White disappearing leopard pattern nail art

A late post with today's nails. I'm not sure what to call it but White disappearing leopard pattern nail art will have to do. I guess it could be called negative space nail art in some ways too. This was quite simple to do, first I did a gradient using a nude jelly and a jelly white and an opaque white. Then I freehanded the leo spots on top and embellished with clear white rhinestones. Sadly the photos are after 2-3 days of wear so they aren't as fresh as I usually want then to be but I liked them and wanted to show you. :)

Polishes used:
Sally Hansen - Sweet Tulip
R de L Young - Coconut Milk
Essence - Wild White ways
2 MM clear rhinestones

Read More

Claire's - Leopard, swatch and nail art

It is many brands who have used the leopard glitter in their polishes. It's easy to make leo pattern nail art by freehand, but I still needed to try the glitter. It feels like an instant method of "nail art". In the shelfs this polish looks pretty blend, and it wasn't until Lakobotan asked me if this particular polish was in the stores here. Well it was, and had been for a long time, so fail on me. Bought it asap.

Leopard (sadly?) has opalescent shredded flake glitter as well. A combination which is a bit malplaced together  with the matte black leopard glitter. The black glitter needs a light base, and the flakes need something very dark to show. Also I've said it perhaps hundreds of times, I prefer to not have matte glitter combined with shiny glitter, but still I bought this. ;)

So for my first try I decided to make a "black and white gradient", which this time looks more like a dark gray to light gray gradient, to show both the black glitter and the flakies. About Leopard then, I used 2 coats, with much fishing, dabbing and placing resulting in a thick manicure. As you can see at the bottle pics, the leo glitter sinks to the bottom like rocks in water. So, what do you think? :)

Bought this at Claire's for 3.99 euro.

So, do you like this gradient combo? I'm in the mood of trying the leo polish with some colored base next time, what color would you use? Give my some inspo please! :D

Read More

NCC presents; recreating member designs; Animals - Leopard inspired by Druid Nails

Here's my second manicure for the Nail Challenge Collaborative theme this month. We're recreating member designs and I really liked a Leopard manicure which Druid Nails did a while back and decided to give em' a try. I like her version better, maybe my leo spots are too small? Or maybe the "rounded shape" the spots creates on the blue, is too rounded? Also she did her thumb and pinkie with full leo, I didn't. Sadly the holographic silver glitter, didn't look holographic/prismatic in these pictures, so you'll have to imagine.. ;) And as you understand I hurried up fixing this one done for today, it's blue and suitable for Blue Monday! :)

Polishes used:
Rival De Loop - 406, (swatch)
Nicole by OPI - Make A Comet-Ment
Essence - Let's Get Lost

An InLinkz Link-up

Read More

Neon leopard nail art + matching pedicure

Today I have some nails from last summer, I've been a bit reluctant with these because they come with a bad memory, not with the nail art though. While I had these on I did some acrylic nails on a work buddy and I got an allergic reaction even though I was super careful, I think I accidentally nudged a piece of paper which acrylic acid while cleaning away the stuff (because I had gloves on during the whole thing). Anyhow, to make a long story short, the allergic reaction made my cuticle itch terrible and I got tiny little bumps on the skin around my nails (it doesn't show so much but if you look carefully you can see it in some of the photos). After the photos I removed my polish and went no-polish for a week or more to really make my nails relax from any chemicals. I also went crazy and oiled constantly. One thing is for sure, I wont touch acrylics again, I'll stick with nail polish. ^^

Anyhow, to the nail art; I did a gradient with neon green, yellow and pink and then I did dots in the same colors and then filled them in leo style. Quite happy with the result.
And warning to the sensitive ones; there's one picture in the end with my matching pedicure. :)

Polishes used:
China Glaze - Hang Ten-toes
China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard
China Glaze - Sun-Kissed
Kleancolor - Black

Read More

Teen Create Space Beginner Nail Art Workshop (Plus Giveaway!)

Recently, a friend of mine reached out and asked if I would be interested in teaching an hour-long nail art workshop for teens ages 12-18 at one of the local libraries here in Arizona. I jumped at the chance; I think the program is SO great. It gives teens in the area something creative to do after school at absolutely no cost to them! I thought a gradient + leopard print design would appeal to the teens, and would be doable in the workshop time frame, too.

Since the attendees were so young, I knew I needed some bright, fun colors! Salon Perfect was a natural choice for the polish and generously sponsored the event. The kids could not have been more excited!

We used Salon Perfect Tickled Pink, Pure Azure, Lavender Fields, and Oil Slick, as well as the Crystal Clear topcoat and nail art tool duos.

The workshop ended up having 15 attendees. I began by showing them how to use a makeup wedge to create a gradient, and then showed them a simple leopard print using a dotting tool.

At the end, the teens told me they were surprised to see how easy it was to create the gradient leopard look. A few of them opted to focus on doing one hand so they could really perfect the technique, and one girl decided she wanted to stop after doing a beautiful gradient!

I loved the experience and hope to have the opportunity to do it again soon! It was a blast.

And there's good news for you, too! You can enter to win the exact polishes we used in this workshop! Five winners will be selected. US residents only, ends November 26th, 2014.

Salon Perfect Giveaway

Read More

Fierce Feline - Satin vs. Glossy Leopard Print Nail Art

I know I just said that I don't often do leopard print nails, but this one is a little different than my usual leopard fare. I recently received a couple of the new Jesse's Girl Satin Finish nail polishes to try out, and thought it would be a good time to try out some satin vs. glossy tone-on-tone nail art. I paired Jesse's Girl Black Satin with a black nail polish for the leopard details.

Polishes used:
Jesse's Girl Black Satin (satin grey) - 2 coats
American Apparel Hassid (black)

I really liked the formula on the Jesse's Girl satin polish. I applied two coats, then gave it a bit to dry down to it's satin finish. Then, using a small nail art brush, I painted on the leopard pattern freehand. You could also paint your nail art with topcoat for a more subtle effect, but I decided to use black to make the print pop.

The final effect is something kind of velvety, with a tiny bit of raised texture coming from the lack of topcoat. I really, really love it.

Have you ever tried combining glossy polishes with matte/satin shades? I really should try to do it more often, the effect is totally killer.

Read More

OPI Nordic Collection Leopard Print Nail Art

I was recently reading a post on Work/Play/Polish where Leslie talked about how she overdid leopard print nail art at the beginning of her blogging career, and hasn't done it very much recently because of that. I have to agree with her sentiments. It's definitely one of the nail art styles that I've done most over the years, and I tend to shy away from it these days. Of course, there are exceptions, like today's post!

My last leopard print used a nail art brush to paint tiny leopard markings, but for this look I went back to the classic dotting tool technique.

I used:
OPI Going My Way or Norway?
OPI My Dogsled is a Hybrid
OPI Skating On Thin Ice-land

I really liked using Skating On Thin Ice-land for the darkest shade in this nail art. At times, it would catch the light and the burgundy tone would totally shine. It was purty.

Is there a nail art style that you've burned out on in the past?

Read More

Metallic leopard spots

Hi! Had a blog free day yesterday. Went to my brother and his girl friend and hang out and had barbecue dinner etc. And now I'm also at my parents place, picking blueberries, painting their house etc. I also have some good news to tell you later on but we can save that for later. :)

Let's look at some nail art instead. Large blue metallic leopard spots on top of black creme, quite elegant and clean. And yea, apparently a lot of flowers combined too since I had a flower-photo-period last year when I took these photos. XD

Love the metallic in the sun.

Polishes used:
ZTIZ (black creme)
HM matte metallic -  Blue Metal (swatch)

Read More