NOTD - Cracked Pottery Nails

Hello there lovely readers!

I have some new nail art to share but before then how's about a bit of a catch up before getting to that...

So...despite the year starting off in not the best of ways with bush fires, apocalyptic storms & of course being hit with a worldwide virus pandemic...I am still determined to try & achieve the goals I wanted to this year, especially after having such a rough 2019. This includes travel (though naturally one is holding fire for now...) better health (I finally bought a bicycle & will be attempting regular cycling when I can!) & one other thing that I have wanted to do for the longest time which is...POTTERY! 

Christmas 2019 Nails!

Hey there lovely readers!

I completely forgot to post the nail art looks I rustled up this (or last now I guess) Christmas! I guess I've gotten so used to just posting on Instagram these days (@aysh_xox) that the blog takes more of back seat which saddens me! However I would like to have an online portfolio of my designs to look back on hence why I persevere with posting on here :)

I did 4 different looks for the festive season starting with some Snowflakes! I love doing this design because all snowflakes are different so you can do so many variations! I have actually done a step by step Snowflake tutorial HERE. After applying a pretty baby blue base, I used white polish to draw a cross with a vertical line through it. This is our snowflake! And for the details I just added some small dots & angled lines to make it resemble a snowflake. Finishing off with a pretty clear crystal in the centre.

Halloween Nails!

Hello there lovely readers!

Very late posting this (a couple of months eeep!) but here are the nail art looks for Halloween I rustled up this year. Rather than post each individually I thought I'd just bunch them all together in one blog post for some easy to read inspo :)

So without further ado lets get spooky!

Look number 1 was actually a recreation of an old design of mine! I did skeleton bones a few years ago so I knew I wanted to recreate this fun look with the 3D jewel heart element & I love how it came out! I used a black polish as my base, this is Illamasqua Creator which also has teeny silver glitters in it making it a boujie black! I then used a fine brush & white polish to draw on my ribcage & pelvic bones before adding the red heart shaped rhinestone to finish! 

NOTD - Octopus Nails!

Hey there lovely readers,

As much as I love challenging myself when it comes to my nail art with intricate & detailed designs...sometimes you just need to have something CUTE AF on your nails for a wee little boost if you will, which is how I came to have these extremely RANDOM yet satisfyingly cheerful Octopus Nails!

NOTD - Lemony Nails

Hi there lovely readers,

I've been obsessed with lemon prints of late, on fabric, on crockery, on print...you name it, I see it, I NEED it. Naturally it was only a matter of time before this obsession transitioned on to my nails :)

I saw a pretty lemon look by one of my favourite nail artists on instagram @nailstorming. Not only does she have the loveliest designs but she also shares fab tutorials to help you recreate them! Her lemon nails were inspired by the awesome @thehangedit...another one of my favs! Any way I basically wanted to be part of this lemony gang ASAP so got to getting me some lemon nails too & not only were these were SO easy to do but I think they may be one of my fav looks this year!

NOTD - Something Blue Vintage Florals

Hey there lovely readers!

I think if Princess Arora would rock a manicure then this is what she'd adorn her nails with...some traditional rose florals with a touch of blue to appease that argumentative Merryweather ;) 

NOTD - Floral Portraits

Hey there lovely readers!

I have been going a tad floral CRAZY of late...no surprise really considering the time of year but florals really are my true love when it comes to nail art. I think it stems from my dad who used to paint floral portraits many moons ago, I made this wonderful discovery during a house move as you do! :)

NOTD - Voodoo Child

Hey there lovely readers!

Jumping from the sweet Spring vibes of the previous post right into some gothic goodness...that's how I roll ;) 

Its true that as much as I love my dark side muchly, the inner Disney pastel princess still manages to seep through often & I love both worlds ;) My last nail art look was suitably sweet so today we have some dark Voodoo action...

My inner witch is content :) I've wanted to do a fun witchy Voodoo symbol style nail art look for some time & I'm chuffed with how these came out!

This look was the perfect opportunity to use one of the Primark Limited Edition Dusk collection polishes I picked up a while back. Did I buy these purely for the badass (& obviously Louboutin inspired) bottle? Maybe. But they also happened to be gorgeously gothic duochromes so WIN WIN in my book. 

I applied two coats of the Primark shade Cosmic, a beautiful dark purple flakie duochrome to my pointer, ring & pinkie fingers. Wanting a bit of contrast to the design I decided to paint the remaining nails in A England A Midsummer Nights Dream, a truly beautiful pale pink lavender holo, a bit of light to the darkness as its all about balance right?

I then googled some Voodoo symbols that I could attempt to freehand & picking a few different ones I used a fine nail art brush & some silver polish for the dark nails & black polish for the light nails.

For that extra touch of magic I added a pretty rhinestone to the middle finger before finishing with topcoat. Nails ready to cast some spells! Thanks as always for reading lovelies! Till next time!

Lotsa love to ya!

NOTD - Jewel Butterfly Nails

Hey there lovely readers!

Wowee its been a minute & then some since I've last blogged. As usual life & everything in between has been pretty chaotic & not all of it great. But...thankfully the winds finally seem to be changing for the better & whilst a bit late...I'm totally ready to get this year started properly.

NOTD - Peek-A-Boo Panda Nails for #artists4earth

Hey there lovely readers!

Coming at ya with some cuteness today with these sweet Peek-A-Boo- Panda Nails, not just for the good vibes because who DOESN'T want an adorable bear on their nails, but more importantly for a good cause too!   

NOTD - Japanese Art Inspired Nails!

Hey there lovely readers!

I'm currently continuing on my creative journey if you will with looking for more challenging & interesting nail art looks. Following on from my previous post I'm finding myself drawn more to artwork these days as inspiration & I've always been intrigued by Japanese art with its serene blossoms & beauty.

NOTD - Rainbow Bouquet!

Hey there lovely readers!

Despite it being mid March already (how the heck did that happen?!) Spring could not seem further away if the rainstorms of last week were anything to go by!

Easter NOTD - GoT Dragon Eggs ft Prism Polish Viserion

Hey there lovely readers,

So countdown is in motion for the final season of Game of Thrones...who else is excited?! I'm sure it comes as no surprise that yours truly is a fan. I am in equal parts over the moon excited for the new season but also devastated that it will all be coming to an end soon! How will we cope?! 

In honour of the occasion & also because Easter just happens to be around the corner, I thought it apt to recreate some Dragon Eggs nails using a very special polish!

NOTD - Lisbon Tiles

Hey there lovely readers!

One of my trips last year took me to the beautiful city of Lisbon, which was not just the most magical place but filled with the nail-spiration around every corner! Famous for its beautifully patterned tiles I knew I had to try & re-create in some shape or form on my nails. 

I was still a bit stumped with which particular pattern to go for, so when one of my (many) favourite nail artists on Instagram, Katie Masters aka @nailthoughts whipped up a Portugal tile design of her own, I fell in love with her interpretation completely so this look is utterly inspired by her!

NOTD - Poppies & Gold for Galentines!

Hey there lovely readers!

Florals you'll know if you're a regular reader, are my jam & I don't see this love going anywhere anytime soon! Speaking of love it is of course Valentines season, but moi? I'm celebrating Galentines with my gals! Today's nail art is for Galentines Day babes & features one of my favourite red polishes which was sent to me by one of my darling friends Chelle all the way from Australia! Which I thought perfect for the occasion.

NOTD - Opal Semi Precious Stone Nails

Hello there lovely readers!

I've been on a bit of a mission you may call it to try & recreate as many semi precious stones as I can in nail art form. I've always adored gemstones & being part witch of course I fully appreciate their healing & mystical properties! ;)

You can catch all my Semi Precious stone recreations HERE, including the likes of Jade, Rose Quartz & Marble. This time I wanted to attempt one of my favourites which is the milky magical Opal stone!

NOTD - Lilac Leopard Print Nail Art Tutorial!

Hey there lovely readers!

If you checked out my previous post you'll know I shared some super easy nail art looks using the Models Own SoFly collection. I wanted to create a final nail art look that was fierce enough to do this gorgeous collection justice & what better than some roaring leopard print nails?

NOTD - Three Quick & Easy Dotticure Looks ft Models Own SoFly Collection Review

Hello there lovely readers!

I stumbled across this post in my archives which I'd written as a guest post donkeys ago for the lovely Safiyah who kindly sent over to me the Models Own SoFly collection to review for her, where I also shared a few super quick nail art looks. In case you missed it I thought I'd whack it on here as well for your perusal as the easy peasy nail art is my favourite kind! :)

NOTD - Blue Porcelain Florals!

Hello there lovely readers & happy new year!

Rolling into 2019 my favourite way...with FLORALS! As you know florals are my absolute favourite when it comes to nail art, the possibilities are endless! I definitely want to work more on my freehand floral skills this year & that will basically involve watching ALL of Follow That Way's nail art tutorials. If you are not familiar, Follow That Way aka Annabel is the absolute QUEEN of delicate floral designs. 

Seriously this girls skills are incredible & I hope one day to even have a fraction of her talent. I find watching her tutorials just mesmerizing, the way she slowly brings her floral designs to life. One such design I fell in love with was her Blue Porcelain Florals, which I've tried to recreate here.

Festive NOTD - Sweet Sparkly Layered Snowflakes

Hello there lovely readers!

As Christmas is now on our doorstep I thought I'd squeeze in one last festive nail art look for the year! I've actually done better than I anticipated, rolling out 4 different designs: Vintage Gold Festive Roses, Minty Snowflakes, Winter Wonderland Christmas Trees & also a Disney special with some Frozen nails. A little life update also, I handed in my notice this month so I will be starting a new job in the new year which I am very excited about! How that will leave me for time to blog...I don't know yet, but lets see! Blogging has always been so therapeutic for me hence why I've continued at it after so long & its something I definitely strive to continue with!

For my last look I've done another Snowflakes design. However I've gone a different route this time & thus doing so I think I may have discovered my new favourite thing...LAYERED jelly stamping! What on earth is this you ask? Do you happen to have any of those sheer tinted polishes in your stash but no clue how to use or what to do with them? OPI Color Paints were the first of these kind (according to my knowledge anyhoo) & a few brands jumped on the bandwagon shortly after including Barry M with their Lolly Gloss Range which I blogged about HERE.

I decided to use these & my trusty stamper to create this sweet snowflake look & I think this may be my favourite festive design of the lot this year! I got the idea of layering from the fab Kate aka @Alterego_nails on IG. It was she who also inspired me for the Sharpie Nails I did HERE...what can I say, the girls got mad skills & ideas!

To start I needed an opaque base to work on first...as the two Lolly Gloss polishes I have were pink & purple, then those were the base shades I went for as well. For my purple nails I applied one coat of Models Own Roxy & for the pink nails I applied one coat of a fuchsia pink European brand polish I picked up on my travels.

Now for the first round of stamping. I have a few festive stamping plates from Born Pretty Store which also have single snowflake patterns, perfect for this. Using white polish I stamped about 3 snowflakes to each nail.

I then reached for the tinted Lolly Gloss polishes & applied one coat over the snowflakes which gives that awesome "submerged in jelly" like look! Obviously using the purple tint on the purple nails & pink tint on the pink nails. Once this was dry I then went in again & stamped on 2 more snowflakes on top.

You can keep on going with the layering if you wish but I stopped here. For a final touch I added a pretty pink rhinestone to the center of my 2 top snowflakes & though you can't really see I also added a coat of glitter topcoat for some extra powow SPARKLESSSSS. 

A final coat of topcoat to seal those stones & add shine & you're done! Thanks again to the fab Kate for this awesome idea. I now need to get hold of more tinted sheer polishes so I can do ALL the layered stamping! Thanks as always for reading darling ones & I wish you the merriest of Christmases whatever you may be doing! See you in 2019!

Lotsa love to ya!