Nail art is one of my favorite hobbies. I love having something to do while I watch a TV show and I can happily paint my nails without getting distracted. Having something to watch also stops me from getting too impatient and smudging them before they dry! All in all, its a perfect combination :) Having to remove nail varnish for work is the worst part about my job, and the only downside to summer time nail painting.
This summer I've been loving stamped floral designs, and I've experimented with a few different colour combinations and patterns. I thought I'd share two of these with you in this post.
This is probably one of my all time favorite nail art designs, I just really really love the colour combination. Initially I was a bit wary about stamping a light colour over a dark colour, but I love the way it turned out. I also think it stops the pattern from being too stereotypical girly (not that there is anything wrong with this at all - I embraced it in my next design!) and its a really cool way to wear floral patterns.
I used:
-Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Blue Grape
-Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Sky Blue
-Barry M Basecoat, Topcoat and Nail Hardener
-MoYou Stamping Palate: Doodles Collection 03
I put this design together for a wedding. I wore a navy dress with purple, blue, and pink pansie-like flowers, which I wanted to match, without it being too matchy matchy. The rest of the outfit was navy so I tried to bring out the pinks and purples with this pattern. I wouldn't normally go for pink nails, but I ended up really liking these, so I'm glad I gave it a go!
I used:
-Barry M Nail Paint in Ballerina
-An old non cruelty free purple paint but Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Plum is similar
-Barry M Basecoat, Topcoat and Nail Hardener
-A Gals Stamping Palate (GA30) from this set (bottom left in the picture).
If you want to try nail stamping, then I can't recommend Barry M's Gelly Hi Shine range enough for a cruelty free option. They give you a strong colour and last ages when they're paired with the Barry M topcoat. After a week or so there were a few small chips, but they stayed looking relatively smart for two weeks!
I've also blogged about a few of my other nail art creation thingy-ma-bobs, which you can find here :)
To stamp well a nail varnish needs to give a strong colour with one coat, so if you know any cruelty free nail varnish brand which can do this, please let me know!
All nail varnish images were sourced from the Barry M website
I've never used nail stamps before, those look fantastic! I used to love spending time doing cute patterns on mine but haven't had time recently, those seem like they might be a good alternative. :)
ReplyDeletethezombiesaid.blogspot.co.uk
Thank you Steph! :) I was the same! Stamping is definitely worth a go - it still takes a bit of time but it's much much quicker than doing each nail by hand and you can reuse the plates :)
DeleteI'm like you in the sense that I only ever do my nails when I'm watching a movie or a TV show because it gives me something extra to do other than just stare at the screen (haha).
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the blue design because it reminds me of the contrast between the beautiful blue roofs in Santorini and the white buildings :)
I'm glad you're the same Leann! My friends all tease me about it, but I find it so hard to just watch the screen hahaa.
DeleteWow, that's such a nice comparison! Santorini sounds beautiful, I'd love to visit some of the Greek islands :)