Fall Out Boy Tour Nails

I went to see Fall Out Boy perform in Leeds last weekend. They were absolutely amazing live and I loved every second! Of course I had to create a nail art design for the occasion so I painted my nails using the artwork from their latest album (American Beauty American Psycho) as my theme.

The base colour I used was Alpine Snow by OPI and the design was drawn on using a Wah London black nail art pen.

If you recreate this design make sure you dab the top coat on rather than dragging the brush across the nail because the black lines will smudge very easily on a white background.

Alternatively, this design would have looked great with a black base polish and the design drawn on with a white nail art pen. If anyone tries it out with a black background make sure you send me a pic @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram, I would love to see your designs!

I previously did another Fall Out Boy nail art design using some of their older album covers as inspiration. You can see the blog post about it here.

Nail HQ Hydrating Primer Review

I have been trying out another Nail HQ product this week. This time I tried their 'Hydrating Primer' which you apply on your nail before any colour or base coat. The primer cleanses the nail ready for the polish application and it also contains ingredients which are nourishing for the nails to keep them hydrated and healthy.

Using a primer before your base coat ensures that the nail is clean, this means that the polish will bond to your nail more effectively to prevent peeling and flaking. The primer also helps to hydrate the nail before you apply your polish which means your nails won't feel as dry and damaged when you take your polish off.

I have just been using this primer with regular nail polish but it is also suitable for use with artificial nails. I would definitely recommend using a primer like this before applying artificial nails because these are more likely to cause damage. Using this primer would prepare your nails nicely and leave a nourishing layer to protect your natural nails from whatever you apply on top of them.

This product retails at around £6.99 which is a great price for a good quality primer that you can use for every manicure. The bottle will last you ages so it is definitely worth it and from now on I shall be including it as an essential step in my manicure routine as preparing and nourishing the nail before a manicure is very important!

I love all of Nail HQs treatments and I would also really recommend their top coat! You can check out their other products here: http://www.nailhq.co.uk

Have you tried any Nail HQ products yet? Let me know @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram and +Nail Art by KathleenEmilyy on Google+.

Fuse Gelnamel Starter Kit Review

Fuse Gelnamel is a one step gel nail polish which combines the convenience of regular nail polish and the quick drying, chip free effects of gel polish. The starter kit includes one bottle of nail polish, a mini LED lamp, cleanser, lint free wipes, a cuticle stick and a buffer. They have managed to fit a lot of useful kit into a tiny box so I think this would make a cute little gift for anyone who enjoys painting their nails! 

  

To use the kit you must prepare your nails by pushing back your cuticles, buffing the surface of your nail and then using the cleanser and a lint free wipe to clean the nail. After preparing the nail, all you have to do is apply a thin coat of Fuse Gelnamel to the nail and cure under the LED lamp for 30 seconds and repeat this on all 10 fingers.

This polish does not require a gel base or top coat and claims that you only need one coat of polish which makes application a lot faster than a full gel manicure. I did find that the glitter polish that came in my starter set did require more than one coat to fully cover the nail. You must cure the nail under the LED lamp between each coat and you have to apply the polish in very thin layers. After the first coat it left a sheer coating of glitter, the second coat was acceptable, however I prefer full glitter coverage so I applied three coats just to be sure.

The application process was fairly quick but because the lamp is so tiny you have to complete all steps on one nail and then cure before moving onto the next. However, I found it easy enough to start preparing the next nail while the last nail is curing inside the lamp so it wasn't much of an inconvenience for me.

The colour of the actual polish is lovely, it has a combination of silver glitter with bigger pieces of pink glitter so overall it gives a soft pastel pink look. I thought that the polish would leave a rough surface on my nail as there was no top coat to smooth over the glitter but my nails actually feel very smooth and glossy so you really don't need a top coat!

Overall, I do really like this product and I will definitely use it again when I need a quick gel manicure. If you buy this product expecting the results of a salon gel manicure then you will probably be dissappointed because without a base and top coat you won't get the full strength for chip free resistance. However the Gelnamel polish is certainly stronger than regular nail polish so if you want something that lasts a bit longer but can't afford a salon manicure this would definitely suit you. I also love that the LED lamp is so small because that means you could fit it in any bag which makes it great for travelling and taking on holiday.

You can buy the Fuse Gelnamel starter kit from Boots by clicking here.

Have you tried the Fuse Gelnamel kit yet? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @KathleenEmilyy and let me know what you think!

Red Leopard Print

This red leopard print design was painted on a clients nails yesterday. The red base polish I used for this design is 'Love My Team' by Wah London. It is a lovely bold shade of red and the polish gives great coverage.

To draw the leopard print design I used a black nail art pen by Wah London. If you don't have a nail art pen you can use any black polish with a fine nail art brush to paint on the leopard spots.

This design works well on short nails as it is a simple pattern to draw but also looks great on longer nails too. You can choose any colour you like for the base polish and if desired you can use a second colour to fill the middle of the leopard spots.

As always, be careful when you apply the top coat so you don't smudge the black design - it is best to dab the brush on to the nail rather than drag the brush across.

Lilac Crystals

I've been trying out some more nail art designs with gel polish so this week I'm sharing one of my crystal gel nails designs. The pastel lilac gel polish is a beautiful colour for spring and summer and looks great with both silver and purple coloured crystals. The silver crystals I used are Swarovski crystals and the purple crystals I used are generic plastic crystals which you can get from any nail art supplier. The Swarovski crystals are a lot more sparkly and shiny than the cheaper crystals so I would definitely recommend getting some if it's within your price range. I always keep my Swarovski crystals when I soak off my manicure as you can re-use them again!

Using crystals to create nail art designs is a very simple technique but offers a wide range of potential styles. You can place a single crystal on each nail for a subtle and elegant look or you can cover your whole nail in crystals for a glam sparkly look. I decided to create a pattern on my ring finger with different colours and sizes of crystals for a super sparkly manicure great for a party or special occasion. When applying crystals to your nails with gel polish I find it is best to secure them in place within two layers of top coat. I apply the crystals on to the first layer of top coat when it is still wet and then cure under the lamp to set them in place. I then apply another layer of top coat over the whole nail and over the crystals before curing it under the lamp again. Some people prefer to skip the second layer of top coat to keep the crystals more sparkly but they will start falling off much sooner and the amount of shine that they lose with the top coat is not noticeable enough to worry about.

I'd love to see some other people's crystal nail designs so send me your manicure pics @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram!

Giraffe Nails

This evening I painted a giraffe design on my clients nails. It was inspired by a design she found online where the giraffes neck is stretched across all of the nails with the face on the thumb. There are a few variations on this design that other nail artists have created so you could look on google for similar ideas if you like this design! It is a fairly simple design to paint as all you need is a blue base polish and yellow, brown and black nail art pens. If you don't have nail art pens in those colours you can just use normal nail polish with a nail art brush. The blue polish I used was Can't Find My Czechbook by OPI, the yellow and black were nail art pens from Wah London and I used a brown polish by Barry M with a nail art brush to draw the giraffe print.

If you live in Beverley and want to book a manicure with me you can see my price list here.

If you like my work you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @KathleenEmilyy

Strawberries and Cream

Wimbledon started this week and everyone eats strawberries and cream when they go to watch the tennis competition so I decided to paint strawberries on my nails. The women's final is on Saturday 11th of July and the men's final is on Sunday 12th of July so hopefully I can last a couple of weeks without chipping my polish!

If you're not into the Wimbledon theme and you just like the strawberries you can do this design without the splashes of cream for a cute nail design - the strawberry design also looks good on your toes if you want a fancy summer pedicure design.

(Strawberries & Cream glass bowl is from Emma Bridgewater)

How to get this look:

Start by applying a base coat and then two coats of red nail polish.

Using a nail art brush and green polish paint the strawberry leaves at the base of your nails next to your cuticles.

Next paint the splashes of cream using a white polish. I did this using the normal brush from your white polish by smoothly moving across the nail to create drippy shapes and then going back and doing a second coat to make the white polish opaque. If you don't have a steady hand you can use a nail art pen or a thin brush to draw a wavy line across the nail and then fill in the tip with white polish.

Finish off the strawberries by using a yellow nail art pen or a fine nail art brush to draw rows of seeds across the nails.

Apply top coat by dabbing the brush onto the nail. Don't drag the brush across your nail or the red polish will smudge onto the white tips.




Let me know if you like this design or have any design requests by messaging me @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram.

Palm Trees

I love wearing brightly coloured nail polish in the summer so this week I wanted to do a nail art design with a bright coloured gradient. I decided to put palm trees over the colour gradient to give it a summer holiday feel so it looks like a sunset on a tropical beach. 

I used four colours and a makeup sponge to create the gradient base. The pink polish is Strawberry Margarita by OPI, the coral polish is Access All Areas by Ciaté, the orange polish is Speed Dial by Ciaté and I don't actually have a yellow bottle of polish so I used the polish from my Wah London yellow nail art pen. I drew the palm trees using my black Wah London nail art pen.

The best way to create a gradient like this with four colours is to start with a white base polish. Use the rectangle end of your makeup sponge and draw a stripe across it with each polish so you have four different coloured stripes on your sponge. Then lightly keep dabbing the sponge onto your nail until the colour gradient transfers onto your nail. If it is too light just apply more polish to the sponge and dab again. Draw on your palm trees using a black nail art pen and don't forget to add a big yellow sun setting behind one of the trees!

Let me know if you like this design or if you have any design requests by messaging me @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram!

Swarovski Pedicure

A few years ago I had a Swarovski crystal pedicure done for my birthday. I absolutely loved it and I've been wanting to get it re-done ever since. Now I am qualified in gel nails I decided to give it a go myself.

I used a whole pack of Swarovski crystals from Charlie's Nail Art - they cost £1.25 for a pack of 100 crystals. If you are looking for crystals or other nail art supplies I would recommend this website because their prices are great and all the supplies I've used from there have been good quality. 

The crystals are super sparkly in the sunlight so this pedicure is great for the summer when you will be wearing sandals all the time. It would also be great for special occasions like weddings and looks really glamorous with a pair of matching sparkly shoes.

I will soon be offering Swarovski Pedicures as a treatment for my mobile nail clients in Beverley, so let me know if you are interested!

You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter @KathleenEmilyy 

Colour Changing Nail Polish

I went on a gel nails training course this week so I can start doing gel manicures on my mobile nail clients. I have been using gel polishes from Blue Sky - this is a fairly cheap brand of gel polish but it is good to practice with while you are learning. I will be investing in some more expensive gel polishes to use on clients but for now I have been having fun with Blue Sky's colour changing polishes from their Chameleon range. 

I was skeptical when I purchased this polish because I have read reviews of colour changing polishes before which said they were rubbish and hardly changed colour. I was amazed with this polish because it works great and it changes colour all the time when I am wearing it. In the bottle the polish is a dark purple colour but when it is applied on your nails it either turns bright pink when it is warm or dark purple when it is cold. I find that most of the time throughout the day it creates a great ombré effect between pink at the cuticle and purple at the free edge of the nail. 

I have created a video of the gel polish below which shows it changing colour in hot and cold water:

I'd love some gel polish brand and colour recommendations so let me know your favourite gel polish colour @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram.

Ciaté Orange Choc Pot Review

Ciaté have got some new chocolate scented nail polish remover pots. You can choose from: dark choc, mint choc, orange choc and white choc. Today I am reviewing the Orange Choc Pot nail polish remover.

I really like using nail polish remover pots because they are quick and easy to use - you just dip your fingers in the pot one at a time and twist them on the sponge to remove your polish. They are really useful if you are travelling as they are small and compact and you don't have to worry about spilling a whole bottle of liquid nail polish remover in your bag.

When you open the Ciaté Orange Choc Pot and smell it, it does have a very strong chemical smell which doesn't really resemble chocolate orange. But smell your hands after you have used it and it does leave a lovely orangey chocolate smell on your fingers.

It took about 5-10 seconds to remove the nail polish off each finger. It was a very speedy process to remove the polish and it definitely worked quicker than any other brand of remover pots I have tried. I was surprised at how dry the sponge felt at first as most other pots I have tried have a very wet sponge but this did not seem to be an issue as it removed my polish perfectly.

I really like the Orange Choc Pot and I would love to find out what the other pots smell like. You can buy the nail polish removers from Ciaté's website here. If you have tried out any of the other chocolate scents let me know what you think and send me a message @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram.

Pink Hearts

I created this design using striping tape and a nail art stamp for the hearts. The stamping plate and rubber stamper I used were from MoYou. Their stamping sets are good quality and easy to use so I would recommend this brand if you have never used a nail art stamp before. Also, if you are not familiar with striping tape it is very thin tape that you put on your nails as a guide to create bold straight lines - it can be bought from any nail art supplier.

(I apologise for my random short thumb nail in the first photo... I had an accident last week and broke it, oops!)

How to get this look:

Start by applying a base coat and allow this to dry.

Place two pieces of string tape on your nail starting at the nail bed and moving inwards towards the middle of your nail to create a triangle shape. Repeat this on every nail.

Paint two coats of white polish inside the striping tape - don't worry if you paint over the tape as you will be removing the tape later.

Using pink polish paint onto your heart stamping plate, remove the excess polish with the scraper and then pick up the design with the rubber stamper and apply this to your nail over the white triangle. Repeat the stamping process on every nail.

Next, paint two coats of the pink polish from the striping tape to the ends of your nails.

Use tweezers to peel the striping tape off every nail.

Using a pink glitter polish and a fine nail art brush, paint a line of glitter where the striping tape was so your triangles are outlined with glitter.

Finish by applying a top coat.


If you try out this design send me a pic @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram.

Pastel Galaxy

I love nail art designs where different colours are faded and blended together using a makeup sponge. I was really bad at using the makeup sponge technique the first time I tried it so I have been practicing it a lot recently to try and perfect it. One of my favourite designs that you can create with a makeup sponge is Galaxy nails that look like the starry night sky. I have seen loads of people try this design so I decided to try it out myself but using pastel colours. The main three colours I used were all from Wah London:- the pastel blue is called An Even Bigger Splash, the lilac is called Mating Surfaces and the pink is called No Nails No Life. The purple glitter polish I used is called Moon Walking from Rimmel Londons space dust collection.

How to get this look:

Apply a base coat and two coats of white nail polish.

Apply a dot of blue nail polish onto a makeup sponge and dab it on the nail leaving a few patches of blue with spaces of white in between where the other colours will go. 

Repeat this step with lilac and then pink nail polish so that the white base is fully covered.

Go back with just the blue and the lilac and apply another layer of these colours with the sponge to give better colour coverage. Dab the sponge lightly where the different colours meet so that they are blended evenly and fade into each other.

Apply a dot of purple glitter polish onto the makeup sponge and dab this onto your nail where you applied the lilac polish.

Use a white nail art pen to draw stars and dots on your nails and make sure they are in different positions on each nail.

Finish by applying a top coat.

If you try out this design send me a photo @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram.

Nail Wheel

Now I have passed my driving test I am working as a mobile nail technician in the Beverley area of East Yorkshire. I have painted some of my favourite designs on to a nail wheel to help my clients choose how they want their nails doing. 

I wanted to share my nail wheel in a blog post so you can see more of my work. Let me know which design you like the best and if you want me to do a tutorial for any of these designs. You can comment on the post or find me on Twitter and Instagram @KathleenEmilyy 

Ombré Nails

I like doing ombré nails as it is a really quick and easy nail art design. All you need is two different nail polish colours and a makeup sponge. The base colour I used was Strawberry Margarita by OPI and to create the ombré colour fade I used an orangey/coral coloured polish. You can use any two colours to create a colour fade as long as they aren't too similar or it won't show up very well. Use two bright colours like the pink and orange in my design for a subtle colour fade or use a bright colour and a pastel colour together to create a more startling ombré effect.

How to get this look:

Apply a base coat

Apply two coats of your chosen base colour (I usually use the darker of the two colours as the base - I used pink as my base here)

Allow your nails to dry for a few minutes

Apply a dot of your second nail polish colour onto a makeup sponge and then dab the sponge on to the tip of your nail moving up to the middle of the nail leaving less colour as you get closer to the middle to create a fading effect. Keep applying more polish to the sponge when it stops leaving colour on the nail.

Using your sponge go back and dab another layer of polish on to the tips so your second colour is fully covering the tip and then gradually fades out towards the middle of the nail.

Finish by applying a top coat


If you try out ombré nails yourself tag me in your pics @KathleenEmilyy on Twitter and Instagram - I would love to see the different colour combinations you can come up with!

Poppy Nails

This is a design I painted today with poppy flowers. The base colour I used was My Boyfriend Scales Walls by OPI which is an off white and the red polish for the poppies was Love My Team from Wah London.

How to get this look:

Apply a base coat and then two coats of white polish.

Draw the poppies with a nail art brush by painting four V shapes in a circle with the point of the V's at the centre. This creates your four petals - fill in each V with red polish so you have a full poppy flower.

Using a lighter shade of red polish apply a dot of polish to a sponge and then dab on the centre of each poppy to give it a two tone effect.

Using a black nail art pen or dotting tool draw lots of small black dots in the middle of each poppy.

With green nail polish and a nail art brush draw wavy lines coming out from each poppy.

Finish by applying a top coat.

Nail HQ Review

I have been trying out some nail products from Nail HQ - a British nail care brand. The products I am trying out are: Protect and Repair treatment, Hardener and Gel Top Coat. 

Gel Top Coat

I have tried so many top coats over the years and nothing ever compares to high end brands like OPI but with this top coat I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. It feels very smooth when you apply it and always coats the nail evenly. It's important that I keep my nail art chip free for as long as possible so to really test the strength of the top coat I put some Swarovski crystals on my nails which were held in place only by the top coat - no nail glue! I was amazed to find that my nails lasted 5 days before I lost a crystal or got any chips in the polish. I would definitely recommend using this top coat as it is very strong and looks really nice and glossy when it is dry.

Hardener

The hardener is designed to strengthen thin and weak nails and should prevent brittle and splitting nails. I have been using the hardener as a base under my coloured polish to improve the strength of my nails and also to help my coloured polish last longer. I feel like the hardener has improved the strength of my nails because my nails usually split very easily at the tips and I have not noticed this happen as much recently. Because I am constantly wearing nail polish it is really important for me to use treatments like this to improve the condition of my nails and I will definitely be using this one again.

Protect & Repair

This is a treatment designed to hydrate, moisturise and condition nails and is recommended for use after wearing acrylic or gel nails. I gave this treatment to my mum to try out as her nails are quite weak and could do with a conditioning treatment. You apply the treatment every day for five days like a regular nail polish and then remove it with nail polish remover and start the process again. She really liked the product and said it made her nails feel healthier and in better condition. She liked how quickly it dried and it looks like you are wearing clear nail polish so it gives your nails a nice shiny but natural look. The only bad point she noticed is that when doing things like washing dishes the treatment chipped off on the tips but if you wear rubber gloves when cleaning you shouldn't have this problem.

There are lots more Nail HQ treatments for different nail problems which I would love to try in the future. Their products are available at Tesco and Amazon - let me know if you try any of them out!

The Deep

Todays nail art inspiration came from my trip to The Deep - an aquarium in Hull. I have been meaning to visit since they opened their new Gentoo penguin exhibition so today we went for a trip. I had a great time espescially as we got to see the Penguins diving and swimming underwater. It's a great day out and a must see place if you are visiting the Hull or East Yorkshire area.

On my nails I have featured a diving penguin, jellyfish, a clownfish and a star fish. I used two shades of blue to create the base colour for this design. I painted two coats of the darker shade onto my nails and then used a sponge to dab on the lighter polish to create a gradient effect. The rest of my design was painted using nail art brushes and using nail art pens from Wah London.

Here's a couple of photos I took today of the clownfish and the jellyfish!

Bruzz Nail Brush Review

Today I am reviewing a new nail product called Bruzz - a uniquely designed nail brush.

Personally, I never used to be a fan of using a nail brush to clean my nails because the bristles are rough and I don't want to chip or damage my nail polish after I've spent hours on a nail art design. The Bruzz nail brush is very different to any other nail brush I have seen. It has soft rubber bristles that are antibacterial and vanilla scented and the shape of the brush means there are bristles on three different angles so it cleans each side of your nail at the same time. 

I have been trying out the Bruzz for the past week now and I am really liking it! The bristles are gentle so I don't have to worry about the brush chipping my manicure and it hasn't even damaged any of the Swarovski crystals that I currently have stuck on my nails. 

I find the Bruzz really useful when I am cooking as my nails are so long it's really important to clean under my nails when I am handling food. After cooking I have been using the Bruzz with soap and water to scrub my nails - you can just add a drop of hand soap into the middle of the bristles and add a drop of water and then rub your nails across it for a deep clean. The rubber bristles can also be removed from the outer case so after using the Bruzz you can remove the inside and run it under a tap to clean it.

Overall I would definitely recommend this product if you have long nails like me or even if you have short nails but do a lot of cooking or baking! I am really impressed by Bruzz's new take on the design of a nail brush as it is easier to use and much more hygienic than a standard nail brush.

If you want to get your own Bruzz nail brush it comes in pink, blue and white colours and you can buy one from Boots and Amazon. 

Rose French Tips

Today I tried out a new French manicure design with roses painted on the French tips. I added a silver line across the bottom of the tip and used swarovski crystals for decoration but if you don't want to add the sparkles the rose tips look great on their own for a vintage style design.

For this design you will need a white and pink polish for a French manicure - I used OPI Alpine Snow and OPI Bubble Bath. You will also need three shades of pink, a nail art brush and a green polish. Silver polish and crystals are optional.

How To Get This Look:

Start by applying a base coat.

Paint white French tips using your white nail polish brush by starting at one side of the nail and carefully painting horizontally across the tip leaving a smooth curved line that matches the natural shape of your nail tip. If the line is not smooth go back and do a second stroke of white in the opposite direction to even it out. (If you still can't master the French tip you can dip a small nail art brush in nail polish remover and use this to remove the excess white polish leaving behind a smooth line.)

Next paint one coat of a natural pink polish over the whole nail.

For the roses use a dotting tool and the lightest shade of pink to paint circles on the tips. (The circles don't need to be perfect.) 

Then, using a very fine nail art brush, use the two darker shades of pink to draw small curved lines on the light pink dots so that they look like roses. 

Now draw leaves next to some of the roses using green polish and a fine nail art brush.

Optionally, using silver polish and a very fine nail art brush, draw a thin silver line under the tip by following the shape of the white polish. Add swarovski crystals or diamantés in the middle of each nail on the silver line.

Finish by applying a top coat. 

Blossom Nails

It's the time of year when blossom trees are covered in beautiful flowers and this always makes me want to paint flowers on my nails! I decided to draw pink blossom on my nails using two different shades of pink with a purple base coat called Do You Lilac It by OPI. To paint this design you will need a striper brush, a dotting tool and a small nail art brush.

How to get this look:

Start by applying a base coat and then two coats of a lilac nail polish.

Using brown polish and a striper brush draw a long line from the tip of your nail towards the middle and then draw small lines coming off it on each side like a tree branch.

Using a pale pink polish draw pink circles on the branches - they don't need to be perfect circles or flower shaped yet so just dab a small amount of polish with the tip of the nail polish brush.

Using a dotting tool apply a dot of darker pink polish to the middle of each pale pink flower.

Using the light pink polish with the dotting tool draw some small dots on the branches to look like flower buds.

Use brown polish and the dotting tool to add some tiny brown dots in the centre of the flowers.

On a few of the flowers use a small nail art brush with light pink polish to add five dots around the flower to give them big petals.

Finish by applying a top coat.


If you try out this design let me know @KathleenEmilyy on Instagram and Twitter.

Cinderella

I went to see the new Cinderella movie at the cinema recently and I loved it! The sparkly dress, golden carriage and of course the glass slipper were so beautiful that I used them as this weeks nail art inspiration. The base colour I used is An Even Bigger Splash by Wah London and all of the nail art pens I used were also from Wah London. The silver polish I used for the glass slipper and other sparkly details is Radiance from OPI's designer series; the polishes from the designer series contain diamond dust which makes them amazingly glittery.

How to get this look:

Apply a base coat and then two coats of a blue polish

Cinderella Text - use a white nail art pen to write the text 'Cinderella' with the i starting inside the C. To make your lettering as neat as possible use a wooden cuticle stick on any messy letters by pushing the polish while it is still wet or tacky back into the correct position. Using silver polish and a nail art brush draw small + shapes to look like glittering stars.

Castle - use a white striper brush to draw each castle turret and then use a gold or blue polish and a nail art brush to draw a triangular roof on the top of each turret. Draw a semi circle using black or grey polish at the bottom of the castle where the entrance would be.

Carriage - using a white nail art pen draw a white circle in the middle of your nail and then fill it in with white. Draw a spiral shaped wheel underneath the circle on both sides and then join these to the carriage with a curved line. Using gold polish and a nail art brush draw a gold oval outline inside the carriage to create the carriage door and then draw a gold decoration on top of the carriage. Using a nail art brush or dotting tool draw silver dots all around the outside of the carriage to make it look glittery and magical.

Cinderella And Her Sparkly Dress - start by drawing the rough shape of the face and neck with a skin coloured polish. Use two shades of blue for the dress, start with the lighter shade by drawing the top of the dress with a slim corset sized waist and then draw a big ball room skirt. Go over the skirt with the darker blue polish on both sides leaving a lighter blue triangle in the middle of the skirt. Also using the darker blue polish draw a thick line around the chest going onto the shoulders to create the Cinderella style dress like in the new movie. You can now neaten up the face shape to make sure it is in proportion and then draw on the arms. Add some yellow hair, a blue headband, eyes and bright red lips. Finish off the dress by painting tiny dots of a sparkly silver polish onto the darker parts of the dress so the dress is nice and glittery.

Glass Slipper - using a silver polish and a nail art brush draw the stiletto heel and then the main part of the shoe. You can neaten your shoe shape using a wooden cuticle stick if required.

Finish by applying a top coat.

Daisies

We've had some lovely sunny weather this week so I felt like painting a summery design on my nails. I wanted to try out a new polish from OPI's Hawaii collection called That's Hula-rious which is a lovely pastel green colour. I used this as my base colour and then used my Wah Nails nail art pens to draw some daisies on my nails.

How to get this look:

Start by applying a base coat and then two coats of a pastel green polish.

Using a white nail art pen draw a small white X and then fill in the spaces between each line with more white lines to create your daisy petals.

Draw a yellow dot in the center of the petals with a yellow nail art pen or a dotting tool.

Repeat these steps and draw more daisies around your nails in different positions and patterns on each nail.

Finish by applying a top coat.

Easter Bunny Nails

Its Easter tomorrow so I tried out some bunny and egg shaped water decals that I got from Viva La Nails. It is my first time trying out water decals on my nails and I found the process very simple so I would recommend them for beginners or if you're just feeling a bit lazy and want some nail art without the effort of painting an intricate design. I have the Easter water decal sets in both pink and blue colours but I chose to use the pink set on my own nails.

How to use water decals:
Apply a base coat to your nails and then two coats of your chosen coloured polish.

Cut out one of the shapes on your sheet of water decals and drop it into a bowl of water and leave for about 20 seconds.

Pick it up out of the water either with your fingers or with tweezers and place the decal on your fingertip with the picture side down.

Peel the backing paper off so you leave just the decal image on your finger and then transfer the decal onto your nail by pressing it onto your nail with your finger.

Apply a top coat to protect the decals and stop your nails chipping.

Glitter Fade Nails

I think of my nails as a fashion accessory so one my favourite things to do is match my nail design to an outfit or piece of jewellery. I have just received some cute new earrings from Body Jewellery Shop. They have a good choice of earpiercing jewellery if you are looking for a simple design at very affordable prices. The first pair of earrings are some round glitter studs in silver, they are really sparkly so they would be nice to wear on an evening occasion. My second pair of earrings are some star studs, they are quite small and subtle so they would go with most outfits and would make a nice everyday piece of jewellery. You can visit their website here: http://www.bodyjewelleryshop.com

I painted my nails, inspired by my new earrings, with a glitter fade effect and added swarovski crystals and a star sequin. I love having sparkly nails and a glitter fade is one of my favourite nail art designs because it is quick and simple and doesn't require any tools other than a bottle of glittery nail polish. To create a glitter fade apply a base coat and then paint on your glitter polish from the tip of your nail towards your cuticle making sure there is more glitter at the tip and less near the cuticle. Go back and apply another layer of glitter polish just on the tip of the nail and dab the brush in the middle of the nail to create a graduated effect. If you want you can add some crystals and stars by applying them to the nail before the polish has dried and then finish by applying a top coat.

Polka Dots and Flowers

Today is Mothers Day here in the UK so today's polka dot and flower nail design was chosen by my mum. I painted this design on her nails and I liked the bright colours so much I decided to paint it on my own nails too. All the polishes I used for this design are from Wah Nails; the blue base polish is called An Even Bigger Splash, the pink polish for the flowers is No Nails No Life and the lilac polish also used for the flowers is called Mating Surfaces. The White polka dots and the black detailing were drawn with Wah Nails nail art pens. 

How to get this look: 

Start by applying a base coat and then two coats of a pale blue polish. 

Draw polka dots over every nail with a white nail art pen or with white polish and a dotting tool. 

Draw large flower petals with the pink polish at the corners of your nails placing them in different sizes and positions on each nail. 

Use a nail art brush to paint lilac polish inside the pink petals to create a two tone effect on your flowers. 

Use a black nail art pen to outline your flowers and draw a black jagged circle in the centre of each flower. 

Use a white nail art pen to draw some tiny white dots on the black in the centre of the flowers. 

Finish with a top coat to make your nails nice and shiny!

Orelia Jewellery

Yesterday I was looking for some nail art inspiration when a small package arrived for me, it was my two new rings from Orelia Jewellery. They are absolutely beautiful rings and I'm sure you will be seeing a lot of them in my future nail art pictures! The first ring is very thin and has an infinity symbol at the top. I love how thin the ring is because it makes the design seem delicate and elegant so you could wear it for any occasion and match it with other rings. My second ring is a triple ring with three bands all joined together so it sits neatly on the finger. The three rings are also quite thin so they look simple but stylish and are not too eccentric like a lot of triple ring sets which can be quite chunky and too 'blingy' for every day wear. The middle band of the ring has lots of tiny cubic zirconia crystals set in it which adds a bit of sparkle so it would be good to wear for a night out or special occasion as well as during the day. Both the rings are gold in colour so they look very classy and they look a lot more expensive than they really are! All of Orelia's jewellery is hypoallergenic which is great for me as I find jewellery made from cheap metal can be irritating on the skin so I will be able to comfortably wear my Orelia rings every day.

After trying on my new rings I decided to use them as the inspiration for my nail design. I love the font used for Orelia's logo and the gold colour scheme used on the packaging so I decided to paint the logo on my nails with the base colour a simple but glamorous gold glitter top coat over a nude polish. The nude base colour I used was I'm Real by Wah Nails, this is an opaque medium skin tone colour and the gold top coat I used was L'oreal Jet-Set Shine 754. I also drew the infinity symbol under the logo as inspired by my beautiful new ring. To draw the infinity symbol and the Orelia logo I used a white Wah Nails nail art pen. 

Orelia is a British brand and you can find their jewellery on sale in Topshop's flagship stores in the UK and USA. You can also shop online on their website here.

Crufts Nail Art

It's Crufts this weekend - the world's biggest dog show! I have visited the show twice in previous years and I absolutely loved it, the Birmingham NEC is full of stalls selling every dog product you could imagine which makes it the perfect day out for any dog lover. Tomorrow is the final day of Crufts when the Best In Show competition will be judged. If you're in the UK the competition will be shown on Channel 4 from 7pm tomorrow (Sunday 8th March.) Or you can watch live streaming from Crufts all day on YouTube here.

I have painted my nails with the Crufts logo on my thumb and the silhouettes of three of my favourite dog breeds: a Poodle, a Dachshund and a Scottish Terrier. And don't forget the paw print on the little finger! The base colour I used for this design is OPI Alpine Snow and I used a black Wah Nails nail art pen to draw the dogs and the paw print. The Crufts logo was drawn using a thin nail art brush with the colour You're So Outta Lime by OPI.

What I’m going to wear to Cheltenham Races Ladies Day on 11th March

Today I have been asked to take part in the #ColourMeMarch campaign so I have put together an outfit idea for Ladies Day Wednesday 11th March at Cheltenham Races. The theme of the Colour Me March campaign is colour, so for my entry I chose my brightest dress which has neon pink hearts and splashes of neon yellow in the design. I have also created some matching nail art designs because if you are going to wear a statement dress you need to have some bright standout nails to go with it!

If you want to enter the competition you just need to put together your own colourful outfit and tweet a photo using the hashtag #ColourMeMarch or you can enter online by following the link below:
http://www.thefestival15.co.uk/colourmemarch/

These are my two nail designs I have created to match the amazing pattern on my dress. I used two coats of black polish for the base colour on both designs. For the design on the left I used a pink Wah Nails nail art pen to draw tiny hearts in a polka dot pattern. For the design on the right I used a neon yellow polish and a thin brush to draw a big heart outline in the centre of the nail and then filled it in with two coats of neon yellow. To create the pink pattern I painted one coat of a Barry M pink crackle polish over the yellow heart and then waited for it to crack. As always I finished off my nails with a top coat to make the colours super shiny.

My dress below was from the Versace for H&M collection. I love the combination of neon colours and the heart pattern with black fringing on the top and bottom of the dress. It is definitely a statement dress and it grabs attention when I wear it which is why I have chosen it for my #ColourMeMarch outfit.

Fall Out Boy Nails

These are my Fall Out Boy nails inspired by some of their album covers. They are one of my favourite bands to listen to so I thought it would be fun to paint my nails with their artwork. If you are not familiar with the album covers: my thumb is based on the album From Under The Cork Tree, my index finger is Fall Out Boys logo, my middle finger is their latest album American Beauty/American Psycho, Save Rock And Roll is the name of their 2013 album and my little finger is a bear getting a piggyback as seen on the Folie A Deux album cover.

How to get this look: 

Apply a base coat and then use two coats of OPI's Alpine Snow. 

You will need to use a gold polish and a thin nail art brush to draw the detailing on the thumb. 

The details on my other nails were drawn using a black Wah Nails nail art pen. You should use the pen end to draw the logo and the text and then use the striper brush inside the bottle to draw the lines on the bottom of the flag. The easiest way to draw the flag is to paint the upper right corner of the nail fully black and then use a white nail art pen to draw the stars over the black polish. 

If you want to draw the bears start by drawing the yellow bear costume and the face in the appropriate colours and then go back and outline it in black. You can then draw the brown bear and go back and add a red mouth and white teeth over the brown and finally outline the brown bear with the black pen. 

When you apply a top coat over this design be careful not to drag the brush across the nail because the black polish will easily smudge on a bright white base polish. I find the best way to avoid smudging is to dab the top coat on by pressing the brush onto the nail lifting it off and repeat by working your way down the nail.

Sonic The Hedgehog Nails

After painting Pokémon on my nails for Valentine's Day I wanted to come up with another game themed nail design. I decided on Sonic The Hedgehog as I used to love playing this game when I was younger. Also you may have noticed my nails are suddenly a lot shorter this week - yesterday I learned you should never go bowling with pointed nails! I was left with broken jagged claws so I have filed them all down and I will have to patiently grow them back again.  The blue base colour I used for this design was OPI's No Room For The Blues and all of the detail was drawn using very fine nail art brushes.

How to get this look:

Apply a base coat and then two coats of a blue polish.

Using a thin nail art brush draw lots of tiny squares in a light brown colour to create a check pattern. Fill in the squares between the light brown with a darker brown colour. Start with two rows of squares or add more rows where you want to create a hill so it is like the landscape of a sonic game.

Using two shades of green draw short vertical lines in alternate colours just on top of the brown squares. Follow the shape of the brown squares and curve the green where you have drawn the hill.

You now have your sonic game landscape so now you need to use a nail art brush to draw Sonic himself. Start by drawing the white circle for the eye and then draw the dark blue shape of the head around the white. Use a light brown or sandy colour for detailing on the body and then draw the blue arms and legs in a running position. Finish off Sonic by drawing a white hand on the end of the arm, put bright red shoes on his feet and add a black dot to his eye.

On the other nails you can use gold nail polish to draw gold rings which Sonic collects in the game or you can draw silver spikes or other obstacles from the game.

Finish by applying a top coat to your nails.

French Leopard

I  came up with this nail design because I wanted to try out a black French manicure. I think French tips look very classy but for me they are a bit plain and boring so I wanted to make it more fun by adding some leopard print. The base colour I used is OPI's Bubble Bath - a pale pink/nude colour that is normally used for regular pink and white French manicures. I drew the leopard print using a black Wah Nails nail art pen and I painted the black tips with Nails Inc's New York Noir. This design would also look good on round or square shaped nails they don't have to be pointed like mine!

How to get this look:

Start by applying a base coat and then a coat of pink or nude polish.

Draw the leopard print using a black nail art pen working from the bottom of the nail up and stop when you get to the top of the nail where the French tip will be. Leopard print is really easy to draw once you get the hang of it - try drawing C's and broken circles and then go back and make the lines thicker and more uneven so they look like leopard spots.

If there are empty gaps around and between your leopard spots fill the space in with black dots or short squiggles.

When you have covered the bottom of your nail in leopard print use a black nail polish to draw the French tips. You draw a French tip by painting across the nail horizontally starting at one side and moving across to the other side; if the line is not quite straight you can do a second stroke in the opposite direction to even it out and create a smooth line across the nail. The French tip should just cover the top of some of your leopard spots so you will be left with some half spots disappearing under the tip.

Finish off by applying a top coat.

Hearts On Point

This is my second nail art design for Valentines Day. This design works best on pointed or stiletto nails so that the point at the bottom of the heart uses the tip of the nail as its outline. This design is really easy and you don't need any nail art pens or brushes, just use your favourite pink or red polish to paint the hearts! I wanted to create something pretty and super sparkly so the base polish I used was OPI's Turn On The Haute Light. This is a silver polish from the Coca-Cola collection, it is definitely my favourite silver polish as it is very shiny and it gives good coverage unlike most glitter polishes that need numerous coats. On top of the silver I applied one coat of OPI's In True Stefani Fashion which is a silver polish with small to medium size pieces of glitter in it - with a coat of glitter on top it makes this silver polish amazingly sparkly so I would recommend using these two polishes together to make a good combo.

How to get this look:

Apply a base coat and then two coats of your base colour, I used OPI's silver Turn On The Haute Light. Optionally apply one coat of a glitter polish over the silver to make your nails ultra shimmery.

Using a red or pink polish carefully draw the heart one half at a time. Make sure the heart outline follows the shape of your nail at the tip. Try to draw each half of the heart in one smooth stroke starting at the rounded top and moving inwards toward the tip and then repeat on the other side to make a full heart.

Finish by applying a top coat.

Pokémon Valentine Nails

It's nearly Valentines Day so I wanted to do some Valentine themed nails. I love Pokémon and I thought it would be fun to create a nail design with cute poké-puns. 

How to get this look:

Start with a base coat and then two coats of OPI's Alpine Snow.

Draw the pokemon at the bottom of the nail but make sure you leave enough room at the top to fit the text in. I drew all the pokemon using a very fine nail art brush. (Tip - you can get sets of nail art brushes really cheap on ebay!)

The lettering is drawn on using a black nail art pen, you should practice writing with it on paper first to get the pen running smoothly to achieve thin lines. The nail art pen I used was from Models Own.

Finish by applying a top coat, you should dab it on to the nail rather than dragging the brush across the nail as the black polish will smudge very easily on a white base even if it has dried.

If you recreate this design please share it with me - @KathleenEmilyy on both Twitter and Instagram.

Butterfly Wings

These are my butterfly wing nails. They are inspired by a design I saw painted by Wah Nails which is a nail art salon in London which I love! I have just got some new Wah nail art pens so this is my first time testing them out. For the base colour I used a shiny pink OPI Polish called A-Rose By Dawn Broke By Noon. This design looks great with a glittery or shiny polish as the base colour and it looks good with different colour combinations if you're not a fan of pink. I would recommend the Wah Nails art pens, they have a fairly fine tip so you are able to draw intricate lines and they have a thin striper brush inside.  They are good quality nail art pens compared to other brands I have tried and the polish inside them gives good coverage. 

How to get this look:

Start with a base coat and then apply two coats of shiny pink polish.

Now using a black nail art pen, draw a thin black outline right around the edge of the nail on every side.

Then in the centre of the left side draw three lines spreading outwards until they reach the right side of the nail (one line straight across the middle one below and one above.)

Once you have the basic lines you slowly fill in more black so you leave a rounded shape in each pink section, try to create a tear drop shape. So you should be left with four pink tear drop shapes on the nail, if your black outline is not neat or you have over outlined you can use a wooden cuticle stick to gently push back the black line to make it look smoother and neat.

When you are happy with the shapes use a white nail art pen or a dotting tool to draw spots on the black parts of the nail. You can do different size dots and different patterns on each nail they don't all have to be the same.

Finish by applying a top coat.