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.

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.

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.

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.

Hello Kitty Nails

These are my Hello Kitty nails, a simple design for anyone who loves Hello Kitty. The base colour I used is OPI's Alpine Snow and the black nail art pen I used was from Models Own. 

How to get this look:

Apply a base coat and then two coats of your white polish (or more if necessary - some white polishes are not very opaque.)

Use a nail art pen to draw the black outline of Hello Kitty's head and bow.

Add the eyes and whiskers with your black nail art pen, then add a yellow nose and fill in the bow with your colour of choice, I used a glitter pink.

Draw the Hello Kitty lettering on your other nails with your black nail art pen, you should practice the lettering first so it looks like the font used for the logo.

Finish by applying a top coat to protect your cute kitty nails.