Lacquer up: The Self Made Nail Artists.

From LuciesLocket

It's not a secret that I love nail polish. I talk about it all the time. I take pride in painting my nails weekly and can often be found spamming my instagram feed with images of said handiwork. 

I am not the only one either. I found out quite recently that the sales of nail polish outstripped sales of lipstick, the first cosmetic for an instant pick me up. 

I know why I am buying three nail polishes a month, and one lipstick a month; but why is everyone else?

Lacquer Up: Glitter Fade

So, spring has sprung and I fancy some neon glitter nails. 

I love a good glitter fade. They are so much easier to do than an ombré and are just as beautiful. I thought, as it has AGES since my last Lacquer up  I thought I would go for this easy tutorial to get your ready for spring. 

First, after filing and prepping your nails ready for your polish apply your base coat. 

I have used the Save The Nail 'Bridge The Ridge' filling base coat. Apply two coats and allow to dry fully before continuing.

Lacquer Up: Negative Nails

I have seen a lot of negative nails in the blogosphere of late.

Merricures       One Nail To Rule Them All    Nail That Accent

So I thought, for this lacquer up I would do my best, easy interpretation of a negative nail for you all to try. 

I have done a simple, diagonal negative nail on my first try as I haven't the steadiest of hands. 

In order to make sure the line is clean, I have used surgical tape to ensure a straight line.

Surgical tape is my new, best nail art friend. It's cheap and easy to use and can be cut and shaped with a pair of manicure scissors incredibly easily. Just like the manicure strips that I have written about before if you are wearing another colour underneath make sure the polish is bone dry before applying the tape. You will ruin your under polish otherwise. If you have time, put your base colour on the day before for the best results.

I applied my base coat and allowed to dry before adding the tape in the direction I wanted it to go. Once I was happy with it I applied my first layer of polish. 

I left to dry and applied another coat. Here I am using Ciaté's Mink, this needs a couple if layers for the colour to really shine through. 

This is now a discontinued colour, a similar colour that will work work their range is Cream Soda. 

Leave to dry completely. If not you'll end up with a jagged line, like one of my failed attempts 

Once dry, peel the tape of and apply a quick topcoat. I have added a couple of metal nail art hearts that I found on Amazon. I bought these to add interest to my manicure because it is a bank holiday carnival weekend and I have gone a little nail appliqué crazy since my last post; it's a simple and fun and easy addition to nails that require minimum effort. 

I completed with a more thorough layer of a high shine topcoat.

It's super easy and I will definitely persevere with it. I like how modern this looks, this can be formalised for a job interview; the colour above works well for that (above sans appliqué hearts obviously) or you could make it fun by slicking on a neon colour like Model's Own Toxic Apple. All winners in my opinion.

Go on, bag yourself some surgical tape and get negative!

Lacquer up: Jewels

It's no secret that I love a good nail polish. I have already spoken about my weekly manicure ritual. I have experimented on a grand scale; having utilised a gem and nail polish set I got from work. If you aren't sure if jewels are your thing and you don't want to splash out on a roundel of jewels; I cheated. The set I am using (below) is from a nail art set from Top of The Pops Magazine. (Yes, it still exists!) You can get the set I bought here. It has a comprehensive selection of gems, for you to try for the price of a chocolate bar! WIN!

After this week's manicure, I am pretty confident that not only do I like gems, I think their application is super easy and will get a few more expensive sets, for sure! 

I've used Rimmel I heart Lasting Finish in "It's a scorcher". It's
perfect for this wonderfully warm weather and the green round gem I chose makes it extra special and summery!

Paint your nails as normal.

For my base-coat I have found a new cosmetic brand Kiko Milano. Their 3-in-1 Shine is a base coat, nail hardener and Ultra Shine Top coat all in one, which is super useful. It dries really quickly and produces an amazing shine. They have an extensive range of nail care products. All are reasonably priced. Perfect for those who manicure at least once a week!



To apply the Gem get a cotton bud and dip into the gem pot. Gently push the gem into the still wet nail polish and allow to dry.

Once dry; add a top coat to retain the gem and the shine & viola!

You can add gems to every nail or use them as an accent nail as I have done. 

Who knows. I could be as good as these in no time! 

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