Nearly But Not Quite Nails // July 2019

So instead of calling them nail fails, like I have been every month, I decided to call it something else because they weren't really "fails" but rather looks I just felt 'meh' about and didn't feel they deserved their own post, so in the interest of open-ness here is some nail art I've done that isn't great but it isn't wow either. It's more "you tried."

#1 // Antique Berries

Oh man this was so long ago. I did this on the 14th March and I kept meant to post it but never did. The stamping is clean, the colours go nice together but it's just lacklustre. Nothing pops out but damn those Barry M Liquid Chrome polishes stamp like heaven. These photos make miss my old set-up so bad though :(

#2 // Pink Marble

Hot off the heels of Stone Goals, I did another smooshing look but this time adding in some pink. Again, I really wanted to post this but it was so similar and looking back now I feel like the pink was too dark. I think this would've benefited from some gold veins and maybe a succulent or two. I do like this look though and once my lightboxes are back in place in a week I'll try and film the whole smooshing process because it creates perfect marble nails, every time.

Also, how hard am I squeezing the rose quartz? My thumb is almost yellow lol.

#3 // Pink Quartz

This look came about after watching this video by the very talented twi_star where she used sharpies and a sheer as hell OPI shade to achieve perfect Quartz nails. I am nowhere near the level of twi_star however I did buy a sheer as hell OPI shade because of this video to practice doing rose quartz nails. Instead of using sharpies mixed with rubbing alchohol though I just used acrylic paint and I think I got the layering effect right with all the layers of the sheer polish between the veins, but the pink is just too pink and the edges are a bit of a mess where the polish wasn't applied neatly. Then in an attempt to be @lieve_91, I added some gold shimmer and rose gold striping tape.

#4 // Hydration

If you were wondering where this months Look Fantastic nails were...well here they are. *one person slow clapping*. I really don't like this look, it just didn't turn out how I saw it in my head in the slightest. It's boring and the lighting is terrible. The accent finger was a water decal and I now wish I had done the entire hand using the water decals. The stamping is supposed to be banana leaves and an ombre of colours from mint to white and green but it all just merged together to become this boring mass of lines.

And with that I've finally got four folders that I can remove from my pending folder to make way for fresh new stuff. Hope you enjoyed this random assortment of nails, see you next month for the next lot (because there will definitely be more...)

Stone Goals // White, Grey & Gold Marble Design

Finally, I think I have perfected the marble look and it's all thanks to smooshing! I'm definitely going to film this look soon and maybe use a brighter gold shade but it works! It's no lie, I'm totally basic and obsessed with marble and rose gold. I blame it on Pinterest. There's just something about marble nails as well; it's so elegant and expensive looking.

So smooshing is pretty easy. You just blob on white on a silicone mat, drop some of your chosen colours onto the white and then lightly drag the design a little using the tip of an orange stick or really fine dotting tool, then pick up the design using a stamper. I like to let it dry on the stamper a little bit so it doesn't smoosh more as you stamp. Make sure to use liquid latex as well for easy clean up.

I still can't believe I found this Ciaté shade in TK Maxx for £2.99. I bought two it's that pretty. They've had some really great Ciaté shades in there lately.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Nicole Diary // Born Perfect (white)
- Nailberry // Stone (dark grey)
- Ciaté Gelology // Goal Digger (muted copper)

- Barry M Hi-Shine // Plumpy Top Coat