Rainbow Lighting Bolt Nail Art - Maniswap

Of course doing Bestie Twin Nails for every challenge this month isn't busy enough... I also had to do a mani swap with Leanne from @leasnails!

I love her account and she's just started her very own indie nail polishes called Charming Tale!

I decided to recreate her rainbow watermarble lightning bolt glitter nails and she did my mermaid nails! We even tried to copy each others nail poses... spoiler alert I LOVE her handpose and you might be seeing it pop up more often ;).

I have a video tutorial of these nails on my youTube channel!

I started off creating a watermarble design. Of course I used my Pipe Dream Polish A Night In Vegas collection polishes because that's the only thing I can successfully marble with.

In the video I show how I created this design. I add a drop in every colour twice and create the normal flower design. I then swirl from the top to the bottom to get this design. Does that make sense? Probably not...

Anyway I create the flower design first and then drag it back and forth because I feel like it mixes the colours better.

I applied a topcoat and waited for a good 15-20 minutes before moving on to the next step.. I wasn't taking any chances!

Next I added the lightning bolt stencils from Nail Mail.

I applied black nail polish over the top and while that was still wet I slowly removed the stencil following the shape of the design.

To top it all off and give it that extra sparkle I applied 1 coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust.

This is a very subtle glitter that dries completely flat (not gritty). It's very sparse and gives a magical effect that isn't too overpowering.

That's it!

Remember to check out my video tutorial here!

xx Elaine

What's Up Nails Watermarble Tool Review

It's summer and I've been obsessed with the Pipe Dream Polish Neons and water marbling. I always struggle with drawing a design in the water. I've used toothpicks and dotting tools and I could kind of create something, but I'd get more and more annoyed along the way.

I always though "naahhh I don't need the water marble tool from What's Up Nails...". Well... I did. I finally placed an order with them and the water marble tool was one of them.

Now, I can't stop marbling!

The tool is called the Pure Color 7 Watermarble Tool. What's Up Nails ships worldwide and the shipping was pretty quick.

The tip of the watermarble tool is shaped like a needle, but not quite as sharp! This way it's very easy drag the polish into a design. I made the floral loops design (whatever it's called!). Normally I'd have three little loops on my nails, but even on my pinky I have 4 loops! I have tons on my thumb!

The needle tip makes the application very precise.

The difference between using this tool and a regular needle is the grip. This has a large handle like any other nail art brush. It's very easy to hold and sits in your hand nicely, again for the most precision and a steady hand. It also has rubbery circles for extra grip.

After every dip in the water, I cleaned the needle with some nail polish remover.

I know my water marble still isn't perfect, but it's a thousand times better than it was.

I actually managed to do both hands without getting frustrated!

If you're thinking of getting the tool, but not too sure... you NEED it. Trust me!

xx Elaine

Pipe Dream Polish Watermarble

I bought the Pipe Dream Polish A Night In Vegas collection almost a year ago before the hype started and thank god I did! These polishes are absolutely stunning! And the hype is definitely worth it.

A Night In Vegas consists of 7 neons which are all beautiful individually, but their real appeal is that they're fantastic at water marbling.

I'm not very good at water marbling and really struggle to create designs, but these polishes literally make is so easy!

The collection is very difficult to get a hold of, and after a year of them being released they're still one of the most wanted indie nail polishes I know of.

I created this watermarble using 6 of the seven colours.

I started off with a white base, and applied Mess Free Mani my Nail Stencils around my cuticles.

As you can tell from the photo... I probably should have applied a little bit more!

I then dripped all the colours from the Pipe Dream Polish A Night In Vegas Collection into my water.

I use room temperate bottles water for best results.

I then swirled it around a bit. To be honest when It comes to water marbling, I don't really know what I'm doing! I definitely need a bit of practice..

I dipped my finger into the water, one at a time, used a toothpick to get rid of all the other polish and carefully pulled my finger out the water.

The polish dries matte and I loved the way it looked so I ended up applying a matte topcoat to finish it all off.

I recently bought a black light and I seriously cannot get enough of it. It's like I'm rediscovering my entire nail polish collection all over again!

The whole A Night In Vegas collection glows under a black light and it looks incredible. I don't know which way I prefer it!

Now I want to play some laser quest and test out my nails haha.

To reuse the mani I applied some straight line stencils from Nail Mail and painted my nails black.

I love the contrast of the bright neons and the black. It makes the neons pop even more!

This time I added a glossy top coat.

Pipe Dream Polish - A Night In Vegas

Everyone has been going cray cray for the Pipe Dream Polish A Night In Vegas collection.... and with good reason! I managed to get my hands on these during the summer from http://meimeisignatures.com, and of course bought them to marble with. I actually water marbled with them before even swatching them!

The collection consists of 7 colours: On The List (pink), 110 Degrees (coral orange), Light Of Day (yellow), High Roller (green), Happy Hour (teal), All In (blue) and V.I.P. Pass (purple). If they weren't so great at marbling, I most definitely wouldn't have bought the whole set.

All of the polishes are gorgeous creams, although a few have some very subtle shimmer. They're easily opaque in 2 coats and no white base needed.

For my water marble nails, I used all 7 colours. They all spread out so smoothly and are easy to play around with on the waters surface. Of course I applied a white base to start off with to really make the colours pop.

I'm literally in love with the result. It's super summery and neon and just gorgeous.

Getting hold of these polishes is pretty tricky, they are VERY popular and always sell out within minutes. Check out http://pipedreampolish.com for their restock info!