Olympic Rings Inspired Manicure

Living in London I have to admit that I was less than enthusiastic about the Olympic Games because I just thought it was going to be so disruptive to everyday living, however, now that it is here and I have watched it (on the TV) I have been enjoying what I have seen.  On that note I decided to do an Olympic Rings inspired manicure.

It is a very simple yet effective design, so I haven't done a step by step guide, however I will talk through what I have done to get this look.

These are the polishes that I used for my design.

There are the colours for the Olympic Rings in blue (L.A. Colors, Color Craze in Wired), yellow (Barry M in Yellow), black (Revlon in Blackest Black), green (Barry M in Spring Green) and red (Barry M in Bright Red).  For the base of this design I used a Rimmel London French Manicure in French Rose and Collection 2000 Sparkle Top Coat.

I always start off with a base coat to protect my nails.  As a base I used my French manicure colour which is a really subtle, but pretty pink, after this had dried I then painted a coat of sparkle top coat to add the extra shine (to hopefully match that of medals!).  Then taking each of the colours of the Olympic rings I painted the tip of my nail, just as you would for a French manicure with each of the colours in the order of the rings.  I finished off with a clear top coat to protect the design.

I hope you agree that this is simple but effective.  Enjoy it if you have a go yourself.

Industrial Silver Sparkle Nails with Tutorial

I thought I would do my nails to match the British summer sky - Steel grey and rainy! I think they have an industrial feel to them as well.  I really like the effect though and thought that you might like to learn step by step how to create this look.

What I used to create this design:
- Make up sponge wedge
- Base coat and top coat
- Barry M nail varnish in Grey
- E.L.F nail varnish in Pearl
- Models Own nail vanish in Sterling Silver
- Cotton buds
- Nail vanish remover

Step one:

Apply a base coat to protect your nails from staining.  Then apply a coat of grey nail varnish and wait for it to dry.  Some of the Bary M nail varnishes are quite opaque so you might only need one coat.  It's up to you of course.  I applied one coat.

Step two:

Take a pearl or white varnish and drip some onto some scrap paper or similar.  Then using the corner of the make up sponge wedge dab it in the varnish and then over the tip of your nail about half way up.  The E.L.F nail vanishes come in lots of different colours and the pearl works really well here as it lets the base colour show through. Repeat this over all your nails and again leave it to dry.

Step three:

Repeat step two but this time using a silver glitter polish, only sponging onto the tip of the nail.  Models Own glitters are lovely and are fairly opaque so work well for this design.  Then dab off the sponge onto the paper, so barely any varnish remains.  Dab lightly over the remaining grey to create a very subtle small sparkle.

Once this is dry apply a top coat to protect your design and clean up any varnish from around your nails using a cotton bud and some nail varnish remover.

I hope you enjoyed this step by step guide and have a go at creating this look yourself!

Models Own: Beth's Blue and Ibiza Mix

Beth's Blue is a new colour that I got recently along with some others from Models Own and when I bought the new colours I got a free bottle of Ibiza Mix.  It's such a gorgeous glitter that I had to pair these two together.

Beth's Blue is a gorgeous power blue, with a hint of lilac in some lights.  It is also very easy to apply and you could get away with one coat as it is a very opaque polish.  I have two coats here as I just find this is more hard wearing.

I have added one coat of Ibiza mix over the top.

What do you think of this combination?

Valentine's Heart Nails

I made this design for Valentine's Day.  I wanted to do something different rather than the reds and pinks that you might normally expect to see.

I painted most of my nails black, leving the ring finger on both hands.  I did these using Barry M 'Red Glitter'.

Using a dotting tool on the nails I'd painted black I made two dots with the red glitter and dragged the polish together from these dots to create the heart shape.  I then repeated this step on the red nails using black polish, adding in some extra dots floating away from the heart.

Green Glitter Army Nails

A green glittery army inspired nail design.  I used Models Own 'Peacock Green' and 'Emerald City' for this design.

Once the base colour is dry paint in a diagonal line across the tip of your nail with your chose glitter.  I finished this look using a black striper to add definition to the edge of the glitter stripe.

Models Own colours are really good for a design like this and they give a great coverage over the nail.

Purple Gradient Nails

This design is easier than it looks.  I used a selection of 4 purple nail varnishes and finally a black.  Paint a coat of the lightest shade of your chosen colour and leave it to dry.  Next drip a small amount of the next shade darker onto a scrap of paper. Using a make up sponge dab it on the nails leaving some of the lightest shade showing.  Repeat these steps until the very tip of your nail.

I finished this design with a coat of Nicole by OPI's 'Let's Get Star-ted'.

Pink and Black Nails

These are very simple pink and black nails.  Just paint the whole nail a pink, I used Revlon 'Fuchsia Fever'.  Leave this to dry and then take a black polish, I used Revlon 'Blackest Black', and paint this over the tip of the nail in a diagonal line.

After this I took a dotting tool and added small dots in pink over the black stripe and then added a nail art sticker to my thumb nail to finish off the look.