Bye For Now!

Hi space turtles! It's a few weeks since I've posted on here and although I've been (just about) finding the time to do my nails still I have got quite behind with the blog! At this point I think it makes sense to stop or take a break as when I struggle to find time it ends up being a task on my to do list! I will still be sharing my nail art on Instagram and Twitter (find me @clawsforthought) as it's quicker and more interactive. One thing I had always intended to do on my blog is a short list of my favourite nail polish names. Involves a fair bit of swatching so haven't got round of it but might pop back for that. For now, here is the nail art I haven't got round to sharing yet - the top two are my favourites. TTFN!

Ladies in the Lake

Hey everyone! Behind as usual... The nail art I'm sharing today was created for a charity event at the local lake where I love to swim. I didn't take part but I did donate and do my nails in tribute! I used the Breast Cancer Now colours in the background. I wouldn't have thought to go for something so bright with abstract nails otherwise but I really like the way it came out.

I started with a base of pale pink and then added swipes of orange, yellow and pink. I didn't follow a particular pattern and just did what I felt like. Once this was dry I used black stamping polish to add images from Mo You London's Le Musee 04 stamping plate and finished the look with a glossy top coat. This was really easy to do and I love how it came out!

Colours used: Vintage Tee - Nails Inc, Seven Dials - Nails Inc, Seymour Walk - Nails Inc, Beach Hut - Models Own, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Sharks Love Ice Cream!

Oh no I'm so behind with blogging again! I'm thinking of stopping the blog to be honest and just sticking to sharing on Instagram and maybe Twitter, but will carry on for now. I love the Glam Nails Challenge themes on Instagram this month and would like to take part but am a bit short on time and have some other ideas too. Therefore I've decided to merge them together in pairs instead! The first two themes are Sharks and Ice Cream so I've tried to depict a hungry shark going for an ice cream and some more hungry sharks circling for ice cream!

I started with a base of turquoise on my middle two nails and sheer blue on the others. On the sheer blue nails I layered up the blue polish with images of sharks from Uber Chic Beauty's Just Beachy plate. I love this effect! I made ice cream decals using their Carnival & Fair Time plate and added one on my index finger and the other over the sharks on my thumb. I also used their layering shark image from the first plate on my middle fingernail, adding eyes with a dotting tool to make it look like it was ogling the ice cream! I finished the look with a glossy top coat.

Colours used: Greenberry - Barry M, Flipper - Urban Outfitters, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Essential White - Uber Chic Beauty, Grey - Barry M, Acai Smoothie - Barry M, Portobello Road - Nails Inc, Cappuccino - Barry M

A Lemon Experiment

Hey space turtles! Truly into the summer nails now which I suppose makes sense since it's June already! I recently saw alekto.art on Instagram do some freehand lemons over lilac and it looked really cute so I thought I'd give it a go using the lemons image on my WhatsUp Nails Summer Seeds stamping plate. The idea of the yellow accent nail was inspired by some nail art by naileenj which I recreated a while ago (originally in pink) and it obviously stayed in my mind!

I created decals on my Uber Mat for the lemon images and once applied I finished the look with a matte top coat. I really like the look but do wonder if the shades I used where a little too bright as they didn't work as well as the art by alekto.art. I'd say they're still pretty good though :)

Colours used: Seven Dials - Nails Inc, Wardour Street - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Key Lime - Barry M

Nails to Soothe the Soul

Hello space turtles! Todays nail art has me feeling zen. I did some pastel yoga nails I really loved a while back and as I've got back into yoga I thought now would be a good time to try something similar. I started the look with two layers of lilac on my thumb and outer fingernails and two layers of off white on the middle two. I then created decals on my Uber Mat for the middle two nails and while these dried I added some figures in yoga poses in black and silver, along with a silver image and some wording on my thumb. All images are from Mo You London's Mandala 16 stamping plate. I added the decals to my middle nails and finished the look with a matte top coat. Pastels and yoga are a prefect combo I think :)

Colours used: Wardour Street - Nails Inc, Cream Soda - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effects in Silver - Barry M, Indigo - Barry M, Greenberry - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M, Bluebell - Barry M

Return of the Cactus!

Hey space turtles! Back with more cactus nail art today as I had more than one cactus nail art idea and thought this would be a good opportunity to try out this yellow reflective glitter I got for Christmas (last untried from my Christmas polishes!). 

For the cactus images I used Uber Chic's Succulent stamping plate to create some decals on my Uber Mat.They were nice and straightforward to do using only two colours. While these dried I applied two layers of off-white to my middle two nails and two layers of glitter to the others. After trimming the decals and applying them to my nails I finished the look with a glossy top coat. Ta-da!

Colours used: Radiant Forces - Emily de Molly, Cream Soda - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Spring Green - Barry M

A Cactus Collection

Hey space turtles! I haven't had as much time for nail art recently but am glad to be back! I'm not doing the Glam Nails Challenge on Instagram this month but couldn't resist dropping in for just one theme as I haven't done cactus nails for ages! I liked the idea of a mottled background to look like a paving area covered in little cactus pots.

I started with two layers of pale blue and then used cling film to apply some grey nail polish over the top. For the cactus images I used Mo You London's Hipster 18 stamping plate to create decals which I placed over each nail. I chose large images and I'm pleased with my choices as they fit my nails well. I finished the look with a matte top coat. You can see them both matte and shiny below. I really love how these came out! Just what I wanted :)

Colours used: Pale Blue - Not listed, Grey - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Spring Green - Barry M, Terracotta - Not listed, Cream Soda - Barry M, Raspberry - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M

A Motorway Sunset

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art was inspired by the motorway... sort of. We were on route to one of our recent long weekends by the seaside and the sky looked so lovely over the fields next to us, with the trees silhouetted against yellow and blue. I made a note on my phone to try and recreate it on my nails! I was apprehensive about whether it would work or come out too bright but thought I'd give it a go.

I started with a base coat and then one layer of sheer white as a base. Next I used a gradient sponge and two shades of blue plus orange and yellow nail polish to create a gradient. I sponged on a couple of layers of polish before adding cloud and tree images from Mo You London's Noel 16 stamping plate. To finish the look I added a glossy top coat. I considered making it matte which I do think would look nice, but I love it so much the way it is! I am still wearing it so it's not too late to try I suppose! 

Colours used: Snow (soft focus) - Polished for Days, Beach Hit - Models Own, Yellow - Barry M, Bluebell - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M, Essential White - Uber Chic Beauty, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Seal Print!

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art is an unconventional animal print look. I absolutely adore seals and after another trip to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary was inspired by their lovely little flanks to try some seal print nails. I really wasn't sure how they would come out but am very pleased!

I started with a base of pale grey and then created a gradient with medium grey and pale grey over the top. I then chose the most seal like image from Uber Chic's Warm Blooded animal print stamping plate and applied it over the top in dark grey. Before pressing the stamper onto my nails I used a dotting tool to remove some of the spots so they were a bit less dense. I finished the look with a glossy top coat. I was tempted to try a matte top coat over the top but asked for advice and people thought shiny was better as seals are shiny when they're wet.

I really love this - I wasn't sure how well it would work but I don't think it could have gone that much better. Some people even guessed what animal they were right away! (I thought it might be hard to guess as seals don't have the most distinctive pattern). I would love to do this celebration of seals look again!

Colours used: White Horse Street - Nails Inc, Grey - Barry M, Dragster - Barry M

Coronation Swans

Hey space turtles! I'm a bit behind with this post as it's from the weekend but better late than never! I wasn't really planning to do anything for the Kings Coronation at the weekend but the lake where I swim did fancy dress for it and I just couldn't resist! I wore a swan hat and decided to create some nail art to match. 

I started with pale blue on my middle two nails and thumbnails and dark blue on the others. I created decals for the swan nails using Mo You London's Animal 01 stamping plate. While the decals dried I added some gold detailing from their Games 02 stamping plate on the dark blue nails. I added the decals to my nails and trimmed them before adding a layer of blue across the bottom. I was pleased with how well that came out since I was using the brush straight from the bottle and my left hand! I added a top coat carefully to avoid smudging the nail art. I think this would look good matte too but stuck with shiny as it felt right.

I really love how these came out. The colours are very me and I like how bold they look against the contrast of the swans. It does feel a little weird to have royal themed nails when I'm not particularly into the royal family but I think they're relatively subtle. I'd definitely enjoy doing some similar swan nails in the future.

Colours used: Pale Blue - Brand I no longer support, Indigo - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Beach Hut - Models Own, Essential White - Uber Chic, Bright Lights - Barry M

Gold Leaf Strikes Again!

Hey space turtles! Today I'm sharing some nail art inspired by a tutorial I saw by Claudia Hernandez on Instagram. It's been on my to do list for a while. I only realised after looking at the tutorial again more recently that I'd actually used the exact same nail polish (I thought I'd just used something similar). I started with a layer of sheer white then sheer green. I then used my fingers and some tweezers to pull apart some gold leaf which I carefully applied to my nails using my fingers. After a while I found that was actually easier then using tweezers. I added another layer of sheer green followed by another layer of gold leaf and then more sheer green. To finish off I added a few more pieces of gold leaf and then a clear top coat. I love how these came out! They don't have the visible nail line I was anticipating but I like them just as much. They remind me a bit of precious stones.

Colours used: Verdigris Jelly - Cirque Colors, Gold Leaf - Available in craft stores, Soft Focus (White) - Polished for Days