As I said in my last 'Nail Art Challenge' post, this challenge has pushed me to do designs I have been putting off because I've been either too busy, or too scared doing in case it goes wrong. I have been so excited about this prompt because it has finally motivated me to do the feather manicure I have been building up to do for months! I bought the feathers for this manicure way back in the summer, and now they have finally been put to use!
I first saw this manicure on one of my favourite nail blogs, The Nailasaurus, and fell in love with it instantly. Her tutorial really helped me for this manicure. You can also buy a feather manicure kit from Ciate, which has all the gear you need. They also have a tutorial video on their website which is really helpful.
I also decided to bring out my Illamasqua duck egg polish again to add to the nature prompt more, to show more of a life cycle of my manicure bird. It reminded me just how much I love this polish. As my duck egg polish is purple, I decided to use purple under my feathers to give it a running theme.
To stop such ridiculous injuries happening, file down the ends of the feathers off. Do it more in an up and down motion rather than the usual sideways and across as if you were filing your nail. This will round off the end of the feather and make it smooth (and safe). The finished effect is a smooth, glossy feather effect.
I first saw this manicure on one of my favourite nail blogs, The Nailasaurus, and fell in love with it instantly. Her tutorial really helped me for this manicure. You can also buy a feather manicure kit from Ciate, which has all the gear you need. They also have a tutorial video on their website which is really helpful.
I also decided to bring out my Illamasqua duck egg polish again to add to the nature prompt more, to show more of a life cycle of my manicure bird. It reminded me just how much I love this polish. As my duck egg polish is purple, I decided to use purple under my feathers to give it a running theme.
For this manicure, all you will need is a base colour (I used Barry M's 'Prickly Pear' gelly polish),
a clear top coat, some scissors and a nail file and of course, some feathers. I bought my feathers from Hobbycraft for about £2.99 and the pack is huge, I won't run out anytime soon.
Once you have painted your nails the colour you want, apply a thick clear coat and place the feathers on so they look like this.
Put on about three layers of clear coat to hold them in place, and go over the ends of your fingers so the feather becomes hard and easier to cut. I must now put in a safety warning (yes I'm serious), when cutting the ends of the feathers off, the top coat will make them very hard and sharp. I touched my face and ended up giving myself a really bad (and quite painful scratch). Only I could scratch myself on a feather.
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| This from a feather, would you believe it? |
To stop such ridiculous injuries happening, file down the ends of the feathers off. Do it more in an up and down motion rather than the usual sideways and across as if you were filing your nail. This will round off the end of the feather and make it smooth (and safe). The finished effect is a smooth, glossy feather effect.
