Turquoise Stone

Turquoise Stone Nails

I tried something a little different for today's nails. This nail art was inspired by turquoise stone. I saw a similar design in a magazine and online and thought I'd give it a try!

For this design I used:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"Finger Paints" nail polish in Figure of Art
-"Orly" nail polish in Gumdrop
-"Beauty Secret's" Top Coat

Step 1: Apply your base coat then 2 coats of your bronze/gold color polish, wait for this to completely dry.

Step 2: Now apply 2 coats of turquoise polish (make sure all of the step 1 polish is covered).

Step 3: Once dry, use an acetone based polish remover (this will work with non-acetone removers but will take much much longer to do) and dip a cotton swab (q-tip) into it until its moist not wet. Gently rub this over spots of  your nails where you want the bronze/gold color exposed. Continue to do this in different shapes over all 10 fingers.

Step 4: Apply a top coat! Voila! You're done

This is a fun and easy technique that anyone can master even if your not a pro at nail art. It's something funky and fun, try switching up the colors and do a rainbow design! If you try this on your own nails send me a picture! Keep sending your requests to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com.

Hope you enjoyed today's nail art!

Check back later this week for a fun and funky design that I have planned!!

-Valentine

Beautiful Turquoise Stone

The Hunger Games

Hunger Games Nails

Today's nail idea came from a YouTube video I saw posted by vlogger "ihaveacupcake". I love this design, it really captures the books cover art!

For this design I used:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"Orly" Nail Polish in Liquid Vinyl
- Acrylic Paint in Black, Ivory, Yellow and Gold
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

I used a thin paint brush to paint the targets and the mockingjay logo, you can also use a dotting tool/toothpicks to do many of the lines and small details. Also, when using an acrylic paint over a dark colored nail polish it's a good idea to add white to make it more opaque (in this case I added a little ivory to the yellow to make it stand out then painted gold over this color to define  the symbol).

If you haven't already read the Hunger Games, check it out, it's a great read! I just saw the movie yesterday and loved it! Hope you all enjoy this fun nail design. E-Mail your requests to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com.

Happy Hunger Games!

May the odds be ever in your favor...

-Valentine

Walking Dead

Walking Dead Nails

It’s been a while since my last post. I had a little run in with a nail file that left the thumbnail on my left hand out of commission… I guess I’ll have to remember to have my morning coffee before doing my nails. The good news that came from this painful accident was that I had a lot of time to think of new ideas for my nail designs.

Today’s idea came from two individuals that I work with. I had been asked a while ago to do a nail design for the television series and graphic novel “The Walking Dead”; this is what I came up with. I drew inspiration from the graphic novels more then the TV series just because real life characters can be very difficult to re-create on the canvas that is my nail.

For this design I used:

-“Beauty Secrets” Base Coat
-“Finger Paints” Nail Polish in Curator’s Crimson
- Acrylic Paints in Ivory and Black
-“Beauty Secrets” Top Coat

Below I’ve posted a few of the pictures that I looked at to get the general idea for this design. Hope you enjoy these, please let me know what you think! Keep sending your requests to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com! Don’t forget to check out my facebook page and click “LIKE”! ☺

Enjoy!

-Valentine

Spring has Sprung!

Spring Nails

Today's nails are again spring inspired and were done for a nail art competition on Facebook that The Balm is holding, please check it out and like my post on their wall :)

This design was super easy to do! For this design I used:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"Essence" nail polish in Sweet as Candy
-"L.A. Colors Art Deco" nail polish in Mint Green and Bright Green
- Acrylic Paint in ivory, baby pink, saphire blue and yellow
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

First I painted my nails with a base coat and then with two coats of sweet as candy polish. Wait for this to completely dry then with the small art deco brushes paint thin lines at the tips of your nails (don't try to get these the same length, the more uneven they are the better since you're trying to achieve a grassy look). Then once the grass has dried paint on small white petals for your daisies with your ivory acrylic paint. Last but not least use a toothpick to dot the yellow centers and the small blue dots above the daisies. Finish this design off with a top coat!

I hope you enjoy this design and try it on your own nails for a cute spring inspired look!

Keep sending your requests to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com!

-Valentine

Rain Showers Bring Spring Flowers

Spring Flowers!

Today's nail art is inspired by the wonderful weather we've been enjoying over the last week! This is a fun and quick nail design that is guaranteed to grab others attention.

For this design I used:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"Orly" nail polish in Liquid Vinyl
- Acrylic Pain in black, ivory, yellow, orange, teal, and baby pink
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

For the flowers I used a small tipped brush for the details and toothpicks to make the small yellow dots. Overall this is a fairy easy design to do, the flowers are just formed but making tiny hearts over and over again on each nail. For a beginner strarting out, try using a nail art pen or even something like "L.A. Color- Art Deco" nail art stripers to have a little more control over your brush.

Please keep sending your requests to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com. If you try these on your own nails please send me a picture.

Remember to check out my Facebook page!

Enjoy!

-Valentine

Konad Nail Stamper *Review's by Valentine*

Konad Star Stamper

This is my first review blog!!! I know the Konad stamper kits have been around for a little while but I finally just saw them at a store in my city!

Discription: Konad Started Kit. It came with 2 stamper plates(m2 and m3), scraper, 3 small special polishes (red, white and blue) and the stamper.

Cost: $26.99

Store: I got this one at my local Lawtons, but they are also available online at www.nailpolishcanada.com, www.konadnailart.com, and ebay

Usability: This product was so easy to use. I was able to take it right out of the package and use it without reading any instructions (although there is a tutorial video on youtube that provides some great tips and tricks). It is a little messy so make sure you put paper towel or newspaper under the plate while in use. The polish itself dries very quickly so thats a great feature!

Verdict: Overall I would rate the Konad stamper kit a 7/10. It's great to have in my collection and I will use it from time to time for a quick "Konad-icure". It's a little pricy for what you get but a cleaver idea. Great for the girl on the go that doesn't have hours to spend on a proper manicure but it will not be replacing my daily nail art routine any time soon.

I'm a Barbie Girl...

Barbie Girl Nails

Of all the nail art that I've done over the last few months I think I've been most excited to do these! They were really easy to do and were really fun to wear!

For this design I used:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"Orly" Nail Polish in Liquid Vinyl
-"Sally Hansen" Nail Polish in Pink Blink
- Acrylic paint in black and ivory
-"Nichole by OPI" Nail Polish in Top of my World
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

Tip: Use hole punch protectors to create a perfect half moon manicure. Paint your nails with black polish and wait for it to completely dry. Once dry, put the protector stickers near the base of the nail and paint over with pink polish (this may take a few coats). Remove the stickers and voila, perfect half moons! I chose to decorare mine with tiny ruffles just to add an extra girly touch.

Lastly the glitter coat I used looks a little orange in the picture. On my nails it looks totally different, more like tiny diamonds. It may just be the light at the time that I took this picture :)

Try this on your own nails and send me a picture. Keep sending your requests to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com!

Hope you enjoy these and remember to check out my facebook page!

-Valentine

What color is your zebra?

Rainbow Zebra Nails

Today's nails were painted a while back but I got so many coments on them I figured I would let everyone know how I did them :-)

For this design you will need
- Sponge make-up pads
- "Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
- Assorted brightly colored nail polish (I think I used 6 colors)
- Acrylic paint in black
- "Finger Paints" Nail Polish in Paper Mache
- "Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

step1- First you will need to file and paint your nails with base coat followed by a white coat (paper mache).

step2- Tear off a piece of the make-up sponge and dip it into one of your brightly colored polishes. With this sponge dab small sections of your nails until all colors are on.

step3- Water down your acrylic paint and use a thin liner brush to paint on a zebra print.

step4- Once the acrylic paint has dried, paint on a top coat to seal in the colors.

This design is fairly messy (as you can see from the pucture above) use nail polish remover and an angled tip q-tip to remove and excess paint or polish that gets on your fingers.

Hope you enjoy this design. Please comment and check out my facebook page!

If you try these on your own nails send me a picture. Keep sending your requests to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com

-Valentine

Bubble Gum Nails

Bubble Gum Nails

Wow... it's been almost a week since my last post! My computer decided to die on me this week so I'm having to post this from my tablet.

Today's nails were inspird by the wonderful Robin Moses! She's always posting amazing pictures that blow my mind! Hope you enjoy my design.

For this design I used the following:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"L.A. Color" Nail Polish in Mega Watt
- Acrylic Paints in red, blue, baby pink, ivory, black, silver, orange, yellow and purple
-"Orly" Nail Polish in Shine on Crazy Diamond
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

I really hope you enjoyed this design, please share it with your friends! Continue to email your requests to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com. If you try these on your own nails send me a picture!

Remeber to check out my Facebook page!

-Valentine