Animal Print Nails

Ah! It's so nice to be back and have time for blogging :) I've started esthetician school and I've been crazy busy but I've settled in and finally have some time on my hands to do a new tutorial.

For my next tutorial I have decided to show you how to do 5 different animal prints. You can wear all these prints at the same time, like I have here or you can wear one at a time or use them as accent nails. I thought it would be a great tutorial because every girl should be able to whip out a quick animal print! It's one of the most versatile nail designs out there and a great design to incorporate into any manicure. So here we go ....

What you will need:

• top coat and base coat (I used China Glaze Strong Adhesive Base Coat and Seche Vite Top Coat)
• 3 neutral polishes (I used China Glaze Kalahari Kiss, Revlon Apricot Pastry and Sheer Nude)
• a white polish (I used China Glaze White on White)
• an orange polish (CG Orange You Hot)
• 2 brown polishes, one darker than the other (Zoya Nina, Revlon Chocolate Truffle)
• a black polish (CG Liquid Leather)
• a black striper polish (Kiss Nail Art Paint)
• 2 different sized dotting tools (small and medium)

Step 1:

Apply base coat to all your nails and allow to dry. Then taking your three neutral polishes and the white and orange you are going to paint each nail the base colour of the design you want there. For my thumb I did the giraffe design and I used Apricot Pastry as the base colour, for the index I did tiger print and I used Orange you hot as the base colour, for the middle I did leopard print and I used Sheer Nude as the base colour, for the ring I did zebra print and I used White on White for the base colour, and for the pinkie I did cheetah print and I used Kalahari Kiss as the base colour. If you don't have 3 neutral colours you can definitely use one base colour for the giraffe, leopard, and cheetah prints. I used different shades just to give each nail a slightly different look. 

Step 2:

First I did the giraffe nail. Using the darker of the two brown shades (Zoya Nina) put a blob of nail polish on a piece of cardboard or paper and use the medium sized dotting tool to create big uneven shapes like those on a giraffe. I looked at a picture of giraffe print to copy the shapes, which are rectangular with rounded edges. Don't worry about perfectly shaped dots because in real life no two dots are the same and making uneven dots on our nails gives the same effect. 

Step 3:

Next for the tiger print nail I took my black striper and drew thin lines, alternating down the sides of the nail. To make a good line try placing the end of the brush against the side of the nail right where it meets the skin and then quickly flicking it towards the middle, this will give you a nice tapered  line. If that technique doesn't work for you it is fine to draw a line as thin as possible from the outer edge in towards the middle. 

Step 4:

My favourite, the leopard print nail! For this one use the lighter of the two brown polishes (Revlon Chocolate Truffle) put a blob of polish on the paper you have already used and then use the medium sized dotting tool to make small brown dots all over the nail. Again, if you don't have two brown polishes go ahead and use the same brown that you used on the giraffe nails. Once the brown dots have dried  bit take your black polish and put a blob of it on the paper. Then use the small sized dotting tool to outline the briwn dots. To outline you want to mimic the look of leopard spots and they are outlined with either a C shape or ( ) bracket shapes than dont fully go around the dot. try to do the outlining a little uneven as well so it looks more natural. After all the brown dots are outlined put in a few dots between the spaces and this will help it look more natural too. 

Step 5:

For the zebra print nail you will use the same technique and black striper as the tiger print. To make the zebra print though you will connect a few of the lines coming out of the nail the make small triangle shapes and you will extend the lines a little further, almost touching them to the other side. These lines should not be straight across but have almost a wavy look to them to mimic how a real zebra's stripes look. I found it very helpful to look at a picture of zebra stripes as I did this nail. 

 

Step 6:

Last but not least, the cheetah print. To do this nail you put another blob of black polish on your paper and using the small dotting tool you will make small dots all over the nail. The dots on the cheetah print should be uneven and a mix of round and almost triangle shapes with a few very small dots too.Again it will be very helpful to look at a picture of real cheetah print to get a good idea of the shape of the dots. 

Step 7:

Before putting on top coat you will want to wait until all the black in the designs are completely dry, this is very important because if the black is not all the way dry it will run into the lighter colours (especially the white). Once you are 100% sure that the designs are dry put on a layer of top coat to make you designs smooth and shiny. 

And now you know how to do 5 different animal prints! Have fun trying this design out for yourself and adding all these great prints to your future designs :) 

Braid Nail Art

I've been so busy this past week and I haven't had time to do a new manicure, so I thought I would do a tutorial on a past manicure I did - the braid mani. This design is so popular right now and it is really easy to do too.

You can customize it with any colours you want too and even do every line a different colour. For mine I chose three colours so it will look like a traditional braid.

What you will need:

• base coat and top coat
• three colours for the design (I chose O.P.I. Alpine Snow, China Glaze Shocking Pink and Purple Panic)
• q-tips and polish remover to clean around the nail

Step 1:

After applying base coat, paint all your nails the first colour of the three you chose (in my case white). After the white has dried take the next colour(pink) and paint a diagonal line starting at one corner of the nail. I find it helps to rest my hand on the table and rotate the nail being painted to get the straightest line possible. Paint a line on all your nails in the same spot and allow to dry.

Step 2:

Take the last colour(purple) and draw another diagonal line on the opposite side of the one you just did, making an X. This will leave a small triangle at the top of the nail. Allow this line to dry as well and then using the first colour(white) start another diagonal nail below the first line you did and overlapping the bottom of the other lines. Continuing drawing lines all the way down your nail, alternating the colours (white, then pink, then purple) and sides as you go until you reach the bottom of your nail. 

Step 3:

Once you have painted your nail all the way to the bottom, use some q-tips soaked with polish remover to take off any polish that you may got on your skin around the nails. Allow your polish to dry completely before putting on top coat to avoid any smudging and you are done!

Have fun trying this design on yourself. It was very easy to do and the design is so unique looking I guarantee you will get tons of compliments :)

Rainbow Ombre Tutorial

This is one of the most popular designs I have put on Instragram so far (follow me if you have Instragram @vixen_nails), so I decided to recreate it for my blog.

I am definitely a huuuuge fan of neon nail polish so this is what I used for this design but it can be done with any colours you want and any number of colours too. I love rainbows so I decided to do a true rainbow using my neons.

What you will need:

• a base coat and a top coat
• a white nail polish (O.P.I. Alpine Snow)
• the colours for your ombre (I used, in order of pictured, Quo by Orly Femme Fatale, QbO Drama Queen, QbO Center of Attention, China Glaze In The Lime Light, QbO Social Butterfly, and CG Purple Panic)
• a few clean make up sponges (I use wedge shaped but you can use other shapes too)
• some q-tips and polish remover for clean up (you could also tape off around your nails before starting to help with the clean-up)

Step 1:

Start with your base coat and then paint all your nails white. When I use neon colours I always start with a white polish underneath because this will help the neons really pop and make it look more opaque. You will notice a difference for sure in how bright the neon polish is. (If you are taping to help with clean up do it now,  putting tape around each nail so the polish does not transfer on to the skin around your nails)

Step 2:

Let the white polish dry completely because if it is even a tiny bit tacky still the sponge will pick up colour instead of depositing it. When you are sure the white is dry paint lines of nail polish directly on to the sponge. Make sure you know the area the size of your nail on the sponge and only paint that, making the lines as thin as possible to fit all the colours. Because I am using so many colours my lines of polish are quite thin but if you are using less colours you can paint on thicker lines.

Step 3:

Carefully sponge the colours on to your nails by pushing the sponge on to them. You will have to re-paint the polish on to the sponge after every few nails. You will be able to tell the sponge needs morepolish when it starts to stick slightly when sponging on the colours. Don't worry if it looks very sheer at first, you will have to sponge the colours over and over on to your nails until it reaches an opacity you like. For this manicure I sponged about 5 layers of colours on to my nails. The picture is after the first sponge and then after the fifth sponge. 

Step 4:

Using q-tips dipped in polish remover clean up all the polish on your skin around the nails, if you are like me there will be quite a bit lol (or if you used tape just simply remove the tape). After you have cleaned up put on two coats of your top coat. I like to do two coats because the sponging can leave your nails a little bumpy and two coats really smooths them out. 

And you're done! I can't get over how absolutely bright and vibrant this manicure looks in real life. I tried taking pictures in the sun to capture the craziness but it was a rainy day here so it didn't work out that well. I think the next few pictures do a fair job of capturing neons as best you can with a camera though.

 

Let me know what you think and have fun trying this design out! :)

Neon Bolt Manicure

This tutorial will show you how to recreate my recent neon bolt design. I absolutely love neon nail polish right now and I have been trying to fit in as many neon manis as I can before the summer is over and all the fall colours come out.

My inspiration for this design was a pair of bolt earrings I picked up in the mall (I guess earrings really inspire me lol). I chose to use my two favorite neons, but you could really do this design with any two colours.

What you will need :

• base coat and top coat 
• a white nail polish (I used O.P.I. Alpine Snow
• a colour for the top of the design (China Glaze Celtic Sun)
• a colour for the bottom of the design (China Glaze Shocking Pink)
• a black striper polish or a black polish with a striping brush (Kiss Black Striper)

Step 1:

Apply your base coat and then paint all your nails white. I only did one coat of white but as you can see it is a little streaky and that can show through because of how sheer neons can be (especially yellow). I was in a hurry but if you have the time I would recommend doing two coats of white.

Step 2:

Using the colour you picked for the top paint your nail diagonally which direction you want your bolt to go. Wait for it to dry and do another coat so it is opaque. When your top colour is dry paint the rest of the nail with your other colour. Don't worry if the line between the colours isn't perfect, the bolt will cover up any imperfections :)

Step 3:

Take your black striper and outline the bolt where your colours meet. Take your time outlining it to get your lines as straight as possible. Then also using the striper fill in the outline carefully. I didn't like that my bolts were not tapered at the ends like my earrings so I used a white striper to make them thinner at the bottom and then painted over it with my pink polish. You could also do this to make the bolt perfectly outlined.

Step 4:

Wait until the black has completely dried and apply top coat and you are finished. Have fun showing off your awesome bolt design!

Peacock Nails Tutorial

Hi and thanks for visiting my blog for my very first post :)

This is going to be a tutorial for a peacock feather nail design I recently did.

It seems like peacock feathers have been everywhere this summer and I couldn't wait to do this design on my nails. I chose a pair of earrings I have for color inspiration and you could use pictures or feathers you have to tweak the colors a bit because I know peacock feathers sometimes look pretty different color-wise.

Anyways here is what I used for this particular design :

What I Used: 

• 2 fairly large dotting tools, one a bit smaller than the other
• a nail art striper brush
• base coat and top coat (I used beauty secrets base coat and Seche Vite top coat)
• a dark green polish (I used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Emerald Green)
• a light gold polish (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I)
• a dark gold/copper polish (Revlon Copper Penny)
• a light shimmery green polish (Revlon Beach)
• a shimmery blue-green polish ( I mixed Revlon Ocean and Sally Hansen HD Resolution)
• a dark shimmery dark blue polish (China Glaze Blue Years Eve)

Step 1:

Always start your design with a base coat, then paint all your nails with the dark green color. This will be the base color for the design. After the green has dried use your striper brush and the light gold polish to paint fine curved lines all over the nail. This will create the long feather effect of peacock nails. 

Step 2:

Next you will use the dark gold or copper polish to make a big circle near the tops of you nails. I did this just using the regular nail polish brush but you could also use the bigger dotting tool to make a big circle but make sure that it is bigger than the dotting tool using a stippling motion to make it a bit bigger than just a dot. After that you can outline the circle with the striper brush and the light shimmery green polish. I did this because my earrings have that color around the copper circle but it would look just as good if you chose to skip it.

Step 3:

Once the copper polish has dried use the bigger dotting tool and the shimmery blue-green polish to make a dot inside the copper circle. I made it a fairly big dot so while it was drying I tapped it lightly with my finger so that it lay flat on my nail as opposed to being a big lump. You can see my finger print in the polish a little but that will go away once you finish the design. After the first dot has dried use the smaller of the dotting tools and the dark shimmery blue polish to make one last dot inside the previous one. (Again I tapped it while drying to make sure it was as flat as possible) Put your top coat on once everything is dry and you are all done!

Here are a few more pics of how the design turned out. I found it hard to capture in a picture how great these colors look in real life, but if you try it at home you will see how shimmery and vibrant it looks :) Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more tutorials soon!