Rose Nail Art

Hello Sweeties!

Today is such a grey day in Munich and I feel like posting a Black and White Manicure. This is one of those rare occasions that I actually am still wearing the polish I blog about. It usually takes me a couple of days to upload everything, but I was working on the blog last night and so here is my manicure for you!

I started with two layers of L'Oreal - Black Swan and then added a stamped rose design to it. I did use white and silver stamping polish for this manicure, but in the pictures it looks like I only used one colour. I still like this manicure a lot. I don't know what it is with my ringfinger, but somehow I always manage to ruin the pattern on one nail. 

As you can see in the pictures it was very sunny yesterday. I don't understand why the silver stamping polish doesn't show in my pictures. Not even in sunlight. Makes me a bit angry that you can not see what I see...

I hope you still like my manicure. I thought it would also look gorgeous for Halloween.

Speaking of Halloween I would like to inform you that I am going to host a nail art contest on my blog in a few weeks to honour the best Halloween Nail Artist. Details will be up this afternoon so please stop by again!

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Summer Flowers

Hello Sweeties!

How was your weekend? To make your Monday a bit sweeter let me show you this colourful flower manicure. It took me quite a while to do it, but I think it was totally worth the effort.

Unfortunately I only have two of these stampers so I wasn't able to make the decals for all my nails at once. I transfered a mixed flower design on both ends of my stapmers and filled them in with different colours. I used all catrice polishes, but I did not write each one of them down. (I think I used about 10 or 12 different shades from yellow to purple.) Last but not least I added a few dotted purple lines to fill in some gaps.

Once that had dried for a few minutes I painted on a clear coat and let it sit there for the night. The next day I peeled them off and did the same thing again. While the second batch was drying I painted my nails white (catrice - Isle of White).

I then started to measure the first decals to my nails (I had four for five nails!) and cut them into shape. Once I've placed them on my nails and cleaned up any excess I sealed them in with Seche Vite. By the time I was done with that the second decals had dried sufficiently and I repeated the last few steps on my other hand.

I usually don't post pictures of my right hand, because I am never 100% satisfied with the outcome, but in this case I'll make an exception. Don't they look super cute?

They also look lovely with my orchids...

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are up for a whole new week. Stay tuned for my monthly favourites coming later today!

How do you like this colourful design? Do you like flower nails?

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Sunset Gradient

Happy Monday, Beauties!

Today I want to show you a sponged gradient with a palm tree design. It totally reminds me of a beach at sunset and was inspired by the hot weather we are experiencing at the moment. All I can think about is lying under a palm tree and jumping into the sea anytime I want to get refreshed. Unfortunately that isn't going to happen right now...

I started this manicure using a base coat and two layers of white polish and let them dry completely. Then I used a make-up sponge to create my gradient using three NYX polishes. My Sunshine (yellow), Pop Culture (orange) and Red Noir (guess what, it is the red one! ;-D). Once I was done with the first layer I wasn't satisfied with the dark red and added Maybelline Express Finish - Cherry (505), wich is a brighter red.

Once the colour was built up to full coverage I cut down a straw to get a C-shaped dotting tool to help create the palm leaves and an ecen smaller section on the other side to create the stems and shadows.

The first nail was a bit challenging, but once you get used to your new tool it is actually very easy. To fill in any gaps I added some doves and then topcoated my manicure with Seche Vite to seal it in.

I think this looks so cute and even better in natural light (below). 

As you know me I can not resist playing around with different top coats and finishes, that is exactly what I did here. I used china glaze fairy dust in my pointer, black only - #244 on my middlefinger (this is a pearl finish) and a matte top coat on my ringfinger. Wich is your favourite?

My favourite for this design was the L'Oreal matte top coat so I added it to all of my nails. The other ones would have been put to better use underneath the black design. They look lovely on the coloured parts, but not on top of the palmtrees.

I hope you like this design as much as I do. It is really fun to do and you should definitely give it a try to work with a cut down straw. 

Have a great week!


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Birthday Party Balloon Nails

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you had a great weekend! Lets start this day with a fun manicure I created last week for my finceés nephews birthday party. He turned two so I wanted to do something fun. And who doesn't like Balloons?

For this manicure I used a basecoat, one layer of NYX - White and then sponged on a gradient in blue and white using essence - let's get lost (128) and Mountain Calling - 01 TODAY IS FUNDAY (LE) and give me nude, baby! (152) as well as NXY - White.

I then added a layer of essence - bejeweled (12) a holo jewel glitter polish with a soft bluish purple shimmer and a few translucent iridescent hexes in different sizes in it. I then sealed it in with Seche Vite to protect it and to give the manicure dome depth wich makes the balloons look like they are floating in the sky.

To make the balloons I used a dottingtool and added an oval dot of each colour to my nail with a little triangle at the bottom. Using black bolish and a fine nail art brush I encircled the balloons to make them stand out better, added a little line inside and a string. On my thumb I additionally added white underneath the colour so the yellow gets good coverage. It was also easier to choose the position of the small balloons without having to think about the colours.

And here is everything you need for this manicure. A make-up sponge, a dottong tool, a nail art brush, a cleanup brush and an orange stick. Black and white polish, blue polish and a shimmery glitter topper and an assortment of your favourite colours for the balloons as well as base and topcoat.

The colours I used for my design are Wet 'n Wild - Sunny Side Up, esence - juicy love (187), let's get lost (128), free hugs and beijos de brazil (170).

The last step was to seal it in with Seche Vite again to protect my carefully painted design.

I really love, that this manicure turned out exactly the way I planned it. The balloons look like they are floating in the sky and the gradient gives you the feeling of soft white clourd and a blue sky above. The pearly glitter totally fits and brings everything together.

Without the balloons on top the shimmering gradient would also make a wonderful winter manicure. it reminds me a bit of falling snow. You could paint or stamp some snowflakes on et voilà you have a gorgeous snow themed manicure.

I hope you like this cute design. The birthday boy did and so did his sister. They wanted to touch them all the time and asked: Why are there balloons on your nails? :-D I said: What is a party without balloons?

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Animal Print Series -Zebra

Good Morning Sunshines!

Even though summer officially started it is still quite cold in Munich and it was raining constantly for the last couple of days. Today finally the sun is out and I am very happy. Hopefully it will get a little warmer! :-) The manicure I have prepared for you today is from my new Animal Print Series. It is a Zebra!

To start this manicure I used different base colours. China glaze - White On White, L'Oreal - Black Swan and Maybelline - Mauve Kiss. (Two coats each on topcoat.)

With NYX - White and Wet 'n Wild - Black Creme I created the Zebra stripes using a fine nail art brush. For the Zebra's ears I also used china glaze - Strike A Rose.

Even though the face doesn't really look like a Zebra, I am happy with this manicure.

I hope you like it too! Have you ever done animal prints?

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accent nail decal

Hello Beauties!

How are you today? Any special plans for this weekend? Today I want to show you my first homemade nail decal for an accent nail.

I used a green flexible plastic chopping board to stamp my design on, let it dry a bit and then filled it in with my desired colours. I made a pink balloon heart, a peach dress, a blue coat and hat and even blond hair for the girl. For the faces I added a dot of pearly white to make them not too pale. I didn't write down wich colours I used, but obviously you can use wichever you like!

Once that has dried a little bit, I added two coats of white and a topcoat and let it dry over night. When I peeled it off in the morning I was surprised how cute this design looks. Unfortunately the white smeared the black polish a bit, but it was not too bad. I then painted my pinkie white and waited for it to get tacky.

In the meantime I cut down the decal to approximately the right size and then pressed it down on the nail and carefully rubbed out any bubbles or wrinkles with my finger.

To finish it off, I cut away any excess and then cleaned up the rest with a flat brush dipped in acetone to get straight lines. As a last step I used a generous layer of Seche Vite to seal in my design. (The first picture is the end result.)

I am totally in love with this accent nail and you will see it in a few more posts, because I refused to take it off for a couple of days and did my swatches anyway! :-D

How do you like my accent nail? 

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