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.

OSU! Nails

This is a design I painted a few months ago when I was introduced to the game Osu. For people who are not familiar with Osu it is a rhythm computer game. You use your mouse to hit beats in time with the music, it is a really fun and addictive game. It is free to download so worth checking out if you have never played it before.

How to get this look: I started with a base coat and then two coats of OPI's Alpine Snow for a nice white base. I drew the logo and the beats with nail art pens in different colours. Wait for the dots to dry before drawing numbers on them and try to draw the circles around he beats as carefully as possible. If your circular line is slightly off use a wooden cuticle stick to push the line back into place while it is still wet to create a neat circle. Finish by applying a top coat.

Bold Crackle Polish

This is a crackle polish design that I love to do as it is quick and easy but makes a bold statement when you use bright and contrasting colours. You can use whatever colour polishes you like so play around with it and choose your favourite combination. 

How to get this look: 

Start by applying a base coat and two coats of your chosen base colour (I used yellow.) 

Apply a coat of crackle polish across the whole length of the nail - don't worry about covering the whole width of the nail at the tip as this will get covered anyway. 

When your polish has finished separating into its crackle effect apply your second colour (mine is pink.) Using a thin brush or striping brush start at the tip of the nail in the centre and draw a diagonal line to the bottom of the nail. Do this on both sides so you are left with a yellow triangle in the centre and fill in the rest of the pink down the side of your nail. 

Finish by applying a top coat.

Fair Isle Nails

These are my fair isle nails, they are one of my favourite designs for the winter and you can change the colours and patterns around to match your best Christmas jumper! 

How to get this look: I started with a base coat and then two coats of OPI's Alpine Snow. The patterns are drawn on with nail art pens, you will need a good black nail art pen to draw the zig-zag lines neatly. I used a Models Own black nail pen. If you don't like hearts and trees you can add other fair isle shapes such as snowflakes and flowers. Make sure you finish with a top coat to protect your nails from chipping.