the little curly girl

I think we've well established by now that I am a BIG FAN of nail art and nail painting in general. On the rare occasions when my nails are naked, I think they just look so boring and I'm desperate to re-paint them again. I've realised that even though it can be frustrating and time-consuming, I actually really like the process of painting nails; selecting a colour, wiping off the brush, placing it against your cuticle and making that first stroke... oooh that's my idea of fun!

Anyway, I think I've mentioned it before but I'm getting a bit sick of the same old nail art designs - leopard print, polka dot - and have chosen to go for a plain nail a lot more frequently. I thought I'd share some images of my recent nail escapades...

If you read this post, you'll know that I had the Shellac treatment at the Spa where I'm currently interning. The manicure is supposed to last for two weeks without chipping. I didn't make it to two weeks, mainly because a) I didn't like the amount of re-growth that was showing - the picture above was after nine days and although I loved the colour, I hated having that big chunk of bare nail at the bottom. b) I'd just bought the new issue of Glamour magazine that came with a free Nails Inc polish and I couldn't wait to try it out. You're supposed to have Shellac removed in a salon with proper CND nail wraps, but I did it myself using this guide and it was fine, albeit a bit messy. (the polish flakes off into lots of little pieces, which go EVERYWHERE)

Nails Inc polish in Victoria (free with Glamour Magazine). This is the polish I couldn't wait to wear. I'm LOVING dark reds at the moment, I think they're perfect for Autumn and very flattering. It's difficult to get a nice even finish with this polish; as you can probably see, some nails look darker than others. Still a lovely colour though.

Barry M Nail Effects in 314 Pink, Models Own x WAH Nails Smash Up Silver

and Models Own Black Magic

Had a bit of a play with my two crackle polishes, but didn't like this effect at all and took it off pretty much straight away. I tried layering the pink over the silver, expecting them to crackle in different ways, but actually it just cracked in all the same places. I change my mind about the crackle effect all the time; sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it; I think it depends what colours you use The black base I used here made it look a bit too grungey for me, which I'm not a fan of.

Nail Polish by H&M in U Must Have This, 17 Lasting Fix Nail Polish in Tropical Island, Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Spangles, GOSH Special Edition Nail Lacquer in Lavender Love and Barry M Nail Paint in 317 Blue Moon

I had a bit a of 'shopping the stash' moment (if you're not familiar with this term, it's a blogger way of saying going back through your makeup collection and re-discovering some old faves) and found loads of polishes that I'd not worn for a while. Only problem was I couldn't decide on a colour to wear!

Chanel Nail Colour in 505 Particuliere, Models Own Purple Grey, Models Own Red Red Wine, Nail Polish by H&M in Blue My Mind and ASOS Paint by Ciate in Lily.

Right hand. I eventually settled on a combination of the blue (H&M Blue My Mind) and red (Models Own Red Red Wine), which I think go really well together.

I then saw this image on the WAH Nails blog and had to give it a go; which resulted in this...

Nowhere near as good. I just can't master tribal print designs! Even though they're quite simple - dots, stripes, zig zags etc - they have to be very precise for them to look good. I'm good at doing stuff like leopard print because you can get away with being a bit messy with it. Anyone have any tips for getting these designs nice and neat?!

So that's how my nails have been looking over the past couple of weeks. I'm currently sporting the red from the image above with glittery tips (Models Own Juicy Jules), which I'm sure I'll photograph at some point.

What nail looks are you currently loving? Got any ideas for easy but striking nail art designs? Am I the only one whose hands get tired posing for nail photos?