Watercolour Fall Foliage

Hello Lovelies!  Today, I have a very easy, yet very pretty DIY watercolour mani for you.  I created these for this week's WNAC, this month's theme is elegant and this week's prompt is watercolour.  I think some of the most elegant nail art designs are simple and subdued, that is why I went with this design...

Materials I used:
Basecoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Bring it On!"
Base polish - China Glaze "Don't Honk Your Thorn!"
Sharpies in red, brown, orange, and yellow
91% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol
Small plastic or glass container, such as a shot glass or paint pallet
Small brushes
Brown polish - Color Club "Fondue for Two"
Topcoat - New York Color matte topcoat

I started with my favorite nude polish for a base color, China Glaze "Don't Honk Your Thorn!"  I opted for a nude base because I wanted my colors to be subdued, not too bright.  If you want your watercolour to turn out brighter, I would recommend a white base color.

I had to make my own watercolour because I don't own any.  I've seen many nail artist use Sharpies to make their own waercolours and I've used Sharpies to create watercolour nail art before but with a different technique (Sharpie Gradientish Stripes). For this nail art, I used the more conventional method.  Using a glass or plastic container, color the bottom with a Sharpie (I started using a shot glass, but switched to a plastic paint palette by the second color).  Then pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol into the container.  Use a brush to mix the Sharpie ink and the alcohol together.  For more opaque colors use as little rubbing alcohol as possible for less opaque colors add more rubbing alcohol.

I blobbed on my watercolours in random areas of my nail.  Continuing the process with various fall colors until I was satisfied with the layers and coverage.

Then using a thin brush and dark brown polish I painted thin trees and tree limbs to give the appearance of Autumn trees.

I cleaned my cuticles with rubbing alcohol and a brush, and applied a matte topcoat.

It has been a while since I have fallen madly in love with one of my nail art design, but this is a keeper.  I love the fall colors, I love matte texture, and I love the subtle, yet eye catching colors.  I feel this nail art design has a simplistic elegant feel to it.  How about you?  Do you think this is elegant?  If not what qualities do you feel a nail art design needs to be deemed elegant?

Whether or not you think this is elegant, I hope you enjoyed this nail art design.  I highly recommend you try creating your own watercolours using Sharpies.  It's easy to do and a great way to add some interesting color and texture to your nail art.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

 

 

Autumn Moroccan Print

Hello Lovelies!  Oh, how the time is flying!  I can't believe November is already here, I barely had time to enjoy October.  Now that we are moving past Halloween, I feel it is time to get away from the dark and dreary, and move onto something brighter and more cheery.  So, I decided to create this bright yet Autumn-esque Moroccan nail art design...

Materials I used:
Basecoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Bring it On!"
Polishes - Color Club "Look, Don't Tusk", "Tribe and True", "Apple of My Eye", "Off Duty", & "Antiquated
Moroccan Vinyls from Lou it Yourself
Medium/small dotting tool
Topcoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Marvel"

I started of with a nice off white crème base, to keep the design light and bright.  Because I am using vinyls to create this design I applied a quick drying topcoat and allowed it to dry completely.

I then applied my vinyls.  A tip for using full nail stencils is to cut little slits around the edges to help it flex and lay flat.  I find this particularly helpful because my nails are so curved.  I cut one slit on each side of my nails as well as near the smile line and the free end to help the vinyl to conform to my nail.  Using a dotting tool I filled in each Moroccan bauble, working each color in a row vertically down my nail.

I repeated the color pattern on my pointer, mid and ring finger.  On my pinky and my thumb, I used a left over piece of vinyl and filled in one Moroccan bauble near the smile line of my nail.  As always I performed a bit of clean up with gentle acetone and a brush.  I applied a final layer of quick drying topcoat, being sure to float it over the design to prevent the colors from streaking.

I love working with vinyls, they are simple, quick, and easy to work with.  The biggest challenge creating this design was working quick enough and peeling the vinyl before the polish dried too much.  I did end up with a little pulling but the design makes up for the minor problem areas.

Autumn is my favorite time of the year for many reasons, one reason being the colors.  The colors in this nail art design are perfect for this time of year, they kind of remind me of the leaves currently carpeting my lawn.  I hope you too enjoyed this nail art design, thank you for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

 

 

ZigZag Nails Inspired by @lifeisnails

Hello Lovelies!  Today, I have a mani I created because I was inspired by the wonderfully talented Ramie of : +Lifeisnails.  I have been following her on Instagram, @lifeisnails, for a while and when she posted her Colorful Zigzag Nails a couple months back, I knew I had to try them.  I finally got around to creating my own version of her nail art, and this is what I came up with...

Materials I used:
Basecoat/polishes/matte topcoat - all from the Butter London "Gears & Gadgets" Steampunk Trunk, I purchased last year.  It is no longer available on their site.
Vinyls - TwinkledT "Frisky Chevron" (I purchased these a while ago, and I'm finally getting around to using them.)

I'll share with you how I created these nails but I would recommend you checkout Life is Nails on G+ or Instagram for a video tutorial (links to both accounts above), it will help tremendously though this is not a difficult nail art design.

Start out by painting three diagonal stripes in three different colors across the nail.  I wasn't concerned about them being perfect, but it is important that they are wide enough for a single vinyl to cover.  Apply a quick drying topcoat, and allowed to dry.  With the base colors dry, apply a vinyl over each stripe.  Proceed by painting a different color between each vinyl, be sure to remove the vinyls as quickly as possible to avoid pulls.

After a bit of cuticle clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, I applied a matte topcoat just to change it up a bit.

I love the design created by Ramie, and it was fun to recreate it though a little time consuming.  The only major differences, between hers and mine, is that I tried for a more Autumnal color scheme, used different vinyls (frisky chevrons vs. standard chevrons), and I applied a matte topcoat. 

All in all, I like Ramie's better but that is because she created them first.  Ramie, Life is Nails, is a major inspiration of mine, and I hope to be half as good as she is some day.

I hope you enjoyed my version of Life is Nail's Zigzag nails.  I'm curious about who inspires your nail art the most, is it fellow nail artist, a celebrity, a family member or friend?  Who's art do you look to when you find yourself in the need of a little encouragement? Please comment down below, I love to discover other nail artists and techniques.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

 

    

Fall Swirly Gigs

Hello Lovelies!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and start of the week so far.  I had a wonderful weekend, I got to enjoy some time with my best friend who I don't get to see often enough.  I didn't have much time for nail stuff because I was out of town, but I did wear these nails over the weekend...

I actually created these nails for this week's Nail Art Nation prompt: Autumn Equinox.  Plus I wanted to use some polishes and vinyls I purchased recently.  I love fall, and fall colors, this season for me is never long enough and is just a whirlwind of activities.  So, I chose these colors and the swirly gigs to represent fall.

Materials I used:
Basecoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Bring It On!"
Polishes - Frenzy Polish "Penny! Penny! Penny!" & "If You Don't Fight You Die" (both from the TV Frenzy Collection)
Swirl Vinyls from Lou it Yourself
Small dotting tool
Topcoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Marvel"

I started off with two coats of "Penny! Penny! Penny!" which is inspired by The Big Bang Theory.  I have never seen this show but I had to have this polish when I saw it.  I topped this with a quick drying topcoat. (Please excuse the misshapen mid finger, I'm having a bad nail week.)

Once the base color was dry, I placed two of the smallest swirly gigs on my ring finger.  I then applied two coats of "If You Don't Fight You Die" based on my favorite TV show, Walking Dead.  I immediately removed the vinyls, because the secondary polish is matte it dries very quickly so it was important not to leave the vinyls on too long.  I finished off the accent by dotting tiny dots around the outside of the swirls in my primary color with a very small dotting tool.

I did a little clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, however I did not apply another layer of glossy topcoat like I normally do, I wanted to keep the two different finishes.

This is a very simple, but (for me) a very accurate interpretation of Autumn.  I love the colors and the contrasting finishes.  Both of these polishes are gorgeous on their own but they also make a good team.

I hope you are enjoying fall (for those of you who get to experience it) so far, and I hope you enjoyed this nail art design.  Thank you for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

 



Fall Foliage

Hello Lovelies!  Happy Sunday to you all!  Many people are not ready to give up summer and move into Autumn, but I am.  I love Fall!  The colors, the food, the festivals, the holidays, the weather; you name anything about Fall and I like it.  I decided it was time to create my first Autumn nail art design of the year...

Since, it has been about a month since I've created any nail art, and because I got some new stamping plates, I decided to do a nice easy layered stamping design.  Here is a list of the materials I used...

Base Coat - SuperChic Lacquer "Bring It On!"
Fab Ur Nails Stamper and Scraper
Uber Chic Beauty Image Plate 5-02
Mundo de Unas "Gold" Stamping Polish
China Glaze "Don't Get Derailed" & "Stop That Train!" (both are from the All Aboard Collection)
Top Coat - SuperChic Lacquer "Marvel"

I started off with mostly naked nails, only a base coat SuperChic Lacquer "Bring It On!"  This has become my favorite base coat, it dries fast and polishes just seem to stick to it.  I decided not to use a base color because the layered stamping will cover the majority of the nail.

I recently order the newest series of plates from Uber Chic Beauty along with an Uber Chic Mat.  I'm not going to go on about the mat, but I will say it's awesome!  For this design I used image plate 5-02, specifically the leaf pattern.

To create this look I simply repeated this print in layers on each nail.  I started with the most opaque colored polish, and layered the more translucent polishes over top.

The first layer is with actual stamping polish, Mundo de Unas "Gold," which was the most opaque...

The second layer is China Glaze "Don't Get Derailed."  Even though this is not a stamping polish it worked well enough but I did find I had to work fast otherwise it would not transfer.  I also found that using a direct press (pressing directly down with stamper) technique for both picking up and transferring the image worked best when stamping with both the China Glaze polishes.

For the third and final layer I wanted to add a pop of color, so I used China Glaze "Stop That Train!"  This was the most translucent (or least opaque) shade of the three, which allows the other colors to show through slightly.  Again this is not a stamping polish but it worked well. 

As you can see, I failed to prep my fingers before getting into the stamping process.  I was just so anxious to get to stamping that I decided to skip the cuticle cover up process.  However, I saw an Instagramer (I believe it was @mrswhite8907) use the scotch tape clean up method, so I thought this would be the perfect time to try it.  Simply, take a piece of scotch tape, lay it on your messy finger (avoid the nail as much as possible), and peel the tape up and the mess away.  Repeat this process until you have most of the mess cleaned up, its that easy!

After a quick tape clean up, I performed a close clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, then applied my new favorite topcoat, "Marvel" from SuperChic Lacquer.  This topcoat is super shiny and dries unbelievably quick, plus its not thick and sticky like most others.

This was a very quick and easy nail art design that was just what I needed to get back into the nail art groove.  I am so happy that I can stamp so comfortably and easily now.  I struggled with stamping for so long.

I am really looking forward to using my new stamping plates and mat, to do some reverse stamping and a few other things that I have in mind.  So be sure to stay tuned to see what I come up with next.

I really love the way these nails turned out, the colors and the layers create a perfect Autumn look.  I hope you enjoyed this nail art design as much as me.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,