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 With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we think it's the right time to get in the spirit and embrace the heart-filled nail art craze. To keep this mani fun and fresh, we used an OPI Liquid Sand Shade on the thumb and ring finger, and used a bold red with black and white accents on the remaining fingers. We love the results, and the added texture from OPI Liquid Sand makes this mani even more interesting to look at! If you can't get your hands on OPIs Liquid Sand collection, we recommend a glitter accent nail in a coordinating shade.

What you need:

• Red nail polish (we used Nails Inc. St. James, available here)
• White nail polish (we used China Glaze White on White, available here)
• Red Liquid Sand nail polish/Glitter nail polish (we used OPI Liquid Sand The Impossible, available here)
• Black nail polish (we used Essie Licorice, available here)
• Nail art brush (available, as a set including a dotter, here)
• Base coat and top coat (we used Essie First Base, available here, and Seche Vite top coat, available here)

What to do:

1. Paint all nails with a base coat.
2. Paint your accent nails (thumb and ring finger) with the red liquid sand (or glitter) polish, and all other fingers with a red polish. Do 2-3 coats as required.
3. Pinky: Use black polish on half of the nail, and paint the top half of 'LOVE' using a nail art brush. After that dries, use the (clean) nail art brush and white polish to connect the bottom half of 'LOVE'.
4. Middle Finger: Using the nail art brush and black polish, starting at the centre of the nail, make two dots and then drag the dots together, making a small heart. Repeat this until the nail is covered. Then, using a clean nail art brush, put white polish inside one of the hearts as an accent heart.
5. Pointer Finger: Using white nail polish and a nail art brush, draw many xo's all over the nail, and then draw a larger white heart in the centre of the nail (following the procedure in step 4). Then, using a clean nail art brush, fill in the white heart with black  polish.
6. Allow all to dry, and paint with a top coat! Note: for OPI Liquid Sand, do not topcoat, as the matte 'sand' effect will be lost.

Completed Valentine's Day Nails

Silver Glitter Ombre Nails

Completed Silver Glitter Ombre Nails.

Why we love these:

These nails are fun and easy, and require no extra-special nail art brushes or techniques! These nails are fun and the layered glitter adds a new dimension of sparkle. These nails are perfect for a night out, and can be done in any colour to match any outfit.

What you need:

• Grey Polish (we used OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts, buy it here)
• Fine Silver Glitter Polish (we used OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, buy it here)
• Medium Silver Glitter Polish (we used Nails Inc. Sloane Square, buy it here)
• Chunky Silver Glitter Polish (we used Sephora by OPI Glitter to the End!, 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 two coats of the grey polish on to your nails, allowing some extra time to dry before starting the glitter polish so there is no running.
3. Take the finest glitter polish, remove all excess polish from the brush, and paint from the tip of your finger to 3/4 to the cuticle on each nail. (Note: The less polish you have on your brush, the more the glitter will appear to 'fade' out in to the next colour)
4. Using the medium glitter polish, remove excess polish from the brush, and paint from the tip of your nails to half  way to the cuticle on each nail.
5. Finally, using the chunky glitter, add some larger pieces of glitter to the tip area of each nail.
6.  Paint all nails with a top coat, ensuring to seal the tips of your nails, and allow to dry!

Flower Patterned Nails

Why we love these:

These nails are super simple, and classic! They don't require a high skill level or any specific tools, and the colours can be varied endlessly. For a simple, chic design that is easy to paint and wear - this is the answer!

What you need:

• Black Polish (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• White Polish (we used OPI Alpine Snow, buy it here)
• Yellow Polish (we used Misa Hanging With the Girls, buy it here)
• Silver Glitter Polish (we used China Glaze Glistening Snow, 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 a base coat.
2. Paint two coats of a high shine black polish (navy blue works well too!) on each nail.
3. Using the brush attached to your white nail polish lid (no separate brush required, although it may be helpful for smaller flowers) make 5 dots in a circle, and drag inward to the centre of your circle. Repeat these circles on each as many times as you can fit - we averaged about 3 flowers a nail. For a less uniform look, vary sizes of each circle. 
4. On top of the white areas, use a sliver/white glitter. This step can be omitted for a more plain floral pattern.
5. Using yellow polish, make a small dot in the center of your white 'petals', completing your flowers.
6.  After ensuring your nails are dry, paint a layer of top coat (dont miss your tips!) and allow your nails to fully dry!

Glam Nails

The completed Glam Nails.

Why we love them:

These nails incorporate everything we love about nail art! The zig zag accent nail adds a funky twist to the nude and glitter trend - and of course we always love a full glitter nail! The matte top coat adds an effect we love, but this design can also be achieved with a regular top coat.

What you need:

• Nail Art Brush (buy it in a set here)
• White (we used OPI Alpine Snow, buy it here)
• Black (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Nude (we used Nails Inc. Porchester Square, buy it here)
• Glitter (we used Nails Inc. Sloane Square, buy it here)
• Base Coat (we used Essie, base coat here)
• Matte Top Coat (we used Nails Inc.Westminster Bridge, buy it here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint your thumb with glitter polish, and your index, middle, and pinky fingers with nude polish. Paint your ring finger with white polish. Two coats may be required.
3. With the nail art brush, start by painting two full triangles in black polish (starting the bottoms at the middle of your nail) on the tips of your nails. Add half triangles on the edges if there is still room left over.
4. With the nail art brush again, continue the zig zag about a 1/3 cm above the top of the black triangles. Continue this pattern until you reach the cuticle of your nail.
5. Paint on the matte top coat after ensuring your nails are dry (so there is no running!), and allow to dry! Note: Two coats of matte top coat both lasts longer, and makes a more matte effect on your nails!

Sparkle accent nail.

Black and white missoni accent nail.

Strawberry Nails

The completed Strawberry Nails.

Why we love them:

We love art inspired by nature - and also, we love strawberries! These nails are summertime fresh and look good enough to eat. These nails also look good in reverse (with the green near your cuticles! Try them out and let us know how they turn out!

What you need:

• Nail Art Brush and Dotter Pen (buy it in a set here)
• White (we used OPI Alpine Snow, buy it here)
• Black (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Red (we used Nails Inc. The Hurlingham, buy it here)
• Green (we used China Glaze Starboard, view 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 with your red colour. Two coats may be required.
3. With the Nail Art brush, paint green zig zag edge on the tips of your nail. Use triangles of different sizes in order to look more like the leaves on top of a strawberry.
4. With the smaller end of your Dotter Pen, randomly dot small white dots in the leftover red space of your nails. Allow this to dry fully before starting the next step.
5. With the smaller end of your Dotter Pen again, tilt your Dotter Pen so that you have a smaller dot surface (so some white will still show through) and dot on top of every white dot on your nails.
6. Paint on top coat after ensuring your nails are dry so there is no runs in your polish, and allow to dry!

Close-up on Strawberry Nail.