When it comes to beauty trends, I liken myself to a kid at Easter; ants-in-pants excited but ending with a big ol’ mess on my face. This is why I’m always on the hunt for beauty how-to’s that give an ah-may-zing result, with absolute bare minimum effort required. In fact, every week, right here, I’ll be offering myself up as a test subject and trying the best of the best in beauty how-to’s. First up, it’s nail art.
Once upon a time, glitter nail polish was all it took to make my inner eleven year old squeal with delight. But now that I’ve grown up (ha) and matured (double ha) it takes more than a sparkle to catch my eyes. And I don’t know about you, but lately my Facebook wall and Pinterest home page have been clogged with photos of people showing off their creative genes in the form of nail art. Not just glitter nail polish, but palm trees, Eiffel Towers, strawberries, spots and cupcakes. Yes, I said cupcakes. So here are my favourite – and easiest – nail art how-to’s. You’re welcome in advance (because by golly there are some tacky ones out there).
What I liked most about this tutorial is that I felt like I got the gist of how to do it purely by looking at the pictures. It was incredibly easy, and basically all I needed was three different coloured nail polishes and a sponge. It got pretty messy, but that’s half the fun isn’t it? The best bit (apart from the fact it looked great) was that because I used a sponge, each layer was thinner than a normal layer of nail polish, so it dried very quickly. The worst bit was that because I used a sponge, each layer was thinner than a normal layer of nail polish, and I had to do about a million layers. I rate this 3 out of 5. It’s beautiful, simple, but very time consuming.
- Newspaper nails from Refinery 29
These nails are what inspired my whole idea of a nail art post. I just love them, and it was so easy. I used methylated spirits instead of gin (gin is too precious to waste on nails) which worked just as well, and is a whole lot cheaper. This took no time at all to do, and the longest part was waiting for my nail polish to dry. My only piece of advice is to pick your newspaper clippings well. Something about having an article to do with a robbery on your nails just doesn’t sit right. I rate this 5 out of 5. So easy, looks amazing, and the only trouble I had was accidentally shifting the newspaper on my middle finger while it was setting and ending up with a double print.
- Sticky tape nails from The Beauty Department
The final tutorial is again from The Beauty Department (geez they have good stuff). Visually speaking, this one was my favourite. It looks great with different colours but I think black and white would look particularly striking. The only problem with this one is that although the top coat will cover the sticky tape, because there are so many layers it got damaged really easily. By the time I had done my hair and put on my outfit, the tape was already getting caught on everything. I rate it 2 out of 5. My favourite look but very impractical and didn’t last. If I did it again I’d use a gel top coat instead.
If there’s a trend you’d like me to try, or if you’d like to test my ability to follow instructions, hit me up on Twitter at @whatjanedid. All nail polish used was by Chi Chi. Stockists include Myer and Target. Over and out.
Loading ...
