Inspired By Late Summer

Disclosure: Some items in this post were sent for honest review.

How is it the beginning of August already? Quick apologies for my absence of late but between nail breaks and summer fun I haven’t been up to my normal nail hijinx. I am planning on officially being back into the blogging swing in September but between now and then will be posting whenever I have something good to share.

NAIL TREND ALERT – From the middle to the end of August we start to see the release of the fall collections from the mainstream companies and this year seems to be all about neutrals and earthy tones. This is just fine by me because I love these colours, it is less fine by my bank balance but shhhh. With these colours in mind I set out today to test out a new stamping plate I was sent for review from LadyQueen.com. The website offers a huge range of products including some fun nail art stuff. They have been kind enough to give me a 15% off code for my readers: HXLC15 so if you find something you like feel free to use the code for a discount.

This is the HeHe 019 and as you can see it offers four full nail patterns for just $2.99. I thought that the bottom left (in this picture) would be perfect to create a US Mid-West kind of feel with the colours I had picked out from my stash. I think this pattern would also be awesome for Christmas Jumper designs in white over red or green! All of the designs on this plate seem well etched and I can’t see any flaws or bending (which could impact stamping).

I wanted to use more than one colour in the design and so I decided to use it for just two accent nails as I felt it would look very busy to have it on all my fingers (this is just a personal preference though). To create my accents I used Konad Black Stamping Polish and created decals on my stamper.
Decal Method:
1) Pick up your image
2) Apply colours
3) Allow to dry
4) While the decal is drying apply a thin coat of base colour to the nail
5) Once nail is nearly dry push stamped image down onto nail
6) Remove excess with an orange stick
7) Finish and seal with topcoat

A couple of things to note about the stamping: this image is a little bit fussy in how you scrape – you need to go with the lines to get it even. Also, I found I needed to work a little quicker than usual to ensure a crisp and complete image on my stamper – I used a squishy large double ended stamper from MoYou. It wasn’t a big deal but I thought worth mentioning.

If you want a more precise application with the colours then I recommend using a small headed dotting tool – I kind of wanted a shabby chic look, so the imperfections didn’t bother me. I used OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh (neutral putty colour), China Glaze Peachy Keen (peach) and OPI Suzi Says Feng shui (blue) in alternating stripes. The reason I chose a different blue for my stripes from my other fingers is because I wanted the black to be good clear contrast so I could see how the image worked on the nail and not lost in another dark shade… just in case anyone was wondering.

 

I paired this design with a rich blue on the remaining three fingers – I chose OPI Keeping Suzi At Bay but any dark blue would look gorgeous. This year the blue trend seems to be moving away from the cobalts of last year towards darker dustier navy tones. I think this manicure would also look great with a warm brown to bring out the neutral and peach colours in the decal – the combinations are endless.

I hope you’re all having a wonderful summer – I am looking forward to showing off this manicure this week. What’s on your nails? Are you ready for fall/autumn? What trends have you noticed? Leave me a comment below!

P.S. want some perfect chilled So-Cal summer vibes? Check out Fathers&Suns it is all I have been listening to since being introduced to them! Small independant band with reasonably priced albums and just a great sound.

 

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