Contemporary Take on Classic Nails

Today we’ll be looking at a ‘Contemporary Take on Classic Nails’. So, what we know about western nail polish history and trends is that, to begin with, women painted their nails in the 1920’s with car paints, oh dear. Fire-engine red nails and simple French Manicures were the most popular nail looks during the 1950’s. Both are timeless and versatile, and I will be giving tutorials on both, like my ‘Smile of a Silver Screen Star’ post, but with a twist added.

Okay, so again before this tutorial, you want to make sure your nails, and hands, are in good condition.

-          Start by making sure you have no remaining nail polish on your nails.

-          It’s a good idea to moisturize your hands regularly, maybe before bed?

-          Remember your cuticles! Cuticle oil, or almond oil, will nourish these.

For both tutorials you will need:

-          a strong white nail polish

-          a basic top coat polish

-          nail polish remover

French Manicure

On to the classic, the French manicure! You can find high and low tutorials on the old-school French mani, however today I’m putting a spin on this old girl.

You will need:

-          a sheer pink or peach, a neutral colour

-          a dotting tool, you could use a skewer or tooth pick here

Let’s start!

1.        Begin by painting a classic white French tip over the top of your nails. If you are a little inexperienced, and/or it got messy, use some polish remover to clean that up now.

2.        Get out your dotting tool! Just below the French tip, make a row of dots. Depending on your nail/dot tool size, the amount of dots could be from 4 to 6. Try to make them as even as possible.

3.        Between the dots you just made and the tip, make another row of dots where they fit. Not directly above the dots you’ve made, but diagonally.

4.        If you’d like an accent nail, choose a nail or few to fill in with dots, like so.

5.        After the polish has dried, polish over with a thin coat of your neutral-coloured nail polish

6.        After that coat has dried, apply a top coat to ensure a longer life!

Voila, cést tres mignon, non? I hope you like!

Vintage Red

Now, for something a little more show-stopping, red, red, red! The vintage classic, with another twist!

You will need:

-          Either one really strong red polish or 3 reds in varying dark/light tones.

-          Card

-          Dipping water

-          Mini brush

Start your engines!

1.        Apply a strong white coat of nail polish to your whole nails.

2.        Find your lightest shade of polish, or begin mixing your polish on a piece of card, add water to dilute it. I didn't like the use of water as well as different polishes, as nail polish is a lacquer it doesn't mix well with water.

3.        Apply this shade like a very thick French tip with a mini brush, you can see here an example of width.

4.        After the previous coat has dried, apply the second shade darker (by either mixing a new diluted colour, or a different polish) so that you can still see the first shade, leave a few millimetres, or whatever your preference. Repeat as many times as you prefer, leaving a tip for whatever size preference.

5.        It may end up messy so you may need to go over spots or remove spots.

6.        Apply a very thin layer of non-diluted red over the entire nail

7.        Finish again with a top coat, you can’t go wrong here!

Achieving this look takes practice, so good on you if you mastered it (I know I haven’t, yet)! If not, there’s always next time.

Also, I have to share with you my most recent purchases! I bought so much this week it feels like a waste If I don’t. 3 pencil skirts, a dress, sunglasses, a purse, a card holder/wallet and a cardigan and tank top set.

In total it all cost me $35, not too bad if I say so myself!

This post was a challenge taking all of those photos! I’m rather glad how it turned out though. I hope you enjoyed it! Maybe it could be a little project for this Sunday afternoon, how nice. My next post will be titled ‘Channeling Your Inner (Audrey) Hepburn – Funny Face’, I hope you will tune in to see it on Wednesday morning (GMT 10+).

Love Claire, xo.