Sprites thread of Nail Art and stuff

[Sprites]

I lol'd, mostly because it's Richard Ayoade but no £1500 for that when I could buy a bajillion nail polishes with that amount of money, I'd rather do my own, I love doing my own nails actually and other peoples' particularly when they let me choose something for them, the only thing I don't do is people's feet, I can do my own but that's cause it's my own feet...I just have this thing about touching other people's feet.

 

[Mage]

I love the gradients! The little decal touch is pretty neat, just adds that finish to the job. Are you going to do any Hallowe'en themed ones?

 

[Sprites]

I probably will, I have the best shade of orange to help me do that,

Spoiler: Barry M tangerine

is like the most perfect orange colour for Halloween themed nails and I have plenty of black polish and nail art pens. I'm not very good at free-handing stuff so I may use some Halloween nail decals if I can get my hands on them to help me out, but when I decide them for next month I'll be sure to pop pics up and a 'how to' guide in with them.

 

[Mage]

Do you ever check out Claire's Accessories? I loathe how girly and childish it is but they do have some superbly niche finds in there.

 

[Sprites]

I haven't yet but I was thinking this year of popping in there for halloween and seeing what they have in terms of nail decals, they'd probably do something quite nifty and if not, I'm pretty sure I can at least free hand a pumpkin face with a nail art pen and some brushes

 

[Sprites]

Alright, so I have time to post, I couldn't not because I love this little combo I did, especially my little accent nail, such a pretty colour and polish, I'll go into more detail shortly. Again accent nails are a very simple thing to do to jazz up your manicure and make it look a bit different particulalry if you use a dark and then contrasting lighter colour It's 3 polishes on this one, all Barry M and two of them are my brand new ones I bought today and were actually also just released today, I've been waiting for some time for them, so I made a beeline for them on my lunch break today.

Lurrrvely!

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Blackberry
Barry M Crystal Glaze
Barry M Royal glitter collection in Lady
You can also see my favourite topcoat kicking about in the background.

Very easy basic steps to achieve this manicure
1. paint base coat
2. Apply 2 coats of Blackberry on each nail except the ring fingers as this is the accent nail
3. Apply 2 coats on each ring finger of Lady
4. Clean up your nails by dipping a cotton but in some nail polish remover and gently running it along your cuticles where the polish has spilled over.
5. Apply 2 coats of Crystal Glaze over Blackberry
6. Apply your top coat on every nail EXCEPT the two accent nails, I'll explain why in a minute.
7. Clean up any additional cuticle mess
Done!

Just a little bit of details about two of my newest ones used in the manicure.

So first of all Crystal glaze is what you call a 'flakie', a glitter top coat that contains glitter in shard/flake like shapes and usually they're kind of these pearly/opal, iridescent, semi opaque colours that when applied to a light colour are usually very pale and subtle. When applied to a dark colour they really become beautiful, I've used one before and the one I originally used was difficult, you barely got any flakes of glitter on the nails, it was thick, gloopy and the flakes were too thick so they didn't lie flat and smooth on the nail. I wasn't sure if I was going to buy the Barry M version of it until I saw a review, but I'm so glad I did because it's incredibly beautiful, even more so in person.

Lady is a textured glitter polish, these type polishes are known as liquid sand or pixie dust, give a slight 3D element to the polish when applied to the nail. It dries very quickly and when it dries it has a gentle sandpaper like feel to it, but it's not an annoying feeling, in fact I can't stop running my thumb over my nail. This is the first time I ever tried a textured nail polish because I wasn't sure if they were my thing, I'd seen previous ones that looked awful but omg this one is beautiful it actually reminds me of freshly fallen snow when a street light hits it at night and it has that glimmering effect. Now if you put a topcoat over a textured polish, it actually ruins the effect which is why I mentioned not applying topcoat to the accent nail.

I managed to get a pic of the bottle and my nail together so you can see the difference in the bottle to the nail transition. You can see in the bottle it has a kind of liquid, sandy texture and then looks a bit grittier on the nails, either way it's very pretty.

Enjoy!

 

[Sprites]

So as mentioned in the trivial shit thread, my nails DID NOT want to co-operate tonight with anything I chose to put on them. So I went to my "go-to" for when I want to do something quick or have a bad nail polish day...nail wraps. I would usually put these on if I'm due to go out and I've either chipped my nail polish in work and it looks crap, or if like tonight, nothing goes right and I get fed up of trying to attempt to paint my nails.

Most nail wraps only last maybe a day or so, but the ones I have on are my favourite type of wraps because they're made using real nail polish so they look really natural ( I doubt anyone would be able to tell I was wearing wraps unless I told them) rather than a printed template which can look a bit more fake and they adhere amazing well to the nail, they also last at least 3/4 days before they start looking shit.

You just line up the ones you want for each nail, peel the backing off, press them down and use a cuticle stick to remove the excess around the nails, then file of the excess at the top of them off. I usually seal mine with some topcoat just for extra protection. ALl in all the process takes about 15 mins or so.

Nail wraps are generally easy to apply and there's so many types out there, so if you don't have the patience for painting your nails or just need something quick before going out, then nail wraps are the way to go

 

[Sprites]

Halloween time!! I did say I'd be doing some halloween themed nail art at some point and it's 11 days to go, so I figure why the hell not, let's get some practice in!
I'll be doing a few halloween nail art posts in the next few days so here's my very first one
Spider webs, dew drops and a little spider

And what I used

Barry M Tangerine
Barry M Nail art Pen in Black
Nail crystals
Nail Glue
tweezers
Sally Hansen Insta-dry topcoat.

This was really easy to create, granted I'm not the most artistic person when it comes to freehanding stuff and let's not talk about the trouble I had trying to freehand spider webs on my right hand but I got there, it's really just practice and I don't doubt there are peaople who would do a much better job than me on this but I like the attempt anyway.

1. Alright first and foremost make sure you paint a basecoat, I actually painted a white nail polish base coat to make the orange pop more but it's really important to do this step because Orange is horrendous for nail stainage when it's taken off.

2. Paint two coats of Tangerine which to me is a perfect halloween orange and I plan to use it for a good few nail art bits over the next few days.

3. Paint a coat of insta-dry and leave your nails for 5-10 minutes before the next stage (if you start it too early the pen will cause the topcoat to drag.

4. With a black nail art pen free-hand some spider webs onto some of your nails (easiest way to do it is to draw a line down the middle of your nail and connect the rest of the web from there) and free-hand a little spider onto each of your ring fingers. The nail art pen will only take a few minutes to dry.

5. Nail crystals: these are optional but I used them to create a little dew drop effect on the webs and to downplay the halloween effect only because well it's not quite halloween yet Anyhoo about 3 on each nail will do I used 2 big and one slightly smaller one so as not to overwhelm the effect. So firstly blot some nail glue on paper, then with a pair of tweezers dip the flat end of your nail crystal into the glue and then gently apply to the nail. Don't worry if it moves around a little, the crystals don't have to be placed in an order or anything and the nail glue will dry clear so any marks left by it won't be seen.

6. Finish the whole thing off with a round of topcoat

I haven't decided what to do next but I'm sure I'll have some thoughts in the next couple of days

 

[Sprites]

Ok first post is something everyone I think can enjoy, PACMAN!!!

Very quick and easy to do! unfortunately my left hand during this did not want to co-operate, I was trying to do the grid that Pacman runs through but no matter how hard I tried, I fucked it up so I photographed these babies yesterday then took it off.

For this I used
Yellow Polish
Blue polish
Pink polish
Red polish
White nail polish
black nail art pen
dotting tool

1. Base coat as per usual then paint your thumb nail two coats of Yellow, and your other fingers two coats of blue, pink, red and orange, one for each finger and allow to dry or use a top coat to help them dry.

2. Using a black nail art pen on your thumb, trace the outline of Pacman's shape and fill the outside of the shape black, then on the tips of your other nails draw a black wavy line and fill it in, this will create the shape of our ghosties.

3. With some white nail polish and a dotting tool, on your index to pinky finger around the centre of the nails, dot on some eyes, and once they've dried add two little black pupils slightly off centre to given them the appearance of looking out for Pacman.

4. With the dotting tool and your yellow nail polish, create a couple of dots from pacman's mouth to represent the little ones he eats in the game

Seal the whole thing off with some topcoat.

 

[Sprites]

So I promised another Halloween post and here it is and once I knew what I wanted to do on my nails it was fairly easy to do, but I also trawled the internet looking for inspiration. These will be the nails I'll wear in work tomorrow

I have two pics, the first being my left hand which is the hand I'm good at doing Nail art on and then my right hand which being my naturally dominant hand is usually quite difficult to do nail art on, mind you from the photos you can probably guess that anyway.

On my thumb: Pumpkin
my index finger: Frankenstein
My Middle: A mummy
Ring finger: A ghost
Pinky: Spider and web

What I used:
Orange Nail polish
Black nail polish
white nail polish
black nail art pen
White nail art pen
A very fine nail art brush
A q-tip/cotton bud
Dotting tool

On my right hand we have some messy bloody drips over a nude matte polish, as you can see my bloody drips aren't perfect but hey blood isn't exactly neat.
Nude coloured matte nail polish
Deep red colour nail polish
the same nail art brush.

Alrighty then down to business, lets start with my good hand
1. Base coat then two coats of each polish on your thumb; orange nail polish, your index finger, green polish, your middle and pinky fingers white nail polish and your ring finger black nail polish.

2. For the pumpkin once the orange has dried, with a black nail art pen do two triangles for eyes and a squiggly mouth then with a thin nail art brush and some green polish make a couple of light strokes above the eyes to create some hair.

2. For Frankenstein, once the green has dried, draw with a black nail art pen the outline of his hair and fill it in, use a dotting tool and some white nail polish to create his eyes and add a little black dot for the pupils with a black nail art pen. To create his mouth draw a slanted line with a nail art pen horizontally then create little vertical lines to make the stitching.

3. For the mummy, create his two eyes using a black nail art pen and then draw a small rectangle around them. After that, just create lines around the rectangle in different directions to make the bandages.

4. For the ghost, use a white nail art pen to draw a ghostly outline then inside the outline blot some white nail polish. To make him have that slight transparent look against the black use a q-tip/cotton bud tip and gently dab the white polish, it mixes quite nicely to make him look a bit more smokey. Once the polish is tacky use a black nail art pen and gently hollow through the white while drawing your eyes and mouth, to give a slight 3D effect.

5. The spider web and spider speak for themselves but just freehand them with a black nail art pen or alternately paint your nails black and freehand them with a white nail art pen.

6. Use topcoat to seal all your designs

My Right hand (my messy hand)
1. Paint your nails with two coats of a nude matte colour nail polish, a matte effect polish rather than a shine polish is better as it's a bit closer to the texture of your skin and the red nail polish really shows through.

2. With a deep red nail polish and a fine nail art brush first make little dots at different levels on each of your nails then run them up in a line to the tip of your nails to create the drip effect. I admit I definiteLy suck as doing drips using my left hand as you can see from the photo but hey it's meant to be messy smeared blood and I'm sure I'll get better.

One thing with these is also, DO NOT add a topcoat as it will ruin the effect of the matte polish.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

[Sprites]

So I think it's time for a major update in the nail art thread, I'm not going to post the colours or the tools I used currently, as many of the tools and colours I've used before on previous posts and besides you can always use your own colours.

So allow me to spoil you all with my nail art from the last couple of weeks.

These were my NYE party nails, I used my normal method of applying base coat, two coats of purple nail polish, in this case it was an FCUK one (no that is not a typo) with no name except that it's a pretty purple with a blue shimmer runnning through it. I then applied two coats of a glitter polish, in this Case it was Barry M Pink Sapphire glitter, because it has a fireworkesque look to it which worked well with the polish, and ther you have it, NYE party nails



Next offering

These were my birthday nails.

I used A-England Holy Grail for the gold, it's a really brassy style gold so it contrasted well with the silver I used which was Rio Nail art polish in silver. I wanted one accent nail and a change up so I painted all but my ring finger gold and painted it with Silver, then it was just a case of using a dotting tool to make the dots, pretty straight forward.

Oh and here's a variation of it using a very bright green Barry M polish I own and a purple ala-Barney-The-Dinosaur polish I got for Christmas, seriously it's the only thing that pops into my mind when I look at this purple.

NEXT:

The pic isn't blurred btw that's just the effect my topcoat has on it.

I don't actually have a name for this design but I did it again using a dotting tool and a lot of pastel colours, it was basically just dotting pastel colours all over one another and the blue, then while still a bit wet I applied the topcoat to create the blurry effect.

The Topcoat I used is a bit different to my normal topcoat, because it's a 'matte' effect topcoat which basically means there's no shine to the polish once it's dried. It makes the nailart look kinda chalky or rubbery which is pretty cool and works I think particularly well with pastel colours.



Finally

I came up with this after trawling the net for some inspiration for nail art and saw one liek this except with a darker colour scheme, and no decals, but it looked a bit like a picture frame on the nails so it inspired me to try something similar and I loved these nails.

This one I will break down into steps and tell you what I used to create it because it took a bit of time to make, I hated having to take it off, but the polish was beginning to chip.

Polishes I used were all Barry M ones, and I used some heart decals around it.

I used Barry M Nude, Lemon Ice Cream, Blue Moon, Berry Ice Cream, Pink Flamingo and Mint Green. The two in the pic that are harder to see are Blue Moon and Berry Ice Cream because they're so light and against nude polish not as vivid but the subtleness of them was what I liked so much.

You'll need a dotting tool with a very fine nib on it and one slightly bigger end on it, tweezers and topcoat of course oh and some nail art decals, you don't have to use hearts though, you can use whatever you want.

1. apply basecoat

2. Apply two thin coats of nude polish

3. Start with a dotted layer using the larger nib of the dotting tool of Blue Moon and gently spread dots around the "frame" of your nails but leave gaps in between each dot.

4. Fill in the gaps between each Blue Moon Dot with Lemon Ice Cream dots using again the larger nib of the dotting tool, try and overlap the dots slightly.

5. Apply dots of Pink Flamingo on top of the overlap of Lemon and Blue, using the smaller nib on the dotting tool. The smaller nib prevents the pink from swallowng one of the colours too much on the design.

6. using the same technique for steps 3 and 4 apply Berry Icecream and Mint Green in a similar manner only using the smaller nib of the dotting tool and applying them just below your first "Frame", it's very Subtle over the nude as they are both pale pastel colours but it adds a bit of depth to the Frame, you can just notice the colours surrounding the frame.

7. While the whole design is still tacky, choose your nail decals and line them up against the nail you want, my nail decals come on clear plastic backing so I can usually like them up without them having to touch my nail to decide what size works best. Gently peel the decals from the backing with a pair of tweezers and then carefully apply them to the centre of the nail and gently use the end of the tweezers to smooth them down. The best thing about a nude polish is, if you make a small accident applying the decal it's much harder to see it.

8. Apply Topcoat and you're done.


Also in total I got 22 bottles of nail polish for Christmas alone, 3 from my secret santa, 5 from my best friend and 14 bottles from my parents, my total amount of bottles is now reaching 168, I have no doubt I'll have reached 200 by the end of the year

 

[Mage]

Dear Our Lady of the Immaculate Manicure:

I painted my nails a deep red over the holidays, and when I came to remove the polish it stained my finger tips and looked like I'd stuck my hand in a jar of pickled beetroot. Any tips for dodging this? I know the golden rule is a base coat, but I don't think that would have helped with the fingertip staining (I think it's because my hands are kind of rough from work). I've got to remove the stuff on my toenails yet and I'm reluctant to pink up my feet too. :/

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Oooh! Pretty... it's amazing the amount of creativity you can pack into so small a space.

 

[Sprites]

Red is one of the worst to remove and yep basecoat is the key, hmm my best advice is to soak a cotton pad in remover and wrap it around your finger using tinfoil to secure it for around 5 mins or so, believe it or not but this is the method I use for removing glitter polish and stainage and it works every time.

Its a bit stinky to do because your nails and fingers smell so strongly of remover after but if you wash your hands after and then apply a good moisturiser it should do the job or removing the smell and I'd probably do this technique in a well ventilated room

 

[Mage]

Cheers lady, oddly enough I found some nail transfers in my toolbag (I know, I know, who thought they belonged with a pipe wrench?), so I thought I'd give them a whirl with some clear polish.

 

[Sprites]

use them! Also I want to see pics

 

[Mage]

Haha, no-one wants to see my freakishly bony deformed feet.

 

[Super Mario]

I wonder. can you do an Iron Man nail art? :B

 

[Sprites]

Mage your feet are fantabulous I bet.

Mums, I could probably do it on my left hand with some practice but only on that hand as I can't do nail art for shite on my right hand

 

[Super Mario]

I would love to see an Iron man themed nail art. <3 It's fine! red and gold is enough!

 

[Sprites]

Hmm well I'm off work from Wednesday for a week so can probably attempt it then

 

[Sprites]

Alright so I mentioned earlier that I had purchased some brand new polishes and that I in particular couldn&#8217;t wait to test out the new one, so naturally it&#8217;s the first one I put on my nails.

The brand is called A-England if anyone wants to know. I already own quite few of the polishes from the different collections, but this is their newest and it carries a Ballet theme. I&#8217;ve taken a couple of photos in different lighting because the polishes carry a subtle, scattered, holographic shimmer running through them which is visible either in sunlight or strong artificial light but they are also quite beautiful when the holographic shimmer isn&#8217;t as visible.

Without Flash

And with the flash so you can see the shimmer running through each

From left to right

&#8216;Encore&#8217; a Pale silver polish with a slight green tint to it although hard to see in my pics

&#8216;Her Rose Adagio&#8217; A pale, rose pink

&#8216;Fonteyn&#8217; It looks very similar to &#8216;Encore&#8217; in the picture but it leans more towards a nude colour and had a slight lilac tint to it.

&#8216;Dancing with Nureyev&#8217; An almost Cornflower blue colour with a lilac tint running through it and it also leans towards a slight gold tint when the holographic colour shines through and is easily my favourite and the one I&#8217;m wearing so below is some photos of said polish in normal lighting so you can see the cornflower colour and then two different angled photos taken with the flash on so you can see the holographic shimmer and the gold tint I&#8217;m talking about.

Oh also my next post is going to be something kinda cool because I&#8217;m going to attempt some &#8216;Galaxy&#8217; nail art inspired by the pic below it's an actual real pic taken by Nasa through their telescopes, they put a new photo up every day, I think &#8216;Her Rose Adagio&#8217; and &#8216;Dancing with Nureyev&#8217; are going to be very helpful in creating this.

 

[Sprites]

Hello!

Well I did promise I'd do some Galaxy nail art the next time and I have two to show you.
Galaxy nail art is based on sponging colours over a dark base most of the time in light layers, building it up as you go along, but you can also do it with light colours. There's no right or wrong way to do it and it's messy, but fun to see what you come up with.

The first pic is based on what I posted above, it didn't quite turn out like the picture but the inspiration for it was there,

The second pic is based on a tutorial I found on a blog I constantly go to for inspiration and I used the same colour schemes and rather than me showing you how it's done I think I'll let the tutorial speak for itself.

Tutorial link
http://www.thenailasaurus.com/2013/07/galaxy-nail-art-tutorial.html

 

[trash panda]

Are those your real nails? They look nice and thick.
I never really paint my nails but it looks to be sort of like painting with acrylics...

Can we make requests? I want FF7 nail art.

 

[Sprites]

They are indeed my real nails

Well, Mumble has already requested some Iron Man nail art so that would be first when I get round to it, as for FF themed nail art it's crossed my mind many times to do something but it's hard trying to pinpoint one thing to focus on plus I'm not very good at drawing so intricate bits would be trickier but I have thought about it .