Fire Nails by Natalija

Hey so tonight at my school my class is contributing to performing arts show. There are four, 20 minute shows each based on a different theme, the main theme being World Extremes. My class got the theme of Global Warming/Antractica, so we worte a play called "Antarnia" that is our spin on Narnia. The fire queen captures the ice queen and causes all the ice to start melting and rubish to polute the waters. Anyway, I have the role of the Fire Queen and my friend Natalija who is one of my main fire minions said she would do my nails. This is the outcome.......

 

 

I'm excited for tonight,

Wish me luck!

 

-Amelia (or Fire Queen)

xo

The Nail Book Loves: Accent Nails!

If you are a nail lover, or enjoy checking out beauty blogs, then this little trick probably isn't something new to you, but I couldn't skip past writing about this trend, as it is one of my favourite things to do!

The name accent nail kind of explains itself, though for those who are unsure, I will try my best to do a quick explanation: An accent nail can be one or two nails on a hand which have a different design painted onto it than the other nails.

An accent nail is an easy way to jazz up a manicure. There is no right or wrong way to do an accent nail, as it is all personal choice and there are endless ideas when it comes to nail design. You may choose to complete your accent nail with a different nail finish, such as making it matte or shiny, or you may choose to use glitter. It can be something as simple as some dots, stripes or shapes, or a complex design of your choice. It can even be as simple as painting your chosen nail a different color to the rest.

  Because of the simplicity of an accent nail, I find that I almost always have one when I have done my nails, as it is an easy way to make a plain colour stand out and pop.
The photos attached are all past manicures of my own, taken using my (not-so-good) iPhone camera. I apologise for the tackiness of them, but I thought it might be good to show some examples to get your creative juices flowing.

I hope this post helped out and showed you how accent nails can be done in different ways to turn a plain manicure into a dynamic one!

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask, and I'd love to see how you use accent nails to complete your own manicures!

-Ruby

xoxo

Tutorial: Half-moon Mani

Hey, so it's a new week and to me that calls for a fresh manicure. I thought I'd share a simple nail tutorial that anyone can do that creates a really pretty, professional look. I just love the look of the curve and it looks great when two complementary colours are used. Today I am using two of my new polishes: Rimmel London's I Love Lasting Finish in Azure and Your Majesty. I decided to pair them together because they both have a bit of shine in them and are metallic and I wanted a high contrast. The trick to this manicure is the reinforcement stickers that you put onto the holes in loose leaf paper to fix rips, but here they are used as a guide to create the half-moon shape, and voila! Instant pretty
SUPPLIES:
2  Colour Nail Polishes (preferably ones that complement each other)
10 reinforcement stickers
Clear base & top coat

1. Start with bare nails and paint on a base coat of clear polish. I used this. 

2. Apply 1 to 2 coats of your first polish, it should be lighter than your second polish so it can't be seen through. It's really important to make sure this layer is applied smoothly and evenly. Leave it to dry for at least 30 minutes, but I did mine the night before to ensure that it was really dry. If the polish is even the tiniest bit wet, the stickers will peel off the polish. 

3. When your nails are completely dry, place a reinforcement sticker on each nail so that the outside of the sticker is making the half-moon shape. I cut a slit in each sticker so that they sat more evenly. The half-moon can be any size you want, just make sure that it stays consistent throughout so that it looks right. Apply some pressure to the stickers when you have decided the positions so ensure they stay put.

4. Now paint the top half of your nail with 2 coats of your second colour, being sure to cover all the first coat that could be visible. Leave that for about 10-15 minutes.

5. When your nails are dry, carefully(really carefully) peel off each sticker from your nails.

6. Finish by applying a clear top coat. To clean up the nail polish that got onto your fingernails, dip a paint brush or cotton bud into acetone and paint over the excess. 

Run your fingers under cold water to seal the polish as well,

I hope yours turn out as good as mine did and better! This manicure is such a timeless classic and it really doesn't take that long to do, you've just got to have tolerance and patience with the polish. 

Send us your pictures, we'd love to see them! 

:)

-Amelia

xo

Gem Crush Brushes; Oh no!

When I went and bought my Gem Crush polishes, I noticed there were two different kinds of lids on the bottles, one obviously being the original lid and brush, the other a newer design. I wasn't sure if there would be much difference, or which would be better, so I went ahead and bought some with the old lid, and some with the new.
The older lid is a more standard looking lid, and the new is a bit more funky, with a kind-of concave appearance.
If you scroll down a little, you will see that I had previously done a review on one of the glitter polishes from Sally Hansen's Gem Crush collection. In that post, I was raving, so excited to have found such a pretty full-coverage glitter nail polish which was easy to apply. The post was done on my Razzle Dazzler, which as you can see in the image above, was one of the Gem Crush nail polishes I purchased with the older lid on it.

Just last night, I decided to try out another one of my Gem Crush nail polishes, number 08, Glitz Gal, which was one of the few I bought with the newer lid design on it, as seen in the image above.

As soon as I unscrewed the lid of Glitz Gal, the difference in design was quite apparent. Whereas the older design was equipped with a thick stem and much thicker brush, the new design was sporting a much thinner stem and brush, like those found in most regular nail lacquers. I wasn't sure how the difference brush size would effect the performance of the nail polish, so I went ahead and tried it out.

As soon as I had painted on my first stroke, dissapointment set in. The smaller brush was not picking up as much of the glitter and I was having a lot harder time applying it, meaning more coats were needed to actually achieve a full coverage on my nails.

As you can see in the picture above, the differences in the two lid designs are quite obvious, and when comparing swatches, you can see a huge difference in the amount of glitter and polish being picked up and painted on between the two brushes.

I would definitely recommend trying to get the older design of brushes if anyone was trying to get hold of the Gem Crush series as it is so much easier to apply and requires less coats, and therefore less time. I found I had a full coverage of the glitter nail polish after only two coats.
If you have been wanting to purchase this polish, I'd advise going into your local store and searching for the bottles which have the older design, before they all run out.

I would not recommend the newer design to anyone who was wanting an easy-to-apply full-coverage glitter polish, as it has a hard time picking up the glitter and painting it onto your nails, and I was having to apply a full three coats onto my nails, with some even needing four coats.
Though, if a full coverage is not what you are looking for, the newer design may be better suited to you as it would apply well over another colour.
However, the new design did still achieve a nice full coat of glitter after three or four coats, and the over-all look was pleasing, as I'd assume all of the polishes in the Gem Crush collection would be.

Hopefully this post was helpful to some of you!
-Ruby
xoxo

Tutorial: Removing glitter nail polish!

How many times have you gone to remove your pretty, sparkly nail polish, and soon realised that your mani just isn't going to budge? You can try and try and try, but only end up devouring countless amounts of cotton balls, and you swear to yourself that you'll never use glitter polish again. It's frustrating, right?
I may just have a solution to your little problem!

INSPO: Cupcakes

Cupcakes, who doesn't love 'em. A friend of mine brought in to school some rose icing and vanilla cupcakes the other day and I was reminded of my love for all things sweet. It's what she always brings and it has become a bit of a party tradition in my form group. I started thinking about how I could take my love of everything cake related and show it in a way that is not represented on my thighs...So obviously I realised that expressing yourself on your nails is the perfect way! Here's some food for thought, haha literally!

Image via: Tumblr

Image via: thecupcakeblog

Image via: chicandshiny

Image via: Face of Australia

Image via: Polish You Pretty

Image via: The Silverinator

Who knew that cupcakes could look so good as a mani? I can't wait to try these, I'll let you know how they go.

-Amelia xo

Inspirations: a pair and a spare

One of my favourite blogs of all time is a pair and a spare. It is a fashion and lifestyle blog that follows Geneva, as she shows her readers the most on-trend fashion and lifestyle diy's.
A few weeks ago she posted about how her nails were constantly breaking, chipping and peeling. Then followed a 'How To' on Nail Rehab and how to get your nails back into long, strong and healthy shape.

I've been trying out her ways for a few weeks now and I can definitely see and feel the difference. I'm finding that Sally Hansen's Nails and Cuticle Hand Creme has been making my hands feel really soft and it smells really good. Also, I've been applying Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails strengthening clear polish because I don't like the feel of my nails bare. I'm finding that it is working really well and I can see that my nails are looking healthier and stronger.

Check out the post here

-Amelia x







Review: Sally Hansen Gem Crush: 06 Razzle Dazzler

For our first review(how exciting!), I have decided to do one of the colours from the Gem Crush collection by Sally Hansen. There are 8 different shades in this sparkling collection, which can all be found here, and they are all so nice and can be found easily in chemists in the Sally Hansen sections.

Razzle Dazzler is made of tiny little rosey-coloured pink sparkles, mixed with larger circular silver sparkles. In the pictures I have shown, I have applied two coats of Razzle Dazzler and one clear top coat.
The polish applied really easily and didn't have a very long drying time. I would suggest waiting a minute or two before each coat, to avoid the sparkles clumping though, as it is quite heavy.

As you can see, the end result of this polish is really very pretty and even though it is a sparkly nail polish, it isn't too full on and in your face, so it can be worn casually almost anywhere.
Though, being a glitter it will be harder to remove than your regular lacquer, so keep that in mind when considering wearing or buying this polish.

The pictures attached have been taken using a standard digital camera in daylight, outside and have not been edited at all.

I would recommend this pretty colour by Sally Hansen, as I think that it looks stunning and can be worn time and time again without being out-dated or looking out of place.

-Ruby
xoxo

Welcome to The Nail Book!

If you have a crazy obsession with nail polish (just like us), then check out our new blog and keep updated on our new colours and ideas!
The Nail Book has been started as a fun way to express some of our nail art ideas, shout out in joy when a new lacquer has been bought and do some reviews on polishes!
Of course, we are just starting out, so don't expect too much from us, but hopefully you'll like some of our ideas!
Make sure to check us out!

Ruby and Amelia
xoxo