Happy Canada Day Maple Leaf Tutorial

Hello lovies!!

It's Canada Day here in the Great White North and I thought it'd be fitting to post a tutorial/pictorial on how to paint a maple leaf.

Now let me start by saying that the maple leaf is pretty difficult to do because it is a symmetrical shape with many little corners. I tried to come up with a technique that was relatively simple but still effective.

For this tutorial, I used red acrylic paint over white polish but I think this could be done with nail polish also.

Here's the pictorial with each step numbered:

1. Start with 3 sets of dots of 3 to represent the points of the leaves.

2. Paint one longer line coming out of the top point and connect the other 2 dots to that line, forming an arrow 

3. Repeat the arrow step with the other 2 sets of dots

4. Paint a line beneath the arrows

5. Add a small line to the line from step 4 for the stem

6. Start filling in the space between the arrows

7. Start shaping the remaining parts of the leaf

8. Go over the arrows so that the lines make up the corners of the maple leaf

9. Done! Fix up any spaces that look misshaped with some of the background colour (so in my case, I'd go over areas I wasn't happy with with white). Repeat for more leaves or go over the design with a top coat.

Here's the completed mani!

You can use these steps to paint a Canadian flag also like I did here:

Hope you give it a try! Happy Canada Day! ❤️🍁❤️

Water Marble Tips

Hey hey!

I promised to do a post with some tips on water marbling so here it is!

Water marbling is a technique that uses regular water and nail polish. You can create marble like patterns from the spreading of the polish on the water's surface.

Items you'll need:

1. Water - I use regular slightly warm tap water. I have seen other tutorials use distilled water and bottled water but I have been able to do it with tap water. If the water is too cold, the polish will set too quickly. If it is too warm, the polish may not spread out.

2. A cup - I used an old shot glass. It's the perfect size for doing one finger at a time. 

3. Newer polishes that are runny - older polishes that have become gloopy may not spread out when dropped into the water. Also, try not to use fast drying polishes because they will also set on the surface quickly.

4. A needle or a toothpick - a needle will give you more precise dragging patterns 

5. Tape - applying tape around your finger and nail bed will help reduce the cleanup of excess polish on your finger

6. Paper towels - to absorb the excess water when you remove your finger from the water

7. Scissors - to cut the tape off your finger when you are finished 

8. Nail polish remover and cotton buds for cleaning up the sides

Here are some pictures from the Instagram video tutorial I posted:

Drop one drop of colour at a time.

You can tap the container or table to help the polishes spread out.

Repeat the pattern of colours a couple of times.

Use the needle to drag the polish from the middle to the top.

Then drag to the bottom

Then drag to the sides

Dip your nail into the pattern that you like.

Use the needle to pull the rest of the excess polish to the side and remove. Remove your finger slowly and dry off excess water with paper towel. Cut the tape off with the scissors.

Use a cotton bud dipped in polish remover to cleanup the sides.

Here's my final product:

Hope these tips help you! It takes a couple of tries to get it right, but you'll become addicted and won't stop until you get the perfect design.

Easter bunny and chick tutorial

Hello lovebugs!

With Easter 2 weeks from now, I wanted to share some more cute ideas for Easter manicures. 

Here's a tutorial for an easy bunny using white, black, and pink polish and a dotting tool. The background polish can be whatever colour you want it to be.

If you don't have a dotting tool, you can use the end of a bobby pin.

And what's Easter without a cute little chick too? Here's a tutorial for a baby chick:

I used a larger dotting tool for the eyes and cheeks and a smaller dotting tool to form the triangle beak. I used a white nail art striper to paint on the shell.

Here's both designs together:

I did some more advanced designs on the other fingers. They were done with acrylic paint and a very thin art brush. I have a video on my Instagram on how I did the advanced bunny. 

Hope you give either design a try! Happy painting!

And Happy Easter!

Shay

Pink camouflage tutorial!

Hello love bugs!

Today I want to share with you a quick and easy technique to make a camouflage design on your nails.

I did mine with shades of pink for a fun, girly camouflage but you can also use traditional camouflage colours: dark green, brown and light green.

1. You will need 3 shades of pink: light, medium and dark pink. I used Essie Pink Pout, The Face Shop PK101, and PK102. You will also need a dotting tool. You can purchase dotting tools on eBay, amazon, or winstonia online stores. You can also use an end of a bobby pin, pen, toothpick or pin head.

2. Start by painting your entire nail with the lightest pink colour.

3. Apply a blob of the darkest pink on a piece of wax paper or tin foil. Dab the dotting tool in the polish.

4. Use the dotting tool to make some abstract blob, circle or oval shapes over several sections of the nail.

5. Wipe off the excess of polish from the dotting tool. Apply the next pink polish on the wax paper and dab some onto the dotting tool.

6. Go over the initial blobs with spaces in between.

7. Use a smaller dotting tool to apply small dots in the empty light pink spaces with the pink used in steps 5-6.

8. Wait for the nail to dry and apply a top coat to seal in the design.

If you want to do this with the traditional camo colours, apply the light green as the base and use the dark green and brown as the blobs.

This is a quick and easy design that is eye catching and versatile.

Tag your recreations on Instagram to #shaycheckmynails so I can see them!

Happy painting!

How To Glam Up Your Helmer

Happy Sunday Funday!

So I woke up this morning with an urge to paint. I painted my nails but that still wasn't enough to satisfy my urge so I decided to paint my helmer. :D A "helmer" is a type of drawer cabinet set from ikea that has shallow drawers that are the perfect height to fit nail polish bottles. They retail for $50 and can hold between 400-600 bottles of nail polish. They come in different colours depending on your local ikea. 

My helmer started out an army green colour but it didn't match the decor of my house so I decided to change it. This is a before and after shot:

I used spray paint to paint the unit. I used 2 cans to paint the main unit and half of a 3rd can to paint the front and sides of the drawers. I didn't paint the inside since it isn't noticeable and if any polish spills, it will be less visible on a dark surface compared to a light surface.

The paint I used was Krylon brand spray paint, purchased at Walmart for $4.98. It is suitable for wood, metal, wicker and other surfaces. This one I used has a matte finish. There are many colours and finishes available so you can design your unit however you like.

My unit needed 2 coats of spray paint to get it completely opaque and covered. The spray paint takes about 10 minutes to dry. I would highly recommend painting your unit outside because of the fumes, with newspaper surrounding the area. I removed the drawers from the unit and painted it all separately.

Once the unit is dry, you can add decorations to it with acrylic paint. I used Folk Art Shiny Acrylic paint, also from Walmart.

I based my design on an image I found on google. I like lotus flowers so I used that as my main focal point. 

(Picture source: www.ffibizz.com)

I free handed this design with the acrylic paint but if you are hesitant about painting, you can sketch it lightly in pencil first, then go over it with the paint. You can also use stencils for scrap booking. Stencils can be found at arts and craft stores like Michaels.

When I painted the design, I laid the cabinet on its back because I find it easier to paint like this than upright. 

I saw acrylic paint sealer at Walmart but because I am keeping the unit indoors and not planning to wash it, I think it should be okay for a while. The acrylic paint took about 10 minutes to dry completely. 

The good thing about the helmer is it is on wheels so you can move it around more easily.

It is 11 x 27 inches and has 6 drawers, with each drawer holding a little less than 100 bottles. You can use it to store all your nail tools and decals too, which will help you keep your craft supplies organized.

There are various ways to decorate the helmer. When looking for paint or spray paint, look for ones that are suitable for metal. I hope you found this post useful and you're inspired to decorating your nail polish storage unit. Happy painting!

Ombré chevron tutorial!

Bonjour mes amies!

I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with the talented Trendy Polish (Instagram@trendypolish) and we did a matching twin manicure. We decided on a chevron mani made with an ombré of different shades of coral. I absolutely love coral for the summer. It's such a fun, bright colour. 

We added accent nails of gold polish. I love how Nimrah added gold glitter polish to hers. It's so sparkly and girly. Very, very pretty! 

You will need the following items:

In the picture, I used the gold holo as the base but this tutorial was done with a white base. The base will dictate what colour the striping of the chevrons will be. You can either do the chevrons on a couple of fingers or on all of them.

Here's the tutorial for the chevrons. 

You will need to cut your striping tape into half an inch pieces. You will need 6 pieces per nail. Put the tape to one side. Then you will apply your base colour. Apply a fast drying top coat and wait for the polish to dry completely. This is very important because you will be applying striping tape over it and do not want to pull off any polish. Once your nails have dried, you will apply on strip of tape on half the nail on an angle. Then apply a strip on the other side of the nail with it pointing in the opposite direction, forming a V shape. Continue this until you form 3 V tape shapes.

1. Put some of the lightest colour on a piece of wax paper or tin foil and dab some onto a dotting tool. Dotting tools can be purchased at beauty supply stores or online www.winstoniastore.com, www.amazon.com or www.ebay.com

2. Using the dotting tool, fill in the first segment closest to the cuticle. Don't worry if you get polish on your finger. This can be easily cleaned up after you are done.

3. Apply the next colour, one shade darker than your first colour.

4. Fill in the next segment using the dotting tool. Do this again with the next shade.

5. For the last segment closest to the tip, you can use the dotting tool like above or you can fill it in with the brush.

6. Now that all segments are filled in, remove the tape carefully. You can use tweezers to remove it for better control and to avoid messing up the nails on your other hand.

Once the tape has been removed, wait for a few minutes then apply a top coat to protect the design. If there's any polish on your fingers or cuticles, use a cotton swab or make up brush dipped in polish remover to remove it. 

This technique can be used in many different ways. You could try with other colours like shades of aqua to teal or rainbow or your favourite colours at that moment. I hope you give this a try! Please comment below on any other techniques you'd like to see tutorials for and please follow my blog for more reviews, tutorials, and nail art.

Update: today on my Instagram I collaborated with the awesome Trendy Polish to do another ombré chevron mani. This time we used shades of green with gold accents. 

Love how pretty this design is, but love even more how simple it is to do. I hope you give it a try! xoxo

Minty blue gradient!

Hey hey hey!

Hello sweeties! I just wanted to share my current mani with you along with a tutorial on how to do it. 

I hadn't done a gradient in a while so I thought I'd give it a go.

The colours I used were: The Face Shop BL601, Hits Specialita Mint, and LACCBEAUTY 1977. I also added a glitter gradient on the tips with Shimmer Polish Jenny, a light cyan blue glitter polish and Jasmine, a teal green and gold glitter polish. My accent nail is Color Club Harp On It, with Shimmer Polish Alice, a silver holographic glitter polish.

To do this mani, you will need a make up sponge with small pores and 3 colours of the same shade. I used a light blue, mint green, and darker cyan (bluish green). Gradients can sometimes be messy because the sponge will often deposit polish on your finger. You can clean this up with a cotton bud or make up brush dipped in nail polish remover. You can also tape around your nail or apply white craft glue around your nail and remove them when you are done sponging.

Steps:

1. Paint nail completely with lightest colour. In my mani, that was the light blue The Face Shop polish. Top with fast drying top coat. 

2. Paint one line with lightest colour on sponge. Then a line of the next lightest colour. Followed by a line of the darkest colour. Don't over do it with the application. The trick is to apply multiple light layers of polish on the nail

3. Dab the sponge on the nail. You can either do it with the dark part on the top or the light part on top.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3. Again, the trick to getting the colours to look like they are blending into each other is to apply a few light layers of polish on the nail rather than a single thick layer.

5. Once you are satisfied with the appearance of the gradient, wait 30 seconds and apply a top coat while it is a little sticky. If you had applied light layers of polish, it will dry pretty quickly. The top coat will help smooth it all out.

Optional: if you want some additional bling to this mani, you can add some glitter polish to the tips of your nail. And if you want even more specialness, you can apply a silver polish on one nail and sponge on a heart using tape with a heart shape cut out of it as a guide.

If you would like a pictorial on this, let me know!

Happy painting, love bugs! xoxo

Spun Sugar Tutorial!

Hello lovelies!

Hope you are having a fantastic day so far. It's a long weekend for us in Canada so I have some time to post a tutorial for you all!

This technique has been termed "spun sugar" or "yarn" mani. 

To me, it looks a little like a Bill Cosby, coogi sweater a la Notorious B.I.G 

Nonetheless, it's very eye catching and unique and can be done with a variety of different colours. :D

You will need 4 colours of nail polish and a dental floss holder for it. You can get those at your local drug store or Walmart. They also make flossing your teeth a lot easier.

1. Paint your nail completely with one of the colours you want to use. Let it dry fully or use a fast drying top coat.

2. Apply a generous glob of nail polish to a piece of wax paper or tin foil. 

3. Dab your flosser in the nail polish, trying to get a good amount on the string.

4. Rock the flosser over your nail to create lines. You can also dab it on to make shorter lines or fill in smaller spots.

5. Wipe off any excess polish from the flosser with tissue. Repeat step 2, 3, and 4 with another colour.

6. Repeat with a third colour.

7. If you happen to put some lines you don't like, go over them with your base colour polish with the flosser.

8. Using a cotton bud or clean up brush (an old make up brush you aren't using anymore), dip into some nail polish remover to clean up your cuticles and finger from any remnants of polish. 

Do not apply a top coat to this unless it is completely dry. Otherwise, the top coat will blend the lines together and you won't have this textured look.

I hope you guys try out this look! You can use so many different combinations of colours. Maybe try an ombre with different shades of pink, or a rainbow, or even your favourite sports team's colours! Happy painting!

Colour Block Tutorial :)

Good day sweethearts!

Here's a tutorial for how to do colour block nails! There's 2 ways to fill in the colours, either with a dotting tool or with a paint brush. 

1. You will need white nail polish, striping tape, 4 different colours of nail polish, and dotting tools. For the striping tape, you can order it off of ebay or you can make your own by cutting thin strips of scotch tape. You will need 3 pieces of tape for each nail.

2. Paint your nail completely with white nail polish.

3. Wait for the polish to fully dry or use a fast drying top coat, then apply the striping tape. One piece of tape will go down the middle of your nail vertically and the other two on the sides horizontally.

4. Put a glob of polish on a piece of wax paper or tin foil. Use your dotting tool to dab some polish on the tool.

5. Dab the polish on one of the segments of the nail. I recommend using this technique for parts closest to the cuticle to allow for easier application when trying to avoid getting polish on the finger.

6. For the segments at the tip, I recommend using the polish brush to apply it.

7. Apply the next colour closest to the cuticle, with the dotting tool.

8. Apply polish in last segment with brush if closest to the tip.

9. Carefully remove the striping tape to reveal the white lines that separate the segments. Wait for the polishes to dry completely then apply a top coat to protect your design. I added a spectraflair top coat by Hits Specialita over top to give it a little extra umph! :D

I hope you find this tutorial helpful and will give it a try! It's so versatile because you can use any colours you want. Try a pastel colour block, ombré colour block (with different shades of the same colour), or whatever your favourite colours are at the moment! Happy painting, lovelies!