Strawberry Nails 2.0

Did you know that today is National Strawberry day? Well it is!

So I thought what better way to celebrate than with some Strawberry nail art that also ties in with #manicuremonday.

If you've read my blog for a long time (and I mean really long time) then you'll know that my first ever nail art was strawberries.

The day I did these nails, I had no idea what was to come for me in terms of my nail hobby.

As I'd done strawberries, I never thought to do them again as I hate doing the same design twice, but as I'd like to think I have vastly improved from way back then, I thought what better to way to celebrate national strawberry day than with a recreation.

I'll probably recreate a few designs I did from years ago, as I started with the most fun and easy to do so it would be nice to do them again.

I really love these nails as they're so simple.

I used my Seche red colour for the base in the shade "Scorchin' Hot" which is such a fabulous red,

and then I used nail art pens for detailing.

For more fruity nails I've done click here

Banana Nails

Hi everyone! As it is only 2 short weeks until I go on my travels, I thought some tropical, summery nails would be in order. I saw these banana nails on Instagram a while ago, and thought they were really cute.

I used the Model's own scented polish (banana scented of course!) as the base. After wearing the Victoria Beckham £25 a pot polishes which lasted for ages, these £5 polishes chipped only hours after painting them which proves paying more does count! Anyway, I used my nail art pen for the skins, and then outlined with a black pen too.

Hope you like! I will try and do as many posts as I can squeeze in before I go!

Day 14: Pineapple nails

Hi Guys! It is that time again where I have decided to embark on a nail art challenge to spice up my nail art and make myself try stuff I've been meaning to do! I only saw this the other day so I am coming into it late, but some of the earlier prompts I do want to try so I will be catching up. I have also now booked a holiday at the end of the month too so some of the later ones may not be done on time either, but we will get to that palava when it comes to it!

ANYWAY I shall stop rambling and talk to you about today's prompts, Pineapples. Much like the melon nails I did the other day (which I am totally passing off as the 'Tropical' prompt), there are lots of different patterns out there in the nail art world, but I saw some cute little ones which I took a real liking too.

These didn't come out as well as I wanted them too, but I think you can tell that they're pineapples?! I used nail art brushes which I don't usually do and I must say I find them quite tricky. Nail art pens are good but limited in colours, so when I needed a dark brown for the details and outline, I had to use a brush as I don't think a brown nail art pen would sell all that well!

My other criticism of these nails is the base colour I used. I used a colour club polish which I got in my Birchbox (review coming soon) and I thought it had a deep Mediterranean feel to it, almost like a green sea colour. I do like the colour but I think it may have been a shade too dark for this design.

Anyway, I don't totally hate these nails, and smile when I look down at my fruity little fingers! Let me know what you think :)

Melon Madness

This time of year, I would say melon nail art is one of the most popular designs. Melons, and other fruit for that matter, just scream summer, and I have seen so many amazing variations on the melon design. Instagram is just a HUB of amazing nail art from people around the world. It is here that I see most of the designs I want to recreate, and how I find other nail enthusiasts to follow. Whenever I see a design I want to recreate, I give it a quick screen shot and save it for later.

The pictures you will see in this post are pictures that I have done exactly that, and because there were so many cool melon designs I wanted to try, I decided to do them all at once. 

Firstly, my thumb melon was inspired by @thesammersaurus (usually goes by nailasauraus) who was one of the first nail bloggers I found on the internet and I was absolutely gobsmacked at her nail art. She is absolutely flawless and is always so neat and tidy. She really opened my eyes to the standard of nail art you have to be at if you want to compete with the big dogs. She has a lot of influence in the nail art world, and is involved in a lot of nail art groups who set challenges for people to join in on which has a nice community feel.

This really simple melon design is perfect and easy to replicate. I painted a white base, outlines the edge of the nail in green, and then used the ruffian technique to get the white peeking out from the pink.

Next is @ciaomanhattan2012 who is a an American nail artist I came across. I don't know as much about this artist as I have recently discovered her, but I love these little melon slices. Obviously I have done mine on a white base but I think the clear background looks really effective. I think these are my favourite ones.

To recreate this, I started with a white base and then drew on pink triangles. I then drew on the green skin down one edge and added seeds all done with nail art pens.

I just realised I wasn't actually following the original artist of this ombre melon design as I found it via @nailartmag page. I am now following @nailstorming and her nail art is amazing!! She describes herself as a nail wiazard and I have to agree. Her page is full of video tutorials and flawless nail art. 

This was the trickiest to recreate as ombre is always a bit touch and go! I painted a white base then painted a green white and pink lines next to each other on foil. With my sponge I then dabbed on the nail. When dry I added black seeds with a nail art pen. Mine aren't as neat as hers but this is certainly close second to being my favourite.

I found these nails on @simplyspoiledbeauty done by nail artist @featherclips. She is a undiscovered nail artist so I highly suggest giving her a follow. She is very neat and does a lot of nail art challenges which I love!

I have not quite nailed these as well as @featherclips as my melons don't overlap like hers which looks much better. To do these nails, I painted a pink base and then used my hot pink to give more dimension. I then drew on the green skin and outlined the melons in white. Finally I added on the black seeds.

Lastly, I have recreated some melon nails I did a while ago. Unfortunately I don't have a picture anymore (I must have deleted it of my blog from embarrassment!) but I did these exact nails when I first started doing nail art at university, and they were pretty rubbish. So I have recreated these simple little melons for my little finger.

All the colours and  I used for these nails are pictured below 

(Jessica Radioactive, mixed nail art pens by Models Own, White by Barry M, and the pink O.P.I colour I received in my Birchbox from the Brazil collection)