Nail It with Charlie

Hey Lover dove doves!

Hmm, that makes me think of the expression, lovey dovey. You know, that pet name some of us call our loved ones. And also the name (at least half of it) that my blog name (also at least half of it) can be confused with. Because lovey and la vie sounds pretty much the same when pronounced fast. Although, la vie is more like a laaa vie, and lovey is just lovey, finish and klaar. Get it right people! Haha! Then again, lovey can be good too. It is used for those you are fond of after all.

Anyhoo! So a while back, Charlie Revlon hooked me up with this sweet 

diy Nail Art kit.

It contained an array of fab nail polishes, a nail file, sponges, cotton pads, tape, nail art sticks and nail polish remover.

I decided to go with a trend that I really love. It is so clean and chic. And that trend is called 

Negative Space.

Basically, this is achieved by painting only parts of the nail, leaving the other parts clear of any colour, giving you negative space. And of course you can have fun with your design by creating all kinds of shapes.

 So without further ado, here is the step by step on how I created mine:

Of course you want to make sure your nails are clean and dry, and this you can achieve by using the nail polish remover and cotton wool pads. Then file your nails to your desired shape.

Starting with the thumb.

Tape off a small section of the side and bottom of the nail.

Apply 2 coats of white nail polish to the section of the nail that is not taped off (upper right corner).

Remove tape while polish is still wet. If you wait too long, the tape may pull off the polish.

Leave to dry and move on to the ring finger.

Tape off the bottom, top and sides of the nail to form a square in the middle.

Apply black nail polish and remove the tape.

Leave to dry and move on to the middle finger.

Tape off the bottom and sides of the nail to form a triangle in the middle. Also cut a thin strip of tape and place it horizontally in the middle of the triangle.

Apply red nail polish to the bottom half of the triangle, and black to the top part of the triangle.

Remove tape and move on to the index finger.

Diagonally tape off the sides of the nail.

Apply red nail polish and remove the tape.

Leave to dry and move on to the little finger.

Diagonally tape off the sides, as well as a small section of the bottom of the nail.

Apply black nail polish and remove the tape.

Leave to dry and return to the thumb.

Tape off a small section on top, a bigger section at the bottom and side of the nail.

Apply black nail polish and remove tape.

Leave to dry and move on to the ring finger.

Diagonally tape off the sides, as well as a small section of the bottom of the nail.

Apply white nail polish and remove the tape.

Leave to dry and go back to the thumb.

Tape off the bottom nail from from where the black section starts.

Apply white nail polish and remove the tape.

Leave to dry.

Apply some white nail polish to the pointed side of the stick. You can also dip the stick in the polish.

Wipe off the side of the sticks on a piece of paper so as to be left with just a ball of polish on the tip.

Apply a dot in the middle of the black section.

Repeat this process on the ring finger, applying a black dot to the center of the white triangle.

Also repeat this process on the index finger, applying a black dot on top of the center point of the triangle.

Also make a dot using white nail polish, at the center of the broken triangle on the middle finger.

Finish it all off with a coat of clear nail polish.

Tips:

If the shapes are not as clean or exactly in the shape you sort after removing the tape, you can use the stick to mold it into place, and then use nail polish remover to get rid of any marks.

When you place tape over sections of the nail that already has nail polish on it, make sure it's completely dry, otherwise it will smudge the polish.

And that's it!

This is actually very simple. You will probably have to go through a couple of trials and errors but once you get the knack of it, with enough patience, it becomes easy.

Colours used:

Sheer white - 205

Ruby Red - 018

Black Diamond - 020

Laminail Base / Top Coat

Thanks Charlie Revlon for this challenge. I'll definitely be putting out some more designs soon.

Until next time, have a good day or night, wherever you are.

xoxo

Angel