There's just something about it that makes you look more fashionable and really compliments an outfit.
The problem is that some people think nail art is too complicated and therefore don't bother with it.
But in this video I'll be teaching you how you can get professional looking nail art without the salon price tag.
Before we start
To benefit from your nail polish you have to consider what your needs are first. A couple of things to think about before making any decisions are:
How often do you paint your nails? Every day/week/month?
If you're painting your nails every day you don't need to waste money on a long lasting formula as it would be pointless unless you're thinking about keeping your nail polish on for at least a couple of days.
Painting your nails weekly or monthly is a different case so you would want that staying power if you were planning on keeping your nail polish on for more a week or more.
Gel nail polishes would be great if you were thinking about keeping your nail polish on for up to three weeks. You would need to consider buying a UV lamp and buying gel formulas to support your needs if you chose to do this. This considerably cuts the cost of paying to get gel nail polish done in a salon especially if you'll be doing it regularly. Also think about things like replacing the bulbs in your UV lamp so that you can maintain it and the particular types of nail polishes you'll have to buy to use your lamp with.
How much are you willing to spend?
One of the most important questions is how much are you prepared to spend on a nail polish?
This is because if you're after quality nail polish that will last you long, the price is important because it's mostly the more expensive nail polishes that last the longest. Although this isn't the case sometimes just be aware of what formulas work for you when you know how often you'll be doing your nails.
The pricier nail polishes typically have smoother formulas. I've found that my OPI nail polishes aren't too runny and glide on beautifully. Whereas my nail polishes from the pound store are quite thin, runny and dent easily even when fully dried. Not a good look.
You can even buy drugstore nail polishes depending on what brand it is but it's a matter of trial and error. Take mental notes of what kind of nail polishes suit your needs best.
Tip: Make sure you use a good base and top coat. The base coat protects your nails from becoming discoloured, weak, and dry from the harsh nail polishes and the top coat prevents the nail polish from chipping, makes it last longer and gives a glossy finish.
Tip 2: If you have weak nails or are worried about getting damaged nails use a repairing or strengthening formula as a base coat. You can even use it as a top coat if you want. This also helps to save you money from buying a normal base and top coat.
How much are you willing to spend?
One of the most important questions is how much are you prepared to spend on a nail polish?
This is because if you're after quality nail polish that will last you long, the price is important because it's mostly the more expensive nail polishes that last the longest. Although this isn't the case sometimes just be aware of what formulas work for you when you know how often you'll be doing your nails.
The pricier nail polishes typically have smoother formulas. I've found that my OPI nail polishes aren't too runny and glide on beautifully. Whereas my nail polishes from the pound store are quite thin, runny and dent easily even when fully dried. Not a good look.
You can even buy drugstore nail polishes depending on what brand it is but it's a matter of trial and error. Take mental notes of what kind of nail polishes suit your needs best.
Tip: Make sure you use a good base and top coat. The base coat protects your nails from becoming discoloured, weak, and dry from the harsh nail polishes and the top coat prevents the nail polish from chipping, makes it last longer and gives a glossy finish.
Tip 2: If you have weak nails or are worried about getting damaged nails use a repairing or strengthening formula as a base coat. You can even use it as a top coat if you want. This also helps to save you money from buying a normal base and top coat.
How do you want your nail polish to look like?
- Do you simply want a bit of colour to your nails instead of having them bland?
In this case you are colour orientated and you don't want anything complicated just a few coats of nail polish.
- Do you like having designs on your nails?
- If you're good at drawing designs or are willing to take the time to draw on your nails you can use nail art brushes such as this set here which I bought recently:
You can even use dotting/marbling tools such as these ones in the picture below.
As you can see the marbling tools have different tip sizes as some look bigger than the other. This gives you more flexibility when drawing on your nails (as shown in the video below).
These types of tools are used for creating dots,marbles and lines to create different looks like flowers, stripes, lines and much more. You can make the designs as simple or as complicated as you want. Here are some examples of what you can do:
Above is a basic design which you can adopt if you're a beginner wanting to experiment with the dotting tools.
OR
- If you're not good at drawing like me or don't have time to paint designs on your nails but still want to have intricate designs, you can use nail stamps. They're a life saver and save you so much time and effort. To learn more about nail stamping watch this video below:
As an example:
- I personally get bored of having the same nail polish on for more than a week so I know that I'll be painting my nails once a week or twice if it chips. However, I also want my nail polish to stay in place for as long as it can in case I don't manage to do it again if I don't have time so in this case I'll need it to last long.
- Most of the time I do nail stamping because I love intricate designs but I'm not actually good at drawing the designs on myself so the nail polish needs to be strong enough to handle the pressure of the nail stamp.
- I don't want to damage my nails in the process either and want them to be strong. What I need is:
- A nail strengthener (which can also be used as a base coat) to protect my nails and prevent chipping or dry and brittle nails.
- Good quality top coat to make my nail polish last longer.
Recommended websites
If you're stuck or wondering what some good websites are to buy nail polishes from here are a few I've used and my thoughts on them:
Note: I live in the UK so make sure you find a store that delivers to your country before making a purchase.
Ciate - http://www.ciate.co.uk/
In my last blog post which you can see here I reviewed the Ciate Nail Lab and Mini Paint Palette. I thought their nail polishes were a bit runny and thin but made a good background colour for my nail stamping. They last up to a week which is great and you can build the colours up.
OPI - http://www.opiuk.com/
My number one choice. I have an addiction and attachment with this brand because their colour range is wide, their formulas aren't too thin and perfect for nail stamping, they dry quick and last for a week. Most of my nail polishes are OPI and I can't find any other brand that beats them.
Marks and Spencer - http://www.marksandspencer.com/quick-dry-nail-polish-8ml/p/p22132489
This seems a bit unexpected seeing as people mainly shop there for clothes but one day I saw one of their Limited collection nail polishes for sale and bought one not knowing what to expect. I was impressed at how good it was and loved it! Lasted for a week and works great with my nail stamps. The shade I bought isn't on their list because it was a while ago but it's worth the purchase.
Collection
This is available in your local drug store and I tried the 60 seconds hot looks nail polish which looks like this:
This lasts for a week too and isn't all that expensive either. A great buy for a nail explorer such as myself and anyone else who doesn't want to spend a fortune.
I bought mine from Superdrug and I'll be using this in a future video of mine on my Youtube channel so be sure to keep an eye out and subscribe if you haven't already!
I post every week and I appreciate every single one of you *big hug*
Bourjois
Widely available again in any drug store and lasts a week. I particularly love the metallic colours especially when I'm using my nail stamp for stars or flowers and would recommend the gold and silver colours.
Nina Ultra Pro
I've only got one shade of this which is in Orange Flame. This is a neon orange colour which I think works well against a navy blue or black when I'm using my nail stamps.
Nail plates
I first saw these on Janelle's channel on YouTube and it was one of their mermaid plates from their fairy tale collection (which I can't seem to find for some reason) but I bought the Explorer Plate in number 17 because I had my eyes set on plate number 2 but wanted more variety to choose from.
I'm seriously thinking about buying more plates so I'll have to do a future blog post about this because these plates are too good to miss out on! They're £5 each but don't let that put you off because you have a variety of designs to choose from and they make use of the space on their XL plates which I really want to try. I'm such a huge fan after my first purchase and their delivery service is excellent too!
So that's all for this blog post I hope I've helped you debunk any myths you've heard about how expensive or difficult nail art can be.
If you have any questions or thoughts please feel free to comment below and I'll be sure to read them :)
Nina xXx
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