Art deco design
I seem to have a thing for the simplicity and sophistication of black and gold at the moment. Most likely because of the amazing Marchesa 3D jewel nail appliques that I gave a whirl for New Year’s Eve.
My latest nail art attempt are these art deco inspired nails:
My inspiration initially came from this design on Pintrest (originally from thenailaurus.com):
And my ‘nice’ copy (the one I don’t actually read) of The Great Gatsby, which I got as a gift a couple years ago.
(Image coming soon)
Presumably they’re done using nail tape. I chose to go freehand for two reasons: 1) I didn’t have time to be doing my nails two nights (if you use tape it’s best to wait until your base colours is 100% dry, so I usually do it over a couple of nights) and 2) I find nail tape a bit tricky to apply, especially using my left hand!.
They were actually really easy to do freehand, first start with plain black nails, then use a striper brush or fine detail brush to do some geometric lines and other simple shapes using metallic gold polish.
I did my ring finger with Rimmel’s Space Dust in ‘Total Eclipse’ (mainly because I’d just bought it and wanted to use it). To make it match a bit more with the design I did what I’m calling a ‘moon line’ at the cuticle end of the nail in Max Factor Glossfinity polish in ‘Aquarmarine’. I did this using a sponge so that it took on quite a soft look.
So I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, especially on my right hand!
I think I could have been a bit more patient, and I still have the same problem of poor light, and the fact that I do it sat on a couch, which means it’s not quite as neat as it possibly could have been, but never mind, those are things I can fix. Also please sympathise over my broken nail (so much for hardcore nails – it does happen from time to time).
Having looked around for ‘art deco nails’ I’ve found a really simple design that I think I might give a whirl one day:
The tutorial is on the So Nailicious website (which I LOVE!). I especially like the inclusion of a stud. They also have a list of other Great Gatsby nail designs – I do like a bit of bling, but in a cute or classy way, which is a hard balance to find, but these look nice.
