Tuxedo Nails

Finished Tuxedo Nail!

What you need:

• Nail Art Brush and Dotter Pen (buy it in a set here)
• White (we used M.A.C. Vestral White, no longer sold)
• Black (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Small diamond (available at Michael's)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint all nails white. Two coats may be required.
3. With the nail art brush, paint two black lines from the bottom corner of your nail to the middle on both side and then fill in with black polish once your lines are how you want them.
4. With the nail art brush again, design your bow tie however big or small you want it.
5. With the Dotter Pen, dot 2 black dots down the center of your nail.
6. Once the bow tie is dry, put topcoat on the middle of the bow tie and place the diamond down to dry.
7. Paint on top coat after ensuring your nails are dry and the diamond is stuck, and allow to dry!

Purple Fade Aztec Nails

Finished Purple Fade Aztec Nails

What you need:

• Nail Art Brush (buy it in a set with a dotter tool here)
• White (we used M.A.C. Vestral White, no longer sold)
• Light Purple (we used Essie Lilacism, buy it here)
• Medium Purple (we used OPI Do You Lilac It?, buy it here)
• Dark Purple (we used Ardene's Violet, see it here)
• Black (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint all nails white. Two coats may be required.
3. Leaving about 1/2 a cm of space in the middle of your nail, paint the light purple from the middle to the edge of your nails, touching it up with the nail art brush.
4. Once the light purple has dried leave a bit of light purple showing and paint on the medium purple to the edge of your nail.
5. Once the medium purple has dried leave a bit of medium purple showing and paint on the darkest purple to the edge.
6. There is no other way to explain the designs other than to look at the picture (or just be creative!), but once the purple fade has dried paint on the black using the nail art brush to ensure the lines are smooth and exact.
7. Paint on top coat after ensuring your nails are dry so there is no running, and allow to dry!

Close-up Aztec designs

Half Moon Nails

A close-up of the finished Half Moon Nails.

What you need:

• Nude (we used Nails Inc. Basil Street, buy it here)
• Coral (we used Nails Inc. Portobello, buy it here)
• Hole Punch Reinforcements (available at Staples, or any school supply store)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint all nails with the nude polish. Two coats may be required.
3. Once the polish is completely dry (this may take 10-20 minutes), put the reinforcements on your nail so that the circle has half nail and half cuticle showing. Press the reinforcement gently on to your nail so no nail polish gets under and ruins the half moon!
4. Paint the coral colour from the reinforcement to the tip of your nail. This also may require two coats.
5. Allow the second colour to dry, and then slowly peel off the reinforcement from your nail. 
6. Paint on top coat over both polishes after and allow to dry!

After Step 3, before painting the coral colour.

After Step 4, after painting the coral colour.

Diamond Nails

What you need:

• Nude (we used Nails Inc. Basil Street, buy it here)
• Small Diamonds (available at Michael's)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint all nails with the nude polish. Two coats may be required.
3. Once the polish is completely dry, attach the diamonds by painting a thin line of top coat where you want your diamonds and then placing the diamonds however you want them. (Our line is just an idea, feel free to play around with the diamond designs!)
4. Paint on top coat over diamonds and all the polish after ensuring the diamonds are stuck, and allow to dry!

The Diamond Accent Nail

Two-Toned Blue Caviar Nails

Two-toned Blue Caviar Nail

What you need:

• Blue (we used Essie Beach Bum Blu, buy it here)
• Micro Beads (we used Recollections Ocean and Capri, available at Michael's, see photo below)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint all nails blue. Two coats may be required.
3. Immediately after you paint the second coat pour the dark micro beads on to the bottom half of your nail and then the lighter beads on the top half of your nail. It is best to do one nail at a time so you can ensure that the beads will stick. Also turn your nail to make sure that all of the beads are attached and there is no bare nail. (See photo below)
4. Once the beads seem to be stuck, pat down the beads gently into the polish so they are more neat.
5. Paint on top coat after ensuring your beads are stuck, and allow to dry!

Recollections-- Ocean and Capri Micro Beads

Black Caviar Nails

Black Caviar Nail

What you need:

• Black (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Micro Beads (we used Recollections Ebony, available at Michael's, see photo below)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint all nails black. Two coats may be required.
3. Immediately after you paint the second coat pour the micro beads on to your nail. It is best to do one nail at a time so you can ensure that the beads will stick. Also turn your nail to make sure that all of the beads are attached and there is no bare nail. (See photo below)
4. Once the beads seem to be stuck, pat down the beads gently into the polish so they are more neat.
5. Paint on top coat after ensuring your beads are stuck, and allow to dry!

Pouring the micro beads onto the wet nail

Recollections--Ebony Micro Beads

Beach Sunset Nails

The completed Beach Sunset Nails

What you need:

• Nail Art Brush (buy it in a set with a dotter tool here)
• Purple (we used OPI Do You Lilac It?, buy it here)
• Pink (we used OPI Tropical Punch, no longer sold)
• Orange (we used Nails Inc. Westbourne Grove, buy it here)
• Yellow (we used Misa Hanging With The Girls, buy it here)
• Green (we used Sephora by OPI It's Totally Karma, buy it here)
• Blue (we used OPI No Room for the Blues, buy it here)
• Black (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint both pinky nails with purple nail polish, both ring fingers pink, both middle fingers orange, and both index fingers yellow. Two coats may be required.
3. Using the nail art brush, draw five evenly spaced lines from the cuticle of the nail to the tip. If you make a mistake, don't worry because you can make the lines appear more straight when you add the colours.
4. Next, use the nail art brush to paint colours in between the lines. The order should be (from closest to your index finger to the outside of your hand): Purple, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue. Again, two coats may be required.
5. Use the nail art brush again, but this time using black, fix any messy lines and then draw 2 lines, one slightly longer than the other, from the centre of the green nail. 
6. Next, using the nail art make many lines coming out of the end of what will be your black palm tree trunks.
7. Paint on top coat after ensuring your palm trees have dried so there is no running, and allow to dry!

The Beach Sunset accent nail.

Watermelon Nails

The finished Watermelon Nail.

What you need:

• Dotter Tool and Nail Art Brush (buy the set here)
• Sponge (any regular makeup sponge will do, available at Shoppers Drug Mart)
• Pink Background (we used OPI Tropical Punch, no longer sold)
• Slightly Darker Pink Accent (we used Essie Plumberry, buy it here)
• White (we used M.A.C. Vestral White, no longer sold)
• Dark Green (we used OPI Don't Mess with OPI, buy it here)
• Light Green (we used Ardene's Mint Creme, see it here)
• Seeds (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint each nail with the pink background colour, two coats may be required.
3. Use the sponge to dab on the darker pink accent colour closer to your cuticle, mimicking the colouring of a real watermelon. Don't worry if your sponged colour is not perfect - neither is real fruit!
4. Next, use a nail art brush to paint a thin dark green tip on to your nail.
5. Use the nail art brush again, but this time make a white line twice as thick as the green line, right below the dark green line. Ensure no pink is showing, for best results.
6. Next, use the lighter green on top of the white line, closer to the dark green, leaving white showing farther from your tip. You can also drag lines of the lighter green on to the  darker green to your tip, to resemble the real skin of a watermelon. 
7. With the smaller end of your dotting tool, use the black nail polish to make dots around the cuticle of your nail, resembling seeds. Drag your dots with the dotter to make teardrop shaped seeds.
8. Paint on top coat after the seeds have dried so there is no running, and allow to dry!

Nails at the end of Step 3.

Stages of the Watermelon Skin.

Cupcake Nails

The completed cupcake nail.

What you need:

• Dotter Tool and Nail Art Brush (buy the set here)
• Turquoise Background (we used Nails Inc. Haymarket, buy it here)
• Light Pink Cupcake Wrapper (we used OPI Pink Friday, buy it here)
• Dark Pink Cupcake Wrapper (we used OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips, buy it here)
• White Icing (we used M.A.C. Vestral White, no longer sold)
• Gold Heart (we used Nails Inc. Chelsea Embankment, buy it here)
• Sparkly Background (we used OPI Princesses Rule, buy it here)
• Sprinkles (we used various Nails Inc. neon shades, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint each nail with turquoise background colour, two coats may be required.
3. Start by painting the tip to about a third to a half up your nails with the light pink shade for the cupcake wrapper.
4. Next, use a nail art brush to paint stripes of the same thickness on top of the light pink shade in the darker pink cupcake wrapper shade.
5. Use the larger end of the dotter tool and white nail polish to make icing on the top of the cupcake wrapper, covering the top of the wrapper which may be uneven.
6. Using the smaller end of the dotter tool and the gold glittery shade, make two dots beside each other in the top centre of the icing. Then, use the dotter to drag the bottom part (closer to tip of nail) of the two dots together, making a heart.
7. With the smaller end of your dotting tool, and various bright shades, make dots resembling sprinkles on top of the white nail polish.
8. Then, using a nail art brush, use glitter on top of any showing turquoise background.

Steps 3 to 7, from left to right.

The dotter tool, a larger size is better for the icing, while a smaller size is better for the sprinkles. 

Milk and Cookies Nails

What you need:

• Dotter Tool and Nail Art Brush (buy the set here)
• Blue Background and Milk Label (we used OPI No Room For The Blues, buy it here)
• Brown Colours for Cookie (we used Sephora by OPI Bohemian Brights Collection, buy it here)
• White Background and MILK Letters ( we used M.A.C. Vestral White, no longer sold)
• Black Cow Spots (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint each nail with desired background colour.
3. On milk nails, start by painting a straight thick blue horizontal line mid-nail. On cookie nails, use the nail art brush to outline as many cookies as you would like on each nail in dark brown.
4. On milk nails, use the dotter tool and black nail polish to create cow spots in any shape you would like. The more random, the more realistic it looks. On cookie nails, fill in the cookie outlines with the lighter brown. The regular brush (that comes with the nail polish) works fine for this step if your cookies are large enough.
5. On milk nails, use the nail art brush to spell MILK on the blue line (tip: start with the i and l and work outward to ensure you have enough space). On cookie nails, use the dotter tool and the dark brown colour to make chocolate chips on your nails.
6. Put top coat on all your nails, and let dry. Enjoy!

The finished Milk nail

The finished Cookie nail