Ladybug Spots, Joker Chequers: Zoya Ivanka, Milani Red Sparkle/Gold Glitz, Color Club Wild At Heart, Nubar Verde

I was meant to do a post on water marbling for nails but I've been ill for three weeks now and had absolutely no inclination to write an in-depth dissection of marbling...

Anyway, in celebration of my sister's birthday last Saturday (HI!), I have dug out an old mani that she remembered and mentioned when I made her look at showed her Plisherrific! As a bonus, there's another one after it too. Both look fancy but are easy to achieve!

So the first one, is a ladybird-themed manicure. Super simple and super adorable.

[Ladybug: Milani Red Sparkle, LA Colors Black Velvet; Others: Zoya Ivanka]

Start with a nice leafy green base on all except the ring finger, here I've used Zoya Ivanka. Paint the ring finger in a nice bright red - a bright red creme would work great but in the interest of shiny, I have used Milani One Coat Glitter in Red Sparkle. Red Sparkle has great depth because it's a combination of bright red glitter plus darker red and black glitter.

Once you've done, that using your polish brush or spotting tool, place black spots on the nail randomly. Finish with a straight-across french tip in black and coat with topcoat. All done!

[Ladybug: Milani Gold Glitz, LA Colors Black Velvet; Others: Zoya Ivanka]

For a bit of variation, I used Milani One Coat Glitter in Gold Glitz on my other hand. Again Gold Glitz has great depth due to a combo of gold and orange glitter. Shiny yellowbugs are cute too! Easy peasy!

Next - a simple chequerboard pattern (plus bling). Excuse the messiness and crap pics; these are quite old.

[Chequers: Color Club Wild At Heart, Nubar Verde, LA Colors Black Velvet, red square rhinestones]

Start by painting fingers in alternating colours. I'm using Color Club Wild At Heart (purple holo) and Nubar Verde (green). I love both these colours and should really swatch them alone! Verde especially is a rich mossy green shot through with gold.

After doing the base, cover the upper half of each nail in tape and do the bottom black square. Remove tape and let dry. You can topcoat, before taping off and doing the upper black section, but I usually just freehand it. Add some bling in the centre to hide any unsightly join-ups!

[With flash: Color Club Wild At Heart, Nubar Verde, LA Colors Black Velvet, red square rhinestones]

Another shot with flash so you can see the lovely purple holo in Wild at Heart. This is again another super easy which still looks fancy!

Hope this inspires! I definitely will get around to posting about marbling sometime!