Sunday 3 February 2013

Ciate : Valentine's Day Nails

With Valentine's Day just around the corner and us now being in February it felt right to create some nail designs which you can all copy to wow your secret Valentine.


As the colours associated with Valentine's Day are red and pinky tones these are the main colours used throughout the design.  If you want to mix and match them up though with different colours, feel free, they're your beautiful nails :)!

Here is a list of the varnishes I used to create this design.  As you will see a large majority of these are made by Ciaté - to me these are special, special polishes for a special occasion.



Butter London - MacBeth - £13 from the Butter London website
A&E Base Coat by Nails Inc - £12 from the Nails Inc website
Ciaté - Cabaret - £9 from the Ciaté website
Ciaté - Ladylike Luxe - £9 from the Ciaté website
Ciaté - Headliner - £9 from the Ciaté website 
Ciaté - Cupcake Queen£9 from the Ciaté website
Ciaté - Mistress - £9 from the Ciaté website
Ciaté -Candy Shop - This is only available in either the Mini Mani month if you had it for Christmas in 2012 or now in the Caviar Mini Bar - £20 from the Ciaté website - these are an option - not essential!
Butter London - Fiver - £13 from the Butter London webstie
Models Own - Snow White - £5 from the Models Own website
White Nail Pen, Rio - available for £5.95 from the Rio website or purchase in a set of original colours for £24.99
Red Nail PenRio - available for £5.95 from the Rio website or purchase in a set of original colours for £24.99
Green Nail PenRio - available for £5.95 from the Rio website or purchase in a set of original colours for £24.99
Bue Nail PenRio - available for £5.95 from the Rio website or purchase in a set of original colours for £24.99
Nails Inc - Kensington Caviar 45 Second Top Coat - £12 from the Nails Inc website

And the tools: Cocktail sticks!!   Don't worry if you don't have nail pens, cocktail sticks are a fantastic substitute and I still use these on a regular basis!

Before we even get started on designing begin by selecting 5 base colours which the nail art will be focused upon.  For mine I chose, Mistress, Cabaret, Ladylike Luxe, Cupcake Queen and MacBeth :) - all full of romance and lust!  

With the colours chosen, here is your broken down tutorial on how to make this Valentine's design come to life!


Prep

Paint all your nails with your chosen base coat - I chose A&E Base Coat by Nails Inc to protect my natural nails from any potential colour stains and damage.  This is available from the Nails Inc website for £12 and is absolutely fantastic!


Thumb - Sideways Heart

On my thumbs I first of all painted two coats of Mistress by Ciaté.  This nail varnish is a saucy red colour which shall set your nails on fire!  The colour red is vibrant, cheeky and definitely the right choice for a Valentine's occasion.  I also like to wear this colour with a plain outfit, it brings you to life!  

Mistress covers your nails with utter ease and provides a brilliant base colour to get working on with that heart.  To create the heart you must ensure your red base coats are dry.  Why don't you paint the other base coat colours on your remaining nails whilst you wait :)?



Once dry, I took the striping tool from my nail art pen and drew a heart sideways on my nail.  Rather than draw this in one go, I drew the two arcs (the top of the heart) and then created the bottom of the heart.  This ensures the heart has the perfect shape.  Don't worry if your outline isn't a solid white either, this will soon change!

Next simply fill in the heart with some white nail varnish - I used a cocktail stick for this part.  Using a cocktail sticks leaves you with more control over where the varnish goes whilst getting a solid finish.  If you find you require a second coat of white then just wait patiently for the first coat to dry and repeat this step.

Here you have it a sold heart on your nails :)!  To finish this off you have the option to add some red dots acting as inside border.  I used my red nail art pen for this but you really can use a cocktail stick for this part - dip the end in to the pot of your chosen red varnish (the same as your base colour perhaps), dab off any excess on a piece of paper, practise getting your perfect dot and simply create that outlline!


Second Finger - Cupcake

I used two coats of Cabaret as a base coat for this nail - you won't see much of your base coat here but it helps act as your cupcake case :).  Wait for this nail to also be 110% dry before creating any magic on your nail.



To create the icing on the top I plopped a white blob on to my nail and used a cocktail stick to gently pull the polish down creating an icing effect on your nail - yummy!  This nail made me hungry!

Creating the stripes at the bottom of my nail I used my red nail pen and a cocktail stick dipped in Ladylike Luxe.  Draw thin stripes, creating the outside of your cupcake case - this will help you bring the cupcake to life :).  

Once your white icing is dry add a little cherry on the top right hand corner of your nail.  I used my red nail art pen for this and then used my green one for the stalk, however, this can easily be recreated with a red and green nail varnish and a cocktail stick.  Dip one end of the cocktail stick in to the red paint and dab on to your nail for cherry and then dip the other end in to a dark green and draw a very thin line to create the green stalk.

To add some further colour to your icing let's get icing these beautiues!!  Grab some pots of varnish which are colourful, acting as icing strands.  Get your cocktail stick and wipe the polish off if it is still wet - if not just dip it straight in to one colour at a time and dot all over the icing.  Repeat this with your other chosen colours :).  I used Butter London - MacBeth, Butter London, Fiver and Ciaté - Headliner.

There you have it - a beautiful cupcake which you will want to EAT!  Hehe.


Middle Finger - Crazy Daisy

For my base colour on this nail I chose MacBeth by Butter London.  This polish I hadn't used before and my golly gosh I was amazed at the colour.  It is a beautiful coral colour with an extra drop of pink - I adore it!!  It covered my nail beautifully without any hiccups along the way.  Apply two coats and wait for it to dry :) - the waiting part will be worth it don't worry :).


To create the daisies check out my previous post for a more detailed approach.  Here is a quick recap.  I chose the white nail pen to create the middle of my flowers and then the blue nail pen for the petals.  For every white dot there should be 5 petals surrounding it - simples.  This design is one of my favourite - it is incredibly effortless yet looks like you have spent a very long time on your nails!

Again, if you don't have a nail art pen, have no fear for I have practised this before using cocktail sticks and dipping them in to colour and it works an absolute treat.


Fourth Finger - Heart

This nail is incredibly straight forward and quick to design :).  I painted two coats of Ladylike Luxe to this nail, adding a glamorous gold effect to my nail.  




Once dry grab either your red nail art pen or a cocktail stick and your red nail varnish pot and create a heart shape across the centre of your nail.  Again, the same as when drawing the heart on your thumb you should start with the top of the heart and get the arcs ready.  Once these are perf, then bring the lines down and curve until they eventually meet at the bottom point.

Fill the heart in with your cockatil stick - the cocktail stick allows better control so you don't fall outside the line :).  I did two coats of the red to stand out and make it really prominent on my hand.

THEN, oh then, I was like 'ohhhhh let's see if this works!'  I covered my heart in one more nail of red, reached for my Ciaté pearls (?) and tipped it over the wet nail polish.  Boom-ting-a-ling it worked!!!  Check out the result:



If you have some caviar beads, I would really recommend playing with this design - it makes your nails look that extra bit more special, helping give that Valentine's Day look.


Pinky Finger - Dot Mania

I painted my baby finger nail with two coats of Cupcake Queen.  I love this colour, it is a strong pink colour with that little shimmer. 



I twiddled my thumbs and waited for this base to dry.  Staring at my white nail art pen I was almost ready to go dotty crazy!!  

The cupcake queen was dry so here was the time and here is the time for you ... grab that pen or cocktail stick dipped in white nail varnish and go dotty craaaaayyy!!!  Plop those dotts all over your little finger nail.


Finish

To complete the look take your favourite top coat and gloss your nails (all except the fourth finger, your caviar nail if you have chosen this).  If you do top coat this nail with the caviar beads, you won't again and you shall realise why this a big no go area!  My favourite glossy top coat at the moment is Nails Inc - Kensington Caviar 45 Second Top Coat available from the Nails Inc website for £12.

Why not try a secret tip which I used when doing these nails?  Rather than waiting for each nails base colour to dry paint all of your nails at once, then they shall all be dry around the same time ready for the second coat and then once again for you to begin your nail art :).

And here we have it you lovely flowers, your completed Valentine's Day Nails.



Whether you are celebrating the big day or not, there's nothing stopping you from getting in to the spirit :)!

Happy Valentines Playing you cuties, I'm off now to go and get stuck in to some chocolate!!


Hugs,

Elaine_KS
xo

16 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Heeeyyy Steph :)!

      Thank you very much - I'm not going to lie, this was the one I was most looking forward with doing!

      I hope that you've had a lovely-jubbly day :) xo

      Delete
  2. The cupcake is so cute! Think I'd struggle doing it on my opposite hand though lol xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Howdy Mimi!

      Ohh don't be put off doing this on your other hand. When I say in the description 'plopped a white blob' I literally mean get a big dollop and plop it right on. Then use the cocktail stick to pull it out to create the icing look. To help get the lines on the cupcake case as straight as possible, try to make a quick sweep - I think the longer you take on a straight line the more wonky it may look.

      I hope this helps and you can create some yummy nails :)! xo

      Delete
  3. WOW! Hi Elaine your so skilled and you blog is amazing! It's great how you put down all the details of how you do your nails. I am in love with your pastel spring/summer look,consider me your newest member!

    It would mean the world if you checked out my new beauty blog, and if you liked it, became a member.

    I cannot wait to try your looks and I am super excited to see what else you will post.

    Hazel X
    http://whichhazel05.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Hazel :)!

      Aww thank you ever so much for your lovely comment - it made me smile a lot!

      Well if I can make the nail art, believe me - anyone can give it a go, so it's only fair I share how I've done everything :).

      I'm also really happy the pastels are back for s/s - BIG fan!!

      Of course, I'll shimmy straight on over now and check our your blog.

      I hope that you're having a wonderful day :) xo

      Delete
  4. This is SUCH a fun Post. I loved the way you showed off different looks and went into such detail - Must have been a lot of work! Consider me a member...Feel free to take a look at my newbie blogger...

    http://throwmesomethingbeautiful.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Nadja!

      Thank you for your extremely sweet comment - you'd be surprised, they were some of the quickest nail art designs I think I've done to date!

      Of course I shall check out your blog :).

      Have a wonderful week missy,

      Elaine xo

      Delete
  5. They look soo Pretty <3
    Check out my Blog at: http://beauty-fulll.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Bisma :).

      I'm page hoping next to go and check out your blog .... xo

      Delete
  6. Wow! You are so talented. Loving these :)

    xoxo Jamie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww thank you lovely :), this comment made me smile!

      I hope that you have a wonderful upcoming week :) xo

      Delete
  7. How cute is your blog! Soo girly! I love it :). Instant follow.

    cheritrendystyle.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Cheri,

      Thank you every so much :)! I'm just over to go and check out your blog now ... xo

      Delete
  8. Lovely nails! Just followed, great blog xx

    www.hannahheartss.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hiiiiiii Hannah :),

      Thank you, thank you missy! Your comment was lovely and I shall be zooming over to your blog in a matter of seconds...

      Have a superrrrrr week,

      xo

      Delete

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