CND Shellac Nail Art - Diagonal French and Polka Dots

Aaaah, it feels good to get back into the nail-art-swing of things. I kick-started the 2014 nail art with Rachel (best known for these and these) and a take on one of cutepolish's designs.

If you haven't already come across cutepolish (where have you been hiding?!) then check out her YouTube channel, her Instagram and her Twitter to keep up to date on loads of fabulous nail art ideas and how-to's.

Rachel brought the design to me from a google search and after a little more hunting it didn't take me long to find it on cutepolish's channel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXd_nxlEuKA

We changed it up slightly though - pink dots on a white tip and a lilac glitter line instead of purple - and recreated it in CND Shellac of course. So what colours did I use?...

After base coat I used one coat of Negligee then two coats of Cream Puff for the diagonal French tip.

To get an even line on all nails I used striping tape to guide me for the line on the first coat of white so all nails looked roughly the same - don't forget to remove the tape before curing! - and then I free-handed the second coat of white over the top. It doesn't matter if the line isn't that neat as you will go over it with glitter in a little while.

After curing the white I used a medium/large ended dotting tool to add polka dots in Pink Bikini (if you don't have a dotting tool, the end of a hair grip is a similar size). Once the dots were cured I then added a lilac glitter line - using a glitter paste of Mother of Pearl and Gosh nail glitter in 13 Topaz Lavender - cured the glitter and finally added top coat.

What do you think?

Most Gosh Nail Glitters are available from Superdrug in the UK for £4.99 (only the 02 Gold is online, the other colours are all in store). 

Disclaimer - I be not professional, just well practised but if you want more info about my CND Shellac hobby obsession then check out my disclaimer page here. What's not to like about a manicure that actually lasts?!

CND Shellac Christmas Nail Art - #10 The Reinvented French

And it's the last Christmas manicure of the season. Simple yet effective with a reinvented french manicure for Jene. She opted for a simple clear, nude base and two suitably festive colours on her tips.

I used one coat of Negligee for the base colour (after base coat) and then with a bit of striping tape help, I created a diagonal along one edge with Sugared Spice. Make sure you remove the tape before curing! I did three coats of the Sugared Spice in the end - the second two coats I did freehand once the tape had given me a nice clean edge to work from. I then repeated the process, three coats, in Tinted Love on the other side of each nail. As you can see in the top photo, I alternated the colours on each hand - like a mirror image.

Subtly Christmassy don't you think? Next up is New Year's nails.... oh how 2013 has flown by!

Disclaimer - I purchased all the products used for this manicure myself, and if you want more info about myself and CND Shellac then check out my disclaimer page here. What's not to like about nail art that actually lasts?!

CND Shellac Christmas Nail Art - #5 French and Gold

The festive season called for many a glittery mani and I thought I best get my butt in gear to show you some of the designs I've done for various Christmas manicure requests. If you follow me on instagram then you will have spotted the pictures in the next few posts already, so apologies for the repeats!

A classic French manicure I could probably do with my eyes closed (well not exactly, but you get my drift!) so those who are partial to a nice crisp white tip often opt for a bit of glitter to spice it up for Christmas. Typically gold or silver is most requested, and above is the gold version. I do a french manicure as normal (above is 1 coat of Negligee and 2 coats of Cream Puff) and then paint on a glitter line with a fine detailer brush, before finally adding top coat.

For the gold - mix up a glitter paste of Tinsel Toast and some Gosh Nail Gitter in 02 Gold to give the glitter a bit more 'oomph'. You could also use Gold VIP Status as a mixer if you wished.

To make a silver - mix up a glitter paste of Silver VIP Status or the new Ice Vapor with some Gosh Nail Glitter in 01 Silver.

For other glitter colours, you could also use Zillionaire or Mother of Pearl as a mixer. Most Gosh Nail Glitters are available from Superdrug in the UK for £4.99 (only the 02 Gold is online, the other colours are all in store).

Enjoy!

Disclaimer - I purchased all the products used for this manicure myself, and if you want more info about myself and CND Shellac then check out my disclaimer page here. What's not to like about nail art that actually lasts?!

CND Shellac French Manicure Favourites

CND Shellac Beau and Cream Puff

CND Shellac Negligee and Studio White

CND Shellac Grapefruit Sparkle and Cream Puff

If you've seen this post from a couple of months ago then you will have read about the most popular 'barely there' shades in my CND Shellac collection. I just wanted to share with you all how these transfer to (probably) the most asked for manicure that I get these days - the good old French.

A lot of my clients like the neatly manicured look that a French manicure provides, with it's neutral-ness that seems to allow it to work with almost any outfit or look, meaning that some opt for it time and time again. It's rapidly become the sort of design that I often claim I could 'do with my eyes closed'.... well not quite, but you get the picture!

Out of the various possibilities for colours, there are only a few combinations that I find myself using on most manicures. In order of popularity they are as follows:

1 - Base: 1 coat of Negligee or Beau, White tip: 2 coats of Cream Puff (1st picture)

2 - Base: 1 coat of Negligee, White tip: 2 coats of Studio White (2nd picture)

3 - Base: 1 coat of Grapefruit Sparkle, White tip: 2 coats of Cream Puff (3rd picture)

Clients tend to opt for the block white tip with Cream Puff but some, like myself, prefer a subtler white and go for Studio White instead. On odd occasions I have used Romantique but this gives a very very subtle tip which means you don't end up with an obvious French manicure look, so not many people ask for that one.

As to why I use 2 coats for the white tip? Well it's very rare that one is enough to give a smooth finish and not look patchy. But I do have to be careful as it's easy to get a bumpy ridge at the end of the nail if you apply the white in thick coats. Two thin coats work best and is the method I use every time now.

In terms of the base colours, if you read my previous post, then I've talked about which are most popular and why.

I don't often give myself a French manicure, it takes too bloody long for starters and it's just a little too 90's for me if I'm honest. I'd much rather a block colour - simple and chic. But if I do opt for it, I go for option no.2 above and as modelled by my lovely self below....

CND Shellac Negligee and Studio White

What colours do you prefer for your French manicure?

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. Once you Shellac you never go back!

CND Shellac Naturally Nude Nails

There are three colours that I find most people tend to opt for when it comes to Shellac. Often paired with a white for a French manicure, or simply alone if they want something classic and chic but not too obvious. All three are great for anyone with short nails, as a block colour can draw attention to the fact that they are short. The Shellac will also give them strength to allow them to grow and helps to avoid the temptation to nibble for any biters wanting to grow out their little nubs.

Apart from the white shades I use for the French tip, these three subtle pinks are my most repurchased bottles. Let's take a closer look at Beau, Negligee and Grapefruit Sparkle...

CND Shellac Beau

CND Shellac Negligee

CND Shellac Grapefruit Sparkle

Beau - sheer peachy-pink with a hint of opalescence
Negligee - sheer opalescent baby pink
Grapefruit Sparkle - pale sheer soft pink with added silver glitter

When using the colours for a French manicure I tend to only use one coat, two often makes the base too 'pink' otherwise. Negligee is probably the only one I could use two coats of though if someone needs their base to smooth out any imperfections on the nail bed.

Out of the three, Beau tends to give the 'pinkest' look overall and has an obvious opalescent shimmer to it. Negligee is a great 'healthy' looking pink that has very little, if any, opalescent finish to it. If you look very carefully you can just pick out the shimmer in real life, but out of the two, Beau is much more opalescent than Negligee. And finally Grapefruit sparkle is quite pink like Beau, but with an added element of ultra-fine silver glitter.

The only one I haven't included here is Clearly Pink, mainly because no one ever asks for it. It is exactly like a clear coat but with a teeny hint of pink and when on the nails it looks as if it isn't there. Most people tend to prefer a slight hint of colour and those wanting a super subtle French mani even then still opt for Negligee.

Which one do you prefer?

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. Once you Shellac you never go back!

CND Shellac Nail Art - Princess nails

Ah look, Stacey, taking more inspiration for instagram again I see. This was a design by a Japanese nail art salon in California, Atlas Nail, that caught her eye.

Atlas nail (@atlas_nail on instagram) have loads of designs for inspiration, by the looks of it they are mostly done in gel too, but it was this exact one (link) that got Stacey's attention:

(photo courtesy of @atlas_nail on instagram)

 

To recreate this in CND Shellac we used a variety of colours and details:

nude/clear base - one coat of Negligee layered with one coat of VIP Gold Status over the top
soft pink/white - Romantique painted on in an inverted 'V' chevron
gold glitter detail - a mixture of Tinsel Toast and Gosh nail glitter in Gold painted in a line with a detailer brush along the 'V' edge
diamanté detail - silver and gold diamantés on all fingers except just silver on the first and little fingers



I got my diamantés from eBay (similar to these) and Gosh nail glitter from Superdrug. Of course the whole design was sealed with top coat and there you have it - nails a princess would be proud of.

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac Nail Art - A French Alternative

At the end of January, Fudge (@fungling_y on instagram and twitter) was off on her hols to Hong Kong (lucky cow) and wanted to update her NYE nails. So she showed me a picture that she found on google somewhere and we reworked the design with CND Shellac. The original was a deep red shimmer from memory but we changed it up to use a dark grey instead.

For the base colour she went for an almost invisible layer of Negligee and the dark grey was the sleek Overtly Onyx. From memory it was one coat of the pink and two of the grey.

I then used some Tinsel Toast mixed with a little extra Gosh nail glitter in Gold to paint the glittery lines and added a diamanté to the thumb and ring fingers, before sealing it all in with top coat.

I quite like the edgier take on the classic French manicure, don't you?

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac Nail Art - French Manicure with Black Bows

Oh look! Stacey again, last seen here, here, here...this list goes on!

This time she went a little more classic, she's not one for the simple french-y manicure so we jazzed it up with some inspiration from I love Pink Nails instagram page - a nail salon in Las Vegas.

We used Negligee for the base, Cream Puff (two coats) for the tips and Blackpool for the black line and bow. I added a little 1mm or 1.5mm diamanté before sealing it all in top coat. And yes, the black detail was all done completely freehand - no striping tape in sight!

I have to say, she chose well, this is one of my most popular photos on instagram and I have a lot of people asking me to recreate it.

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac - The Difference a French Makes...

I'm pretty sure you've seen a French Manicure before and probably one done in CND Shellac.

But a simple yet classic French is a rarity for me. I seem to spend most of my time doing them on other people and can never be bothered when it comes to myself.

However, for my Birthday at the end of last year I treated myself. Treated? Well, yes. I'm such a bloody perfectionist that it took me 3 whole hours to perfect this manicure! I know. I'm ridiculous at times.

Anyway, I just wanted to post a before and after as I just love the difference a good old Frenchy looks on the nails and I seem to have captured it pretty well - just excuse the slightly out of focus 'nails au naturel' look!

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac Nail Art - P-p-p-penguins

Ah, another archive gem! I forgot all about these cute little penguins....

Gemma asked for these late last November following her Granite/Stud manicure here. To say she's obsessed with penguins is quite an understatement, but she had to keep her nail art minimal for work. Hence these little flightless friends adorning just her ring finger because believe me, she would have had them on every nail given the chance!

To create the penguin look, I used a mixture of CND Shellac Blackpool and some Gosh Nail Glitter in Grey Moonstone for the background, then I added two coats of Cream Puff to create the white belly (as one wasn't opaque enough). The eyes were a simple dot of Blackpool and the beak/feet were made using Tinsel Toast mixed with the Yellow Pigment from the CND Additives.

On Gemma's other fingers, she opted for an alternative french manicure using Negligee mixed with a white iridescent glitter that I have and the same glittery black in the penguins, as the tips.

I'd love to try this out with the new Azure Wish when it's released!

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac Nail Art - Negligee with Silver Glitter Tips

Well hello, I am back in the blogosphere, after what seems like an age! I didn't quite anticipate how wrapped up in school I'd get these last two months and woah what a half term it's been. I am very pleased to welcome the half term break next week and have so much to show you guys in terms of nail art and general all round shellac-loveliness :)

Where to begin?! Well for starters, this is a little mani I did on myself back in August but never got round to posting. Introducing CND Shellac in Negligee with some accent nail stickers from Viva la Nails (product code WS02 can be purchased here):

I love this natural clear pink which just makes you nails look quite healthy. It has a slight blue hue to it in comparison to Beau which is a little more pink-y.

After a week or so, me and my heavy handed-ness meant that a little peeling and lifting was evident at the tips, so to hold it out a bit longer I added some silver glitter:

To make the silver glitter mix I used Gosh Nail Glitter in Silver with CND Shellac Mother of Pearl to make a glitter paste, then I used a kolinsky nail art brush to apply it to the tips. I coated the tips twice to get a lovely solid silver glitter effect and then topped it off with top coat.

A glam alternative to the classic boring French manicure don't you think?

Disclaimer - this post is not sponsored by www.vivalanails.co.uk but the nail art products in this review were given to me, by them, free for my consideration. My reviews are 100% honest, as always and I welcome any more freebies to decorate my nails with...if you're offering??!

CND Shellac Nail Art - French Manicure with Rosebud Bow Detail

Well Hello there... it seems I may have been a little absent once again! Bad beauty blogger! Well I have got a small mountain of nail art posts forming in my drafts folder so whilst wallowing in cold and flu today I thought I'd better get my arse in gear and post a few of them for you lovely people to see.

If you have liked my facebook page you will have seen sneak previews of the posts to come... and if you haven't? Get your butt over there and 'like' it so you will never miss out on another Shellac delight again!

https://www.facebook.com/brushupandmakeup

Any who, onto the marvellous manicure above. This is Kate, who wanted something classic but a little different for a wedding. So we decided on a French manicure design by Jazzy at @califorNAILS (twitter, instagram, tumblr) -  French with a little bow nail art detail on the ring finger and thumb. For the French manicure I used Beau and Cream Puff and to create the lace-like pink line along the tip I used a dotting tool and Rosebud. I painted the bow on the ring finger and thumb using Rosebud and my detailer brush. To add the darker detail on the bow, I mixed the Rosebud with some Blackpool to create a slightly greyer-pink.

What do you think?

Disclaimer - design idea from Jazzy at @califorNAILS. All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac Nail Art - Cocoa With French Tips

A different take on French today, with a double tip in gold and white. OK, well it wasn't exactly today, but a few weeks ago. My cousin Nat wanted a bit of nail art but something that would go with a few different outfits for some weddings she had coming up, so we explored the nude route with Shellac.

For this manicure I used Cocoa as a base colour, then painted a white french tip in Cream Puff followed by a slightly thinner french tip below it in Iced Cappuccino. I tweaked it though for the thumb and ring finger, and painted the Cream Puff and Iced Cappuccino in reverse.

She loved it and is already picking out other colour combinations to try this with. I love that this look was so easy to achieve and can also be recreated really easily with normal nail polish.

Classy but effective :)

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac Nail Art - Leopard Print Tips

One of my favourite manicures I've ever done I think... Let me introduce you to Hot Pop Pink with leopard print nail art!

I used Hot Pop Pink for the base colour (two coats) and then using a small nail art brush, I freehand painted the leopard print pattern onto the tips and all over the ring finger, using Blackpool. After curing the pattern, I used the small end of a dotting tool to add a Silver Chrome accent to parts of the leopard print. Sealed with top coat and there you have it, in fact, here's a close up 'cos I love it so much!

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac Nail Art - French, French & more French!

CND Shellac French Manicure with NSM17 holographic nail sticker from Viva la Nails

CND Shellac French Manicure with WS02 white rhinestone sticker from Viva la Nails

CND Shellac French Manicure with diamanté accent nails

 
A few more CND Shellac French Manicure for you lovely people today!

It seems that all my friends are booked up with weddings/hen parties/holidays etc. so I have been asked for the classic french manicure far more than ever - in fact, I got it down to 45minutes with one friend - ah, so proud of myself!

Anyway, thought I'd show you a few quick pictures of some of the finished looks. At the top is Rachel, she loves a good old french manicure and she was the first to try it out with the Viva la Nails white rhinestone stickers here so naturally this time she wanted something similar but instead opted for the holographic stickers. Natalie is in the second two pictures, she liked Rachel's first french manicure so went for the same floral stickers with the little centre rhinestone. And in the final three pictures, let me introduce you to my sister-in-law Kayleigh, who went completely bling fantastic with a mock 'Swarovski' manicure. I just used rhinestones from eBay (I think they're 1.5mm but can't say for sure) and stuck them to the top coat before I cured.

I love this classic look and the stickers/diamantés add just a hint of something different. I especially like the floral sticker with the rhinestone built in as it is less raised on the nail bed and blends in better.

In all of the above I used one coat of CND Shellac Beau for the base colour and added one coat of CND Shellac Cream Puff for the tip. Then added the following nail art accordingly:

Viva la Nails White Rhinestone Stickers WS02 are £1.95 get them here
Viva la Nails Holographic (metallic) Nail Stickers NSM17 are £1.95 get them here
There are loads of diamantés on eBay but the ones I got were like these about 99p for 200.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer - this post is not sponsored by www.vivalanails.co.uk but the nail art products in this review were given to me, by them, free for my consideration. My reviews are 100% honest, as always and I welcome any more freebies to decorate my nails with...if you're offering??!