Hi!

After a long hiatus, I'm back with some quick landscape nail art!

These were really fast to do -- just a simple sponge gradient as a base, then I painted the details on top.

Because it's summer and I was feeling extra motivated, I also put together a quick tutorial. The video quality isn't that great because I filmed it with my iPhone, but you get the general idea! 

Also, I'm looking for more great nail artists to follow. Any suggestions? Please comment below!!

Thanks for reading!

Lucy

Recreation: Gradient & Splatter

Hi!

I really admire the nail artist Lady Crappo (Instagram | blog). She has perfectly shaped nails and does the most amazing unique designs! 

Recently, she did these gorgeous matte gradient and gold splatter nails, and I knew right away I had to recreate them :)

Polishes Used
Deborah Lippmann Don't Stop Believin', Flowers in Her Hair, Maniac, & She Drives Me Crazy // JINsoon French Lilac // Nails Inc Chelsea Bridge Road // NYC Hamptons Peach // Urban Outfitters unnamed gray // Wet n Wild Black Creme

These were really simple to do, and I actually did them with my non-dominant hand. I just sponged on the gradient and then used a straw to create the gold splatter! I wasn't in love with how the splatter looked at first but it's grown on me over the past couple days.

If you're not following Lady Crappo already, be sure to check her nails out! 

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

Day 14: Pineapples

Hi!

I'm still keeping up with the Californails Totally Doable I-Have-a-Life Challenge, kind of -- this one is a couple days late because I just got back from Maine a couple days ago!

Pineapple nails have popped up everywhere lately, and I love it! I think they're just so cute and summery. 

Here are some that are too good not to share:

// Paper Thin Nails - here and here //

// Wondrously Polished - here (+ tutorial) //

I've been thinking about what design to do all of vacation (I'm that obsessed, haha); I was drawing out little diagrams on the plane and the lady sitting next to me probably thought I was crazy!

Polishes Used
Deborah Lippmann Blue Orchid, Walking on Sunshine & Whip It || JINsoon Poppy Blue || Wet n Wild French White Creme & Tickled Pink || brown & yellow acrylic paint

These were really fun to do, and I'm pretty pleased with the end result! Now that I've gotten back into gradients I want to use them in every manicure, they're so fun!!

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

Day 11: Tropical

Hi!

Today is day 11 of Californails' Totally Doable I Have a Life nail art challenge! So far I've managed to post on time for all the days, which makes me surprised and proud :) Today's theme is tropical.

I'm sure you've seen about a billion different versions of this design, so I don't have much to say haha!

Polishes Used:
Deborah Lippmann Walking on Sunshine | JINsoon Blue Iris & Tea Rose | Wet n Wild Black Creme | black acrylic paint

I haven't done a gradient in a long time, I forgot how fun they are!

I've had so much fun wearing this design, hope you guys liked it!

Thanks for reading!
Lucy xx

Spring Skittle

Hi!

I think skittle designs are my favorite, they're like 4-in-1 manicures!

Polishes Used:
Deborah Lippmann Flowers In Her Hair, Blue Orchid, Tip Toe Through the Tulips, and Build Me Up Buttercup | Wet n Wild French White Creme

All the shades in this manicure are from Deborah Lippmann's Spring 2014 collection. I think doing designs with whole collections is something I want to do more of -- the shades usually match together really well so I don't have to worry about coordinating colors!
On my index finger, you might not be able to tell I did a gradient with Blue Orchid and Flowers in Her Hair -- the two shades are similar enough for it to not be very obvious.

Don't worry if you're feeling too spring-ified, next week I have some designs that aren't pastel and spring-y :)

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

Guest Post at My Daily Nail Designs: Gumdrops

Hi!

I was recently contacted by Anita of My Daily Nail Designs to do a guest post! 

It took me forever to decide what to do -- her nail art is so amazing so I felt like I had to kind of, you know, good... but eventually I decided on frosted gumdrop nails.

Here's a sneak peek:

For actual photos and details, check out my guest post.

And be sure to check out My Daily Nail Designs too -- her freehand skills are amazing!

Thanks for reading!
Lucy xx

Tribal Nails (take 2)

Hi!

Today I did another take on tribal nails! (take 1 is here) Last time they were more classic; this time I decided to try something new! 

These were inspired Nailed It's tutorial, which I found through Nail Polish Society's version.

I was intending to recreate it exactly, but I realized that I don't actually have a real red. Weird. I think I always assumed I had one and so I never bought one... okay, maybe I do need a nail polish organizing app.

Anyways. I started with a base of Deborah Lippmann Lara's Theme (orange and is a superbly wonderful polish, but my camera couldn't capture its true brightness). Then I marked out a triangle on the nail with tape and sponged a gradient with Sally Hansen Blue Me Away, Sephora by OPI It's Totally Karma, and Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow. Lastly, I added the black stairstep things with Wet n Wild Black Creme (for a better explanation I recommend Nailed It's tutorial). 

Ta-daaa!

...yeah, my freehand skills could use some work. But on the plus side, I finally stopped making everything matte!

Which do you prefer, classic tribal nails or... weird ones? Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

Deborah Lippmann Jewel Heist Glitter Gradient

Hi!

Today I decided to do a simple glitter gradient with two of the polishes from Deborah Lippmann's fall 2013 Jewel Heist collection. As you can probably tell, the whole collection is based around jewels and money and all that bling-y stuff.

There are so many ways the polishes in this collection can be mixed and matched -- they're all gorgeous -- but I chose Laughin' to the Bank (green) and Glitter and Be Gay (gold glitter topper).

These photos don't do Glitter and Be Gay justice, it really is a gorgeous polish (I'll save rest of the rant for next week, when I'll probably be swatching it). 

Overall, this was a really easy and fast design to create, and I'm pretty happy with the results. It was my first glitter gradient, and although I had trouble with some of my fingers (my pinky is pretty much completely glitterified) I'm fairly pleased with the results! 

And because it's a lovely color, here's Laughin' to the Bank by itself! It's described as an "emerald green shimmer", and that's pretty much what it is. As with most DL polishes, it has great application and doesn't stain. Sorry about the nasty cleanup -- I recently switched to non-acetone remover and it's a pain!

Anyways. How are you liking all these fall collections? I think the Jewel Heist collection is my personal favorite!

Thanks for reading!

The Nail Snail :)

Gradient Nails

Hi!

This week's nail art has been inspired by Tyeisha from the Lacquernerd (see her post)

I don't have much to say about this mani -- it's pretty simple and was very easy and fast to do (and I have to do my precalc homework and lab report, bleh).