Sunday Nails - Midnight Snowflakes

With 18 days until Christmas we are well and truly in the depths of winter, and I have definitely been getting into the festive spirit. For example today alone I have been ice skating, looking round the Bath Christmas market, wrapping Christmas presents and watched Home Alone 2, if that isn't festive I don't know what is! So in the spirit of all things festive I of course had to do a festive nail art today!

How have you been getting in the Christmas spirit?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Silver Foil

I am a magpie when it comes to anything sparkly, shiny or glittery, there is just something about the way that they catch the light that draws me to them. It comes to no supprise that I'm always decorating my nails with little gems or glitter or like today, foil.

While it sounds quite unusual to put tin foil on my nails rather than on a Christmas turkey, the result is very pretty. I just cut up your average kitchen foil into tiny little pieces and scattered them onto my wet nails and sealed it all with a clear topcoat, pretty simple huh?

What do you think about using everyday household items to create nail art?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Blue Marble

99% of the time nail art can be a bit hit or miss. Unless I've done a particular nail art before I have no idea how it is going to turn out, especially when I'm trying out a new technique as I did today. 

Normally when I'm doing a marble effect nail art I'll use the water technique but I thought I'd try something a bit easier: cling film. To create the effect I painted my nails with two coats of white nail polish and then a layer of blue nail polish. While the blue nail varnish is still wet I lightly dabbed my nail with a scrunched up piece of cling film and then finished off with a clear top coat.

I seriously love the effect created by this technique and it's a lot easier than using water to create a marble effect, so I will definitely be trying it again in the future!

Have you every tried used cling film to create nail art?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Champagne Glitter

To say I've been busy this week would be a complete understatement! From job interviews to driving lessons to drama exams to parties and theatre trips I've barely had one moment to myself let alone the time to blog. That being said no matter how busy I am, I always make time to do my nails. This week I've been sporting this pretty pink and champagne glitter fade as it is quick, simple and the glitter reminds me of fireworks (a little tribute to bonfire night which was also this week!)

What have you been up to this week?

Ellie xx

Sunday Nails - Stitched Up

After a couple of weeks break from the nail art while I had gel nails, Sunday Nails nail art is back! Yes I took off my gels this week and I thought what better way to get back into nail art than with a simple Halloween nail art that not only looks good but allows me to show you the condition of my nails after the gel nail polish. 

As you can see from the picture below my nails are in pretty good condition as they haven't split or broke, though I haven a feeling that if it was more of a regular thing my nails would be a bit worse for wear! As for the nail art it is pretty self explanatory; I painted my nails with a clear base coat, then drew stitches using a nail art pen across the tips of my nails before finishing off with a topcoat!

While I didn't go trick or treating this Halloween, you'll know if you follow my instagram that me and my friends had our own little Halloween party. Fancy dress + sweets + drinks + fireworks +  great company = best Halloween ever!

How did you spend your Halloween?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Is a Manicure Worth Paying For?

I have never had my nails done professionally before, well that was until yesterday when I went and got a gel manicure done with my sister. But is it really worth the money paying someone else to do your nails for you? I thought I'd write a post on the pros and cons of getting your nails done professionally based on my first experience yesterday to answer that question.

Pros

Not very good at painting your nails? The easiest way to get great looking nails sometimes is to just give in and get someone else to do them for you, it is their job and highly unlikely that they will make a mess.

Gel nail polish is dried in the salon using a UV or LED light and the process is very quick. This means that you leave the salon with completely dry nails and don't have to wait around for hours for your nails to dry constantly in fear that you may smudge them.

A gel manicure lasts on average 2-3 weeks without chipping, peeling or cracking, so if you find painting your nails a chore it can save you a lot of time because you are getting them done less frequently.

In my opinion they always look a lot better because of the glossy finish they lasts until you have the polish removed.

Cons 

Getting a gel manicure can be expensive with prices starting from around £20 if your getting it done every 3 weeks it equates to nearly £350 a year compared to a bottle of Barry M nail polish which cost £3.99 each or a home gel kit that can cost around £100 and can be used over and over again.

If you love to change your nail colour frequently getting a gel manicure may not be for you because if you're getting them done every 2-3 weeks that's how often you will be changing the colour.

Taking off the nail polish can be a nightmare as you have to soak them in pure acetone which you can either do at home or pay for the salon to do that for you.

They can damage your nails if you have them frequently over a long period of time because the acetone used to remove them is a strong chemical. There is also the argument that the UV light can cause UV damage which may lead to cancer so you need to find a salon that uses an LED light to set the polish.

Overall I think that whether you get a manicure done at a salon is down to personal preference, there isn't a right or wrong answer as there are both pros and cons to paying for a professional to do your nails. Personally I do like getting my nails done but I also like doing my own nails so I'd only ever go to the salon for a special occasion.

Do you pay to get your nails done at a salon?

Eleanor xx 

Sunday Nails - Jack O Lantern

I love Halloween, while lots of people hate Halloween and think that Trick or Treating is rude or don't believe in it for various reasons I think that it is a fun holiday to participate in. I love dressing up, decorating my house and most of all carving pumpkins. I don't care if people think that Halloween is for children because every year me and my mum will be a pumpkin, carve it together and then make pumpkin soup with the leftover pumpkin. To me nothing screams Halloween like a spooky Jack O Lantern but if you don't fancy carving a pumpkin you can still get in the holiday spirit with my Jack O Lantern nail art!

To create the glowing effect of the Jack O Lantern simply use three different colours layered on top of each other. First use a red nail varnish or acrylic paint to draw your faces, then use the orange on top leaving a bit of red showing around the edge and then use a little bit of yellow in the middle.

Do you still carve pumpkins at Halloween?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - I've Been Drinkin' Watermelon

If there was a list of cool fruits watermelon would be there right at the top, I mean Beyonce's been drinking it, the Shaytards love eating eat and the best thing of all is that it's good for you! Yep I love watermelon and it's so pretty that I thought that I'd do a watermelon themed nail art this week!

What is your favourite fruit?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Black Lace

I love lace, in fact it is probably one of my favourite materials. I'm gradually building up a nice collection of black lace pieces in my wardrobe and last night I wore a black lace bralet and matching skirt to a party, so I decided to paint my nails to match! 

Lace is quite a difficult pattern to replicate without a stamp as it is often very complex but I managed to create this nail art using just a black nail art pen. While it looks complicated it is basically just a bunch of circles, lines and dots layered together to create the look of lace.

What is your favourite fabric?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Mix and Match

Normally my nail art has some sort of theme or inspiration behind it but this week was honestly a bit random. I was sat with my box of nail varnish and accessories in front of me and decided to experiment with my favourite techniques and colours and this was the result! I was obviously feeling quite girly when I was doing my nails as it's quite Tiffany's with the light blue, pearls and lace.

For an experiment I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out! Do you ever experiment when it comes to nail art?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Simple Stripes

One of the presents that I got for my birthday was a set of striping tape from my friend Mae. She knows how much I love nail art so it was the perfect gift especially since I have never ever used it before. I love striping tape and I've seen so much beautiful nail art that's been created using it but I've never got round to having a go at using it myself so I was very excited to give it a go!

Something I quickly found out using striping tape is that it is very fiddly and almost impossible to use if you don't have a pair of tweezers on hand to help you out. Another pain is cutting the stripes to the right size or trimming them while they're on your nail, but with a pair of nail scissors it isn't too difficult. Overall compared to using sellotape striping tape is a lot easier, prettier and a lot more versatile.

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Tribal Whites

Tumblr is a great place for nail art inspiration and it's where I found my inspiration for this weeks nail art. When I saw this design as I was scrolling through my feed it immediately caught my eye and I knew I had to try it out, it reminds of a tribal print but more modern rather than ethnic if you know what I mean!

To create this nail art I simply used a white nail art pen, nothing too complicated but you will nail a steady hand. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Eleanor xx