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 - #9 Turquoise Trinkets

Yup. Turquoise was most definitely the colour of choice this month. Much like Kate's manicure here, Stacey was completely taken with the green sparkle and opted for the same glitter but a slightly different design for her Christmas nails.

The lace effect on Stacey's ring fingers and thumbs (not pictured) were a design that I spotted on Lindsey's instagram (@wondrouslypolished) - you can check out her full blog post on her design, plus the more intricate thumb detail she did, here.

photo from @wondrouslypolished on instagram

To recreate this in CND Shellac, I painted all nails with one coat of Hotski to Tchotchke. I then added another two coats to the ring finger and thumb (it's just slightly too sheer in only two coats I think) and added two coats of a turquoise glitter paste to all other fingers. The turquoise glitter paste was made up of Mother of Pearl and Gosh Nail Glitter in 09 Turquoise. I then added top coat to all fingers and cured.

Now for the important bit, to create the lace pattern on the ring finger/thumb, do not remove the tacky layer! Using a brush, buff the CND Additive Pigment Effect in Blush Bronze Frost into the tacky layer, completely covering the nail and don't worry if you make a little mess around the cuticles. Then using top coat and a small detailer brush, paint the lace pattern on top. I used a dotting tool to add the dots, but be very careful to not accidentally scratch off the pigment that's stuck to the tacky layer. Cure the top coat pattern and after this final cure, remove the tacky inhibition layer - this will remove all the excess pigment that's not been sealed into the pattern.

Ta dah! What do you think? The additive is actually a lot more rose gold than bronze as pictured, it worked so well with the turquoise. I love this technique and can't wait try out some more pigments in this way. Take a look at www.chickettes.com for some more inspiration, especially her video here - I can't wait to give rainbow polka dots a go...

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 - #6 Turquoise Twinkle

The glitter's out in full force for this one (and turquoise was quite a popular colour choice this year too it seems). Kate's request was for a little Christmas art, so she decided on a tree and a present design for the middle and ring fingers and the thumb (not pictured) whilst her first and little finger were just glitter.

For the first and little fingers I used 2 coats of Hotski to Tchotchke and then 2 coats of a turquoise glitter paste - I mixed together Mother of Pearl and some Gosh Nail Glitter in 09 Turquoise.

The thumb, middle and ring fingers were a little more tricky! As Kate wanted a gold glitter detail, I decided to use an engraving effect that I had seen used before by Holly Schippers (Fingernailfixer). I applied 2 coats of Tinsel Toast, then after curing, added 1 coat of Hotski to Tchotchke. Before curing this, I used a dotting tool to engrave the pattern I wanted on each nail and once happy I then cured that coat. I then used 1 coat of the turquoise glitter paste from the other nails to go over the nail art, re-engraved the pattern, cured again and then finished with top coat.

A little tricky but I like the overall effect of the engraving, I think I might have a little play around with that technique...

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).

What do you think?

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 Nail Art - Halloween Mix'n'Match

Good old Gemma. I can always rely on her to test my nail art capabilities! Her penguin mani from last Christmas is still one of my favourite designs to create (here) so of course this Halloween she went all themed out, with some glitter too of course!

As a base colour I used Asphalt and then I added a dark grey glitter paste to her middle and little finger (made up of Silver VIP Status, Gosh 03 Grey Moonstone and Gosh 01 Silver Nail Glitters). After curing, I painted the cobwebs and spider with Cream Puff and two little Blackpool dots for the spider's eyes.

The little pumpkin (my favourite I think!) was made up of two different glitter pastes. The green stalk was Silver VIP Status and Gosh 08 Emerald Green (not available in the UK) and the pumpkin was Silver VIP Status and Gosh 04 Fire Opal (also not available in the UK). I used a very small dotting tool to create the curved vertical lines down the pumpkin before I cured the glitter, then after curing used some Blackpool to add the eyes and mouth.

On her thumb, she simply had the orange glitter paste used for the pumpkin.
 

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). Although two of the colours here I had to purchase from the states as they never released them here.

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 Nail Art - Pink Glitter Chevrons

Tis the season for weddings! Here's another wedding related manicure, this time for Natalie.

She wanted simple art so opted for a bit of glittery goodness with some chevrons and rockstar nails. The pale pink colour is Romantique and the glitter is a mixture of Mother of Pearl and Gosh nail glitter in Rose Quartz (Gosh nail glitters are available in Superdrug stores).

To create the sharp lines of the chevrons I used some striping tape (from eBay) and I did 2-3 coats of the glitter to make sure it was truly opaque.

I find that Romantique can be a bit patchy on only two coats, so most of the nails you see here have had at least 3 thin coats - as you can see they still aren't truly opaque though.

What do you think?

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 - Purple Chevrons

You might have spotted my current manicure (above) on my instagram last weekend - this was another inspiration idea taken from a couple of my favourite instagrammers for nail art ideas.

The exact design I found was one of Hannvjk's (below) also known as @polishcandies who took the famous 'chevron' design from Selena at @selenadee_nails

Hannvjk used Essie brooch the subject, a neon pink from Claire's and China Glaze I'm not a lion for this design
(photo courtesy of @polishcandies on instagram)

I love her neon and nude combination, but until Shellac create a good nude, that combination isn't going to work for me. So I went purple and silver instead.

The colours I used were Lilac Longing, Grape Gum, and a Gosh nail glitter in Silver (available from Superdrug stores).

For the glitter on the middle finger and thumb, I mixed the Gosh glitter with Shellac in Mother of Pearl and applied 3 coats so it was truly opaque. For the other fingers, I used a base of Lilac Longing (again 3 coats) and then Grape Gum for the dots and chevron detail.

And yes, those chevrons were handpainted.... bloody difficult to paint my right hand too!

 

What do you think? I'm already thinking how I can mix up the colour combo for next time...

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 - Pink Bikini Glitter Fade

Last one for this weekend. A good old glitter fade for Stacey using Pink Bikini. For a newly released colour (see this post) I'm a little surprised that I've not had many requests for this shade yet?!

Stacey wanted a glitter fade like her Autumnal nails from last year (here) but in Summer colours of course! So we had a little play around with my glitters to see which would work best. In the end she opted for Gosh Nail Glitter in Rose Quartz and some pale pink glequins from the Born Pretty Store.

Much like her Autumn nails, this one was quite simple to create - base coat and two coats of colour in the normal Shellac fashion - then a glitter fade using a glitter paste and finished off with top coat. The glitter paste was made from a mixture of CND Shellac in Mother of Pearl, Gosh Nail Glitter in Rose Quartz (available from Superdrug stores) and the pale pink glequins.

Et voilà! Pretty pink nails.

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 Glitter Fade

Princess Glitter Fade. Well I just can't think of any other way to describe these lovelies, can you? The beautiful Carys (last seen here) requested these for her bridesmaid manicure and I have to say, I love her choice of glitters.

Carys went for the ever popular CND Shellac Grapefruit Sparkle as her base colour - a gorgeous sheer pink with a subtle silver glitter - as seen in a previous post here. I used two coats and then a silver glitter mix for the glitter fade. To make the silver glitter mix, I used CND Shellac Mother of Pearl and GOSH Nail Glitter in Silver. I mixed the two together in a ceramic palette and painted the glitter fade in two coats. I finished it off with CND Shellac Top Coat and there you have it, perfectly princess-y nails.

I particularly like the sheer base colour with the glitter fade over the top, it makes it look like the glitter is built into the gel and not just faded over the top.

Gosh Silver Nail Glitter is available from most Superdrug stores (although online I can only find the Gold one here).

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 - Tropix Glitter Fade

You must start to recognise these fingers by now? Stacey fancied a bit more glitter following her last manicure (Freehand Geometric) and went for a good old glitter fade. Stacey's last Tropix glitter fade remains one of her favourite manicures she's ever had (here) so she decided to replicate it with a different coloured glitter.

This is two coats of CND Shellac in Tropix followed by a glitter fade in two coats. The glitter mix used for the fade is a glitter paste made up of CND Shellac in Mother of Pearl and GOSH Nail Glitter in Topaz Lavender. 

I love the colour clash!

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 Gotcha Glitter Fade

'Tis the season for a pink manicure it seems! I've had so many requests for pink-based designs this Spring and there doesn't seem to be any let up.

Rachel loved her pink polka dots so much (here), she continued the pink theme with a good ol' glitter fade. Well who doesn't love a bit of sparkly bling on their fingertips?!

The base pink here is classic Gotcha - a beautiful bubblegum pink - but it's so hard to photograph! The first photo is without flash and the second with, but the first is too pale and the second is too bright. It's probably best to say it's in between the two.

I used two coats of CND Shellac Gotcha and then mixed some of my Gosh Silver Nail Glitter with CND Shellac Mother of Pearl and painted on the glitter fade with a nail art brush. I normally do two coats of the glitter and then finish off with CND Shellac Top Coat.

Gosh Silver Nail Glitter is available from most Superdrug stores (although online I can only find the Gold one here).

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 - Freehand Geometric

Instagram provides an array of inspiring nailart designs and this is exactly that - a beautiful freehand geometric pattern from the talented Julia Martinez (@_juliamartinez). If you don't already follow me on instagram, you can find me at @brushupmakeup and I highly recommend you add Julia to your following list too!

I'm an avid follower of many nail-art-art and for Stacey's next manicure this was the perfect design. Julia posted the original design followed by a handy tutorial so anyone can recreate this look:

Julia used China Glaze for this design
(photo courtesy of @_juliamartinez on instagram)

(photo courtesy of @_juliamartinez on instagram)

Although Jene was one of the first to dabble in my new pastel Shellac shades (here) Stacey went one step further and we used three of the Sweetdreams collection for this look.

The colours we used were all CND Shellac:
pale pink - Cake Pop
purple - Lilac Longing
blue - Azure Wish
silver glitter - mixture of Mother of Pearl and Gosh Nail Glitter in 02 Silver

It did require a lot of patience and plenty of time - trust me, no tape was used in the making of this manicure! The Cake Pop was used as a base colour on all the nails and then I added the geometric triangle patterns of the blue, purple and silver to create the final design.

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 - Black and Gold Glitter

Oh I have missed a good ol' glitter fade! Say hello to Gemma who last sported some Christmas nail art (here) and penguins (here) on her fingers.

She wanted glitz and glam all rolled into one, so out came the glossy Blackpool which we teamed with Gosh Nail Glitter in 01 Gold. I painted two coats of the black and then painted on a glitter paste in a fade up the nail. The glitter paste was made up of Mother of Pearl and the gold Gosh glitter. I sealed it all with top coat and voila!

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 Rockstar Nails - Green and Blue

It's been a while since we've seen some full on Rockstar nails, not just an accent finger. And Tyra is a bit of a Rockstar fiend. This was one of her semi-regular manicures from early last month and she'd decided on glitter before she even looked at my swatch sticks.

She picked out the Gosh Nail Glitter in 12 Jade Green and the CND Additive Glitter in Winter Blue. As a base colour we used CND Shellac in Pretty Poison and Midnight Swim.

To add the glitter I mixed each coloured glitter, separately, in a ceramic dish with a little CND Shellac in Mother of Pearl. With a brush I then painted the glitter paste to the nail - two coats were necessary to get full on glitter - and sealed it all in with top coat.

It's a pity that glitter never photographs as well as it looks in real life!

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 - 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 :)