Showing posts with label Marbling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marbling. Show all posts

Friday, December 23, 2011

McQueen Inspired Shattered Turquoise Nails

Alexander McQueen's designs always pushed the envelope and I was so sad to hear that he took his own life in 2010.  I do hope Sarah Burton and her team will continue to design in the spirit of Alexander McQueen and pull off gravity defying, fashion forward creations to inspire me in my nail art. 

The nail art below was inspired by a pair of shoes from McQueen's Spring 2010 collection which were tan, bootie-like heels, encrusted with gold tipped turquoise in an almost broken glass pattern. 



I think on longer nails you could almost pull off a reverse french tip effect and add pieces to the bottom of the nail like the bottom of this shoe but I have short nails so I stuck with the pattern at the top of the shoe.




These nails were a process.  After putting a protective, clear base coat with Pro FX Complete 3, I quickly applied dots of For Audrey, Tokyo Pearl, and Iceberg Lotus.  I used a toothpick to do some waterless marbling and pulled the colors into one another.  After the nails were mostly dry, I lightly sponged on Metallic Yellow on random parts of each nail.  Next, using a nail art brush I drew in gold lines to look like a shattered or stained glass pattern.  Last, I dabbed Warm & Fozzie into some corners of the gold lines to add darker shadows to parts of the shatter effect. 

I am loving the way these nails turned out and, ladies, remember: When fashion is too expensive, too painful, or just plain out there....try it out on your nails!

*Tips*  I think this look could have easily been created with sponging the same colors but as you can tell I'm kinda in a "marbling" phase.  For longer nails, I would start with nude tips so you can recreate the entire shoe's pattern.   Also, a smaller brush would work for more intricate shatter pattern but I like how bold the gold lines are on these nails.  You coul also try accenting the shadows with a heavier copper polish but remember less is more!  Last, be sure you have time to do these nails and you won't be disappointed!


Sunday, December 18, 2011

Sparkly Christmas Tree Nails with marbling

So bring on the cheese with these nails.  They are Christmas-y and Holiday-ish without shame...not to mention, Sparkadelic!  As I have said in previous posts, I have been playing with marbling when I stumbled onto a way to make a Christmas tree shape.  Dare you to try it!


Polishes Used:


After putting a clear base coat on my nails, I applied Metallic Green to every nail but my ring finger.  On that nail, I applied a thick coat of Sugar Sugar.   I quickly used a nail art brush to paint a thin line in Metallic Green down the nail. 

Here is the crucial step:  Dip your toothpick or needle into Metallic Green polish before you start your gradual horizontal marbling.  Stop midway and reapply some more Metallic Green to the pick or pin and finish.  Keep in mind that your zig zags should be getting bigger toward the end of the nail.

While the polish was still drying I applied a single glitter star from Siver Star glitter polish.  While the polish on your ring finger dries (its thick so it will take awhile) this gives you time to decorate the rest of your nails a la Christmas tree.  I first used several drops of Chunky Silver on my scrap paper and place the largest glitter pieces in swoopy lines on each nail to simulate garland.  This doesn't have to be that painstaking if you use a toothpick and overlap the glitter.  I then used a small dotting tool to put in ornaments with Sugar Sugar and Metallic Purple.  I also used Starry Blue's large blue glitters and placed them in random on each nail.  Last I used a medium dotting tool to make larger gold ornaments.  I covered each nail with Julep's Fast Drying topcoat.  Voila!  Cheesy (but cute and fun) Christmas Tree Nails.

*Tips* You could also use rhinestones or glitter to simulate Christmas lights.  I have some Sally Hansen Kaleidoscope glitter strips that would do awesome as glittler but it would be overkill with silver garland.  As with any marbling project, do not use fast drying polishes:)

Christmas Ribbon Candy Nails

Ive been playing a bit with marbling and dreamed up these nails while marbling on ziploc bags. 
In my quest for alternative Christmas nails (they can get pretty cheesy!) I thought that these nails would be a good but cheese-less design for the holidays!



Polishes Used:
Julep's Helena
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails The Real Teal
Revlon's Gold Coin
Julep's Fast Drying Topcoat

For these nails I simply painted my base coated nails with one half thick Real Teal and one half thick Helena.  Then using a stripper nail art brush, I painted a thin Gold Coin line down the middle of each nail.  I took a clean toothpick and quickly did swirls down the middle of the nail, dragging the gold polish into the teal and fuchsia polish.  I then waited for the nails to dry and applied a topcoat.

Pitfalls: 

Real Teal tend to dry very fast so you have to be faster or you end up with parts of the nail underneath showing!

Try to do the marbling in one fluid motion because if you try to go back, the design gets muddy.  Example is my index finger nail.


*Tips*

Since Real Teal tends to dry fast, I would recommend another greenish blue polish instead.  These nails would probably be excellent with some metallic green and red polish but again, I was looking for alternative holiday nails.  Let me know how it works for you!


Thursday, December 15, 2011

Alexander McQueen Rhinestone Skull Nails with Marbling

While surfing the fashion web, I couldn't help but notice and covet these awesome ballet flats from Alexander McQueen.  Isn't the rhinestone skull pretty insane?




Since I can't afford $545 shoes no matter how spectacular they are, I decided I needed to do some golden skull nails with rhinestone eyes and teeth.  I thought it would be overkill to do a skull on every nail so I also took this opportunity to try waterless marbling with black and gold polish on the rest of my nails.  I think I did pretty good for a first try!



Polishes Used:
Wet N' Wild Black Creme
Revlon Gold Coin
Julep Fast Drying Topcoat


After prepping my nails with a clear base coat, I applied one coat of Black Creme to each thumb nail.  I then quickly applied a diagonal slash of thick, black polish across the next nail and next to it I applied Gold Coin.  I took a toothpick and merged the polishes with a swirling motion.  As you can tell my first finger is a little muddier than I would like but the rest of my fingers turned out nice!  Next, once my thumb nails dried, I freehanded a gold skull on each nail.  I applied two black dots of polish to the skull and then applied a black rhinestone into each dot and then drew in a nose shape in black polish.  Last I added three, clear rhinestones for the teeth and applied a topcoat to each nail.

These nails would probably pop even more with a gold chrome polish but I haven't any of that kind of polish yet!  "Yet" being the opperative word.  Also, smaller rhinestones for the teeth might be in order or even specks of glitter?  Who knows.  These work for me & I hope you like them!