Halloween!

Hello my lovelies!

I would like to share some sets of nails I am selling for halloween! All the proceeds go to charity (Ralaigh) which you will hear more about soon, as I have been doing some fundraising that I need your help with! Here are the nails;

Pictured here are blood splatter nails, drip nails, ghost nails, bat/ombre nails, mummy nails, eyeball nails etc.

If you would like a set please email: aprilsidlow@hotmail.com

You can pick any combination and make any adjustments, sets include 16 pieces.

Hurry to guarantee delivery for Halloween!

Please follow my instagram: http://instagram.com/naturalnailed

and facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/naturalnailed

Thanks so much for your support, keep shining!

Ciaté Day 3

Helloooo,

Back to Ciate reviews! This little beauty is called Hopscotch

This is a very pretty bright orange, instantly eye-catching and works with almost any skin tone.

Although not a very original colour, it is very pigmented and applies smoothly and in a single coat.

I am not a huge fan of orange but this perfect for halloween which is just around the corner, and it goes with the autumn colours in the UK, while bringing a little bit more warmth (very much needed)!

Hope you like!

Challenge #1 -red.

Hellooooo there!

I told you I wouldn't keep up with this challenge! Trust me, in life I am late too everything. This won't be a very long post I'm afraid, but I'm busy, busy, busy.

As I am sure you are aware, the first challenge is the colour red. I am not a fan of plain red polish on my own nails at all, it just doesnt sit well with my skin tone, no matter what shade, which is unfortunate as I do love the colour red.

I therefore got inspiration from one of my favourite characters - Disney's Minnie Mouse! I created this simple, but hopefully effective mani;

 

I wanted to add polka dots to the gradient nails, but I decided to just keep it simple and save the polkas for polka day ;) Here is my thumb nail;

 

 

 

(You may have spotted my new watermark, what do you think?)

 

 

Did any of you create your own red designs? How did they turn out?

 

I shall post my Challenge #2 (orange) soon, hopefully I can find time!

 

Thank you!

Belated Gradients!

And a very belated hello to you guys!

I have been so busy getting things sorted with my blog and it's still not finished! Hopefully it will be done soon so I can write more posts for you :)

Anyway, todays post is some nails I threw together in honour of summer! I love how the colours bright pink and turquoise go together, so I thought I would mash them up in a gradient, and this is what I came up with;

To create this look I used the gradient technique. I used;

• Sinful Colours -Cream Pink
• Jessie's Girl -Mermaid's Lagoon
• A cocktail stick and blending sponge.
• A disposable plastic surface (to blend colours), I usually use a freezer bag.
• Black acrylic paint and a stud (optional -for the accents).

Here is a visual of what you need to recreate this;

I am often asked where I get all my polishes from, and if I want anything specific, the best place to look is Amazon or Ebay. For general colours at extremely discounted prices, my favourite place is probably Fragrance Direct, as they sell big brands for low prices, but they generally stock older shades.

I know it has been done a million times but I have been also asked over and over to do a gradient tutorial, and I never got round to it. So here it is finally, just a simple photo tutorial, for my way of doing a gradient.

Step 1 - Apply base coat and tape up edge of nail to minimalise spill.

Step 2 - Put base colour and second colour side by side on a plastic surface.

Step 3 - Mix colours with cocktail stick until it is preferable.

Step 4 - Pick up colour with sponge and lightly dab onto nail until satisfied. Apply as many layers as needed, as long as the previous one is dry.

Step 5 - Top Coat and clean up! (I use a nail art brush dipped in pure acetone)

The best tip I can give you is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! :)

So there you go, simple but effective! I also added a design to my ring finger using black acrylic paint applied using a nail art brush, which can both be found in ordinary craft store. I also added a stud to my pinky (applied to tacky nail and sealed with a layer of top coat), which can also be found in art stores, but my go to spot is usually the Born Pretty Store if I cannot find items elsewhere.

I am quite pleased with this look but again, I think I am in need of more practice myself!

What do you think of this look? What colour combos do you always go for?

Thanks for reading lovlies :)