Paisley.A.S.nails

We thought we'd treat you to another cheeky post today!

I mentioned in our last one (Red Nose Day nails) that Soph and I are quite busy with work and other bits & bobs at the moment. But we have agreed to squeeze in some nail art time whenever we can and keep writing blog posts as often as possible.
It's coming up to Cute.AS.Nails' 1 year anniversary in May and we are so grateful for all the wonderful feedback, compliments, followers and views that have gained in that time. That is why we hope you can bear with us for now but continue to look to our blog for inspiration and tips in everything nails!!

Now, these Paisley print inspired nails actually took me about an hour to do!! But I think they are totally worth it.
It mainly took that long because I decided to use Shellac colours instead of regular nail polish. With CND Shellac products (and like all other Gel products) you cure each layer under a UV lamp so a full Shellac manicure alone can take around 40 minutes.
I wanted to keep this design on for a while without any chips or scratches which is why I opted for the gel polishes instead. And the decision (and the time put in!) paid off because they are still looking shiny and chip free as I type!
(Products used are: Cnd Shellac Base Coat & Top Coat, Cnd Shellac in 'Fedora' and for detail Cnd Shellac 'Studio White' + nail art brush)

Below I've also added a photo of some of my Paisley print inspiration that I think are really beautiful and show that Paisley works in every colour and on any canvas! Whether its a gorgeous silk scarf, Henna on your skin or a repeat print on your nails :)

What do you think about Paisley? Have you tried similar designs on your nails? What colour combo's did you go for?

MatteLeopard.A.S.nails

Good evening everyone!

We hope you're looking forward to seeing our Cities around the world nail art that Sophie & I are currently working on! We can't wait to show you.

But in the mean time...I have these leopard print beauties to show.

This look is everywhere at the moment. Matte with a contrasting colour/material.
Whether its a black top with a velvet floral print over the top, red trousers with a black velvet leopard print over the top (I'm thinking of some Zara ones in particular!) or matte black nails with a shiny black over the top, like mine.
And as Valentine's Day is just around the corner (eek...!) I thought I'd add these cute pale pink heart shapes to the thumb.
I got them from sparklynails.co.uk and just used a nail glue to stick them down.

The black coat on my nails is actually Shellac - BlackPool that I've had on since last week but I've added a coat of Rimmel London's LYCRA Pro Matte Finish to them. I love it because you can literally see it drying and turning matte!
For the leopard print pattern I firstly tried using my usual black nail paint but it just didn't show up enough on the matte black so I used my thin nail art brush (also from sparklynails) to dip into Barry M's clear top coat bottle and that worked against it much better, as you can see.

Have any of you got any great tips for using matte finish polishes? What about your leopard print designs with a twist?
We would love to hear and see.
Just email us or follow us on Twitter @cute_AS_nails

Ladybirds.A.S.nails

These are so cute and so simple! I can't believe Sophie and I haven't tried them before now.
I have Shellac in Wildfire Red on my nails and I really didn't want to take it off just yet so thought about a nail art design I could do to incorporate the red I already have on my nails - and these ladybirds are what I came up with!

I used Rio nail art pens in black and white for her spots, head and eyes! Plus a top coat of Barry M to make them extra shiny and chip resistant.

These don't require too much of a steady hand so if your new to nail art, I'd definitely recommend these to try!!

I hope you like these!! (as much as my niece does - she wants me to do them for her too!)

And send us your ideas...insects seem cuter when they're painted on your nails...:)