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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

Monarch Butterfly Wing Nails

The Monarch Wing Nails on a full hand.

Why we love these:

These nails reflect the beauty of mother nature, and are fun and easy to do! We love mixing this look up with different backgrounds colours (full silver glitter butterfly, anyone?) and even using it as an accent nail to liven a tired mani!

What you need:

• White Polish (we used OPI Alpine Snow, buy it here)
• Black Polish (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Orange Polish (we used Misa Speed of Life, buy it here)
• Gold Shimmer Polish (we used Chanel Gold Fiction, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)
• Nail Art Brush and Dotter Tool (buy both in a set here here)
• Makeup Sponge (we used something similar to the Make Up For Ever HD Sponge, buy it here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint each nail with two coats of your gold shimmer polish, and allow to dry fully (this is the most important part!).
3. Soak your makeup sponge in water - so it doesn't absorb all of the polish - and paint your orange polish on to one side. Begin sponging at the tip of your nail, and move  3/4 of the way towards one upper corner, creating an ombre style fade of orange polish in to the gold shimmer polish.
4. Using your nail art brush and black polish, paint a diagonal black line from the upper top corner to the opposite bottom corner of your nail. Perpendicular to this black line, draw another black line near the top of your nail.
5. Use the nail art brush to draw two more black lines, dividing the bottom section of your nail in to 4 quarters. Fill in the tip of your nail creating rounded edges (see photo below for clarification).
6. Using the dotter tool and white polish, make some white spots on the black tip of your nail.
7.  After ensuring your nails are dry enough to top coat without running (allow about 5-10 minutes), paint the top coat over your whole nail and the tip of your nail and allow to dry!

Close up of a Monarch Wing nail.

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!

Striped Pink Ombre Nails

Completed Striped Ombre Nails.

Why we love them:

What girl doesn't love pink? Scratch that, what girl doesn't love every shade of her favourite colour? These nails can be reproduced with any colour, as well as with vertical or diagonal stripes, instead of horizontal. With so many different options, these nails are completely customizable... and we love being unique! These beauties look good with a little black dress and heels in the same shade!

What you need:

• 5+ shades of any one colour, organized by shade
• Scotch Tape
• Nail Art Brush (buy it in a set 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. Place the tape very close to the base of the nail but leave room for one colour. Paint with the darkest shade.
3. Repeating that step slowly moving the tape farther down the nail and changing the colour for each stripe. Try to keep the space between your last colour and the tape constant, for a cleaner look!
4. Once the whole nail is completed, fix up any mistakes with a nail art brush.
5. Paint on top coat after ensuring your nails are dry, and allow to dry!

Close-up striped pink ombre nails.

Saran Wrap Criss Cross Nails

The completed nails.

Why we love them:

We love the look of the criss cross pattern reversed on the accent nail! Also, we love using items that are already around our house to make cool nail designs, as opposed to shopping for costly items at a beauty supply store. This design looks much more difficult than it is, and will surely impress all your friends!

What you need:

• Light Blue (we used China Glaze Kinetic Candy, buy it here)
• Pink (we used Essie Fiesta, buy it here)
• Dark Blue (we used Nails Inc. Baker Street, buy it here)
• Tape
• Nail Art Brush (buy it in a set 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 light blue. Two coats may be required.
3. Cut pieces of tape and place them on the nails like the picture below -Step 1 (for the accent nail the tape is cut in triangles instead of strips). Make sure the tape has no spaces between the polish and the tape other wise you won't get your desired straight line once the other paint is on and you have peeled off your tape. 
4. Paint a nail pink, using the saran wrap roll it up into a circle and blot the pink right after you paint it creating this tie-dye look, repeat with all nails (Picture -Step 2).
5. Paint a nail blue, using the saran wrap roll it up into a circle and blot the blue right after you paint it creating this tie-dye look, repeat with all nails and make sure you can see the pink more blotting may be required (Picture -Step 2).
6. Make sure the polish is dry before removing your tape.
7. Fix up any mistakes with a nail art brush using the light blue for straight edges.
8. Paint on top coat after ensuring your nails are dry, and allow to dry!

Step 1

Step 2

Nautical Heart Nails

Completed Nautical Heart Nails.

Why we love them:

We love the look of these striped heart nails! If you like the look of striped nails why not play with it and add this fun little heart in the corner? :)

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)
• Red (we used Nails Inc. The Hurlingham, 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. With the nail art brush, paint two or three thick black lines depending on how long your nail is. Two coats may be required.
4. With the Dotter Pen, dot and shape a red heart on the bottom corner of your nail, left or right is up to you (opposite on either hand looks nice).
5. Paint on top coat after ensuring your nails are dry, and allow to dry!

Single Nautical Heart Nail.