Flirty Florals

Summer is FINALLY here so I just had to do a bright, flowery design in celebration.  For this design I used "Mellow Yellow" by Sally Hansen, "White On" by Sally Hansen, "Bikini Pink" by Kiss, "Neon Orange" by Kiss, "One-Time Lime" by Nicole by OPI, "Blue Me Away" by Sally Hansen, and "Play Date" by Essie.

I started with yellow as my base.

I then used my dotting tool (straight pin stuck into a pencil eraser) and began making different coloured flowers on my nails.  I placed 5 dots in a circle and did an accent colour in the middle of each flower.  I then added white dots to fill in the spaces between the flowers.  Here is the final product!!

These nails make me so happy! They are bright, colourful, and fun.

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

Textured Polish from Sally Hansen

I picked up two new polishes yesterday and had to try them both out right away! Sally Hansen has come out with a collection of textured polishes: Sugar Coat and Fuzzy Coat.  I decided to give Sugar Coat a try.  I chose "Bubble Plum" because it is beautiful purple/pink shade.  I also bought a new Xtreme Wear polish from Sally Hansen called "Perfect Pear-ing".  It is a gorgeous shade of green that I am absolutely in love with.

I started with a base coat of "Perfect Pear-ing".  I tried my best to photograph the colour exactly how it is in person but I didn't quite get it.  So you'll have to take my word that it's even more beautiful in person.

 I then used page hole protectors to tape off the bottom "half moon" of each nail.  I cut each circle in half to get them to stick to my nails better.

I then added a layer of Sugar Coat over top of the green.  After letting it dry for 30 seconds or so, I removed the stickers.

I wasn't a big fan of the raw edge that was left behind.  It just felt unfinished.  I decided to add small white dots (Sally Hansen's "White On") along the edge.  I like the Sugar Coat polish because it's a simple way to add interest to your nails with a simple stroke of the brush (easy peasy!).

Overall, I'm really happy with the colour combination and my new polishes.  I just feel like the design is still missing something.  What do you guys think?

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

New Essie Polish!

I bought 4 new Essie polishes on Friday and just had to use them all at once.  I'm a big fan of the colours that Essie has.  I bought "Turquoise and Caicos", "Play Date", "Cute As a Button", and "Lapiz of Luxury".  I ended up using Sally Hansen's "White On" as an accent.

 

I started by randomly applying all the colours (mint, purple, coral, blue).

 I then used the brushes that come with the polishes to add curves of colours to the tips of my nails.  I saw this design on the Essie website in "Essie Looks" section (http://www.essie.com/essie-looks.aspx).

I felt like the design needed a little something extra.  I really liked the pop of white that was on the Essie bottles.  I chose to do white dots along the curves of each colour and I am in LOVE with the final product.  I don't know about you guys, but the colours on my pinky nail immediately make me think of the Little Mermaid (Kelsey, you will know what I'm talking about).

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

Leopard Hologram

It's been a pretty rainy weekend here so I decided to do a funky design to counteract the yucky weather.  For the base I used "Ocean Rush" and "Mermaid Spell" hologram polish by Layla.  For the leopard design, I used "Black", "Neon Orange", and "Beach Green" by Kiss.

When I did the base, I put "Mermaid Spell" on my ring finger as an accent.  The difference is subtle but it makes more of an impact in the final design.

Photo taken with flash.

Photo taken in daylight.

I made my accent nail stand out even more by doing the design in green.  I LOVE the way it turned out!  I did the leopard design freehand.  It's an easy design to do as long as you have a thin brush.

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

Neon Dots

I was feeling rather uninspired and overwhelmed tonight.  Sometimes there are so many designs that I want to try that I just can't settle on one and I get discouraged.  I decided to do my "go-to" design of dots.  For this design I used "White On" by Sally Hansen, "Funky Limelight" by Essie, "Bikini Pink" by Kiss, "Beach Green" by Kiss, and "Neon Orange" by Kiss.

 

Whenever using neon colours, they will be brightest if they are on a white base.

Next, I used my dotting tool (pencil with a straight pin in the eraser) and went to town making dots.  I alternated the centre colour so that each nail was slightly different but kept the same colour pattern.  The final product is a fun, vibrant design that is perfect for summer.

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

Freehand Geometric with an Ombre Base

I'm a really big fan of ombre nails.  I particularly like adding some sort of pattern on top.  For these nails, I started with a base of "Green with Envy" by Sally Hansen.

To do the ombre base I used a make up sponge.  I placed a dot of each colour next to each other on a plastic bag.  I then dipped my sponge into the paint and applied it to my nails.  I more or less used the same strategy that can be found at The Posh Knot (http://theposhknot.com/blog/?p=322).  For the blue I used "Blue Me Away" by Sally Hansen.

I then decided to add a geometric pattern over top of the ombre in black by Kiss Nail Art Paint.  I'm REALLY happy with the final result!  What do you think?

I've been doing my nails for years now, but since I just started blogging, I've got photos of nail designs that I have done in the past.  Unfortunately, I don't recall the colours I used but here are a couple other ombre designs that I have done. 

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

New Colour - Pale Pink

Last weekend I bought 3 new colours (the first 2 can be seen in my last post).  I'm forever on the search for the perfect pale pink shade.  The difficulty with pale pink (and any pale colour) is the number of coats you need to get perfect coverage.  For this polish I needed 3 coats to get it the way I wanted.  Overall I'm very happy with the colour.  It's the perfect, delicate, girly colour.  The colour is "Pink a Card" by Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure. 

I wore just the pink for a day before I decided to add an accent nail.  I'm a big fan of florals so I did a simple freehand 'rose' design using Kiss Nail Art Paint.  I think next time I might use acrylic paints for the rose design in order to blend the colours a little more.

Happy Painting

Love, Kate xo