Mosaic Nail Art Tutorial - Monthly Challenge

This month I'm taking part in #clairestell8sept monthly challenge! Every couple of days there is a different theme. To make it even crazier for myself, I actually decided to do #bestietwinnails for every theme!

Check out the other posts here!

For the 9th of September the theme was mosaic and I collaborated with Shakuh_05 from Instagram.

This design is inspired by @MaryMonkett.

I have a tutorial for these on my YouTube channel!

I started off with a nude base using 'Ard As Nails Sharona.

I then used the dry brush technique and applied brush strokes of different neutral colours. I used Pretty Serious Presence (white), OPI Designer De Better (shimmer), OPI I Sâo Paulo Over There (brown), and just to blend it all together I applied 'Ard As Nails Sharona over the top.

I then applied a fast drying topcoat and waited a good 10 minutes.

I then used a geometric stencil from Nail Mail for the triangle design.

I just applied the whole stencil onto my nail and filled in the triangles that I wanted using a black nail polish - Pretty Serious Absence.

I then carefully pulled the stencil off - while the nail polish was still wet! I waited another 5-10 minutes and then applied a topcoat.

That's it!

xx

Top 12 Nail Polishes for Autumn Swatches

It's almost September which means it's almost time for Autumn! This year England hasn't had much of a summer so moving into Autumn isn't going to be a huge change. I picked out my top 12 favourite nail polishes for Autumn. I tried to get a bit of everything in there from OPI to Barry M and indies as well as brights, holos and neutrals. I feel like Autumn is a transition period between the bright neons and muted/dark shades for winter. I have included some of my all time favourite polishes! Of course you can wear whatever you want whenever you want, these are just my personal picks! I'm kind of going to go through colour order.

As always, I have LIVE SWATCHES of these on my YouTube channel!!

First up is OPI I Saw...U Saw...We Saw...Warsaw.

This is the darkest colour in the bunch. It's a very deep navy with a hint of teal. I love this polish because even though it's very dark it's still a vibrant blue and it'll never look black.

I love this polish on its own as well as in nail art.

I only used 1 coat for the swatch!

I reckon if you added a second coat it might slightly deepen the colour, but I love how it looks just on 1 coat.

The formula is very opaque, easy to work with and dries to a glossy finish.

Next up is Kester Black Blue Raspberry.

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that I'm obsessed with Kester Black.

This is a very vibrant cobalt blue. This has been the colour of the year for me so far. I literally 1can't get enough of it, and not just for my nails!

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

The first coat was very sheer but the second coat fully covered up my nail line. I reckon you could add a third coat as it's still slightly deeper of a colour in the bottle than it is on my nails.

It dried to a beautiful glossy finish.

Barry M Guava is one of my go-to colours for Autumn. It's still very very bright, but not as in your face as a neon is. This is a great pop of colour for Autumn.

This is part of the Gelly range from Barry M. These polishes tend to have a slightly thicker formula and dry with a high shine finish. The formula definitely wasn't difficult to work with. I tend to like thicker formulas more anyway.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

The first coat was pretty streaky but as it dried the streaks seemed to disappear. It was still slightly uneven so I would recommend a second coat.

Next is OPI Mermaid's Tears.

This was a huge lemming of mine! I think I finally own the entire Pirates Of The Caribbean collection!

This is a beautiful muted seafoam green. This has a hint more colour than Thanks A Windmillion, also from OPI, and that's why I much prefer this one.

The formula was very thin.

I used 2 coats for the swatch. The first coat was very sheer and streaky, but the second coat covered everything up. It dries with a glossy finish.

This is Be There In A Prosecco from OPI's new Venice Collection.

The Venice collection was beautiful but this is the only one I added to my top 12 polishes for Autumn.

This is a stunningly beautiful ivory creme nude. This is a great palette cleanser for all the brights and darks. This is a very sophisticated looking colour and I'm officially obsessed.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

It is quite a thin formula and streaky on the first coat, but the second coat covered everything up. It dries with a glossy finish.

Next up OPI Designer...De Better.

This was another HUGE lemming of mine and I was looking for it eeeeverywhere! Until I finally found it in an auction of eBay for about £5!

This is seriously stunning and so worth the hunt. It's a white gold shimmery polish with some coppery bits. It's similar to Worth A Pretty Penne from the new Venice collection, but this is much more of that white gold, whereas that one is much more rosey toned.

I used 2 coats for the swatch, but it was fully opaque in just 1 coat. I did apply topcoat to the swatch.

Next is Kester Black French Lavender.

This is the perfect muted purple. This is quite similar to Planks A Lot from OPI, but this has a slightly better formula.

This is a very light muted purple. OPI came out with a muted purple in the Hawaii collection which was much darker which I wasn't a huge fan of.

I used 2 coats for the swatch. If you're in a rush you could easily get away with just 1 coat as it is very opaque and even coverage. The second coat will slightly deepen up the colour.

It dries with a glossy finish.

Of course I had to include holos too. I've been obsessed with holos this year and want them ALL.

This is Freckles Polish The Treblemakers from the new Pitch Perfect Collection (released today!!). This is a warm plum purple linear holographic polish.

I used 2 coats for the swatch. There was a slight visible nail line of the first coat. The second coat really deepened up the colour.

The second holo is Glam Polish Indigo Sparkle.

This is a much cooler toned brighter purple holo.

I used 3 coats for the swatch.

The first coat was very sheer, but the polish built up beautifully in 3 coats.

This is another great pop of colour for the Autumn.

It dried to a bit of a dull finish so I did apply topcoat.

Next up is OPI I Sâo Paulo Over There.

I wore the crap out of this polish last year. I never thought I would like a brown polish, but I think it's beautiful towards the middle/end of Autumn. It looks really elegant and sophisticated.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

The formula was very easy to work with, it was slightly sheer on the first coat but the second coat covered everything up.

Next is OPI Just A Little Rösti At This.

This is my all time favourite OPI.

This is a beautiful deep red. It's still very vibrant but much darker than a traditional red. This makes it the perfect shade for Autumn.

The formula is incredible! I only used 1 coat for the swatch.

You could apply a second coat and it will slightly deepen the colour, but I love how it looks with just 1 coat. It has great coverage and a very even finish. It dries super glossy.

I'm obsessed.

The last polish is another favourite of mine.

this is Mecca Cosmetica Timandra. Mecca Cosmetica is an Australian brand.

How beautiful is this colour!? It's a purpley fuchsia and it's AMAZING.

I used 2 coats for the swatch, although if you're picky you might want to add a third.

It's a little sheer on the 1st coat and it dries to a matte finish so I added a topcoat for the swatch.

This is a very vibrant shade, but a great transition shade.



Those are my Autumn picks! What will you be wearing for this season?
xx Elaine

Owl Nails - Born Pretty Store Nail Art Liner Brush #18519

This month I am taking part in a monthly nail art challenge! I am intending to post all of the nail art on my blog, but it's been a little crazy lately so I haven't had the time! If you want to see the rest of the nail art from this month check out my Instagram or YouTube as everything is posted there already!

Anyway, for the 22nd of August the challenge was birds. The only birds I can draw are the V shaped ones flying.... so I decided to go for owl nails. An owl is a bird right?! Pretty much the same thing..... ;) 

This design is inspired by (copied from) @fun.nails.love on Instagram.

For this design I used a super small detail brush from Born Pretty Store. 

They sent me a few items for review as this was one of them. The brush is called the Nail Art Liner Brush. Click here to find the brush! The product number is 18519. You can use my code ELAIQ10 for 10% off your order!

It has a transparant crystal handle, making it look very fancy. It has the thinest brush I've ever seen. I have been really into detailed nail art since I started doing my nails but I never had the right products to make it look good. This brush is amazing. I used it with acrylic paint as well as nail polish. 

The following pictures are all screenshots from my YouTube tutorial, check out the video here!

I started off with a white base and I used acrylic paint to draw the outline of the owl. I used acrylic paint instead of nail polish because nail polish is very thick and dries very quickly. This makes it difficult to paint. Acrylic paint is much thinner and a little goes much longer. It's also easy to wipe off if you've made a mistake. 

Next I used a dotting tool and coloured the owl in. I used a dotting tool because it's a larger surface area so fills in the space quicker than a brush, but at the same time it's small enough to be precise. 

Next I added some random dot's around the owl in blue and green. 

I used a smaller dotting tool for this for smaller dots. 

Next I went into more detail of the owl. I added the white of the eyes with a dotting tool and added the pupils using the detail brush from Born Pretty Store. I also added a little beak and legs using the same brush. 

I added wings using the small dotting tool. 

Once everything is dry, apply a topcoat. 

Acrylic paint does take a little longer to dry than nail polish so be careful when you apply it to not drag the design. 

That's it! 

I really love this brush, it created such fine lines. It depends on how much product you add to the brush and how much pressure you apply when drawing for the thickness of the lines. The outline of the hour is a little thicker, whereas the legs and feet are very fine lines. 

Cleaning the brush was very easy too. For the acrylic paint you can just wash it in some water and for the nail polish I used nail polish remover without damaging the brush. 

Check out Born Pretty store for all their nail art items, they have LOADS! You can find the brush here! And don't forget to use my 10% off code ELAIQ10! 

xx Elaine 

OPI Venice Collection Swatch & Review

Ever since I first saw the OPI Venice Collection press release I knew I had to have them. I don't have a lot of will power when it comes to OPI... I picked up 8 of the 12 shades. The collection is set to release in August, but tnbl.co.uk had them early! It's a Autumn/Winter 2015 collection, but if you look at the colours, they're very pastel, nude, red, spring, summer. I don't really mind because I wear these types of colours all year round (especially the nudes!). Another reason I picked these up is because some of these are so unique in OPI's collection. A minty green! A warm pastel purple! A melon shade! It's all so new and exciting!

I have live swatches of these colours on my youtube channel, so if you want to see me applying these only my nails and really see what the formula is like, click here!

Anyway let's get started!

First up is Worth A Pretty Penne.

How cute is that name!??

This is like a rosey gold type of colour. When you look at the macro shot below you can see it's actually silver and copper shimmer instead of rose gold.

The formula is so easy. A lot of the time these shimmery shades are super sheer and need at least 3 coats to build up opacity. This was opaque in just 1 coat. I applied 2 for the swatch to see if it would make a difference. It didn't. You only need 1 coat!

Next is Gelato On My Mind.

This is the perfect minty green. It's right in the middle of a blue and a green.

This is quite similar to Essie Blossom Dandy, but I don't have a comparison yet.

The formula on this was really easy to work with. It's a little bit on the thin side, and the first coat was quite streaky, but the second coat covered everything up.

I used 2 coats for the photos.

Next is Purple Palazzo Pants.

This is a beautiful warm toned slightly dusty pale purple. This is something I've never seen from OPI. I have a pale lilac, Rumple's Wiggin, but that's much much cooler toned, and other dusty purples, such as Planks A lot, are much darker.

Autumn/Winter? No. Pretty? Yes.

The formula is the same as Gelato On My Mind. A little on the thin side and streaky on the first coat. The second coat covered everything up beautifully.

Next is A Great Opera-tunity.

This is described as a melon shade. It's a pale dusty orange. If that's a thing.

It's another beautiful unique shade. This leans a little more autumn, but like a warm autumn, not a grey cold english autumn.

The formula was similar to the others. It was on the thin side and streaky on the first coat. This was more streaky than the previous 2. The second coat covered everything up perfectly.

Now on to the neutrals.

This is Tiramisu For Two.

This is a slightly pink toned neutral and I love it! These types of shades really suit my skin tone.

The formula was slightly thicker on this one, which made it easier to work with.

It wasn't quite as streaky as the other on the first coat, but it definitely needed a second coat to cover everything up.

My favourite of the collection is I'll Be There In A Prosecco.

I've been loving these types of ivory creme colours lately. I think they look so sophisticated and elegant.

The formula was the same as Tiramisu For Two, it's slightly thicker and easier to work with. Not quite as streaky as the first few cremes, but definitely needs a second coat.

Next is My Boyfriend Scales Walls I Cannoli Wear OPI.

I'm pretty sure this is exactly the same as My Boyfriend Scales Walls from the Spiderman collection. Unfortunately I used up my entire bottle so I can't do a comparison for you.

It's a white with maybe 1 drop of grey. It's really beautiful and great if you just want white nails, but not too white.

The formula was easy to work with. A tiny bit thicker than the first few cremes and streaky on the first coat, but the second coat covered everything up perfectly.

Last up is a red. Of course I had to pick up the red polish from the collection since I have an unhealthy obsession with red polish.

This is Amore At The Grand Canal. It's a beautiful slightly deeper darker red.

It has more of a crelly formula which I love. I think I prefer crelly's over cremes!

The first coat was really even and didn't have any streaks. I could see a very slight visible nail line so I did apply a second coat for the swatch.






That's it for the OPI Venice Collection! There are 4 more shades which I wasn't too bothered about and there are also 3 limited edition glitters that haven't been released yet.

I really love this collection, OPI rarely disappoints. The collection isn't very Autumn/Winter, but OPI has gone into a different direction. I know China Glaze and Color Club both have camping collection which have browns and other more Autumn-y colours, but it's nice to see a brand do something different for a change. I would use all of these colours, whereas the Nordic Collection from last year, I haven't touched since I swatched them!

What do you think of the Venice Collection? Will you be picking up any of the shades, or are you going to wait until spring 2016 to pick these up?
xx Elaine

National Nude Day Swatches

Happy National Nude Day! I went on Instagram this morning and saw Barry M post it was National Nude Day. I'm a HUGE fan of nude nail polishes so I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and do a post about some of my favourite nudes. 

I have a very large amount of nude nail polishes, it's a bit of a problem. But in all honesty, it's my favourite colour to wear all year round. These are the four I grabbed from my collection, there are definitely all amazing, but I couldn't say which ones are my all time favourites. 

I'll start off with Toasted Almond from Let It Glitter. 

Let It Glitter! is a Dutch indie brand that I'm a little in love with. Toasted Almond is a very pale peachy pinky nude. It's the perfect shade for my skin tone. It looks really elegant and sophisticated and a great palate cleanser from all the neons I've been wearing. 

The application is super easy. I only used 2 coats for the swatch. The first coat is a little on the sheer side, but with careful application it's streak free. The second coat covers everything up. 

It dries super glossy and definitely no need for a topcoat. 

Next is a bit of a more expensive polish. This is Dior Lili. 

It's the only Dior polish I own and it's amazing. Dior retails for £18.50 which is definitely a little too pricy to own more than one! 

This is another stunning, elegant, sophisticated, chic nude. This is more beige-y than the previous one. 

Dior polishes come with a very wide brush, similar to the European Essie's, so application is incredibly easy. 

I used 2 coats for the swatch. Again it dries super glossy so no need for a topcoat. 

If you read my blog, you'll know Kester Black is a huge love of mine. Kester Black is an Australian indie brand. 

This is called Nude. And surprisingly it's a nude polish!

This is very similar to Dior Lili, but a shade lighter. 

The formula was a little sheer so I used 3 coats for the swatch. Again it dries super glossy so no need for a topcoat. 

Last up is OPI My Very First Knockwurst. 

OPI is another brand I love, and I think I own the most OPI's out of any other brand. 

Pinky nudes like this look best with my skin tone, but doesn't look as elegant as Toasted Almond or Lili. They're great if I want something that's hardly there and very subtle, but better than naked nails. 

This had a great formula. I used 2 coats for the swatch. I was quite careful as this could easily get a bit streaky. 

It dries glossy so I didn't apply a topcoat. 

These are some of my most reached for nude polishes. What are your favourite nude polishes? 

xx Elaine 

Mani Swap with @PolishIsTheNewBlack

About a week ago Rachel from @PolishIsTheNewBlack asked if anyone wanted to do a maniswap/bestie twin nails with her. I seriously love her account. She's a fellow UK nail girl who does incredible nail art. It was so difficult for me to choose which design to do, but I ended up choosing this floral design. It's something completely different from anything I've done before.

She decided to recreate my glittery mermaid scale mani (which I'll blog about in a later post... mu blog is a little behind!).

I love how hers turned out, and do you see those cute little seashell studs?!?

Luckily for me, Rachel had a tutorial of her mani on her page ;)

I started off with a pink base of OPI Pink Friday. I love this pink because it's a light pastel shade, but still very very bright.

I then added some green grassy bits. I found out that I don't have a proper grass green in my collection..... I guess I'll have to go shopping!

Instead I used China Grass Grass Is Lime Greener. It's hard to see in the photos since it's so light, but it was more visible in real life.

Following Rachel's tutorial I then added the flowers.

For this I used one of my top 10 nail polishes. This is Mecca Cosmetica Timandra. Mecca Cosmetica is an Australian brand that creates Artistry Nail Polishes, amongst many other beauty items. I miss that store!

Anyway, back to the design.. I drew the flowers and then I used OPI Pink Friday again to colour them in.

Next up is the blue-y bits. I first added some tiny dark blue dots using Mecca Cosmetica Cobalt, and then went over it with Kester Black Forget Me Not.

I finished it off with a red Mecca Cosmetica (I forgot the name) and added some dots in the middle of the flowers.

I'm obviously very technical with all my terms.

I gave it some time to completely dry and I added a glossy topcoat. I then added some star studs on my index and pinky fingers as I didn't have the same shape she used.

How cute are these nails though?!?

Check out @PolishIsTheNewBlack on instagram for more beautiful nail art!

OPI Neutrals Swatches & Nail Art

I am trying to get all of my nail polishes swatched. I don't have an 'untried' pile as I've tried probably 98% of all my nail polishes, but I probably haven't swatched 50% of them. I use a lot of polishes for nail art, and some colours I buy exclusively for nail art.

Since my collection is quickly expanding, I thought it was time to destash. I easily got rid of about 30 polishes, including 10 OPI's and 8 Essie's. Now it's time to swatch the rest and see which ones I really like and actually use.

I have already gone through all my Kester Blacks... I'm keeping them all! And my second favourite brand is OPI.

OPI has a fantastic range of nail polishes and constantly have new collections coming out. It's very tempting to buy all the nail polishes that come out, but they also release a lot of dupes (within their own brand) so realistically, I don't need them all...

I decided to start with my neutrals. I'm obsessed with nude nails and I have quite a large range from OPI. I wanted to try something new. Instead of just swatching the polishes I wanted to add some nail art.

I'll start off with the pinky shades. First up is Tickle My France-y.

This is a very pink toned neutral mauve.

I bought this because I saw so many beautiful swatches of it online, but I'm not sure if this really suits me.

I've put it in the maybe pile.

More info, swatches and nail art after the jump!