matte nails | Craftynail

I was recently featured in the March issue of All You magazine where they showcased simple nail art made with household items. In true Craftynail style I designed a dotticure using regular old bobby pins. If you view the slideshow here I am slide #8. The web article is cool, but the print version of the March issue is what I will cherish. Craftynail got published! Here’s a screen shot of the web-version of their Mani Mania article…

Also, when I was reading the print issue I noticed that they have a nail art contest! They want you to take your own spin on one of the designs from the issue and submit it to their fb. You can’t find too much about it online other than their fb app, but the magazine says you should copy one of three manis from their march article. I copied the ombre dental floss nail art design created by NYC nail artist Jin Soon Choi. She came up with a gorgeous design using a blue cream base, matte over top, then gold polish dabbed on with floss string. I did my own version but I used a flosspik instead of string.. so I got a slightly different effect. Here it is!

I’m wearing Sally Hansen Maximum Growth as my basecoat. Then I applied 2 coats of OPI’s AmazON…AmazOFF. Then I mattified the teal with Butter London Matte Finish Topcoat. Wow this butter london works great and dries so fast! Then I dabbed on some blue/silver AVON polish called Platinum from their Brushed Metals collection. I dabbed it on using a flosspik. So basically I brushed some Platinum onto the short piece of floss that’s attached to the pick. Then I placed the floss strand on my nails and rolled it back and forth so some of the AVON polish would transfer. No topcoat needed for this design.

I really love how this came out.. the matte effect gives it a little something extra. I hope you like it too! It was fun doing a nail art inspired by a famous manicurist. Have you seen Jin Soon Choi’s website? She has a load of lovely tutorials that will blow you away. I love that the majority of them are simple… but the results are stunning. Here’s her nail art tutorial page: JIN SOON CHOI

It’s Father’s Day in the US today ! My dad is the best! He’s what you’d call a Mr. Fix It. It’s so comforting to know that if the crap hits the fan – my daddy will be able to fix it it for me! He’s a woodworker and a real outdoorsman too. He’s into camping, hunting and all the typical guy stuff.. so I thought it would be fitting to try some camouflage nails for today’s holiday!

I was googling images of camo for like ever… until I decided to just pick up a brush and go for it! As my dad would say, ‘stop farting around and get to work’. So that’s what I did and here’s what I came up with! There’s no planning needed- just pick a few camo colors and start painting some splotches! I started with a very light pink base color called Kiss the Bride by Orly. Then I used a detail nail art brush to paint the splotches using China Glaze Dance Baby (medium pink), China Glaze Westside Warrior (dark army green) and Orly Faint of Heart (cream grey). I also did a gradient accent nail using the same colors and some silver studs. Lastly, a matte topcoat works well to transform it all into a smooth uniform design. I love my MASH Matte topcoat!