Geometric Red Nails

I’m really pleased with how this one turned out. I think the combination of the red and gold go well together, and the glitter in the red base adds a little something extra to the overall look.

I also really like the geometric triangular designs from this stamping plate. It is #77 of the round plates by Born Pretty.

I started by painting all nails in 1 coat of a deep red. I then went over it in 2 coats of a glittery red shade. As the red in this shade was quite translucent, I used the deep red shade underneath to help with the coverage.

I then used my stamping plate and a metallic gold shade to stamp the designs onto each nail.

I used a different design from the same plate on each nail on one hand, and then repeated this on the other hand so that they matched.

Stamped Necklace Nails

The title for this post comes from the fact that the stamped design reminds me of some necklaces dangling down on each nail.

I started by painting all nails in 2 coats of a coral/ pastel orange shade. This is from Barry M’s Coconut Infusions range.

Once this was dry I went over it with a top coat and then stamped my necklace pattern over the top of it in a black shade.

I placed the design so that the pattern was coming from the base of the nail.

I then placed a small black rhinestone on each nail in the half circle area left at the base of the nail by the design, before finishing off with a top coat.

Pink Stamp and Studs Nails

I really like how the colours go together for this design. Especially the black stamped over the pink.

I started by painting all nails except my middle and little fingers in a cream shade. On the others I painted them in a pink shade. Both these colours are from Barry M’s Coconut infusion range. I really love the pink shade.

To the index and little finger I attached a single rectangular gold stud and finished them off with a top coat. To the middle fingers I used a florally type pattern from a stamping plate labelled ‘Tian Xin 19’. I stamped the pattern over the entire middle nails using a black stamping polish from Konad.

To the remaining nails, I used masking tape to tape off one half of the nail. I used the pink shade over this and peeled the tape away to make the nail half of each colour. Once this was dry I used the masking tape in the same position again. I then used the same stamping design and black polish to apply the design over the pink half of the nail.

I then removed the tape and cleared up around the stamped nails. Then to cover the line down the middle of the thumbs and ring finger nails, I applied a row of the same gold studs. I then finished everything off with a top coat.

Holo Stars Nails

For this design, I layered a star stamping pattern over a silver holographic nail polish. I took the pictures in bright direct sunlight as this helped the holo show up better on the camera.

I started by painting all nails in a black polish as it helps to get the best from the holo polish.

Once this was dry I went over every nail with the holo polish. I needed to use 3 coats in the end to get the coverage I wanted.

I then used a star type pattern on a stamping plate. I used a black polish to stamp the design over the whole of each nail.

I then cleaned up any stamping that went onto the areas around my nails, before finishing off the design with a top coat.

Sultry Tips Nails

For this design I wanted to have the one half of each nail nude and the other half with a stamped design. I went for a deep red shade with gold stamped over the top as I felt these colours would look really good together.

I started by painting all nails in 2 coats of a very sheer light pink nude shade as a base and just to improve the overall look of the nails.

I then used normal DIY masking tape once this had dried well to tape off half of each nail. I then used a deep red shade to paint in the tip halves of each nail. I immediately removed the tape, cleaned up any mistakes carefully and let it dry very well.

I then prepared my stamping tools and used a lace type design on a plate labeled ‘Tian-Xin 19’. I re-taped up half of each nail along the same line as before so that the stamping only lands on the red areas. Working quickly and on one nail at a time I stamped in a gold colour onto each nail and removed the tape.

I cleaned up any excess around the nails and then used a small dotting tool and the same gold colour to add a line of dots to cover the edge of where the red colour ends. I then finished off the design with a top coat.

Red and Gold Mandala Nails

So for this weeks design, I gave the mandala stamping plate (born pretty plate #bpx15) another go. I had trouble getting this to work with any of my clear stampers, and had to give up on it in the end.

This time around I used a squishy sticky marshmallow stamper and got much better results. The only problem was, that this meant I couldn’t really see where I was placing the design. Due to this both hands don’t match up as well as I wanted them too.

I started by painting all nails in 2 coats of a deep raspberry red shade. I let this dry for a bit and then used a dry fast top coat over the top.

Next, I used liquid latex around my nails to help make clean up easier. I find I have to use it on alternate nails, and then after I am finished with those nails I can go back and do the rest. This is because I always end up touching the fingers together and the latex just sticks to itself and pulls away from my fingers before I even get chance to stamp on them.

To finish the design, I used a gold nail paint with the mandala designed stamping plate and stamped onto each nail. I tried to use a different part of the design on each nail on one hand and then make the other hand match. I then cleaned up around my nails and finished everything off with a top coat.

Autumn Medley Nails

For this week’s design I decided to go with the seasons and do an autumn inspired manicure. I wanted there to be a range of different nails rather than have most of the nails with the same design.

I started by painting my chosen base colours onto each nail. On the little finger I used 2 coats of a pastel orange shade as this is the most opaque orange I have, and I wanted to stamp with it as well. On the index finger I used 3 coats of a glittery gold shade. On the middle finger I used 2 coats of a light brown shade and on the remaining nails I used 2 coats of a lighter tan shade.

For the index finger I left it as it was just the plain glittery gold. On the little fingers I made it into a gradient by sponging a red shimmery shade onto the tips up towards the middle of the nail.

On the middle nail I used the slightly lighter tan shade to stamp 2 leaves onto the nail. I wanted this to look quite subtle as I also placed 3 rhinestones at the base of the nail to add further decoration.

On the remaining thumb and ring finger nails, I stamped a gradient of leaves using the orange and red shade. However the orange came out too subtle against the tan background. I think I should have used a much lighter shade for the base colour to make it stand out more. A darker orange suitable for stamping would have been better if I had one as well. The plate I used was #19 by Born pretty.

Stamped Tips Nails

I bought a nail stamping plate that was full of designs for stamping the tips of your nails. I thought it would be a quick and easy way to do designs on the tips without needing to tape off areas etc. However, I did have a bit of trouble trying to place the design correctly on the nail. I’m still learning and improving with my stamping techniques.

It was either ending up wonky or being off centre. I also tried by aiming the centre of the design at the centre of the tip and then rocking back and forth to place it at the sides. However I found that whatever side I placed last was ending up with a gap/crease in it. It was so frustrating lol, and the funniest part was that the design looks so plain in the end.

I think that it might be worth using the stamper to make nail stickers one time and seeing if this makes it easier to position perfectly. That experimentation can wait for another day though.

So for this design, I painted all nails in 2 coats of a light aqua green kind of shade.

I then used my chosen design and a white polish to stamp the pattern onto the tips of each nail.