Just Dots…

So here’s some really simple autumnal nail art. Again, I was in the mood for having painted nails but didn’t have the time or motivation for anything excessive.

Welcome to Autumn…

So I’ve been sitting on this nail art since September, it’s just that I couldn’t get my butt in to gear to edit the pictures and write a post.  I used my Pusheen calendar as the source image and just sort of copied it like for like.

As I’m so out of practice, my painting isn’t the neatest but I still think it turned out cute!

Mushrooms Silhouettes…

So I actually took two days to do this nail art. I painted the mushroom silhouettes yesterday but they just didn’t look complete, something was missing as there was just too much empty space – less was not more in their case. Today I settled on painting some dots in hope that they looked like a swarm of fireflies but I suppose they could also be taken as fungus spores!

Acorn Avalanche…

So even though it’s not technically Autumn (the equinox isn’t until later this month) I’m already in an Autumnal mood. My house decor has already been switched over, I purchased a jumper at the weekend and I’m so over blended ice drinks – roll on Chai lattes and hot chocolates!

If you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed that I’ve been crafting myself a new phone case. It includes acorns (as well as a hedgehog and mushrooms) so I just sort of felt in the mood to wear some acorns on my nails too!

 

Autumnal Needle Drag…

So this is my first design for Autumn! I spent today changing my house decor; in to the cupboard went the cactus ornaments, bright flowers and flower press frames and out came the pumpkin garland, auburn leaves and wooden candle holders.

I’ve never done a needle drag before and it was made a lot easier by my silicone nail art mat as I was able to make some decals. Two thick coats of base colour, splodge on some dots in another colour and whilst it’s all still wet gently drag a needle through it in whatever fashion you wish. Ta-da!

Falling Leaf…

So I’ve been really embracing Autumn this week. I feel summer delivered good weather and good times, and therefore I’m happy to get on with the seasons to come. Sometimes, especially in Scotland, we’re a little cheated by the summer weather due to it’s unpredictability but not this year.

I find Autumn very beautiful. Most of my flowers are dying off, but I’ve looked at them for months so now it’s nice to see the Cyclamen peeping out with their wonderful shades of pinks and purples. Even though the leaves on the trees are actually dying, their death attire is gorgeous. And I’m lucky enough to have a wonderful view of the edge of a forest from my room window so I can’t help but appreciate the beauty of it.

Anyway, can we put that ramble down to a ‘the weekend is here’ drink, here’s some nail art.

BornPrettyStore: Holographic Leaves Foil…

So I keep wanting to say ‘Holographic leaf’ foil, but that’s not the way it is and it’s bugged me this whole time, I needed to get that off my chest before we started. And breathe… So pretty!

I received this ‘Holographic Leaves Foil‘* from BornPrettyStore to review. I’ve previously used their leopard print foil here, here and here, so as you can probably tell I really like how that foil performs. This time round I chose a holographic pattern to see how well it would apply. Any guesses? It applied so well, how good does it look!

Now to rewind a little. The foil itself comes in a handy little tub, meaning no folding or potential scratching off of the design. There’s about a meter in there which is pretty good going. The only ‘problem’ I could pick at is the fact the pattern is quite large, meaning I had to chose individual leaves for each nail. Once I sized it up I cut around the leaves I wanted so as not to waste foil or end up with accidental stickage.

To make the foils stick I applied my nail foil glue, not included with the foil but you can pick it up at BPS too, and waited until I could no longer see it (it applies white, and once clear it means the glue is tacky enough for the foils to stick). I then applied the foil on top, making sure it was the correct side down so the pattern would actually transfer. Usually I have a hoof stick that I rub over the nail but the foil was so amazing the backing paper actually lifted off without much pressure at all – I was actually able to rub it gently with my finger! You can see in picture below the clear ‘break’ lines of the stuck foil and the foil still on the backing.

Once applied, it is vital to top coat the foil. Your nail is still kind of tacky afterwards, and unless top coated you WILL end up with fluffy nails, trust me… This was the part that made me nervous though. I know with my other metallic foils (Rio) that SecheVite can alter their appearance, as in sometimes change them to a whole different colour. The top photo shows the foils freshly applied, the one underneath shows it top coated. To me there is a comparable difference, the top coated leaf looks more silver, it’s kind of lost it’s ‘holographicness’, and is a little streaky but I actually think it looks more punchy!

I decided to use some Barry M polishes, ‘Raspberry’ and ‘Watermelon’ to create an Autumnal vibe. (LOL look at me ‘swatching’. So much to learn, like making my bottles fingerprint free…)

I applied my selected individual leaves to each nail, and it think it looks great! Just perfect for Autumn. Maybe not the jaundiced looking hand that follows though…

Because I am myself, I couldn’t just leave (AH HA) them at that. I felt like I wanted to create a sandwich (non-edible), so coated the leaves with their respective base colour. I couldn’t beLEAVE it actually worked, yes very subtle, but it worked!

It looks the most effective on my thumb. You can see the layers really clearly and look, some ‘holographicness’ even with top coat! Maybe it depends on the angle of the light. So what do you think of the leafy sandwich, did I just totally waste the whole thing?…

To recap, the ‘Holographic Leaves Foil‘ are a little large in pattern but look pretty, apply beautifully, top coat successfully (even if they do turn more silver with SecheVite, I don’t think it wastes them), are versatile and you should totally just go buy them as they’re perfect for Autumn! If you use my code ‘AZYW10’ you’ll get 10% off all full priced items in your order, you’ll also earn points that you can eventually use towards future purchases and it’s free shipping, yaaay!

Autumn Blanket…

So this design was actually inspired by my recent trip to Glasgow. We were on a sushi and cinema date, but what caught my eye were all the amazing shop displays for their Autumn Collections. I can’t remember exactly what shop I saw this colour palette in, as it amalgamated with all the Mexican blanket-esk things I was seeing along the way – resulting in an ‘I’m a bit squiggly as I was done free-hand’ design.

Autumn Speckle…

So here’s another Autumn design, which is actually inspired by ‘Nail Swag’. I had to change the colours as I couldn’t go for a ‘natural’ looking base – my nails are still horribly stained from the weather map design. The more eagle eyed of yous will noticed I have a nub on my middle finger (don’t worry if you didn’t spot it, I have quite large nails anyway so I feel it’s not as noticeable). This was due to some over enthusiastic usage of a craft knife but I’m glad it was my nail and not my finger!

Glitter Puss…

So it’s Autumn. There’s no denying it or avoiding it as our house faces a woods and the leaves on the trees are starting to turn. With this realization I felt it was time to get some browns out, so I did it with a brown glitter ombre topped haphazardly with leopard print nail foil* (A11) from BornPrettyStore – which is currently on sale at the moment, 14th September, at only $0.99!