NailNerdChallenge July 2021 // Nautical Nails

Mermaids are considered to fall under the "nautical" category right?? Well they do now because I love this look I did. 

It came about whilst I swatching some China Glaze shades and I couldn't help but stick a load of glittery toppers on Too Yacht to Handle. Negative stamps are also the best because I can only imagine a stamping polish like that would cost a fortune.

For these nails I started out with 2 coats of Too Yacht To Handle followed by a layer of Diamond Glitter, then Will-'O-The-Wisp and dry brushed on alternate strokes of Crystal Blue and Pink Luxe. I then used born pretty stamping plate on my middle finger and Moyou on the rest. 

Polishes/Tools Used:

Nails:

- China Glaze // Too Yacht To Handle (teal)

- Barry M Nail Paint // Diamond Glitter (scattered holo)

- H&M // Will-'O-The-Wisp (green duochrome shimmer topper)

- Barry M Molten Metal // Crystal Blue, Pink Luxe

Stamping:

- What's Up Nails // Blanc My Mind (white)

- Born Pretty Stamping Plate // BP-109 (middle finger)

- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Sailor 04 (rest of fingers)

Match That Mani // Sainsbury's Blue & Yellow Oriental Teacup

This didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned it in my head but it will do cause it's hella cute. I saw these cups in Sainsbury's the other weekend and they were on offer for £1.50 each. How could I resist? They're supposed to be used a teacups for fancy oriental tea but I don't really drink tea so I use them for my orange juice in the morning and I just can't; they're freaking adorable.

I won't lie; the sole reason I bought them was because I wanted to put the design on my nails 🙈 I don't have the exact wave design on a stamping plate and this was the closest I could get. Unfortunately the polish I used did not want to pick up properly and it's a little patchy in places. MoYou polishes are so hit and miss; I really need to stop buying them and buy more Twinkled T instead.

This was 2 layers of Blanc followed by the blue waves which I placed about a cm away from the tip. I then painted the tips in Lemon Sugar; my favourite yellow shade. This is the only polish I've ever used fully.

Polishes/Tools used:-

- Essie// Blanc (white)

- MoYou London // Dusty Blue (pale blue)

- Avon True Colour // Lemon Sugar (pastel yellow)

- Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy // Diamond Top Coat

- MoYou London Stamping Plates // Sailor 07

Makin' Waves // Glitter Mermaid Nail Art

What's this? Some nail art? I know it's been a while. I had a quite a big deadline for my dissertation the other day and I've been working on it non-stop. It's not the final hand in, but there's only two months left and I can't afford to fall behind. I've worked so hard these past three years, I can't fail now. However, since I've caught up on my work, I've scheduled in some 'me' time as I've not had much fun. Doing my nails last night for the first time weeks was so nice!

Clairestelle8 over on Instagram has a March challenge and whereas I won't be actively trying to complete it this month (I have to much work to do), I'll be dipping in and out fo the challenges. The prompt for the 9th was 'Mermaid'. I wanted more than anything to just to mermaid scales but I forced myself to something a little different. Plus I've been wanting to use this glitter since I bought it in January.

Look at it! It's so beautiful. Money well spent.

How I did it:-
I started off with 1 layer of Mint Chocolate Chip. The middle finger uses a design on Sailor 06 and a mixture of Dream Holiday and #284 ( I know it doesn't look like it, but there is a gradient there). The index finger uses Sailor 18 which has 3 different waves patterns on it. I used these with Deep Ocean, Surf's Up and #17 to create the waves. I did the top colour first, then the black tail fin, then the next two colours. To top it off I used some of the stars at the top of Sailor 18 with Stop, Shop & Roll. The glitter is then two sponged layers with two layers of top coat to get a nice smooth look.

Polishes/Tools Used:-
- Morgan Taylor // Wrapped In Riches (teal glitter)

- Morgan Taylor // Mint Chocolate Chip (pastel mint)
- Morgan Taylor // Stop, Shop & Roll (metallic teal)

- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Dream Holiday (sky blue)
- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Surf's Up (cerulean)
- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Deep Ocean (ocean blue)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #17 (blue)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #284 (pastel blue)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #3 (black)

- Avon Mark Gel Shine // Top Coat
- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Sailor 06 & Sailor 18