Matte Crystal Geode Nails by knailart

These matte crystal geode nails are the perfect festival season accessory! We started with a silver sparkly base around the edges, and a clear sparkly base on the rest of the nail—perfection isn't required! After that, we used a thin coat of OPI's Sheer Tints to start off each nail followed by various similar shades from lightest at the inside of each 'crystal' to darkest at the edge of the silver shade. We dripped some acetone over the nails (and blew dry!) before finishing with top coat to get the finished smoky look.

Crystal Geode Nails by knailart

 We love how these look matte, but they are much more realistic when left shiny. Let us know if you try something like this out, and happy polishing!

Hey everyone!

We tried to match our ultimate summer favourites - our Ray Ban Green Flash aviators! We used a sponged gradient of O.P.I. Angel with a Leadfoot, Essie Vices Versa, Sally Hansen Dive In, and Essie I'm Addicted over two coats of O.P.I. Push & Shove to create this super fun look. Check out the video tutorial to see how we did it!



This looks super amazing in the sun... If you try it out, let us know by tagging us @knailart or using the #knailart everywhere social!

Neon Tie Dye Nails with TNA Clemente Shorts, Pandora Heart Ring and Dotted Ring, and Tiffany and Co. Sterling Silver Infinity Ring 

With so many amazing neons coming out recently, we decided to revive our favourite summer style and show you how we wear our tie dye nails! Our updated list of the best neon polishes is below, and the video tutorial is available on our YouTube here.

THE BEST NEONS FOR NAIL ART:

Yellow - Orly Glowstick

Orange - O.P.I. Juice Bar Hopping

Pink - Essie Bottle Service

Purple - O.P.I. Push & Pur-Pull 

Blue - Essie Bouncer It's Me

Green - Models Own Toxic Apple

If you have any great neon polishes, let us know in the comments so we can put them to the test!

Disclaimer: Some polishes used were received from the company/PR - however, our opinions are our own. This post contains no sponsored links!

Essie Too Taboo

Today we're sharing our swatches of Essie's 2014 Neon collection - the title shade is Too Taboo, a bold deep fuchsia. All of our swatches are two coats with one coat of white underneath - although some of the shades (including Too Taboo) don't really need the white. The jelly shades do require a white to truly be considered neons. We love Too Taboo, and found the shade slightly unique in our collection, which tends to be pink heavy.

Essie Chills & Thrills

Next up is Chills & Thrills, a blue-purple creme (the hint of purple comes through more in person) reminiscent of Essie's Butler, Please from Winter 2012... This colour has great coverage - however, it isn't unique in our collection. If you missed out on Butler, Please however - we definitely recommend it!

Essie I'm Addicted

 Next we have I'm Addicted, a bright blue jelly polish. This polish is closer in texture to last seasons neons - and we hate to say that this one just didn't do it for us. The colour is lacklustre, and it really isn't a neon in our books. This we would skip.

Essie Serial Shopper

Next is a love of ours, Serial Shopper. This is a bright orange-coral jelly that applies beautifully and looks amazing over white in two coats. We totally recommend this and have nothing like it - this is what we love from Essie!

Essie Sittin' Pretty

Next up is Sittin' Pretty - a 'bright' lavender (if there ever was such a thing). This applied a bit streaky for us, as can happen with some jellies. It doesn't really qualify as a neon, but its definitely a unique shade. We find certain purples difficult to find, and thats why we would recommend picking this up if you're on the hunt for this shade!

Essie Vices Versa

Finally, Vices Versa is a green jelly, bordering somewhere between neon and pastel. We actually love this shade, and are happy to report that it applies like a dream! This is definitely a unique colour, and it will be amazing for nail art!

Let us know what you think of this collection and if you pick up any shades! Happy polishing!
Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned may have been provided to us by the company/PR in exchange for our honest consideration.

Essie Neon Collection Gradient (over China Glaze White on White)

We may be slightly neon-obsessed (neon, glitter, pastels.. our top three faves!) so when this years version of the Essie neons came in we sort of went crazy. This is the whole collection sponged over China Glaze White on White! Swatches to come... but its safe to say we're in love.

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review and consideration. All opinions are our own.

For today's NOTD - we mixed some fun Kiss Nail Dress Mix It Up Nail Strips in Margeurita with O.P.I.'s Life Gave Me Lemons for this bright fun mani! The Nail Strips come with two separate designs - the pictured neon and silver stars, as well as silver stars on black! There are enough strips for multiple manis... so you may see more of these in a later post.

Let us know what you think in the comments section - and happy polishing!

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review and consideration. All opinions are our own.

Essie released their 6 polish Neon Collection May 1st, and since then we have been going a bit neon crazy with these polishes! We are happy to finally have them swatched here so you can see how they look on the nails! With the exception of Boom Boom Room (first up in this post) these all go great if you're looking to do some neon rainbow-y type nail art. We used them and Orly's Glowstick to create a fab tie dye nail art tutorial, our first venture in to YouTube! Let the swatching begin!

First up is Boom Boom Room. Admittedly, this is not a true neon. The best way to describe this polish is a bubblegum pink. It is bright, but it is not neon. This polish is also a creme polish, unlike the rest of the collection. As neon lovers with high expectations, this did leave something to be desired. This swatch is two coats with topcoat.

Next up is Bouncer, It's Me! This polish is the perfect royal blue jelly, Essie has not strayed from their past blue masterpieces (Bikini So Teeny, Mint Candy Apple, Butler Please, etc.) - they have anything in this shade under control. The polish applied well, and dried without shine like most true neons. This swatch is three thin coats with topcoat.

This purple, DJ Play That Song, is the ultimate shade of violet (lighter than true purples, if you were wondering the difference!). This is the most opaque of the jellies, and this swatch is only 2 thin coats, with no visible nail line! This is probably our favourite polish in this collection.

This next shade is Saturday Night Fever, a coral-orange (or perhaps just an orange with a hint of red) neon jelly that is really too bright to handle. This swatch is two coats, and although you can still see a bit of my nail underneath (calcium spot on my ring finger!) - the colour is so intense that you wouldn't really notice.

The second last polish is a green, Shake Your $$ Maker. Great name aside, this polish is a bit too jelly sheer for our liking. This swatch is 3 think coats, and on some nails you can still see a visible nail line. Disappointing. Over white polish, this doesn't matter as much and it actually has a much more neon effect.

Finally, we have Bottle Service, a super-bright fuchsia. This polish is a jelly, and goes on great. The swatch below is just two coats and it is fully opaque - yet still has that 'squishy' jelly appearance. We love this!

What neons are you loving for Summer, or are you going for a totally different trend altogether? 

Check us out on Instagram to see a dupe for Bottle Service, and if you'd like to see more follow us on Bloglovin!

 Disclaimer: Some of these products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

Check out our first venture in to YouTube tutorials, with our tie dye nail art tutorial! The colours we used, in addition to Butter London Nail Foundation and Seche Vite topcoat, are Orly Glowstick (neon yellow), Essie Shake Your $$ Maker (neon green), Essie Bouncer, It's Me! (neon blue), Essie DJ Play That Song (neon purple), Essie Bottle Service (neon pink), and Essie Saturday Disco Fever (neon coral/orange).