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!

Minion Nail Art with Bananas! thumb

Hawaiian Half Moon Mani

We're obsessed with these destination nails... We used O.P.I. You're So Vain-illa as the base for the half moons, then dry brushed YSL Safran Sultan, Beige Gallery, and Brun Panasse over top! We then cleaned up the half moons with an angled brush with acetone, and used a dotter to create the multicoloured flowers on the edge! We used a tiny brush and some black and white polish to create the finished flowers for a more realistic look!

Let us know what you think of these nails in the comments - would you wear them? Happy polishing!

imPRESS Press On Nails in Dancing Queen

We've been having fun playing with these imPRESS press ons we received from Influenster - and we recently played around with filing them into a specific shape! We actually think this turned out pretty well and would definitely recommend these - however be cautioned that they are pretty short, so if you have long nails these may be out of the question. Also be sure to file from the bottom of the nail before pressing it on, to ensure you don't remove any of the pattern.

What do you think of this look?

Disclaimer: We received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

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.

Aqua Gradient and Model's Own Emerald Glitter Accent Nail

For today's NOTD, we had to show you this gorgeous glitter we picked up from Models Own. This is Emerald, and it is the perfect mermaid-y green glitter. The accent nail is three coats and it is possibly the most beautiful thing we've ever seen... Let us know what you think in the comments!

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.

Quo by ORLY Coral Contour topped with O.P.I. Desperately Seeking Sequins, Essie Licorice Chevron Accent Nails!

For today's NOTD - we used a bold pink and some glitter to create a super girly mani - then gave it a bit of edge with opposite black chevrons on the ring and pinky fingers. We freehanded these - but you could also use tape if you're a bit wobbly or are in search of the perfect chevron!

What's on your nails today? Let us know in the comments!


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.

China Glaze Glitter Up Manicure, over China Glaze Sun of a Peach and First Mate

For today's look, we used China Glaze Glitter Up, from the new Surprise! collection, along with two other China Glaze polishes which matched oddly well - because seriously, we searched all of our polishes for a good match.

We used a small brush to pick the glitters out of the polish and used whatever clear base was still on those glitters to stick them down on the nail, creating this pattern. Overall, it actually only took about an hour and a bit for the whole mani, including letting the base polishes fully dry! What do you think of this look?

Ciaté Pepperminty with Ciaté Pressed Flower on Ring Finger, and Ciaté Locket and Confetti (pictured) on Middle Finger

For today's nails, we've been trying out the Ciaté Flower Manicure kit in Strike a Posy - it comes with a baby pink polish mini, a topcoat (which we love!) and some flowers and tweezers to place them with. More on that kit will be posted soon - but for now we are sharing a look we created using the kit along with some of our other favs from Ciaté! The base colour for this look is Pepperminty, and we used a coat of Locket with two coats of Confetti underneath for a bit of sparkle!

Let us know what you think in the comments, and whether you will be rocking florals to usher in the spring weather!

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.

Pastel Tie Dye Nails by knailart (Pictured: China Glaze At Vase Value)

We're back at it! A spring-time pastel tie dye is our obsession of the moment - and they may be pastel, but in the sun they look super vibrant! We used mostly China Glaze pastels from the City Flourish collection, including the pictured At Vase Value. If you would like to know more about how to achieve the tye-die look... check out our neon rainbow tie dye post here! Happy Spring!

Pastel Tie Dye Nails by knailart

Anna Sui '005' glitter gradient over butter London Teddy Girl

We never say no to a glitter gradient, and this gold glitter was a perfect way to dip our tips in to Spring! Anna Sui 005 is a good mix of fine and chunky silver and gold glitter - the perfect glitter for a gradient mani!

What's your go-to glitter for a gradient mani?

Disclaimer: Some of the products mentioned in this post may have been provided to us by the company/PR in exchange for our honest opinion and/or review.

O.P.I. Sheer Tints in I Can Teal You Like Me

We were lucky to get our hands on I Can Teal You Like Me from the O.P.I. Sheer Tints collection (which is perfection based on the swatches we've seen). We were skeptical about the idea at first - but we love how easy this is for nail art! We used a striper brush for the plaid in this case, and used Models Own Hypergel for the base (a great white for bases - we recommend!). We totally need to get our hands on the whole collection. YOU NEED THIS! This is going to be great for summer nail art, and if you've been dying to try out a tye-die look, these polishes could definitely make it easy as can be.

Disclaimer: Some of the products used in this post may have been provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review.

Heirloom, a duochrome purple-green polish from Ciaté, is literally perfection. We paired it with a black accent nail and a micro bead heart using the gold microbeads from the Luxe Metals collection in Lustre (also by Ciaté). We love how this turned out, and this mani looks great in the sun when the duo chrome catches the light!

Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Disclaimer: Some of the products mentioned in this post may have been provided to us by the company/PR in exchange for our honest opinion and/or review.

Is an explanation for this manicure necessary? Nutell-us. (We're out of control. Send help.)

Blue Tie Dye Nail Art (pictured: Essie Find Me An Oasis)

We're never letting go of our favourite nail art - tie dye. We loved the Essie pastel blue Find Me An Oasis from the Resort collection this year, and as two of the knailart sisters jetted off to LA for March Break - we had to go for a beachy blue tie dye! Check out our the look below, and to see our tie dye technique, check out our previous blog post or go straight to our YouTube tutorial!

Today we picked up the only colour from the Nails. Inc. Feathers collection that we 'needed' from Sephora, and we really had to try it with our one true minty love, Essie Mint Candy Apple. We chose Brighton Feathers, which is a combo of yellow and blue rubber-y bar glitters (although they don't shimmer) in a clear base.

Overall, we love how this looks, although there were some micro bubbles in the Mint Candy Apple (viewable in the Macro shot…) which we feel may have been caused by the Feathers (though it can also be caused by dirt and moisture on the nail surface. 

This does give your nails an overall fuzzy look - but we think it would look great for a monster themed nail art! Our first thought when we look at these nails is Monster's Inc. 

What do you think of these nails, would you try them?

As Summer approaches (soon, please!) we thought it would be fun to get in the citrus-y spirit with some fruity tips on naked nails! We love how these turned out and the fruits we were aiming for were the classics: lemon, lime, and orange, and then blood orange and grapefruit. How did we do?

This nail art was super easy to do! We used the actual polish brushes to create the circular tip on the edge of the nail, then used a nail art brush to create the triangle wedges within each fruit, and a super thin striping brush to create the white 'sheen' on the fruits. We love how these turned out and are definitely going to re-wear these when summer rolls around!

iNails (aren't we clever?):

When the idea for these nails came up, there was some scepticism about how the black dancers on the neon backgrounds would come out…Would people get it? I think our shadows dancing to iPods came out perfect - what do you think? The apple logo nails are matte, and the iPod ad replicas are glossy, although they didn't seem to shine from the camera flash at this angle. The index finger is a girl's head listening to earbuds, the middle is a guy dancing with his iPod in his hand, and the pinkie, which is harder to see in this shot, is a man holding his iPod up beside his head.

For those who are too young to remember these iPod ads...

Today's Nail of the Day is a gold and black 'studded' manicure. The stud's are microbeads which we purchased from our local Micheal's and are Recollections brand. We adhered them when the topcoat was wet, using a damp paint brush to pick them up and (attempt) to neatly place them on the nail!

We used PRITI NYC's Horned Poppy, available here, underneath a Chanel Gold (limited edition - we're sorry!) similar to the Sonia Kashuk Golden Ticket for the normal nails, and used Essie Licorice, available here, for the black on the accent nail!