Nail The Week: Newspaper Nails!

As a person with a love of writing and intricate nail art, I knew I had to try this unusual newspaper print design as soon as I found out how it was done. The method couldn’t be simpler and the look can be achieved in a few easy steps:

1. Paint your nails a suitable base colour (here I’ve plumped for Barry M’s Gelly High Shine in Lychee) and wait for the polish to dry completely.

2. Cut a few nail-sized pieces out of a newspaper article (more than ten is advisable in case you have a mishap).

3. Soak the pieces in a bowl of alcohol- I dug out an old bottle of gin but I imagine any clear coloured spirit would also work. If you don’t have any alcohol water will also work but the text will not be as dark.

4. Remove a newspaper piece from the bowl with tweezers and press firmly but carefully to the nail. This can be a little fiddly at first and it’s easy to smear the text but the good news is that you can wipe it off with a damp paper towel and start again as many times as you need to!

5. Once you are happy with the design, seal it with a good dose of top coat.

Ideas to jazz up the design even more:

– seal with a matte top coat to enhance the newspaper effect

– use neon colours as a base coat

– use foreign language newspapers for some added exotic flavour

Nail the Week: Space Age Half Moons!

As the season moves into autumn and colours become more muted, it’s easy to feel less than enthusiastic about the changing weather but in my experience this can be easily remedied with a quick injection of colour into a manicure.

Here, I’ve used my half moon technique to incorporate a popping purple and a shimmering slate silver with tiny multicoloured glitter. The polish I used for the silver overlay is in fact a magnetic one which can be used to create quirky patterns over the nail but as I was using it for a half moon design I decided to keep things classic and paint the traditional way. I’m a big fan of this colour combination because not only is it appropriate for fall, it also produces an unexpectedly modern effect, a bit like something you might see on a spaceship, should you find yourself in such a situation- in which case do let me know which extra-terrestrial nail art is out there!

Here are the materials I used:

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Base Coat

Nail Paint in Bright Purple and Super Nova, both by Barry M

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Hole Re-inforcers

(Bag in top photo £22.99, New Look)

Nail The Week: Midweek Marblin’!

Finally, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and go for it. Months after first hearing about water marbling nail art I have, on this fine Wednesday afternoon, got round to giving it a whirl (literally). To be honest it was a bit of an impulse move, I entered into it more for experimentation purposes than anything else. Could that snazzy, swirly design really be achievable outside the realms of YouTube? I decided to give it a go with one nail at first. After prepping my nails with two coats of white (it makes the colours pop more, apparently) and taping around the edges to protect the skin and minimise mess (ha ha), I took a mug of tap water which I’d let stand for a couple of hours to ensure that it was room temperature, and dropped in my first polish blob. To my surprise and mild delight, it spread out beautifully, so I continued blobbing in alternate colours until the surface of the water was covered. After that I anchored the polish to the edges of the mug using an orange stick,  then used the stick to swirl the paint into a psychedelic design.

Blob-tastic!

Post-swirl: not the best of all the attempts but the only one I managed to catch on camera.

Then it was time to dip. I lined up my nail horizontally with a particularly appealing part of the design and took the plunge. After waiting a few seconds for the paint on the water to dry, I collected it with the orange stick (think the skin on custard) and slowly removed my finger from the water. Well, it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but essentially, water marbling had worked!

First and foremost.

I decided to go back in with more nails, this time dipping three at once to save both on time and nail paint. Once all the nails were safely dipped, I waited a little while until the polish was touch-dry and removed the tape before cleaning up around the edges with nail polish remover and adding a top coat. Here are the finished results:

My finished first marble!

I have to say that I’m pretty pleased with the outcome. The colour selection was somewhat accidental- I just grabbed what was nearest to me, but I think the navy and white works really well, it brings to mind ancient Chinese porcelain! I love how the marbling gives a different, intricate effect on each nail and the overall look is really eye catching. I’ll have to wait and see how the design fairs in terms of durability, but it’s definitely a winner if you want an easily achievable, show-stopping nail look!

Materials used:

A cup of room temperature tap water

Scotch tape

An orange stick (you could also used a tooth pick or an empty ball point pen)

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Base Coat

Matt White and Navy, both by Barry M

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Nail The Week: Silver and Satsuma!

This week’s Nail the Week combines two very different yet beautifully complimentary colours from one of my favourite nail polish brands, Barry M. Although it looks a little intricate, this design is so easy to achieve with the help of a stationary cupboard staple, hole re-inforcers. To create this look, I painted a single coat of silver over a long-lasting base coat and waited for it to dry completely. After that, I took my hole re-inforcers and and adhered them to the bottom of my nails to create a half-moon shape, being sure to press them down firmly at the edges. I then added a coat of orange over the exposed area of the nail and removed the hole re-inforcer carefully and immediately. It’s important to remove the re-inforcers straight away after applying the second colour to prevent the shape from smudging. Once the orange was touch-dry I added a fast-drying top coat to smooth out any harsh lines in the design and protect my polish.

I really love the two colours I’ve used in this manicure; the finished effect is summery and very glamorous, and the bright orange reminds me of one of my very first nails polishes, a bright orange affair from Rimmel, back in the day when they were still using square bottles! Both the Foil Effects and the Gelly Hi-Shine polishes are pigmented enough to only require one coat of each, which is great if you’re doing a design like this one with more than one colour. This is a great look to opt for if you’re looking for a manicure to take you from day to night, as it’s bright enough to be striking in the daytime but shimmery enough to add some nighttime glamour. Of course, you could also make up your own colour combination, some others I thought of were pink and gold, black and white and peach and purple.

I’ve heard that the half-moon manicure was big news in the 1930s and 40s, so if you feel like trying out a classic manicure with a modern twist of colour, why not raid that office drawer and get started today?

Polishes used:

Polishes used

Multi-use hole re-inforcers

The re-inforcer technique

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Base Coat

Silver Foil Effect and Satsuma Gelly Hi-Shine, both by Barry M

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Hole Re-inforcers, £1.99, from W H Smith.

Nail The Weekend: More Sparkles, Matte and Shine.

Monochrome and glitter- how it evolved

So here’s a fun variation of this week’s ‘Spikes, Monochrome and Glitter’ look from Nail the Week (If you haven’t seen it, here’s the link to check it out) I mentioned in the post that any number of combinations would work as long as you stick to the ‘one dark, one light, and one shimmer’ template. Here I’ve given the monochrome look an up-to-date makeover using lilac and silver, to which I’ve given a glossy top coat, and black, to which I’ve added either pink glitter or a matte top coat, meaning that there is even more colour and texture variety than in the original design! Now that I’ve donned these fun and varied pops of colour, I am well and truly ready for the weekend! The more beady-eyed amongst you may have also noticed that I’ve filed my pointed nails into a more practical oval shape. As much as I love the quirky look of pointed nails, I have to say that they were more than a little annoying in terms of catching on things and generally being a danger to myself and delicate objects around me, but they still remain a glam and striking look for special events, and I’m glad I’ve given them a whirl!

Feel free to let me know in the comments section which of this week’s colour combis you preferred, or maybe there’s a better combination you’d like to recommend? Either way, I’d love to hear from you!

Polishes used:

Just for the record, I’m not being sponsored by Barry M in any way, I just happen to love their products!

Black, Silver Foil Effect, Ruby Glitter, Prickly Pear Gelly Nail Effects, all by Barry M

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Rimmel Lycra Pro Matte Finish Top Coat

Nail the Week: Spikes, Monochrome and Glitter!

Glitzy and glam!

This week’s Nail the Week is coming to you on a Tuesday thanks to the bank holiday, but I hope it’s worth waiting for. This mani blasts some of my favourite Barry M polishes into action to create an eclectic look using sleek darks, matte lights, and mostly importantly lots of bold glitter. I was feeling a bit wild when I did this manicure, and strictly speaking it’s probably not ‘one for the office’ but if you feel like rebelling against those back to work blues, then this is the nail design for you! One thing’s for sure, it’s definitely going to make tapping those computer keys a whole lot more exciting!

To begin, I used a fairly course file to to add a point to my nail tip. I appreciate that this look may not be for everybody, so if you feel that it’s a little to Gaga for you then just skip this step and stick to your preferred nail shape. Next up, I painted my pinky and middle fingers gold, my ring finger and thumb white, and my pointer finger metallic navy (you could use black for a true monochrome effect, but I fancied a a dash of bold colour). I waited for the first layer to dry before adding a second coat to each. After the second coat had dried, I added the gold holographic glitter to my pinkies in a dabbing motion, which provides much more glitter coverage than brushing it on as you would a plain polish. Finally, I added a fast-drying top coat to the gold and navy nails and a matte top coat to the white and accessorised my unconventional manicure with lots of stacking rings.

Don’t feel restricted to the colours I’ve used, I think it would work equally well with any other colour variations as long as you stick to the basis of a light, a dark and something shiny! If you feel like recreating this look I’d love to see the results in the comments section.

Polishes used:

My (Barry M heavy) polishes for this look

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Base Coat

Matt White, Navy, Gold Foil Effect and Yellow Topaz Glitter, all by Barry M

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Rimmel Lycra Pro Matte Finish Top Coat

Nail the Week: Sparkle ‘n’ Shine!

We all want to embark on the week’s journey feeling great, and one sure-fire of achieving this is with a dazzling manicure! This is what my newest section, Nail the Week, is all about- giving you tips and inspiration for starting the week on a sassy, stylish and creative high!

This week’s mani à la mode is a chic mix of lilac sheen and chunky gold glitter. Unlike a lot of styles, this combination can be worn all year round, and it’s so easy to create. To achieve this look, I painted a single layer of Barry M’s Lilac Foil Effect over a strengthening base coat (I use Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat). For the accent nail, I swiped on layers of Yellow Topaz Glitter, also by Barry M, starting lightly in the middle of the nail and loading more onto the nail tip. You could do this on one or two nails or all of them for a more dramatic look. I finished with another layer of Double Duty to prevent chipping and give the design a polished look. If you can’t get hold of the colours mentioned, you can try any other lilac polish (I also love Rimmel’s Lasting Finish in Lively Lilac) or a completely different colour of your choice. For a subtler glitter effect, try a finer glitter, such as Barry M’s Gold Glitter, or for a high-glamour evening look you could opt for a darker purple and coloured glitter- for my next night out I think I’ll try out Rimmel’s 60 Seconds in Pompous with a topping of Barry M’s Jewel Glitter Paint in Amethyst (in case you haven’t guessed by now, I’m a big Barry M fan!), but you could pick the perfect shades to compliment your glad rags or let your imagination run wild! Either way, I’d love to see how you’ve worked this look so please share you Sparkle ‘n’ Shine creations with me in the comments!

The finished mani

Polishes used

Possible alternatives for a similar effect

A nighttime combination