Abstract

This is a style of nail design I first saw while browsing on Pinterest. It looks really cool and intricate but is actually really simple to create.

To create this design, all you need is a little bit of scotch tape, a bunch of colours, and some patience. I placed the pieces of scotch tape down on a plastic surface (so it'd be easy to peel up) and painted my colours directly onto each piece. While these dried, I painted my nails white so that the colours would pop.

Next I took a small pair of sharp scissors and cut little triangles and stripes out of the pieces of painted scotch tape and used a tooth pick to help me place them where I wanted on my nails.

After I had all my pieces positioned and stuck down onto my nails where I wanted them, I painted on 2 thick layers of top coat to seal in the tape.

You could definitely do this design with a number of shapes, I think squares or little stars would look really cool as well.

Base Colour: Sally Hansen - White On

Design Colours: ACO - Hot Coral, Electric Ocean, & Mint Green

Maybelline - Fierce n' Tangy; Sally Hansen - No Hard Feelings

Top Coat: Pro FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

Half n' Half

This is a really easy design, all you have to do is paint on your base colour and let it dry completely. Then use scotch tape to make a line across your nails, painting the second colour on top. Peeling the tape off while the nail polish is still wet makes the cleanest line between the two colours.

Base Colour: OPI - Mod About You

Top Colour: ACO - Deep Green

Top Coat: PRO FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Ombre Nails

Ombre nails (and hair) are really popular right now so I thought I'd take a stab at recreating the look myself. This technique is a little bit tricky, but is easy to perfect with practice. You can do this design with 2, 3 or even 4 colours, but I've found that the more colours you try to squeeze onto your nail the less smoothly they tend to blend. I chose bright blue, turquoise and minty green colours for my nails as they would blend more naturally together into a gradient.

The easiest way to achieve this look is to use a small makeup sponge and paint your polish onto the skinny end from lightest to darkest, or darkest to lightest in my case, noting that the colour on the tip will be at the base of your nail. I painted a white colour onto my nails before sponging on the other colours so that they would be brighter. You may need to reapply the paint onto the sponge with each nail, and sponge some nails more than once to get a smooth blend between colours.

Base Colour: Sally Hansen - Whitewind White

Ombre Colours: ACO - Electric Ocean, Deep Green, Mint Cream

Top Coat: PRO FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Ocean Inspired

For my first post I was inspired by memories of my recent trip to Punta Cana, and all the fun water-related summer activities that we'll all soon be enjoying. This first design is easy and great for beginners who want fabulous looking nails that are a breeze to create.

For this design I chose a bright turquoise as my bottom layer and applied two coats to get a nice even finish. Once that dried, I used a makeup sponge to lightly dab on the glitter layer, working down from the tips. For this technique it's important to paint the polish directly onto the sponge, re-applying when needed. I finished off with two layers of top coat to seal in the design and voila! Ocean-y nails that are reminiscent of mermaids!

Base Colour: ACO Mint Cream

Top Glitter Colour: ACO Day n' Night

Top Coat: Pro-FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait.