I liked the other day's watercolor nails a lot, so I used a similar technique for this design. I started out with a nude base color, then used three different polishes to make the "dip-dye" look. I put a dab of each color and used a brush and some acetone to wash it out in a line up the nail. Once I had all the colors in, I used a brush with some black polish to make some random zigzags. I wanted them to be somewhat haphazard, because I wanted it to have a sort of distressed look. It reminds me of this batik sarong I used to have, and I like it!

Products used:

• Sephora by OPI XOX Betsey
• CND Sweet and Anchor Blue
• Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow
• Wet n Wild Black Creme

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The new watercolor trend is so pretty, and I wanted to give it a try since the weather is becoming so beautiful in my region right now. The basic technique is to paint the nails a base color, and then with several colors one after the other you dot a small amount on the nail and sort of blot it out with a larger brush with a little acetone in it. The beauty of this technique is that the less "perfect" it is, the better, so the expertise level on this would probably be at "Novice." I think there are videos on how to do this on YouTube, so search for "Watercolor Nails" and you should find something. The only trick is to use *just* the right amount of acetone to dab the paint around, and not to dab too much or it will get muddy. Paint a few nails white and give it a little practice to see what you come up with. I think it's really pretty, and with just a couple colors blotted on, it would also make a pretty background for other art on top, or even some metal studs.

Products used:

• Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud
• CND Sweet and Anchor Blue
• China Glaze High Hopes
• Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow

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I'm pretty into tribal right now, so I basically rehashed my Feathers nail set and my Angles nail set with a different group of colors. It wasn't anything very new, but I thought it looked good and figured I'd post it. In the end my middle fingers looked like weird easter eggs... The one caveat I've found so far with my new, more rounded nail shape. Otherwise I really love the new shape, and all the new nail designs I can do that just would never work on my old squares.

Products used:

• CHina Glaze Aquadelic
• OPI A Roll in the Hague
• CND Copper Chrome
• Orly Luxe
• CND Anchor Blue
• Nubar lemon
• CHina Glaze Gothic Lolita
• CHina Glaze White on White

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The nail stylists at CND who do fashion week, yeah they're awesome. They are undoubtedly the masters of interesting nail looks engineered for the runway. And with the big leap forward that nails are taking as concerns being viewed as almost an accessory, the runway looks are becoming much more acceptable on main street in a way that wacky runway makeup never could. Luxury nails, be it luxury art like this or luxury polish such as Chanel or Dior, are a very accessible way to add a designer label to your wardrobe in the form of an almost-accessory. Whether the country in the midst of a recession or not, you may not be able to afford that Chanel bag, but you sure as hell can afford to buy a Chanel polish, or to go out and get a fancy manicure that was worn down a fashion week runway.

Anyway, enough preaching about the godliness of nail art, let's get on with the manicure... I came across this manicure on BellaSugar, and immediately wanted to recreate it. CND stylists used CND Gold Chrome and BlackJack and some gold leaf to create a look that they call ‘Treasured Antiquities’…meets ‘New Rock N’ Roll.’ . I don't have those polishes... yet, but I used what I had and it looks just about the same.

Products used:

• China Glaze 2030
• Wet n Wild Black Creme
• Gold nuggeting foil

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Believe it or not this manicure started out simply enough. First I just wanted to wear OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh? because I haven't worn it yet. Then A Roll in the Hague in all it's bright orange glory was staring at me, so I put a little line down the middle and said I'd call it a day. I gave it a couple hours, did a little stuff around the house, read a little of my current book (A Storm of Swords, if you're interested) and then I just couldn't help myself. I got out a couple more polishes and kept on for a few minutes without a real plan. I didn't have anything in particular in mind, but it ended up looking sort of tribal. Maybe like feathers. So that's what I'm saying those little marks are. Sounds better than Random Brush Strokes.

Products used:

• OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh?
• OPI A Roll in the Hague
• China Glaze Aquadelic
• Wet n Wild Black Creme
• CND Anchor Blue
• Nubar Lemon
• China Glaze White on White
• Seche Vite topcoat

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I'm telling you, the best thing I EVER did was shape my nails differently. For my entire life I've had square nails, and I always loved them and could never imagine my nails in another shape, but I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to try it. As they're growing, I refine the shape often trying to coax the tips into soft points, and I'm really enjoying them. There are so many nail designs that suit oval and pointed nails that never look right with squares like half-moons for instance, but now I'm enjoying the experimentation.

Anyway, for this look I used Sparitual Paradigm for the base color. It's a very thin and milky cream color and it makes the nails look perfect, even when underneath they may look like total crap. Ahem. Like my stained little claws, for example. Believe it or not, beneath Sparitual Paradigm and a coat of Color Club Milky White Base Coat, my nails are a disturbing shade of ear wax. This color is awesome, it's like the Spanx of the nail world. Then I used CND Copper Chrome to highlight the very tips and base of the nails. The result is almost like jewelry for the nails. I loved this.

Products used:

• Color Club Milky White base coat
• Sparitual Paradigm
• CND Copper Chrome
• Seche Vite topcoat

Funny thing happens sometimes, you start out with a particular vague idea for a design and the subconcious takes over. I came across this necklace on Pinterest, and decided to do triangle nails. You can see I used a similar motif on several nails. Once I had that vague idea, I started picking out a few colors from what happened to be on my desk and handy and got to work. I was finishing up and beginning to think of what I'd call it, and decided on Angles. Then I realized that the colors I used are basically exactly the same as the cover of one of my favorite band's (The Strokes) albums, called Angles. How crazy is that? See a picture of the album cover after the jump.

Products used:

• China Glaze White on White
• China Glaze Aquadelic
• China Glaze Purple Panic
• China Glaze Icicle
• Nubar Lemon
• CND Anchor Blue
• Wet n Wild Black Creme

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For the third installment in my Hunger Games nail art series, I continued on with the districts. This time it's District 3 which we know from the books is mainly and electronics. For this nail set I did a circuit board, some random holographic based lightning bolts, some bright blinky light thing and then lastly the 3 for the district done in a digital style. It's a really abstract interpretation of the district, but I thought it was colorful and fun, and definitely felt sort of electronic-y.

Products used:

• GOSH Holographic
• Wet n Wild Black Creme
• OPI Who the Shrek are You?
• Sparitual Yes I Can
• China Glaze 2030
• China Glaze Purple Panic
• CND Anchor Blue
• OPI Rinse Charming
• OPI Roll in the Hague

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Recently at NYFW, CND did a really cool look they called Flirty Flowers for Rachel Antonoff's runway show. I think it was a real eye-catcher for everyone considering the interesting pattern and the use of bright, bold colors juxtaposed on the small canvas of the nails. I wanted to recreate it, and in fact did start out by using CND Anchor Blue as they did, but I found it was far too dark to get the look in the photos without adding a lot of white to it. I'm probably not using the same technique they did, so maybe they added the Anchor Blue designs while the white was still wet, but either way I ended up using different polishes to acheive this look.

I painted the nails white, added the blue "petals" freehand with a brush, then added the red to the top, using a thin brush to get the red into the angles left behind by the blue.

Products used:

• China Glaze White on White
• China Glaze Electric Beat
• OPI Red Lights Ahead... Where?
• Seche Vite Topcoat

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Products used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• Illamasqua Muse
• CND Copper Chrome
• Black Striper Polish
• Seche Vite Top Coat

Here is a simple tribal nail design using Illamasqua Muse as a base. I used CND Copper Chrome for a stripe down the middle and then I used a black Striping polish to make the design over the copper. I thought the teal and copper were made for each other!

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