Saran Wrap tutorial

My internet has been crappy today so here's a late post; a tutorial I've done of Saran Wrap. A very simple yet fun nail art.

I've showed this purple/black saran wrap yesterday but in this post I have some more left over photos too (lol).

And onto the tutorial (click to make it larger):

I guess you can figure out from the pictures but here are some further guidelines:

1. Start with a dry base. Like your old mani or make sure you wait until it's completely dry. I've chosen a bright purple.

2-3. Have another polish ready, I've chosen a creme black. Get some saran wrap, or honestly any plastic bag/wrap will work. Make it into a ball when you use it.

4. Paint preferably one or two nails each time and paint your new color on top of the dry base. Remember to not make it too thin, just regular to thick depending on your preferences.

5-6. Then immediately take your ball of plastic wrap and dab all over the nail leaving residues of the new color in a random pattern, letting the old polish show through. If the new color, here black, is too dominant, it's possible to reapply black again, and then repeat the dabbing process.

7. Make the rest of your nails.

8. Do cleanup and put on tc.

9. Enjoy. ;)

Do you like Saran wrap nail art's? Have you tried it? :)

Argyle nail art tutorial

As promised I got a tutorial of the argyle nails I showed you yesterday. I've done it by step-by-step-pictures and with an explanation of each step. You'll need three different colors of polishes. Two of them can be fine liner polishes or you can use a thin nail art brush and optionally a dotting tool.

And a reminder, this week is for awareness for breast cancer, so go and check out United In Pink if you haven't already and/or give your support for Pink Ribbon Charity. :)

Hope you like it and if you try you can (if you want to) leave me a comment so I can have a look. :) Sadly I think the picture looks a bit pixelated and when I uploaded it, hope you can make it out anyhow, otherwise let me know. :)

Polishes used:
Jordana Pop Art - Contemporary White
L.A. Colors Art Deco - Baby Pink
La Femme - Silverado(?) 32

An InLinkz Link-up

Super natural water decals from Born Pretty Store, review

Now I've reached no 28 in the 31dnc which is "inspired by super natural" and at first I had no idea what to do. Then I came up with the best idea ever which was showing my water decals set from Born Pretty Store which happens to be a Halloween set with a whole bunch of super natural stuff. I've also included a tutorial of how I did this so you'll see how easy they are to wear. The Halloween set is just one example and there is more types of characters with water decals on their site. Remember that you can use my discount code NGL91 to get 10 % off.

The set I got is filled with lots of different motives. At first glance it seems like it's only 4 manicures (seems like ten nails of each theme)  but comparing the size to my nails (which is pretty wide I think) you see that this is way more. I used two "nails" for 5 of my nails and then I think I filled them a bit too much.

To the left: my pinkie. To the right: My thumb.

And below is my little pictorial/tutorial guide on how to do this. After it I'll give some small instructions if you find it necessary. Basically this is a very quick and simple technique to obtain advanced nail art.

 Instructions:

1. Cut out the main motive with a (small) scissor.
2. Peel off the protective plastic on top.
3. Maybe cut in smaller pieces and then put in water. You just need them covered so a plate is enough. (Glass like here is not needed ;))
4. Pick up the motive. The paper feels "oily" which makes the motive peel off easily.
5. I used a tweezer to grab it even though it would be possible just to use the fingers.
6. Then place it on the nail. It is super easy to move it around to place it exactly where you want.
7. When I got it where I wanted I used my finger and pressed it down firmly.
8. Then wait for a moment for the water to disappear or use a hair dryer. Then top coat it and you are ready to go.

Here you see a good thing, the water decals have a white background making the motive look very sharp even on darker colors since the polish color wont shine through.

And below is the result. I might think I put too many motives on each nail but it was really fun to try out. One advantage with this comparing to stickers is that the surface is 100% smooth with top coat so there's no risk for curling. They where also easy to remove. So my verdict is that I really liked this. It was surprisingly fast to do and the result is very nice even though I'll try to get some more all year around motives. For example I like the sailor themed ones on the same link as these.

And there you have it. The link to these water decals are HERE at the Born Pretty Store Website. The cost for the whole decal set is $3.99 and FREE world wide shipping. With the discount it's ($3,99x0,9=$3,591) which is ~25SEK, ~£2 and ~€2,5. 

 Polish used: Claudia - 609 (full swatch will come later)

***Some products in this post have been provided for review***

Needle dragging hearts tutorial

Now we're in the middle of Valentine Polish Week which me and Zara from Traces Of Polish have organized. Don't forget to join if you got a Valentine inspired nail art or if you're showing a polish which have a Valentine feel to you. :D

Time for tutorial! I did a Triple needle dragging heart nail art before and decided to make a tutorial of it because it's a really fun nail art to know. For simplicity I've done one heart on each nail. For three hearts in a row, make three dots. Further instructions below:

1. Start with the base and remember to ONLY make one nail at the time (especially if you're new to this). Open both bottles of polish you intend to use and grab your needle/dotting tool etc
2. Apply one thick layer of base polish (here black). The amount should be more than you would ever do normally. Then...
3. ...hurry up and drop a quite big drop of polish in the middle of the nail. I'm using the brush which come with the polish bottle to be able to get the right amount of polish. 
4. After that, quickly take your needle/dotting tool etc and make a straight line (from the cuticles down towards the smiley) in the middle of the dot. If necessary, lift the needle/dotting toola bit in the end if the spike of the heart is getting too long. Wait for a minute and then apply top coat.

If you're having problem with the needle dragging technique:
Problem: The polish got dry even though you hurried up as much as you could.
Solution: Try changing polish (some polishes dries too fast) or maybe and probably you've applied a too thin layer of polish for the nail art. Experiment with a even thicker layer of polish and don't worry about it feeling thick when it has dried, it will level out later and normally you probably have at least 3-5 coats on the nail, this time you only have bc+polish+tc.
Problem: When dragging large lines of the natural nail is showing looking weird.
Solution: Maybe your dotting tool is too wide or you're pressing down too hard. Be gentle with the hand and only drag at the very top of the polish, not all the way down.

Polishes used:
Kleancolor - Neon Pink
ZTIZ nail polish (black creme)

And if you're into pink you can check Princessemmas Pink Thursday out.

An InLinkz Link-up

Burberry nail art tutorial

What about another tutorial? A girl on facebook saw my pink and beige gradient Burberry nail art I did in the 31DC and she wanted a tutorial so I decided to make a tutorial of the original pattern. Optional to ad a gradient or change colors of course.

Just follow the pictures to create this.

You'll need a beige/nude color for the base and fine liners in black, white and red. A fine liner brush and regular polishes works too but I prefer fine liner polishes.

1. Paint the base and let it dry.
2. Paint a thick white vertical line to the side of your nail. (As you see the right side of the white line is in the middle of the nail.)
3. Paint another thick line horizontally on the nail. (A nice placement is somewhat where you'd paint a french tip's upper line.
4. Fill in the white lines with black as thin as you can. (Start with the outer ones)
5. Fill in the white lines with black as thin as you can. (Start with the outer ones)
6. Then paint the inner black lines. (Painting them last will make it easier to place the in the middle)
7. Paint the red line horizontally in the "middle" of the beige area crossing the white and black.
8. Paint the vertical line also in the "middle" in the beige area. (The two lines makes a perfect cross.) Make cleanup if necessary and apply top coat and you're good to go!

Ad a diagonal gradient like this one if you want to make it look different from the original.

 Got any questions about this nail art? Or other requests? Just comment below. :)

Tutorial of "side-flower" nail art

I call them side-flowers nail art, maybe they should have been called "half-flowers nail art" or even "flower nail art"? But you know what I mean. Anyhow, every nail art blogger have their "signature nail art's", which don't necessarily means that the blogger invented the nail art it self but that the nail art is something the blogger often end up doing, because they like it and/or it's their safe zone.

You who have followed me for a while might have noticed that these side-flowers have turned up a lot. I enjoy doing them and they can really pimp up a french manicure or a regular manicure. For some weeks ago I was asked to make a tutorial of them and so I did. However, since it's free-hand it's hard to just give you the magic tools to make it, to paint with a thin brush takes practice but I'll give it my best try to show you how I do it at least.

Don't underestimate the power of trying the motive on a piece of paper

Since I've done this many times I don't need to draw them on a piece of paper ever time but if you're new to something and are going to freehand them, it can be good to practice some first. Preferably you can draw fingernails to the length of your own nail (not the monster version I did ;)) and plan;

• How long can the petals be to fit my nail? 
• How wide should the petals be to be able to fit that middle line?
• Placement; do you want them on the middle of your nail?

Other good things are to make sure that your fine-liner is as thin as it possibly can be and that the formula isn't thick (I thin mine with acetone if so). A tip could be to practice and paint on your toe-nails or even a piece of paper with the fine-liner brush. A manicure you're about to remove could also be a good practice area.

Above is the order I make my flowers. When I paint I make one full petal at the time and I ALWAYS start from the cuticle and slightly lift the brush at the end because that leaves thinner lines at the tip of the petal which looks more elegant. Many times, especially when I feel shaky I try to move the hand I'm painting on more than the actual brush because that leaves me steadier lines (try what works best for you). Here I've chosen to have my starting point at the middle of my nails which is a good choice because then the upper and lower petal easier can have the same length.After I'm done with the lines I dab a bit of top coat at the center to attach a rhinestone, then top coat allover to seal in the design.

Questions? Questions? Questions? ;)

Above I've done a collage of some side-flower designs. Those on the upper row are more newly made, like 2012-2013 and the bottom row is more like 2010-2011. Before I did more petals but I've found that three petals works the best for me and look the best in my opinion.

Tutorial of Needle Dragging Christmas Tree nail art

For some days ago I showed a Needle Dragging Christmas Tree nail art and at the same time I was able to do a tutorial of it. Needle dragging nail art or needle nail art is a very simple and fun nail art which basically only requires somewhat opaque polishes and a needle or dotting tool.

I've done a more detailed tutorial of the technique of needle dragging HERE which I recommend you to check out if you haven't already. There I show the technique more in detail, what I mean with swirls and that you should be gentle and don't scrape the polish away. For the Christmas trees it's possible to do pretty much the same as before except that I start doing my swirls from the tip of the nail and up and place the polish in another way which you'll see at the pictures.

Instructions:

• Open the two colors of polish you'll use (here green and black)so that you're prepared. Remember to work quickly and that it's best to do ONE nail at the time, especially if you're new to this technique.

1. Use your base coat of preference.
2. Paint one thick layer of a base color of your choice (here black) on ONE nail, remember to be quick and...
3. ..rush onto color no.2 (here green) and make three dots with the brush (no need for dotting tools, this don't have to be perfect at all). I've tried making my dots so they increase in size.
4. Immediately after the dots, use a dotting tool/needle or anything pointy and start making swirls/movements back and forth starting from the tip of the nail and moving up towards the top of the tree and towards the cuticles.
5. Optional: make decorations and put on top coat. Below are two examples, one with random dots made with a dotting tool and the other one with rhinestones and metal beads.

Click picture to get to the original post.

Last year's version. Click picture to get to the original post.

And of course, if you think anything was unclear or if you have any questions, please ask and I'll do my best to answer. :)

Tutorial of double gradient mesh nail art

Hi!
I have a lot's of things going on with school (now it's CAD) and such so most blog/nail related stuff are suffering some. I'm still wearing my adorable mesh double gradient-manicure but will remove it later today, not because it's broken, but because I received some more new polishes and I can't hold my self any more.

Hope that you wont become bored now, with the third day of the gradients and mesh thing but I figured that I should show a tutorial of how I did it more in detail. Here's the >LINK< to my original post.

1. First I painted my nails yellow and then made a pink gradient.

2. Apply striping tape. Apply them from one direction first and then the other direction so it's easier to know which tape end you should start with.

3. Sponge two new (opaque) color's on top on the tape and nails. Sponge them at the same time to make them really fade into each other. I use a powder "sponge" as you can see at the "third" photo.

4. Remove the tape, remember to take them in the correct order. I used a tweezer.

5. Apply top coat and you're good to go. :)

Needle dragging tutorial

So as promised, a tutorial of needle dragging nail art. :D

You'll need two (or more if you like) nail polishes that are 1-coaters. Here I've used two colors that are far from each other so that you'll see the effect more clearly. You'll need something pointy, like a needle or dotting tool with a small end. When I use the needle I use the sharp end of it.

Below you can see a long picture describing the basics of the needle dragging. First you just paint one side and then the other without letting it dry, so it's good to be quick. Use thicker coats than you usually does otherwise it will dry too quick. Then it's just to use your dotting tool or needle making swirly moves over the nails as you can see from the pictures. And remember to make ONE nail at the time!

A tip is not to press down the dotting tool or needle too much on the nails. You don't want to drag away the polish leaving the natural nail visible like below:

The picture above is exaggerated but you see my point! What you want to do is to gently sweep the dotting tool or needle over the nail just gently mixing the polish from one side to the other.

With some practice you're pretty much done. Below is some proposal of how to variate your needle dragging:

a. = soft swirls made with a needle.
b. = soft large swirls made with a dotting tool.
c. = random dragging from one side to the other made with needle.
d. = zig-zag swirls made with needle.

Polishes used:
Kleancolor - Beach Blue
Kleancolor - Pastel Blue

For more inspiration check out my other needle dragging nail art posts. Just click on the picture to get to the post.

  
If you got any questions or requests, just shoot! :D

Tutorial of poisonous dart frog meets giraffe inspired nail art

Hello there! There was a request that it should be a tutorial of the Poisonous dart frog meets giraffe inspired nail art. And I just thought why not and made my very first tutorial. So I'll hope you'll like it. And for those of you who haven't seen the original post, here it is with more pictures and information about what polishes I've used even though you of cause can use the brand and color of your choice.

Start by panting your nails yellow.

Now we will start with the gradient. To save some time I have started by making two stripes with the brush. And it is only an advantage if the coats aren't completely dry, just surface dry.

Paint some nail polish on a random makeup sponge and start dabbing on the area you want.

In this case I start with the edges and gradiently work my way into the middle avoiding the very middle since we want to keep that yellow. The picture shows one gradient coat.

A tip is to put a lot of polish on your sponge but allow it to "dry" some before you start dabbing on your nail. By waiting you will get a better gradient.

This is the second gradient coat, just blending in the orange color and making it have full opacity on the edges.

If you want you could be finished by then, but if you want your gradient to look even better I would recommend an additional layer of yellow over the middle of the nail.

The additional coat of yellow which I dabb on with the sponge makes the yellow and orange blend in even better with each other, creating a almost seamless gradient.

To make the pattern use a black fine liner nail polish.

Make random shapes reminding you about a giraffe print. It helps a lot looking at giraffe pictures while doing this.

Use a dotting tool or the tip of the brush of your black nail polish to fill the pattern you have made.

And then you're done! Just ad some top coat to seal in the design and making it shiny.

Hope you liked it!

If anything was unclear, please ask. :)