Nail Art Lately…

I’ve been having some fun playing with different nail art in the last couple of months.
Some were my idea, but I get most of my ideas from blogs/Tumblr/tutorial videos.

This polka dot gradient was a lot of fun. I used a nice white base (I love OPI’s My Boyfriend Scales Walls) and 4 colors. The idea was to have more of a cluster of dots at the base of the nail and make them a bit more sparse at the top. That’s hard when using so many colors, but I think I did a good job. Of all the nail art type thingees I’ve done, this has gotten nearly 50 likes on Instagram…that’s pretty astounding for me.

Speaking of gradients, I love glitter gradients. You can slap that glitter on, and it’ll be nice and all, but there’s something different and appealing about the subtle flow. I’m by no means saying this is perfect, but it’s something fairly easy and appeasing to the eye.

These cartoon nails might not be perfectly cleaned up (I took this pretty much right after it was done, and black is a total pain to get off the edges), but what an awesome look. I used Cute Polish’s amazing tutorial and it’s such a fun look. I hope to do it again, and perfect a clean line.
Cute Polish recommends using a matte top coat to add to the cartoon/comic effect, but I like my nails to be glossy for the most part.

This is an example of a jelly sandwich. A jelly sandwich is created by layering a jelly (sheer but pigmented) polish, a glitter, and another layer of jelly polish. It appears as though the glitter is suspended in the color. I liked this combo, which looked like a jawbreaker or Laffy Taffy in person. Jelly Sandwiches are super easy and an awesome look, but I don’t have many sheers, just a couple of pinks. I want to add more to my collection so that I can expand my sandwiches!

I absolutely love color blocked nails. There’s something dimensional about the look. You can do two different colors, but I think it’s fun to do two shades of the same color because it can have a fun effect to the eye. This mani was all Essie. In the Cab-ana, Mint Candy Apple, and As Gold As It Gets…all beautiful colors. I like the stripe of metallic color separating the main shades.

This was my most recent venture into some abstract nail art and I absolutely loved it. At first, I wasn’t sure I liked the color combo, but I’m so happy with how it turned out and I’d like to do it again, changing the shapes and the colors. I was inspired by this photo.

I have plenty more to show, but I’ll save those for another time!