Hey guys, I know its a long due yet again and am back to blog about my recent nail art.. I recently experimented with paint brushes on my nails n it turned out really cute so I thought why not put it down here..  

Check out my Strawberry nail art..

Its really simply.. here's how

Apply 2 coats of tomato red nail polish to your nails and let it dry for some time..
Use any shade of green polish and make 2 gentle diagonal strokes at the tip of your nail.
Use a 0 size paint brush to make the yellow dots at random.. There you go, you have cute strawberry nails :)

Also you can try other random prints like these,

Chess Board Nails

Random print

Have a nice weekend guys :)

Plant your own little Terrarium

As i told you guys before this blog is not going to be just nail art related , but all the art n crafts i come across or do.
I read a lot of magazines and recently i came across this article on how to make a terrarium with miniature garden plants which don need much sunlight and water. So i tried it out with a little help from my mom (who is awesome in gardening) and it came out just fine. Here goes..
All you need is : A clear container (You can use an old fish bowl like i did) , soil, a plant or more, few colored pebbles, wood dust.

Provide Drainage : Put an inch of 3/8-inch colored pebbles in the bottom of the container. Mix handful of wood charcoal to keep moist soil smelling sweet.

Pour in potting soil : Add 2-3 inches of light potting soil, which you can make by adding compost to regular soil. Tamp it down to remove air pockets.

Dig  a little hole : No trowel needed! Make a planting pocket with your finger. Set the plant in and firm soil around it. Make sure no roots are exposed.

You can use more then one plant to make the terrarium look better if you feel there is a lot of space inside. I used 2 plants , a croton and a money plant. Its better to use plants which need minimum water and sunlight so that you can keep them indoor as well as out.

Water Lightly : Dampen the soil until water drips into the stones.

Keep it Growing : Water an open terrarium when the soil looks dry - every 7-10 days or so. A closed one can go for two weeks or more between watering. Remove spent flowers and leaves as soon as they appear. Wipe glass, inside and out, occasionally with a clean cloth. You can use bright colored pebbles over the soil after planting to give it a good finish. Keep the terrarium in sunlight for sometime once its done. You can then keep it in some corner inside your house or also outdoors. 

Terrariums need indirect light. Direct sunlight will quickly cook plants. Place a terrarium near a window that faces north, northeast, or northwest. Or position it under fluorescent lights(indoor).

Plants flourish under glass with a little care.

Source : Better homes & Gardens, March 2012 issue.

Dress Up Your Nails in Plum Colours

Recently i came across this article while browsing. Thought i'd share it. So here goes a few tips to pamper your nails and give them a glam look

This season, shades of purple (especially the plum-purplish tones), blue and grey are really big. Metallic shades of plum and purple work great for an evening out. Not in the mood to experiment? Classics like burgundy, maroonish red and bright candy shades always work. For people with brittle or bitten nails, acrylic nails are a great solution, says Simar, owner of Simar’s Nail Bar, New Delhi. This simple salon procedure can last about four to five months, after which you will have to get a new set.
You can also get permanent nail paint, the best way to make your nail colour last without chipping. Your favourite colour is painted on and sealed with a gel that is dried under a UV light. “It doesn’t chip and also hardens your nails,” says Simar. Permanent nail colour lasts about a month till your nail starts growing out, and you get regular fillers if needed.

At-home care
Using a cuticle oil every day is a must. Whether you get acrylic nails or gel ones, pamper your nails with oil at least once a day. Vitamin E oil could also do the trick. Never cut your cuticles and remember not to use sharp instruments to clean the underside of your nails. Use a cotton bud instead, suggests beauty expert Shahnaz Husain. Always use an acetone-free remover. A mani-pedi session once a month — not more than twice as it can make your nails brittle — is a good idea. Use a hand and foot cream regularly.

Fake nail tips 
Acrylic nails may look great, but it’s important to take care of them. Clean the underside of the nails regularly to avoid any infections. Acrylic nails could lead to allergic reactions in some people because of the polymer-based substances in the product, so keep that in mind before you opt for them. Also, they should be kept at a safe distance from heat sources like dryers, curling irons and direct flame.

Do it right 
For a professional finish, follow these tips
1 Shape your nails properly. If your nails are not shaped right, there’s a high chance of chipping. A soft square works for all occasions and is easy to maintain.
2 Direct air on the nails will dry the chemicals in the polish and not allow it to set properly. So don’t dry directly under the fan or right in front of the air conditioner.
3 Base coat is important as it promotes bonding of the nail paint and protects the nails from pigmentation. Wait for at least a minute after you apply the base coat.
4 Dip the nail polish brush in the bottle and while pulling it up, wipe off the excess colour from one side of the brush on the mouth of the bottle. Apply a thin, smooth first coat.
5 Once dry, add on a second coat, which will give you that intense colour. Finish with a top coat that will protect the colour from chipping and make your nail polish last longer.

Adapt the look
Love a colour but aren’t sure if you can carry it off every day?
Nail art is a super alternative, suggests Simar. “Something simple and small like a tiny flower can tone down a dark shade. A lot of women love black or other darker hues but are worried about wearing them all the time,” she says. Nail art solves this problem, letting even the safest women to be on-trend.

Around the look
Pair your dark purple nails with funky accessories in contrasting colours. Go ahead, mix, match and pop!

Expert tip
The trick is to ensure that the base and first coat are almost dry before starting the next coat, or else the colour will smudge.

Hope you enjoyed reading it :)
Source : http://idiva.com/news-style-beauty/dress-up-your-nails-in-plum-colours/11906

Easy NailArt using Konad nail stamper

I know, I know this post is after a long due.. However lets get straight to the point.. Lately when i was browsing through ebay i came across this nail art kit and thought i would give it a try. Turns out, its easy as hell..

  

You will need 2 or 3 different contrasting shades of nail enamel, Nail hardener, and the konad nail art stamper , image plate. You can get it off Ebay here Costed me around Rs. 300(image plate + stamper). However the price is increased now.

Apply 2 base coats of enamel of any shade to nail.
Apply a different colour enamel (use contrasting shades) to a desired image within the image plate.

Use the scraper to wipe off the excessive nail polish from the image plate in one clean swipe, so that the enamel is left only on the design.

Quickly press the stamper onto the image plate before the enamel dries out. The image will now stick to the rubber stamper.

Now, stamp the image onto your nail with a rolling motion. The image may appear cut on your thumb as the nails are larger. You can do half nail at a time for your thumbs.

There you go, You have a beautiful leopard print on your nail. You can remove the excess enamel from your skin using some nail polish remover on a cotton bud. Gently clean around the edges of your nail.

Once you're done with all the nails, apply a top cost with a nail hardener so that the nail art lasts longer. Similar way you can mix and match lighter and darker shades and get beautiful and funky nails in mins :)

Leopard Print Nail art

Tiger Stripes

Vodka Bottle Flower Vase ;)

You will need : Empty Vodka bottle (or any glass bottle), Sand Paper, Glass paint colours.

Use the sand paper to scrap out any written material off the bottle.
Use any 2 colours. I used green and golden yellow. You can use even more than 2 colours depending on the shape of the bottle.. The bottle i had was kind of trapezoidal.

I used golden yellow to colour the edges and green to colour the larger surface. While colouring the paint may tend to be uneven. To avoid this keep the bottle horizontal till it dries and then colour the other sides.

There you go a vase out of waste :)

French Manicure with a Twist

Style your nails with regular french manicure, white paint is applied to the tips of the fingernails, and the rest of the nails are given a pink coat or painted with sheer polish that is colored either pale pink or very light beige. The French manicure is very good for short nails and nails that have a moderate length. 

To give it a twist make small white dots using a toothpick in a shape of a flower :) and there you have the very famous french manicure with a different look.

Inspired by tiger stripes:

You will need : Yellow/golden nail enamel, black nail enamel, nail hardener , nail art striping tape..

Apply a good coat of yellow nail enamel as a base coat to your entire nail. I used golden enamel as yellow was a little hard to find in my city.

You will need nail art striping tape. This comes usually with French manicure kit. You can also use medical adhesive tape by cutting it to required shape and size.

Stick the tape in an exploding V position to form the stripes.

Apply the black nail enamel on top of the V shape design.

Now that the nail is dry, slowly start peeling the strips off.

It should look something like this once you’ve removed the tape.  Follow the same procedure to all the nails.

When you have completed all of your nails. The last thing to do is to add a top coat. Use a good nail hardener so that the nail art stays for a long time.

There you're good to go.. Wild tiger stripes..

Have a happy weekend.. Try this out and let me know how it goes :)