Neon Blocks

It's Tetris meets Aztec in this week's inspiration nails. I follow a lot of nail blogs but Polish All the Nails is a favourite of mine because she has a "thing" and that thing is using decals and sequins to create amazing patterns and tessellations. A few weeks back she did a series of manis with neon rectangles and squares and yes whilst it does take a very long time to place the decals the end result is really amazing and creative. BAM! Neon blocks. 

To create this mani is really very simple. I used square studs which are available here. Begin by painting a base colour then top coat it and let it dry completely. The top coat layer is essential, it creates a slidey base so that you can push the squares into place. Around the cuticle I cut some decals to fit using my cuticle trimming nippers.

I use base coat to stick my decals on. I use a dotting tool to dip into the base coat and place a blob on my nail where I want the decal to go. This then makes the dotting tool a little sticky so that you can pick up the decal. Place it on the spot where you want it then use the dotting tool to push it into place and line it up.

I do each decal one by one otherwise the blob of base coat you put on your nail dries too fast and the decal doesn't stick. Yes it takes a long time, but when you only do a couple of nails it's not too bad.

Finish off the mani by applying a layer of topcoat over the whole lot, this adds shine and seals down the decals. Watch out for bubbles between the decals, stroke over the bubbles with the topcoat brush to remove them. Click here to get the decals. Love these XD 

OPI Black Spotted

In 2012 when OPI released their Spiderman collection they teased us Aussie girls with a speciality polish called Black Spotted. Described as as oil meets water effect, this limited edition polish was only released in France which sent us nail crazies into a spin trying to figure out how to get our hands on it. It was almost as hard to get as trying to get a decent picture of this mani!  

Black Spotted is a really watery polish that you apply over regular nail polish to create a spotty, oily effect. You have to make sure your base colour is dry and I mean dry before you apply it or it cracks and ruins the bubbly look. I found adding a layer of Seche before the Black Spotted sped up this process however did make it a little harder to apply so that the spots didn't drag and turn into lines instead of bubbles. You need to apply it delicately and try not to overlap as it floods itself and you loose bubbles and end up with a black blob. Once I figured out how to apply it to get maximum effect it was quick and easy to use. It dried really quickly and didn't smudge when I applied top coat.

Black Spotted is available online from a variety of esellers however its not cheap. You can recreate this effect by dripping one drop of polish into a shot glass then spraying it with hairspray or alcohol spray, however it rarely comes out as good as Black Spotted and its a lot harder to clean up. So is it worth the price? I say yes, I love the effect, its easy to use and because you have to apply it in thin stokes you hardly use any polish so it should last a long time. I'm glad I have it in my collection.

I layered Black Spotted over China Glaze - Flip, Flop, Fantasy which is a neon coral creme from the 2011 Poolside collection. We have this colour at the markets if you like it. So will you be searching out the elusive Black Spotted for your collection?

Aussie Christmas Challenge Day 7: Aussie Sunset

You're looking so hot today Rhonda......like a sunrise! (Aussie joke). So here we are on day 7 of the ACC. I love gradients and there is nothing more beautiful as the colours that melt together in the sky as the sun is setting.

For the gradient I used:

• Zoya Pippa - banana yellow creme
• China Glaze Japanese Koi (neon) - dark orange neon creme
• China Glaze Love's a Beach - hot pink neon shimmer

For the water marble I used:

• China Glaze Japanese Koi (neon) - dark orange neon creme
• China Glaze Love's a Beach - hot pink neon shimmer
• Zoya Yummy - a sky blue creme
• China Glaze Sun Kissed - a neon yellow shimmer

 I have added my gradient tutorial in for everyone as I used this method for this design just added another line of colour.

Neon Heart

Sometimes a girl has limited time for nail art...life gets in the way. The solution? Sequins! Neon sequins even! This mani took about 10 minutes all up. The base colour is OPI Nein Nein Nein OK Fine, a dark charcoal grey creme. It looks black in this sunlight picture however in the bottle picture you can see its grey. I got these sequins from dollarnailart.com. You can buy individual colours for $1 each or a 10 pack of different colours for $7.99. I placed each heart using a small dotting tool then applied 2 coats of Seche Vite over the top to flatten and seal in the sequins. They were a little raised above the nail which gave them this cool 3D effect. Expect lots of sequins, I've got so many to try XD