Roses on Leopard

This design was based off of a scarf (shown below) that my mom got my sister and I while in Scotland. The scarf has sort of a leopard print on it so I thought I'd do a leopard print with roses on top.

I used two coats of Sinful Colors' Smokin which I really love. It goes on smoothly and I don't own a dark grey like this. 

I used black acrylic to paint on the leopard print as well as acrylic for the pink roses. Top coat to finish it!

Marble Heart

Last, late Valentine's nails on Mardi Gras!

 Here's two coats of Sinful Colors' Gogo Girl with a water marbling of Unforgettable Moments' Platinium and Gogo Girl. I bought this silver at Payless a few years back and I haven't seen the brand anywhere else. 

 Platinium ended up taking on a shimmery purple tone because of the classic red it was marbling with. I thought it would be a solid silver and red, but I love this result much more. With a toothpick and top coat, I applied black glitter pieces onto my middle finger in the shape of a heart. I felt like I needed glitter on another nail as well, so I placed glitter onto a line of red that was showing. 

Fahrenheit 451

 This nail design is a recreation of Glitterfingersss "burned paper nails" that can be seen with a step by step picture tutorial here. I didn't take pictures as I was doing mine, but it's the same process as her.

I had my sister put on Wet n Wild's 2% Milk, but after four coats with zero opaqueness, I had to crack out the paint. I covered each nail with two coats of off white acrylic paint that I watered down with a few drops of water. 

I mixed yellow and a bit of brown into the extra off white and watered it down until it was basically tinted yellow water. I dabbed off the excess water and lightly brushed the faded yellow onto each nail in random places to make the paper look aged.

Once the paint dried, I put a top coat on; after that it was time for the newspaper transfer. I used black paint to define the spots I wanted to be "burnt". I then dabbed on black paint with a make up sponge inside and around the lines I drew. With the black dried, I mixed brown into black paint as the tutorial says. I touched the sponge to my own hand a few times before applying the brown to the edges of the black so the brown would be subtle. 

Top coat on top. Thank the Lord for this design from Lexa because these nails are incredibly realistic and gorgeous!

The background is Bram Stroker's Dracula which is such a captivating classic. 

Top coat

Matte

Matte

Top coat

Matte

Heart Assortment

Another Valentine's design starting with two coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails' Pumping Iron. I used the paper confetti hearts again, but they actually look good this time! 

In round two, I soaked the hearts in rubbing alcohol for five seconds before placing them on my nails. I didn't apply a clear coat underneath or anything, just the dried silver polish. For my pointer finger, for example, I soaked the heart for five seconds, placed it on my nails, and made sure it curved to my nail. Once the alcohol evaporated, I immediately applied a top coat and moved on to my next nail.

I used black and white paint to create a key, envelope, lock, and cupid's arrow with the hearts. I applied another top coat when the paint dried. 

Clear coat

Matte coat; there honestly wasn't a drastic change between the two coats. 

Hearts

V - Day is coming up once again, so it's time for hearts, hearts, and more hearts! 

I used two coats Sinful Colors Timbleberry on my ring finger while the rest of my nails got two coats of Snow Me White.

 Once dry, I grabbed some paper heart confetti that my friend sprinkled over my birthday gift last year. I, of course, kept it for nail purposes! 

For the white nails, I dabbed top coat on one side of a pink heart and then placed it in the center of each nail. For the pink accent nail, I used two white hearts and set them in a row. Top coat over everything.

I liked the idea of using confetti on my nails, but I found that the hearts I used were very stiff. As much as I attempted to press down the edges, they refused to obey. I'll have to experiment with methods to make them malleable; maybe soaking it for a few seconds in water or rubbing alcohol.