Nailed It

In addition to McKayla Maroney's stick landing in the Olympics, other things that have been nailed: nails of the finger variety. I've always been intrigued by painted phalanges, but recently I've been particularly drawn (no pun intended--jaykay, my puns are always intended) to the artistry of them. The possibilities are becoming progressively more endless as people begin to open their minds to the prospect of neon-glitter nails and intense designs. The door to the industry of nail art has swung open wide, and with it has come a sea of people ready to jump on the band wagon. WAH Nails, for example, is a company that opened in 2009 in England and has now expanded to New York. Blogs have been posting nail art tutorials and DIYs left and right, so all of the sudden--as in at the beginning of the summer--I've become enamored with the idea of painting my fingers in fancy and inventive ways. When I paint my nails, they better be a work of art or I rub the lacquer off and start again. Remember these red sparkle explosions from the winter? Those made an incredible statement even when I wore the most boring of outfits (which I tried to keep to a minimum).

Fashion Week is creeping up upon us quite rapidly, so in light of that, I thought I'd inspire you all--and myself--with a lilabet (lilabet = a little bit; courtesy of Elly Goetz) of photos displaying nail art in its prime. I intend to try several/all of these out, at least one before my internship (what?!).

The Cherry Blossom Girl's Alix is one of the most put-together and classy-as-hayl people I've ever seen. I tried to rock the same design as she did on my nails before I realized that she had done it(I even used gold in the same place she did), but it was a complete failure.

Find her tutorial here.

Shini from Park & Cube has some surrious skillz when it comes to decorating fingernails. Those gradients are dainty and painterly. 

Find her tutorial here. 

Annabel Wendt of LoveMore is one of the coolest Australians I've seen to date (although I know some pretty cool Australians), and her extremities are no exception. These nails are so recreate-able that I just might have to do it. 

Ivania of Love Aesthetics is a whiz at doing crazy shiz to her fingers. Exhibit A: paint-splattered nails. So Jackson Pollock. 

Find her instructions here.

Ivania does it again, this time with an even simpler, more minimalistic design. These are a perfect example of a "Hey, I can do that!" sort of project. 

Find her instructions here. 

Don't leave your nails naked. You wouldn't want to walk out of the house with nothing on, right? Don't answer that question.

It's the weekend! Olympics? Beach? Burritos?

P.S. Expect a DIY minus the D, the I, and the Y (unless you are masochistic or own a darning needle and a shizton of time and patience) in the near future.

Follow this blog

Chictopia/Huffington Post/Facebook/Bloglovin/Twitter