Nail Nerd

One Direction nail art with some China Glaze polishes.

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:41:27 -0600

One Direction nail art with some China Glaze polishes.

Taped and rhinestone nail art on a base of OPI Moonraker

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:21:59 -0600

Taped and rhinestone nail art on a base of OPI Moonraker

Basket tipped nail art on a base of China Glaze Unpredictable

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 02:19:48 -0600

Basket tipped nail art on a base of China Glaze Unpredictable

Rainbow nail art on a base of China Glaze Raspberry Festival

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:38:12 -0600

Rainbow nail art on a base of China Glaze Raspberry Festival

Swirly filigrees on a base of OPI Don’t Pretzel My Buttons

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:26:04 -0600

Swirly filigrees on a base of OPI Don’t Pretzel My Buttons

Striped nails on a base of OPI Skyfall

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:06:32 -0600

Striped nails on a base of OPI Skyfall

Floral nail art stickers on a base of OPI Deutsch You Want Me...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:26:17 -0600

Floral nail art stickers on a base of OPI Deutsch You Want Me Baby?

Real feathers over a base of China Glaze Kalahari Kiss

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:43:35 -0600

Real feathers over a base of China Glaze Kalahari Kiss

Nail art based on the Side Effects movie — click through...

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:15:19 -0600

Nail art based on the Side Effects movie — click through for a chance to win a FREE trip to NYC!!!

Nail art based on the Krewe of Muses logo on a base of OPI...

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:00:06 -0600

Nail art based on the Krewe of Muses logo on a base of OPI Unfor-Greta-Bly Blue

Sun/moon nail art on a base of China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:22:14 -0600

Sun/moon nail art on a base of China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Do you have any good ways of getting your nail polish to stay on longer?

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:22:09 -0600

Letting each coat dry is a great start (if you rush it too much, the bottom coat may not have time to set fully, and is then more prone to pull up/flake away) but a good topcoat and wrapping your tips is a must. Seche Vite is my favorite; rock hard in a couple of minutes, great shine, and wears really well. Be sure to apply an extra bit to the tip of your nail so it’s protecting you against wear (and re-apply if you notice it’s starting to wear down).

I'm running low on my base coat and I'm not crazy about it, so I was wondering if you can recommend a good nail base coat. I've been using the one from Sinful Colors. I don't have any huge nail problems I'm looking for a base coat to correct, just to help my nail polish apply smoothly and last longer. Thank you!

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:09:45 -0600

You bet! China Glaze has a good basecoat-topcoat combo that I’ve ended up really liking (of course Seche Vite is like my standard go-to for the topcoat, hence all the crazy shiny pictures, but it’s good to have a pinch-hitter in the mix). MASH (mashnails.com) also has a basecoat ridgefiller that’s awesome; especially helpful if you’ve had a piece of glitter destroy some part of your nail, or need an ultra-smooth nail surface for a metallic polish that will show every flaw.

can you also make spongebob nails? would be really cool! :) xx

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:07:02 -0600

Sure, I’ll add it to my list! :)

I've been messing around with taping a little bit lately but I can never seem to get the edges to look good. They always look kind of rough, while yours are very smooth... I use masking tape. Is it better to remove the tape before or after the polish dries? Any other tips?

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:06:47 -0600

Yeah, taping can get messy, and stuff like the polish you use can really influence how well it works… I’d stick with the masking tape (that’s what I use) — just tap it on your skin once first so the oils on your skin bond to the glue and then help the tape not stick to your base polish color; after that, don’t be afraid to really roll that edge onto your nail so there aren’t any gaps or seep-y edges. Then wait maybe 30 seconds to take the tape off; you don’t want to do it right away if your polish is really thin or tends to bleed, but if you wait til it’s totally dry then the bits that ARE on the tape are going to want to pull up the rest of it too, which is where you get that ripped-edge nonsense.

i love your blog sooo much, your desings are amazing!

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:04:32 -0600

Hahaha made my night, thank you lady!!! :D

heey i am also obsessed with doig nails but not as good as you! i was wondering if you know how to do ombre because ive tryed at least 10 times and i cant get it too turn out. It would be a big help!

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:04:04 -0600

They can be a little tricky to pick up, but once you get it down it’s like the easiest thing ever. Here’s the first how-to I did on ‘em:

http://www.nailnerd.com/gradient-nails/

I may do another one soon though since there’s a second technique where you put ALL of the polish on the sponge in stripes and just roll that over your nail.

What megapixel range would you suggest for getting pictures like yours for my nails?

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:02:09 -0600

I usually take my original pictures at something like 2000px wide (if your camera has size settings, it’d be in the large-ish range), then trim then down to 700px wide to post on the site so that most of the picture is of the nails and not the messy yard. Most importantly you just need a camera with a decent lens/macro setting.

What's the quickest way to dry nailpolish?

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:00:27 -0600

Stand in a cyclone! Ok wait, don’t do that, that’s dangerous and dumb (but I bet it’d be the fastest!). Quickest way is going to be picking up a bottle of quick dry drops (OPI has a good one).

how do you do ombre?

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:59:15 -0600

Your best friend for this technique is going to be a bag full of makeup sponges — you can either add a secondary color to the tip of a sponge and blot it over the areas that you want to ombre, or you can apply both/all of your colors directly to the sponge and roll it over your nail a few times til it’s as opaque as you want.