Snowy Nails

Gelish "Up In The Blue" and "Sleek White".

This was my first attempt at sponge painting!  The blending is pretty rough, but I think that actually adds to the snowy effect.

Painted 2 coats of Harmony Gelish in Sleek White over entire nail, then used a sponge to make the gradient with Gelish "Up In The Blue".  I did 3 rounds of sponge painting on each nail to get enough coverage with the blue.

Holiday Nails

Gelish Queen of Hearts with gold glitter.

Unfortunately I waited over a week to take a picture of this one, so there is definitely some visible wear and growth in the photo!

The red is Harmony Gelish in Queen of Hearts and the green rogue nail is Harmony Gelish in Bronzed mixed with green glitter (3 coats).  Tipped each nail with CND Shellac Top Coat mixed with gold glitter.

CND Shellac Cocoa with glitter

CND Shellac Cocoa with silver glitter.

This is CND Shellac in Cocoa with silver glitter starting at the cuticle and faded outward.  Since this person broke a few nails since the last manicure, we wanted to try this as a way to detract attention from the length of the nail.

Gelish Queen of Hearts with Grand Jewels

Harmony Gelish Queen of Hearts with Grand Jewels.

Harmony Gelish Queen of Hearts is a great color for the holidays!

I used 1 layer of Gelish Grand Jewels on top to give a little bit of gold sparkle.  Rogue finger is 1 coat of CND Shellac Cocoa followed by 2 coats of Gelish Bronzed with gold glitter mixed in, and then 2 coats of CND Shellac Top Coat with red glitter mixed in for the red glitter fade effect.

Gelish Elegant Wish

Gelish Elegant Wish with Bronzed, gold glitter, and decals.

After applying CND Shellac base coat, applied 2 coats of Harmony Gelish Elegant Wish, and on top of that 1 coat of Harmony Gelish Bronzed.  Next, I used CND Shellac top coat and dipped the brush into gold craft glitter to paint the tips (using quick strokes away from the tip of the nail to create a slight fade effect).  I applied the decals next, and after that more CND Shellac top coat.

Gelish Bronzed

Gelish Bronzed over Shellac Cocoa. 

Harmony Gelish Bronzed is somewhat translucent, so I began by painting a single coat of CND Shellac in Cocoa over the nails (after the base coat). Then 2 coats of Bronzed, and added the leaf decals.  The red-brown accents are Harmony Gelish in Elegant Wish.

Gelish - Up In The Blue

Gelish Up In The Blue with Sleek White rogue finger.

Harmony Gelish Up In The Blue.  Rogue finger is Harmony Gelish Sleek White with spots in Up In The Blue and CND Shellac Cityscape. Used nail pens pictured below for the spots.

CND Shellac Cityscape with Accents

Shellac Cityscape with Asphalt and Gelish Coba Coba Blue accents.

This stunning look is actually quite easy to do if you have the right brushes. Base is CND Shellac in Cityscape and accents are Harmony Gelish Coba Coba Blue and CND Shellac Asphalt. I used a small flat brush to swipe the blue across the corner of each nail tip. The Shellac Asphalt was applied using the smallest, narrowest brush I had. Although the photo doesn't reflect this, the blue looks like a very bright neon blue when viewed in direct sunlight, but appears as a deeper blue indoors.

CND Shellac Asphalt with Cityscape Tips

CND Shellac Asphalt with Cityscape tips.

This was a little tricky to do on my own nails, but the color scheme is nice despite the imperfections.

I used 2 coats of CND Shellac in Asphalt over the entire nail, then 2 coats of Shellac in Cityscape for the tips.  The red line is "My Forbidden Love" by Harmony Gelish, painted on with a very fine brush.

Harmony Gelish "My Forbidden Love"

Harmony Gelish in "My Forbidden Love"

Harmony Gelish in "My Forbidden Love". Rogue finger accents using CND Shellac in Beau and Asphalt.

Shellac Asphalt with Red Glitter

CND Shellac in Asphalt

CND Shellac in Asphalt with red craft glitter fade tips. Rogue finger accents in Shellac Cityscape and Harmony Gelish "My Forbidden Love". 

CND Shellac Cityscape

CND Shellac colors: Cityscape, Rosebud, & Asphalt.

CND Shellac Cityscape with rogue finger accents in Rosebud and Asphalt. Accents created using nail art pens.

Gelish Exhale with Glitter Fade Tips

Gelish Exhale plus silver glitter fade

Here's another example of a glitter fade.  Feathering the glitter out from the tips gave a striking appearance to this deep mauve color.  The manicure pictured was done using basic CND Shellac and Harmony Gelish supplies, and silver glitter that was purchased at my local craft store.

Supplies Used:

• CND Shellac Base Coat
• CND Schellac Top Coat
• Harmony Gelish color: Exhale
• Silver craft glitter (the finer the better)
• Acetone
• UV nail lamp

How to do it yourself:

1. Paint nails with one coat CND Shellac Base and cure in lamp for 10 seconds.
2. Paint nails with 2 coats Gelish Exhale and cure for 120 seconds after each coat.
3. Dip the CND Shellac Top Coat brush in the silver glitter and paint the tips of the nails with a thick layer of glitter.  Let tips sit for about a minute and then use the Top Coat brush to make quick brush strokes down the length of the nail to produce the fade.  Cure in lamp for 120 seconds. Wipe any remaining glitter from the brush before moving on to step 4.
4. Paint nails with one coat CND Shellac Top Coat and cure in lamp for 120 seconds.
5. Wipe nails with acetone to set.

CND Shellac Beau with Glitter Fade

CND Schellac in Beau plus silver craft glitter

A glitter fade looks nice on long or short nails, and is very simple to do!  The manicure pictured was done using basic CND Shellac supplies and silver glitter that was purchased at my local craft store.

Supplies Used:

• CND Shellac Base Coat
• CND Schellac Top Coat
• CND Shellac color: Beau
• Silver craft glitter (the finer the better)
• Acetone
• UV nail lamp

How to do it yourself:

1. Paint nails with one coat CND Shellac Base and cure in lamp for 10 seconds.
2. Paint nails with 2 coats CND Shellac Beau and cure for 120 seconds after each coat.
3. Dip the CND Shellac Top Coat brush in the silver glitter and paint the tips of the nails with a thick layer of glitter.  Let tips sit for about a minute and then use the Top Coat brush to make quick brush strokes down the length of the nail to produce the fade.  Cure in lamp for 120 seconds. Wipe any remaining glitter from the brush before moving on to step 5.
4. If you feel the coverage is not enough, you may repeat step 3. (The manicure pictured here took 2 coats of glitter.)
5. Paint nails with one coat CND Shellac Top Coat and cure in lamp for 120 seconds.
6. Wipe nails with acetone to set.