Daisy Chain Nail Art

I have seen so many pretty and cute nail art designs with various forms of flowers using many different techniques.  Well I wanted to create a cute floral nail art design that was easy but just slightly unique.  The biggest challenge I had doing this design was deciding what colors I wanted to use.  This is a great nail art project for my fellow Plebes out there.  It allows you to practice your dotting skills and if it is not perfect its still pretty.

Materials
Base and top coat
Base color
Polish or acrylic paint in white, yellow, and green
Dotting tool
Small brush (optional)

I was really having a hardtime deciding on what colors to use.  I new I wanted the the daisies to really stand out.  I also wanted to do something neon and bright for the background because neons are great for summer.  I originally started out with China Glaze's Grass is Lime Greener but decided the flowers weren't going to pop out the way I wanted them to.  So, I finally decided on China Glaze's Peonies & Park Ave from the City Flourish collection (I swatched the City Flourish collection back in April check it out http://polishplebe.blogspot.com/2014/04/china-glazes-city-flourish-collection.html).

After painting two coats of Peonies & Park Ave (over my base coat).  I started my design by dotting a five petaled daisy in the middle top of my mid finger with a small dotting tool.  You want the petals to overlap a little but not to much.  I used white acryclic paint for my media because my OPI Alpine Snow was not cooperating.  If you are using acryclic paint add enough water to it to make it a similar consistency to polish.

I then dotted another daisy on either side of the middle daisy but slighly lower.  Leave some space between the flowers.

Then using a slightly larger dotting tool and yellow polish (or paint) place a dot at the center of each flower.  I used Metro Pollen-tin, also from the City Flourish collection.  It is the perfect shade of yellow and it is perfectly named too.

I then used China Glaze's Green is Lime Greener and a small brush to create little leaves between the flowers.  If you don't have a brush use a small dotting tool or a toothpick.  Place the leaves between the daisies in a manner to create a chain.

Alternate your high low pattern all the way across your hand to create a continues chain.  In other words one finger has a daisy high in the middle and low on the sides; the next finger has low in the middle and high on the sides.

If your fingers are narrow like my pinky is only dot two daisies instead of three.

I love this design it is super sweet and so simple.  I like this just as much as my Monochromatic Tread Mark nail art from yesterday.  So, far this week is turning out to be a great mani week.

I would love to see your recreations of this design, you can post them on Instagram #inspiredbypolishplebe or @polish_plebe in the comments so that I can find them. You can also post your pictures on my Facebook page, while your there like and follow me. You can also follow me through Google Friend Connect by clicking the "Join this site" icon at the top right hand side of the screen. Or if you prefer you can follow me through Google+, Bloglovin, and/or Pinterest.  See you all next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Monochromatic Tread Mark Nail Art

So, I have been wearing this nail art design all weekend! I absolutely love it!  I wanted to create something a little retro, slightly geometric, and not over done.  I decided to stick with monochromatic colors because I felt that would give me the retro feel.  I decided to use tapes because that is the best way to create clean lines, perfect for a geometric design.  This is what I did...

Materials
Base and top coat
Two colors of polish
Scotch tape
Striping tape
Gems or studs (optional)

I decided to go with my favorite color, blue, for this design.  So, I started by applying my light blue after applying my base coat.  In this case I used Color Club's In De-Nile from the Safari Garden collection.  (I swatched this collection back in April, you can check it out here
http://polishplebe.blogspot.com/2014/04/color-clubs-safari-collection-swatches.html.)

I then applied a quick drying topcoat to speed up the drying process.  You could use drying drops instead.  If you use drying drops you may have an issue with your tape sticking.  This occurs if the drying drops have not evaporated completely.  To resolve this issue clean off the dry polished nail with some rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab or makeup sponge.

Once the polish is dry, take a piece of scotch tape and place it at an angle across the nail.

Then use striping tape to create stripes on the exposed area of the nail.

Apply your secondary color.  I used the darker shade of blue from Color Club's Safari Garden collection named Nail-Robi.  Then quickly remove the tapes.  If you've taped firmly you should be able to remove the scotch tape and striping tape in one felt swoop.  This is what you should end up with...

I repeated this design on my mid-finger reversing the exposed side.  This way when the fingers are posed properly they give a continuous pattern.  I also added some medium silver studs to all my other fingers.  The studs are Item #12411 from bornprettystore.com.  If you order from them use coupon code: CREATEX31 for 10% off.

Like, I said in the beginning, I love this design!  It is pretty simple and the monochromatic tone gives it a fun retro feel.  I think of all the nail art designs I've done this year, this is one of my absolute favorites.  It is definitely in the top five.

I would love to see your recreations, you can post them on Instagram #inspiredbypolishplebe or @polish_plebe in the comments so that I can find them.  You can also post your pictures on my Facebook page, while your there like and follow me.  You can also follow me through Google Friend Connect by clicking the "Join this site" icon at the top right hand side of the screen.  Or if you prefer you can follow me through Google+, Bloglovin, and/or Pinterest.  I hope you enjoyed this nail art design as much as me, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

The Answer is in the Clean Up

How often have you sat down with the goal to create a gorgeous manicure or at the very least a nice polish paint job.  But for various reasons, either you had too much caffeine, your in a rush, you have a toddler hanging off your leg, or you just need practice you end up with this…

No one likes unsightly flooded and messy cuticles.  So, why is it everyone else can manage nice neat paint jobs and how can you get the same results?  Well the obvious answer is practice your painting skills, take your time, and be patient.  However, who has time to paint and re‐paint there nails.  Here is a tip for all of my fellow Plebes out there (some of you may be aware of this already), the key to neat cuticles is all in the clean up.

There are several methods and tools you can use to clean up your cuticles and you can employ all of them or a few of them while painting your nails.  One very common method of cuticle clean up is to use one of your finger nails to scrap the excess polish off your skin while it is still wet.

However, you may not want to use your nail if it is already polished.  Why ruin a perfectly polished nail?  Another option is to use a toothpick and run it along your cuticle line.  I employ this technique often.  It works just as affectively as using your nail without getting polish all over your perfect paint.

If the polish has already dried scraping it off may no longer be an option.  If this is the case you could use a q‐tip dipped in acetone or nail polish remover to clean your cuticles.  There are two typical types of q‐tips, the standard kind and the precision type.  However, I don't care for q‐tips because they are bulky and you can just as easily ruin your paint job.  I find that they are more useful for spot cleaning polish from various parts of your finger further from your nail or cuticle.

My most favorite method of cuticle clean up it to use a brush dipped in acetone.  I use an eyebrow brush from a set of cosmetic brush I own.  (I use it a lot which is evident by how stained it is.)  You can also use a paint brush if you'd like.  Whatever brush you choose to use I would recommend it have slightly stiff bristles.  I prefer the eyebrow brush because it is stiff but also because there is a slight angle to the bristles which makes it conform to my nail and cuticle area a little better.  Another tip is that if you don't have one of those fancy pump bottles for your remover use the cap of your bottle as a bowl.  This makes it easier to dip the brush versus trying to dip it in the bottle.  Plus it allows you to keep dirty acetone from muddying up your supply.

So, instead of hiding your less then superior paint job, clean up your act and show it off using these methods.  I hope you found these tip useful in your polishing endeavors, so keep on painting on.  See you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,