was an exciting day for me, so I thought I'd share the news.
First, the tutorial I wrote for Don't Be Koi, went up on the Nail It! Magazine website today. I'm truly honored that they asked me to write anything for their website. Many of their tutorials online have inspired me, so hopefully I can now inspire someone else.
Second, my Pineapple Paradise nails won the Sally Hansen "Calling All Nails" Sweepstakes run by Allure Magazine last month, and my prize arrived today! A giant tote bag filled with 34 beauty products! I can't wait to try everything. A big THANK YOU to the Allure Promotions Team!
This is my second entry for Nail It! Magazine's #TiniContest Round 1 that I mentioned in Iridescent Egypt. Last time I did an iridescent design, so this time I did something inspired by glaciers. I chose a geometric cutout pattern with textured glitter and polish.
Today, I decided to try out the LeadLight technique. This involves painting directly over a stamped nail with sheer or jelly polish, as opposed to the reverse stamping method which creates a decal as in Don't Be Koi. I've been wanting to try this for a while, but I don't own any sheer/jelly polish. But when sharing this tragic fact with a fellow nail artist, she pointed out that you can make your own sheer polish by mixing regular polish with clear top coat. Boom! I don't know why I didn't think of that before.
Be brave. Dauntless is one of the five factions in the world of Divergent by Veronica Roth. They are the soldiers, they wear all black, are tattooed and pierced, and they believe in courage, bravery, and fearlessness. It's my favorite of the factions, so I created these nails in honor of them.
Disney's Tangled, tells the story of Rapunzel. As a previous chameleon owner myself, I really liked Pascal, so I decided to paint him for my Tangled-themed nails. Plus, his green coloring is a good contrast to the purple polish.
Nail It! Magazine's #TiniContest Round 1 is based on a mood board featuring glaciers and iridescent fashion. For iridescent, my first thought was a iridescent blue beetle like a scarab. From that I decided to do an Egyptian theme using +Bundle Monster stamping plates.
Today is International Nail Art Day! #INAD This called for something EPIC. I give you, The Incredible Hulk! I based the design off of some promo pics for The Incredible Hulk 2 movie. I stuck with the green and black look, but added a purple stud to my pinky as a nod to the comic book version.
A sunset gradient nail with dream catchers and feathers is perfect for those bohemian summer nights.
