Quick and Simple Scaled Nail Art [VIDEO TUTORIAL]

I wasn't (and still am not) sure what to call this look. It seems kinda scaly, kinda alien, kinda fantasy-esque, almost like alligator skin... In the end, I decided on scaled. You can call it whatever you like, but the fact is that this nail art is super easy and pretty chic! Read on to check out the video tutorial.

I used three Ella & Mila shades.

Ella & Mila Honeymoon Bliss
Ella & Mila Ibiza Breeze
Ella & Mila In Line For Wine

In Line For Wine is actually a satin-matte polish! It's luxe either way, but in this instance, I've covered it with topcoat and stripped it of its leather finish.

To achieve this nail art for yourself, all you need is a small nail art brush. Just dip the brush in your polish of choice and dab it onto the nail in rows. Don't worry about being too precise, I like the spots where the dabs were larger or smaller than average.

And of course, as promised, here is the short video of this nail art in action!

A video posted by Chalkboard Nails (Sarah) (@chalkboardnails) on Apr 15, 2015 at 2:47pm PDT

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KIKO - 854, swatch

854 is a light turquoise green creme, it's definitely more green than blue, and therefore I call it legit for Green Wednesday. 854 is too dark for a pastel but still lighter than a regular turquoise even though it looks much darker on the nail than the bottle. The formula is super thin (as I've experienced with many KIKO's) and the round brush saves the application by miles but I still needed 4-5 coats depending on the nail to get rid of the "streakyness". These round bottles are also suppose to be fast drying but I guess that the many coats of polish makes them slow drying even with seche vite. Too bad because I liked the base color. What do you think?

Bought at a KIKO store on sale, payed like 1 euro or something like that.

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Nailbox Pre-Fall 2014 Trendbox Curated by Chalkboard Nails

The newest Nailbox Trendbox is out, and guess what... I curated it! I am so proud of the box that I was able to put together -- it feels very "me" and I think you'll love it as well. My Pre-Fall 2014 Trendbox costs only $35, and includes four lacquers (two cremes, a neon shimmer, and a metallic), a matte topcoat, and a set of bonus nail wraps from Nailbox. You get a tremendous value for a fraction of the price, and the box is available as a one time purchase or as a quarterly subscription. Let's take a look at some swatches.

LVX Cashmere is a soft greyed out nude shade. It covered perfectly in two coats and is my ideal fall neutral.

The Trendbox also contains Essie Matte About You, a matte topcoat that can be applied over any polish for a chic, shine-free finish. Here is Cashmere with Matte About You.

NCLA Santa Monica Shore Thing is a minty turquoise. I love this color family and the formula was flawless at two coats.

Here is Santa Monica Shore Thing paired with Essie Matte About You.

Orly Hot Tropics is a bright fuchsia with heavy golden shimmer. The shimmer is absolutely gorgeous and goes especially well with the matte topper. I used three coats for the coverage shown.

Hot Tropics with Matte About You.

Priti NYC Chrysanthos is a sparkling gold metallic polish. It's one of those flecky metallics, which means it really catches the light beautifully. It has a twinge of silver to it, so I'd classify this as a "champagne." Two coats.

Chrysanthos with Matte About You.

As an added bonus, Nailbox has also included a set of NCLA nail wraps with every box! These Aly En Vogue wraps are sticker style, in a cute floral print.

I really tried to pick shades and finishes that I love for this box, while still selecting some brands that you may not have had a chance to try yet. This is a great way to introduce yourself to niche brands, since you receive the product at a discount when you purchase the box! I really hope you love my choices as much as I do.

My Pre-Fall 2014 Trendbox is available as a single box for $35 (a $65+ value) or you can purchase the one year subscription for $126. Boxes are curated by nail bloggers and trendsetters.

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this Trendbox. When you purchase my Pre-Fall Trendbox, you help to support Chalkboard Nails!

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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?

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My Picks From the Smitten Polish Summer 2014 Collection

Recently, I was doing my usual blog-browsing and I came across this stunning Smitten Polish Summer 2014 collection swatch post from My Nail Polish Obsession. I don't buy too much polish these days, but every so often something will catch my eye and I'll blaze through the checkout process faster than you can say "Do you really need more nail polish?"

Jellyfish Rave is a purple base that is positively packed with holographic microglitters. It sits closer to the blue side of the purple spectrum and is a very flattering shade. I used three coats for the coverage here. The glitters aren't gritty and you may only need one coat of topcoat. I did two for good measure.

Seahorse Rodeo is the first polish I reached for when my order arrived. It's a stunning Caribbean aqua with a high density of holographic microglitters. Three coats shown, plus two coats of topcoat. I think I wore this one for three or four days.

The Oncoming Storm has a royal cobalt blue base with full coverage holographic microglitter mixed in. This one only needed two coats for opacity. I suspect this is because of the darker base. It's the moodiest of the three here but is still very pigmented and lovely.

Look, I just don't have anything bad to say about these. They apply smoothly and evenly, the glitters aren't gritty or topcoat hungry, the pigmentation is perfect and the glitters are very sparkly. Well done Smitten Polish, well done!

The Summer 2014 collection is being restocked this Saturday, 7/26 at 2pm Central time in the Smitten Polish shop. Keep up with Smitten Polish on Facebook for more updates and swatches.

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Lazy Maze and a Summer Gradient with Floss Gloss

Continuing my "black pattern over a neon gradient" obsession is today's manicure, featuring Floss Gloss polishes! I was stuck on a name for this post until Leslie from Work/Play/Polish suggested "lazy maze." I loved that name because it references the similarly patterned maze manicures that I've done before, and also describes what my lines look like: the easiest mazes ever.

I began with a white base to help the colors pop, and then used a triangle makeup wedge to sponge a gradient of Floss Gloss Con Limon and Floss Gloss Wet. Con Limon is really extraordinarily gorgeous. Super neon, perfect lime green.

The black lines are painted freehand with Floss Gloss Black Holy. I did each of the line patterns in pairs of two, which created an interesting "channel" effect down the nail. They feel tribal-inspired but I think they still stand on their own as something different.

This is my first experience with Floss Gloss and I was happy with it! The polishes are on the pricier side ($8 for what is essentially a mini), but the bottles are gorgeously antique-chic and the formula is nice. They would be really beautiful displayed on a vanity. Note to self: build a vanity just to display these polishes.

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Visit Lumpy Space: Whatevers2009

This month's Lacquer Legion theme is "On Holiday." As it is summer and not December, this is obviously referring to the British (read: fancy) definition of holiday, commonly called vacation. Now, I could have done something a little more summery, but I decided to stretch the theme a bit and do a manicure I've wanted to do for a while now: a lumpy space landscape! Given the choice, this is where I would go on vacation if I could.

Confused? Don't be! This is another Adventure Time nail art manicure, inspired by the crazy Cartoon Network show. You may recall my character manicure or my Lady Rainicorn nails; these are the third addition to the group.

My favorite Adventure Time character, Lumpy Space Princess, is from Lumpy Space (go figure), a spacey world with pastel clouds and soft stars. I chose to paint a landscape spanning over my four nails with some additional clouds on my thumb.

Polishes used:
OPI Push and Pur-pull
OPI Vant to Bite My Neck?
Sally Hansen Pacific Blue (old version)
LVX Aster & Misa Loveliest of Lilacs (mixed)
Misa Ripe Raspberry
China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle
Finger Paints Lemon Sour
Nicole by OPI Matte Topcoat

While I didn't do a full tutorial, I did take some informal phone snaps of the nails along the way! You can see how you have to build up the clouds in layers: first blue, then purple, then aqua. The final steps include adding some soft yellow stars and a matte topcoat for that cartoon effect.

Follow The Lacquer Legion on Facebook or Instagram for once monthly nail art prompts aimed at bringing together the nail polish community!

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Ivory and Turquoise Antiqued Baroque

Good afternoon you fine folks! I have some nail art today for you, hooray! Here is my ivory and turquoise baroque patterned nail art.

Originally, I planned to do a design based on the curtains that Maria used to make the kids' clothes in The Sound of Music. After a few moments of patting myself on the back for being so original, I googled it and found that Debbie had beat me to the punch! D'oh.

That was okay though, I had received butter LONDON Two Fingered Salute in the mail yesterday afternoon and was itching to use it anyway. It's a bit too turquoise to pass for the curtains in the movie, so I used it to make a pretty baroque design over my base color of Lime Crime Milky Ways.

I freehanded this design using my trusty medium length striper brush (I know, you're shocked). Two Fingered Salute was a bit sheer for nail art, so I did have to go over my embellishments twice, but I am enamored with this color and didn't mind at all. As for the actual patterns, I just made them up as I went. I did have to re-do a nail or two because I wasn't pleased with the way the pattern had come out.

I love the copper sparks in the turquoise base, and layering it over an ivory shade really just made for a nice vintage look.

What do you think? Are you feeling the vintage vibes?

butter LONDON Two Fingered Salute is a Nordstrom's exclusive and can only be found in Nordstrom stores, on Nordstrom.com, and on butterlondon.com.
Lime Crime nail polish can be found on the Lime Crime website and on Harlow & Co.

Post contains affiliate links. 

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