IndieAna- In Search of the HolyGrail

A couple of nail looks that I had never tried before was attempting a reverse stamping design and water colour nail design. Reverse stamping is a technique where to complete, I used a ziplock bag to paint a nail sized square of clear polish. Once dry, you stamp the nail design you wish to use, then place on the nail like a decal, I placed it on a wet coat of clear top coat. Sounds easy enough, right? Yes, well as you'll be able to see, I didn't quite get the finish that I wanted. The water colour design, however, I was content with. Once a base colour is dry, you dot on various nail colours, working quickly on one nail at a time. I used the ziplock bag again to flatten the dots of colour. Simple, and so many variations can be experimented with. Because I wanted to use bright polishes, I used a white base, Maybelline Color Show Porcelain Party. The dots of colour  came from Models Inc Fluro Pink, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blizzard Blue and Ulta3 Mojito. For the stamping, I...

I love bright, warm, summery colours, especially so on my nails. Seeing as this summer in my part of the world has been so hot, I thought I would make my fingers "sizzle" with some warm colour. What colours conjure up a hot summers day like yellow, coral and red, with a hint of gold?? Keep reading, and you'll see what I mean :) I began with LA Girls Metal for my base colour. It is quite a sheer gold for my liking, but 2 or 3 coats resulted in the opaque finish that I wanted. Using 3 strokes of polish, Ulta3 Honolulu, Maybelline Color Show Coral Crush and Mirenesse Burlesque Strip, I then used a toothpick (surprise, surprise) to stripe across the colours. This blended the polishes slightly, whilst giving a starburst effect. I love how the gold becomes a feature by peeking through the design. What's your favourite summer time colour?

I love the interwebs! If not for this handy tool, I would find it hard to come up with new ideas for my nails. This is especially so for the following creation, galaxy nails. It's not new, though, I had not tried it until now, thinking that it looked too difficult. Enter Youtube tutorials, and now I have my own Galaxy Nails. Ok, to complete this look took a few steps, but you know me, of course it was easy! After applying Orly Bonder base coat, I applied two coats of navy blue, it's Lancome, but I forgot the name. Unfortunately I had to ditch the polish because it was beginning to get gluggy, I wish I had used it more over the years, which sadly, will most likely be the story of almost all of my polishes :( The first world problem of owning too many polishes. Anyway, once my nails were completely dry, I sponged Maybelline Color Show in Porcelaine Party, Borghese purple polish and Sally Hansen HD in Digital. I only dabbed a small amount of each in random places on my nails...

I wanted to try colour blocking for my nails. I'd seen the trend many times, but hadn't tried it for myself. I decided to choose Mod style colours, as I thought these would be perfect for stand-out nails.  Because I wanted to incorporate striping, I began with a white base over Orly Bonder, using Models Inc polish in White. With this polish 2 coats gives an opaque finish. Once the layers had dried completely (patience is a must, eek!) I could begin with the next step, the nail striping. I haphazardly placed the tape on my nails to separate each nail into 3 parts. For each section I chose to use Ulta3 in Mojito, a bright pastel green, Maybelline Color Show polishes in Coral Crush and Iced Queen, a mauve colour.  I picked up the Maybelline Color Show polishes from Chemist Warehouse when they were on sale. Most of the colours had already sold out, but I was lucky enough to find these gorgeous polishes.  I am yet to try these polishes on their own, but so far love the c...