Nailspiration: Nail Ideas for a Sunny Day

The sun is shining, I’ve just got back from a picnic lunch by the river Avon and life is just genuinely idyllic (apart from the fact I have to continue working this afternoon, snore). While I was walking home from the gym yesterday, I had SO many ideas for blog posts that I walked straight past my house and ended up in the park because I am a lunatic. I’ve been trying to curb my excitement and not pester you all too much BUT I SIMPLY CANNOT CONTAIN IT ANY LONGER. So this is my post on nail ideas and the nails Claire and I have been wearing recently.

A little background information first. Both Claire and I wear false nails. For me, my natural nails are massively thin and no amount of products/nail care has changed this heartbreaking fact. Even when they do grow nicely, they snap off when they reach a certain length, which saddens me every day as you can imagine. I love having long nails and I have been getting acrylic nails done on and off since I was about 16. I also dabbled in doing my own acrylic nails for a while (which worked fairly well but the effort was too much) and now have settled on glue on nails. These are genuinely amazing and I recommend them to any gal who’s looking for length without the price. I’ve taken a little snap of my box at the moment – it’s nearing the end and is looking a bit tired. BUT, when it is shiny and new you can get 200 nails + nail glue for A BARGAIN PRICE OF £8.50. These nails last me about two months, with me applying the nails every week or so.

I’m actually doing my nails at work today (naughty…for important blogging purposes, of course.) because I didn’t get a chance to last night so I thought I’d post a bit of a step-by-step guide to how I do them. It’s not really rocket science – I’m the clumsiest and least coordinated person EVER – so if I can do it, you definitely can too! If you’re keen to buy the Boots nails, you can find them here. Nailene also do a box of 200, but we haven’t seen them in-store for a while.

IMG_1507Excuse the copious amounts of nail caviar at the bottom of the box – this was last week’s nail venture when I used my nail box as a kind of bowl. Another great reason to buy the Boots false nails, the box is multipurpose ;).

The instructions recommend that you file the nail to give the glue a better surface to stick to. I tend to skip this step as I find it doesn’t make a massive difference. There’s no need to damage your nails even more

I then pick out the nail sizes I want – at the moment I’ve run out of my ‘ideal’ sizes so they’re a little big for my nails. I think they still look vaguely ok though!

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Then it’s gluey time – no special tips or tricks for this! I just whack them on and hope I don’t glue my hands together…

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The exciting bit – painting! Claire and I have both found that nail varnish dries extra quickly on these false nails so that is a definite plus in my book! I usually do two coats of whatever nail varnish I’m using to be sure I get the best coverage. Today I’m going for a bit of pastel action – pink and green! I wanted to do a multi-coloured pastel situation with my Bananan Split Model’s Own colour and a baby blue Barry M nail varnish but I couldn’t for the life of me find them this morning. These two Barry M colours were downstairs, so I grabbed them (clearly thought a lot about my colour choice, eh!) and thought I’d give them a whirl. I went for a pastel green with a pink accent on my fourth fingers (achieved with a spot of sellotape).

Nail varnish 1

IMG_1521And here are a collection of claw pictures that may inspire you if you’re feeling a bit ‘meh’ about nail polish choices at the moment! I’ve tried to remember where all of the nail varnish products are from, but as I’ve robbed these from both me and Claire’s instagrams, I may not have found them all! It’s not groundbreaking nail art…but sometimes you just need reminding why painting your nails is fabulous.

Nails1Barry M Foil Effect Gold | MissBehave Pink Nail Splash |Rimmel 60 Seconds Sky High | Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Dragon | Collection Lasting Gel Colour Pearl Shimmer |

nails2| Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream | Barry M Sequin Nails | Barry M Textured Nails Ridely Road | Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Lychee |

Nails3| Ciate Cookies and Cream | Ciate Caviar Beads Shooting Stars | Revlon Nail Enamel Fashionista | Barry M Glitter Paint Hologram Hexograms |

nails4| Elf Desert Haze | Model’s Own Banana Split | Barry M Confetti Bubblegum |

nails5| Barry M Peach Melba | Barry M Foil Effects Gold |Barry M Textured Nails Atlantic Road |

WELL…I didn’t realise Claire and I were such Barry M ambassadors…

4 Responses

  1. Ella Ralph July 5, 2013 / 3:51 pm

    Wow those are some serious colours! Hopefully you’ve inspired me – I am lucky enough to have great natural nails which are very strong and somehow seem to grow pre-shaped but I seriously abused this natural resource for the first 25 years of my life by being a massive nail biter! Now I have finally managed to kick the habit but I tend to be very neutral (in other words boring) in my colour choices and either go for pale pinks or French tips (which are a pain to paint on yourself!). I will try and be more adventurous in the future 😉 that said, I went a little crazy and painted them dark purple last night! Wonders never cease! x

    • Lauren July 9, 2013 / 3:40 pm

      Haha thank you lovely! I am very jealous of your nails 🙁 I fluctuate between neutral and colourful nailvarnishes – sometimes it’s nice to have a plainer colour but then you know…when things get a bit wild it’s time to crack out the gold metallic! 🙂 xx

    • Lauren July 9, 2013 / 3:39 pm

      We haven’t! But heard lots of good things about them – might be one to try when my Boots ones finally run out! 🙂 xx

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