TUTORIAL-Aztec Nails

Aztec nails are definitely one of the in things at the moment so here's my easy tutorial so you can do it yourself!

You will Need-

A base coat and top coat.

Any base colour of your choice. I went with Barry Ms Mushroom(310)

Barry Ms nail art pen, or any nail pen of your choice.

Step 1- Apply your base coat. This should be done before applying any nail varnish as it prevents staining of the nail and keeps them in better condition. 

Step 2- Apply your base colour.

Step 3- We now need to start to add our Aztec lines. I find it easier to begin with placing the horizontal lines first.

Step 4- Fill in your horizontal lines. Repeat this for each nail, altering the order slightly.

Step 5- Cover each nail in your clear top coat and voila! 

So there you have it! Super easy and effective Aztec nails! Have you tried these out? Would love to see your attempts! Tweet me a picture at @polishandhearts or tag me on Instagram with @polishandhearts ! 

Thanks for reading!

READERS VOTE- Cath Kidston Nails

Hey Readers! 

So its Sunday, which means its Week 1 of Readers Vote. You voted and you chose and here is the tutorial for your winner!

You Will Need-

A base and top coat. I'm using Barry M's All in one.

A white nail varnish.

A blue nail varnish.

A pink nail varnish.

A peach nail varnish.

A green nail art pen. (Or just a green nail varnish and a brush or cuticle stick.)

Barry M's white nail art pen.

A striping brush.

A slightly smaller but thicker brush. (As you can see in the picture.)

Step 1- After applying your base coat and allowed to dry, you need to apply your blue coat. One or two, depending on the quality of the nail varnish and your own preference.

Step 2- First we will do the stripes and flowers. I did these on my little finger, thumb and middle finger. Dip your striping brush into your white nail varnish and starting at the cuticle side, place the tip of the brush onto your nail and drag it up to the tip to create a line. Repeat this several times as required depending on the width of your nail.

Step 3- To create your flowers, we start by putting a few dots of peach nail varnish onto your nail. These can vary in size and number.

Step 4- Now we need to create the effect of petals and we do this by taking our other brush, dipping it into the pink and simply making marks over the peach as you think petals would look. You can see how  have done this in the pictures.

Step 5- The final step of this part of the design is to take your green nail art pen and create leaves. I did this by making small 'v' like shapes on the edge of the flowers.

Step 6- Now for the easy bit! Using your nail art pen, create a line of dots up the centre of your nail. Then using this line as your template, compete the rest of the dots. Each line of dots should be roughly in the centre of the line of dots before them so if you were to connect the dots, you would have a diamond shape. Once this is done, you can cover your nails in your top coat and voila! There you have it!

I will be carrying on with this segment, but from now on, the vote will go up on a monday and you will have until Friday to vote, then on Sunday, I will put up the tutorial!

Thanks once again for reading! Hope you enjoy this tutorial and once again, if anyone does attempt it, I'd love to see your results!

Cath Kidston. My Most Loved Nails Yet!!!

So when I get a chance, I'll post up a tutorial for these nails but for now I just had to share them! They're so pretty! I cant stop looking at them!!!!! 

Fancy Nail Art Tips & Lunch Date With My Mammy!

This November 5th will be my brothers birthday and as he didn't want a party, to celebrate him and my Dad went to Silverstone for the weekend to see the Motor GP. Both of them had an amazing time but I hate to say it I think me and Mam had an even better time!! We decided we would go out for a meal followed by cocktails. Before we ate, we popped to Superdrug to pick up some new nail varnishes as I was out of clear.

My local Superdrug had an offer on for 3 for 2 so of course I had to take the offer up! After a while of trying to pick some nice colours, in the end we went with the colours above and of course, I couldn't wait to try them out and of course, Mum was more than happy to be my model! 

After playing around for a bit, I came up with this design. It's pretty and elegant and not too OTT! I created the tip by firstly painting the nail in a coat of clear varnish and leaving to dry. (By the way, I would highly recommend Barry M's 3 in 1! I will write a review soon.) Once I had done this, I took my Barry M Nail Art Pen and drew on the flowers and then using a small brush, coloured them in with our chosen colours. Once the colours had dried, I drew over my black lines again to darken them and cover up any places where I might have gone over. Finally, I covered in a top coat. I was really chuffed with these nails and Mam was too! Very simple to do and very effective!

Ombre, Cath Kidston, and Spots.

Ok, so these nails were a tad experimental on my part, but I really, really liked how they turned out and 3 days later they still look like new which is definitely a good thing!

So for these nails, I thought that seen as I love them oh so much and they were so super easy, I'd give you all a tutorial!!!

You Will Need.

Barry Ms Peach Melba Nail Varnish (318)

Barry Ms Bright Pink Nail Varnish (279)

Any White Nail Varnish

Barry Ms White Nail Art Pen (Or as an alternative you can just use your normal white nail varnish and a dotting tool.

Green Nail Art Pen (I used one of Rio's)

A Small Brush

Clear Base Coat

Clear Top Coat

Step 1.

Apply your base coat to each nail and allow to dry.

Step 2.

First, lets start with the ring fingers. To begin with, you need to give your nail 1 or 2 coats of white nail varnish. One may be enough but it depends on the type/brand/quality of the varnish you are using.

Step 3.

Once base coat is dry, apply spots of Peach Melba onto your nail. These should vary slightly in size.

Step 4.

Once the peach spots have dried, you then need to take your Bright Pink and your brush and make marks over the peach around the edge of the spots, or in the center to create a look of petals. Repeat to each spot. Once this is done and dry apply the green as you think necessary to give your flower leaves.

Step 5.

For the rest of your nails, begin by painting them all with your Peach Melba and allow to dry.

Step 6.

Using a sponge, you now need to dip it into your Bright pink and sponge it onto your tip to create the ombre effect. 

Step 7.

Finally, using your white nail art pen or dotting tool, place dots onto your ombre nails.

Step 8.

Complete your look by covering each nail in a clear coat.

Matching Nail Art to Outfit. Hot or Not?

Clearly, when I was in college I had way too much time on my hands... literally. I was really into my nail art at the time and more often or not my nails matched my outfit perfectly! I remember this day in particular as we were going on a trip to Bath. It was an amazing day and I loved every minute of it but I don't think I went longer than 10 minutes without someone complimenting my nails.I have to be honest though, it did make my smile :) 

So in this blog, I'm asking you guys your opinion! What do you think? Matching nails too much? Or just down your street?

Gradient Nails

For this bit of nail art, I used all avon colours to create a pretty gradient look. To create this look yourself, i have found 2 techniques that work!

Technique 1.
For this technique you will need:-

• 2 colours of your choice. Preferably a light and a dark colour. 
• Glitter Top Coat
• Clear Base Coat
• a triangular sponge 
• A toothpick
• Cotton Wool Buds

1. To begin, paint your nails with your clear base coat, to prevent the nail varnish from staining your nail.
2. Paint your nail with the lighter colour of the two you have chosen.
3. Using some sort of plastic surface (I use the lid of a storage box that can be wiped clean with acetone) pour some of each colour on and using the tooth pick, blend/swirl the touching ends together.
4. Getting your sponge, place it into the nail varnish before pressing it down onto your nail. Be warned this is messy and you will get nail varnish all around your nail. This is where the cotton bud comes in! Dipped in aceton, it does wonders getting rid of it for you.
5. Once dry, paint over your glitter top coat.

Technique 2

For this technique you will need:-

• 2 colours of your choice. Preferably a light and a dark colour. 
• Glitter Top Coat
• Clear Base Coat

For technique two, start by using steps 1 and 2. You then literally just stipple the colour onto your nail before putting on your top coat. It's a lot easier! But at the same time less fun!!

If you want/require these instructions in picture format, or need and additional help, please dont hesitate to ask!