DIY nail art…

Since my ‘how to…’ Galaxy nail art blog has gone mental with tons of retweets, I thought I’d ask what other tutorials you guys would like?
Is there a nail art effect or pattern that you’ve always wanted to do? Anything you want tips on? Leave your request in the comments below and I’ll put some tutorials together!

Lex :)

Galaxy nails tutorial I made this aaages ago and forgot about it: a super simple tutorial for a galaxy manicure. 1. Paint your nails black and, using a small section of sponge (cosmetic sponges are perfect) lightly dab on some blue polish 2. Dab a lighter blue onto the nail in swirls 3. Add highlights in whatever colour you like: I used green and orange 4. Add further highlights: I used a baby yellow 5. Use a dotting tool to add some stars in white polish. Finish with a generous layer of top coat to smooth it all out. There you go! Galaxies in 5 easy steps. The best thing about galaxies is trying it out for yourself with any colours you like. Each time I do these, they turn out completely different. I hope this helps you. Lex :)
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Galaxy nails tutorial I made this aaages ago and forgot about it: a super simple tutorial for a galaxy manicure. 1. Paint your nails black and, using a small section of sponge (cosmetic sponges are perfect) lightly dab on some blue polish 2. Dab a lighter blue onto the nail in swirls 3. Add highlights in whatever colour you like: I used green and orange 4. Add further highlights: I used a baby yellow 5. Use a dotting tool to add some stars in white polish. Finish with a generous layer of top coat to smooth it all out. There you go! Galaxies in 5 easy steps. The best thing about galaxies is trying it out for yourself with any colours you like. Each time I do these, they turn out completely different. I hope this helps you. Lex :)
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Galaxy nails tutorial

I made this aaages ago and forgot about it: a super simple tutorial for a galaxy manicure.

1. Paint your nails black and, using a small section of sponge (cosmetic sponges are perfect) lightly dab on some blue polish

2. Dab a lighter blue onto the nail in swirls

3. Add highlights in whatever colour you like: I used green and orange

4. Add further highlights: I used a baby yellow

5. Use a dotting tool to add some stars in white polish. Finish with a generous layer of top coat to smooth it all out.

There you go! Galaxies in 5 easy steps. The best thing about galaxies is trying it out for yourself with any colours you like. Each time I do these, they turn out completely different.

I hope this helps you.

Lex :)

How to save a split nail… I had never tried this technique before but am amazed at how well it works. All you need is: a teabag, nail glue and a nail file. Rip the teabag (cutting with scissors creates a thick edge that is harder to blend) to cover your whole nail. Coat your bare nail with glue and press the teabag onto the wet glue, smoothing out bubbles and taking care not to glue yourself to your nail! Once that is dry, do another layer of glue over the top and wait for that to dry. File off the edges so you can’t see any teabag. The result should look like the 3rd photo above. Put on base coat and nail varnish as usual. Et voila! A perfect fix! You will have to redo this whenever it starts to lift (which depends on how often you take your polish off) until the split grows out enough to trim your nail properly. Lex :)
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How to save a split nail…

I had never tried this technique before but am amazed at how well it works.

All you need is: a teabag, nail glue and a nail file.

Rip the teabag (cutting with scissors creates a thick edge that is harder to blend) to cover your whole nail. Coat your bare nail with glue and press the teabag onto the wet glue, smoothing out bubbles and taking care not to glue yourself to your nail!

Once that is dry, do another layer of glue over the top and wait for that to dry. File off the edges so you can’t see any teabag. The result should look like the 3rd photo above.

Put on base coat and nail varnish as usual. Et voila! A perfect fix!

You will have to redo this whenever it starts to lift (which depends on how often you take your polish off) until the split grows out enough to trim your nail properly.

Lex :)

GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
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GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
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GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
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GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
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GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
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GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
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GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
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GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
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GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
Zoom Info
GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL Hello lovelies, I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above. The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!): Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried) An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls Creme orange around the edges of the yellow Creme green around edges of the yellow Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like) Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish More top coat And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error. I hope this basic tutorial was helpful, Lex :)
Zoom Info

GALAXY NAILS TUTORIAL

Hello lovelies,

I had a request on Twitter for a Galaxy nails tutorial and when I went back to one I did a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to do a new one. I took photos of every stage, as you can see above.

The stages I did are as follows (but you can do whatever colours you like!):

  • Use the little eyeshadow sponge applicator for all patterns and detailing (once your black nail varnish has dried)
  • An iridescent sheer blue in swirls and blobs
  • A creme mid-blue shade to accent the previous blue coats
  • Creme light yellow focused on the middles of the blue swirls
  • Creme orange around the edges of the yellow
  • Creme green around edges of the yellow
  • Glitter and iridescent sheer blue to tone down the brighter colours (and shape the swirls if you like)
  • Top coat to smooth over the matte effect from the sponging
  • Use a dotting tool (or pin head) to make the stars with white polish
  • More top coat

And that’s it! The best way to do this is to try as many different colours as you can: some look great, some look awful but it’s really just trial and error.

I hope this basic tutorial was helpful,

Lex :)

Peeling/chipping nail varnish…

Hello all!

I had a question from the lovely @sincealwaysxo on Twitter about peeling/chipping nail varnish and decided that a blog would be easier than writing a 10-part tweet reply on the subject!

Firstly, the most basic way to prevent chips/peeling polish is to make sure you are painting your nails properly. If you aren’t wrapping your nails then they will chip a lot easier. I wrap my nails everytime I do a manicure and it means the manicure can last up to a week (with careful treatment!).

Here’s a quick tutorial on nail wrapping, in case you’re unfamiliar with it.

  • Apply base coat
  • Do one coat of your chosen nail polish
  • Get a small amount of polish on your brush and paint along the end edge of your nail as shown below:

  • Go slightly over the polish on the upper side so it’s fully covering the top millimetre of your painted nail. This is what gives the tip its name - ’wrapping’
  • Try not to get any on the underside of the nail as it looks very messy

  • Do your final coat of polish
  • Finish with top coat, remembering to cover the end edge with top coat as well

Et voila! Done! The perfect manicure.

Some other tips for preventing chipping and peeling:

  • Any residue on the nails will stop the base coat/varnish bonding to your nails. This could be moisturiser, make-up, natural oils from your hands or face, handwash…anything. Make sure that you go over your nails with nail polish remover before a manicure, even if you had no polish on.
  • A good top coat is essential to prevent chipping or peeling. I use ORLY Sec ‘n’ Dry as it’s a deep-drying top coat that also makes my mani last. If you have the money it’s worth investing in Seche Vite topcoat which is widely regarded as the best around.
  • Re-applying your top coat every day can prolong your manicure, if you have time.
  • Sometimes you can do the best manicure in the world but peeling/weak nails can ruin it anyway. Have a look at my previous post on nail care to ensure your nails are in the best condition before you start: http://talonted.tumblr.com/post/11431740919/nail-staining

I hope these tips were helpful,

Lex :)

Glitter polish removal tutorial…

Hello lovelies!

I have had a few questions from people asking for tips getting glitter polish off so I thought I’d just do a very quick tutorial with the best removal tip ever.

You will need some nails that are coated in tough, pesky glitter. Above are the Galaxy nails that I did for the last day of the nail challenge (where you had to repeat a mani from earlier in the month) which is a perfect example.

You will also need nail varnish remover, kitchen foil and some cotton pads cut into quarters, as shown above.

Soak a cotton pad quarter in polish remover and place over your nail. Then take a piece of foil and wrap around your nail. Do the same for the rest of your nails (I usually do one hand at a time as it’s quite hard to do the other hand with your previous hand covered in foil!). Make sure the foil is as tightly wrapped as you can get it.

Leave these on for about 10 minutes. You can catch up on tumblr while you do this, eat some cake, have a cup of tea…or you can pretend to be Beyonce in the Single Ladies video…I definitely didn’t do the latter…nope. Definitely not.

Once the 10 minutes are up, simply pull the foil off in one go, dragging the cotton pad off your nail horizontally at the same time. And then prepare to be amazed!

Also, please ignore my horrendously yellow nails…I am so ashamed of them. I am going to use them as an example and do another tutorial on ridding yourself of revolting yellow stains!!

A quick touch up with some remover and the nails are perfectly clean. It’s a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!! (too soon?)

This is quite drying for nails so don’t forget to slather your cuticles and nails in oil/nail cream.

Hope this was helpful,

Lex :)

Nail challenge: Day 30 - ‘Inspired by a tutorial’

Good evening everyone!

The theme for the penultimate (a-boooo!) day of the nail art challenge is ‘Inspired by a tutorial’. I chose a manicure by the lovely DIY nails. Not only are her manicures brilliant, but her blog is really helpful, fun to read AND she is a lovely lady to boot!

Her tutorial for cupcake nails can be found here: http://diynails.tumblr.com/post/4142810729/cupcake-tutorial And I would recommend looking at her other stuff as well. She is great!

I still cannot find my baby yellow polish, I fear it is lost forever. So I had to do a frankenpolish of Miss Sporty yellow mixed with my Rimmel French Ivory. I did two coats of that and applied a fast-drying top coat. For the cupcake cases I used Rimmel’s ‘Urban Purple’ and followed my nail line.

For the icing I used Rimmel’s french manicure white as it’s thick and dries quickly. I applied it with a paintbrush and did each one differently to look like runny icing.

The white was used with the paintbrush to do the stripes on the cupcake cases. Models Own ‘Juicy Jules’ made the perfect glittery sprinkles for the topping and Rimmel’s ‘Double Decker Red’ made the ideal cherries.

This mani is so cute and didn’t take that long to do so I am very happy.

Can’t believe tomorrow is the last day of the challenge. I feel quite sad about it! …I might have to start a new challenge to replace it. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

Lex :)

Galaxy nails: step by step…

I posted the above picture earlier after my first attempt at Galaxy nails. I had a few replies on Twitter asking for a tutorial of sorts so that they could see how I had done it. I’ve never done a tutorial before so bear with me. There are a lot of pictures so I apologise in advance!

The picture below shows all the polishes I used in this manicure:

I started with pure black nails and then used a cosmetic sponge to dab the blue onto my nails in various swirls and blobs. Dab the sponge very lightly onto your nails and build up slowly: it’s easier to add more varnish than to take excess off. Use your imagination but remember to leave enough black around the blobs, you want it to still resemble space!!

On top of the blue, I added purple. You can use whatever colours you like really. Typing ‘Galaxy nails’ into Google will show you how many versions there are!

My next stages were a sheer green to build depth and then pinky glitter to really ramp up the space effect:

I used a dotting tool to add small blobs of white polish for the stars; Finished off with a coat of ORLY Sec ‘N’ Dry topcoat; Tidied up the mess around the nails with an earbud and voila! Galaxy nails done!

Before I put on the top coat, I was a bit disappointed as the end effect was quite matte and dull. You couldn’t really differentiate between the colours I had spent ages layering…but the top coat is a miracle-worker and, as you can see below, it brightens everything up again. As well as giving it a smooth, glassy finish.

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I hope you found this helpful, I actually really enjoyed documenting it as I went through. I will definitely be trying Galaxy nails again as I think it’s something that gets better with every attempt. Let me know if you try it!

Lex :)

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