Skull & Spider Web Nail Art

Boo!

I'm very excited today because I just happened to realise that it's been a year since I started the blog! Time sure flies! So obviously, I'm here today with a Halloween design for you!

Since October started, my homepage on instagram has been full of Halloween inspiration either from nail artists/bloggers or make up artists I follow and that really got me in the mood.

Last year I had done a nail design inspired by the Nightmare Before Christmas, so this time I wanted to try something a bit more spooky. I wasn't exactly sure what to do in the beginning, I only knew I wanted a creepy, bloody looking background and the rest came along the way.

This is the design I came up with.

I started off with a white nail polish as my base and then used small pieces of a make up sponge to dab my blood colors on random parts of the nail, trying to stay focused on putting more color on the area around the cuticle and generally on the "outline" of the nail.

Normally, I was planning to use a red polish for the blood and a dark red or burgundy polish on top, to give some dimension and depth to the look. Somehow though when I tried that, it ended up having more of a fuschia tone to it, so I decided to make my own color.

I mixed a bright red polish with a dark brown (one drop of each color every time) to get that dark red color I was going for. I used the sponge to apply it on my nails and after that was dry, I dabbed some of the dark brown in certain spots to make it look more realistic. To finish the background, I took a black polish and used the "dry brush" technique to apply it randomly on my nails.

As for the designs, I used acrylic paint and when everything was dry, I topped them with a fast drying top coat.

Here are more pictures.

I'm really happy with how this turned out.

Unfortunately we don't celebrate Halloween in Greece, but if you guys are celebrating, I'd love to hear about your costumes! :)

Polishes used:

OPI Nail Envy Maintenance Nail Strengthener

Orly - White Tips

OPI - Coca-Cola Red

OPI - Suzi Loves Cowboys

Orly - Liquid Vinyl

Rush 60 Second High Speed Topcoat

Have A Grungy New Year!

Here we are several days past Christmas and New Year's Eve is just around the corner!! I hope you are all having a great time with your loved ones during these special days and that 2015 will be good to us and let all our wishes and dreams come true!!

I wanted to create something appropriate for New Year's Eve, something shiny, eye catching but easy at the same time. I don't know about you, but I don't like spending too much time during the holidays for my nails. I'd rather spend that extra time with friends and family. And if you like a rock and grungy twist to things like I do, I think you'll love this!

This is a technique I first saw on Chalkboard Nails, she has a great tutorial on how to achieve this distressed look and also on The Nailasaurus, but I believe it can be found on many blogs. So I thought I'd give it a try myself and see what happens!

I was inspired by my favourite colors of  fireworks, so I decided to go metallic. I used a silver polish as a base on all my nails and then a purple, a"mermaid" blue and black for the distressed effect. All you need to do is wipe the polish off the brush very well and then apply in random spots on your nails! That's really it!

I love this look because it's simple yet very unique and you don't have to worry about all nails looking alike! Tell me what you think. Have you ever tried this technique?

Polishes used:

Essence Studio Nails XXL Nail Thickener

H&M - Silver

OPI - Tomorrow Never Dies

Korres - Paradise Green

Essence - Black is Back

Orly Sec 'N Dry Quick-Dry Topcoat