Viva La Lightning Bolt

Hello dear readers! I'm still very busy with school, only two more weeks to go! I've still got a lot of things to do, but right now I just want to show you these nails. :-) Yesterday I wore a brandless plain white creme. It took three coats to get opaque and it took forever to dry, but it was totally worth it. Who knew I could like white nails this much! But sadly the polish already chipped after one short day, so today I added these lightning bolt tips with Essence Viva La Green. I hadn't done lightning bolt tips for a long time, I almost forgot how fun they are to make. ^^ Finally I added a bit of glam with OPI Spark The Triomphe. It's so sparkly! ♥

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Shocking

Hi everyone! :-) For today's short post I have this accent nail mani to show you. This afternoon I did a fresh mani with my favorite purple cream: OPI Funkey Dunkey. A few hours later I wanted to add a little eyecatcher, so it became this silver lightning bolt. It's a small addition, but just what I needed to complete this mani. ^^ Thanks for stopping by!

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The Mad Dollies nails

Hello guys! Today's post is another custom mani, I abosolutely love doing these! I got this request from a player from the Greensboro NC roller derby team The Mad Dollies. She asked if I could come up with some fierce nail art designs, in her team colors teal and yellow, that she could use for an upcoming game. She also loved the use of tape for nail art, so the first thing that came in mind was a fierce lightning bolt tape mani! ;-) (Which all went great until my topcoat decided to smudge my hard work!) On my thumb and pinky I have the symbols that two certain players carry on their helmet. I made the star using tape and I really like the design, but it took a lot of precision to get all the tape strips right. So I'm still thinking of a more efficient way to make the design in the future. And the index and middle finger resemble the distinctive tights I saw players on pictures wearing, mostly striped or fishnet. And luckily I had Konadplate M57 to make the last :)
So Kristin, I really hope you like these designs! You can use all five of them or just pick the ones you like best ;-) And good luck with the rest of this season!

I really enjoy working on these custom nails requests I'm getting lately, so if you would like me to make some designs for a special event or just for fun, feel free to leave your idea in the comments or send me an email at: nailside@gmail.com.

Polishes I used in this post:
Essence Stamp Me! White
Essence - Let's Get Lost
Color Club - Almost Famous
Color Club - Where's The Soiree?
China Glaze - Ink

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Cute double lightning bolt

Hi guys! I felt like doing a double lightning bolt again :) This time it's a very cute and girly version, kind of like a badass princess mani, lol. I used two pinks from Essie for it: Lion Around and Your Hut Or Mine, from the 2011 Resort collection. I actually bought Lion Around (the lighter pink) just to complete the set of four, but I'm glad I did, because it looks so cute together with Your Hut Or Mine :) And I didn't have anything like it yet anyway. For the gold in the middle I used China Glaze 2030, my favorite, and to make the whole look softer, I applied a matt topcoat. Mine is from Essence. Hope you guys like it, thanks for reading!

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Holo lightning bolt

(This is a scheduled post, I'm on vacation!)

Hello guys! The lightning bolt's been away for a while, but it's back now! Did you miss it? ;-) For this double lightning bolt, I used the same technique as usual, only now the middle part is diverging, making the whole somewhat playfuller. As my previous attempts on using Gosh Holo as a layering color miserably failed, I used it as the base color this time (clever!). Which is time-saving too since Gosh Holo is a one-coater and fast-drying. Then I taped off the holo part and applied Color Club Where's The Soiree? on top. I must've said this like a gazillion times, but Where's The Soiree? is just wonderful for tape manis. It's so extremely pigmented and even when it's used over another polish, it dries with the speed of light. So quickly after that I was ready to tape my nails again and used Essence Bella for the tips. Done!

If you like this look just have a look at the tutorial for this design if you haven't already. I know it takes a lot of patience but practice really makes perfect and I've already seen many beautiful and succesful attempts from you! They make me proud :) Thanks for visiting!

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Malificent lightning bolt

Hi guys! Today is another way too gloomy day. So I've got something from the vault for you. This is a lightning bolt mani I did a while ago. The combination of colors I used looked so dark and mysterious so the whole look instantly reminded me of Disney villain Malificent from the Sleeping Beauty. Man, I just love her. I think she's the most stylish and elegant from all the female Disney villains. As a kid I never realized how cool she was, but after all she was the bad guy, so I guess it's not that strange.
The polishes I used: the base color is Essence Where's The Party?, the purple foil (so gorgeous!) is Forget-Me-Not! from Catrice and the black Color Club Where's The Soiree?, as usual. I also added matt topcoat in the end, but I think that was a mistake, the true colors with a glossy finish would have been prettier. Oh, well! Thanks for reading!

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Tutorial: Double lightning bolt tape mani

Hi everyone, welcome to my fourth tutorial! Making the double lightning bolt is actually not that different from making the single one; what you need to do is actually just repeat the steps from the regular lightning bolt tutorial. But because the double version received so many enthusiastic reactions I decided it deserved its own tutorial :) One tip: for this particular design transparant tape is quite useful!

Let's get started!

First make the regular lightning bolt on your nails as described in the tutorial, except that you don't have to add topcoat yet.

While you're cutting all the tape strips for the first lightning bolt, cut one extra for each piece because you'll do the whole taping process twice. So in total you'll need two strips and two triangles for each nail.
Let your nails dry completely, if necessary with the help of a fastdrying topcoat.

After you've finished the first step and everything is dry, take a tape strip and apply it on the design, covering up a bit of the tip color as shown in the picture. This is the part where transparant tape is really going to help you.

Then apply a triangle on the design, also covering up part of the tip color.

Now make sure all the pieces of tape are completely stuck to the nail, if not use your finger or a tweezer to push them down and if needed reattach them. Then apply a pigmented top color with a thin coat and carefully peel off the pieces of tape right away. Let the design dry for a while.

At last apply your topcoat, clean up and you're done!

To add another color, just repeat the steps 2, 3 and 4 until you've reached the desired look (or till your nails are out of space :P).

Finally some useful tips:

• For my tape manis, all I use is regular stationery tape. But you might prefer something else, so just experiment with different sorts of tape to figure out what works best for you.
• For your base color you can use any polish you like, however one-coaters will allow you to place the tape much sooner because those are usually fast drying. Of course you can also quicken the drying of polishes that require several coats to cover, by applying a fast drying topcoat. (I use Seche Vite). 
• Your layering color(s) can be either a one- or two-coater. Because you've already applied a base color, most polishes that usually take two coats to cover now will do with one.
• Though I mention cutting the tape strips as step 2, I admit it is safer to cut before applying the base color. However, if you've learned how to cut the tape without having it touch your polished nails, it can save you a lot of time.
• You might want to leave the cut strips somewhere else than the edge of your desk/table, to prevent them from getting stuck to the surface while you're busy. You do not want to have to peel them off with your freshly painted claws!
• Apply your top color in one thin (but opaque) coat, this will create crisper lines.
• When you're removing the tape strips, try to remove them individually, if you can, because most of the time your design will come out neater this way
• Using tweezers to remove the tape strips can prevent your freshly painted nails from getting smudged.
• It's not always necessary to start all over if you've messed up your design, often a little touch-up with a nailart brush can solve the problem.
• If you want to use a matt topcoat, use a regular one underneath. My experience with matt topcoats is that they smudge the design very easily, even when it's completely dry. Applying a normal topcoat first will prevent that.
• Moisterize your cuticles afterwards, because the tape can really dry out your skin!
• You can practice this tutorial on your old mani that you applied a day (or more) before. If you succeed, you've got yourself a fresh mani, otherwise you were going to remove it anyway!
• If you feel like this design is too time-consuming for a full mani, you can also use it for an accent nail (or two).
• Have fun and practice makes perfect ;)

I would absolutely love to see your attempt on my design, so feel free to leave a link to your creation in the comment section!

Polishes I used in this post are OPI Funky Dunkey, China Glaze Millenium and Essence Trust In Fashion.

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Funky double lightning bolt

Hello guys! For this post I have another double lightning bolt to show you. I used yesterday's mani for it, which was the beautiful purple OPI Funky Dunkey. On top I used my favorite silver Millenium from China Glaze and for my third color I picked Essence Trust In Fashion. In hindsight I wouldn't have used Trust In Fashion. The color is really pretty but the polish was a tad too sheer for a tape mani, so I had to apply a thicker coat which affected the crisp lines on some fingers. But fortunately that problem was easily fixed with a little touch up using a nail art brush.
I also used this opportunity to make pictures for a double lightning bolt tutorial, so you can expect it this week! Thanks for dropping by :)

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How to overdo your lightning bolt mani...

Hi everyone, hope you had a great day. The title of this post pretty much explains it all, hahah. Two days ago I posted the girly lightning bolt and I was satisfied with the way it was but at the same time I was dying to add another color to it, so here it is! The dusty mint green I added is Orly Ancient Jade, a very nice polish. This creme is a one-coater with a thicker coat and formula and drying time were great.
So dear readers, what are your thoughts on this "triple lightning bolt"? Triple yay or triple nay? Lol. Thanks for reading :)

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Girly lightning bolt

Hello dear readers, I felt it was time for a lightning bolt mani again :) And it became a quite girly one. The pink base color I used is called Sexy Lady, the silver is Millenium and both are from China Glaze. As my final color I used my favorite black Where's The Soiree? from Color Club. But just black was a little too plain for me today, so I added a black jelly with silver glitters from Hema to it. The silver glitters aren't very visible on the pictures but they are in real life and go well with the silver chrome finish of Millenium, if I do say so myself, haha. Hope you all are having a wonderful day and thanks for reading!

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Evil enemy nails

Hello dear followers! After a superhero mani there should of course be an evil enemy mani as well, hahah. It's still a lightning bolt design, but this time it's used vertically instead of horizontally as a funky French. To achieve this look I placed the tape strips as described in the tutorial. Only to make the pattern vertical, the position of both tape strips had to be twisted 90°, so that's basically it. (In this case I also unintentionally mirrored the design, but that doesn't affect the final look, as long as the design's twisted 90° it will come out vertically.) How to "double" the lightning bolt is a bit difficult to explain (and boring to read, lol) so I will make an individual tutorial on how to do that soon, with pics ;)

The gold base color is China Glaze Millenium, the black Where's The Soiree? from Color Club and the dark silver foil is from Hema (a Dutch department store) and looks pretty similar to China Glaze Jitterbug and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous.

My boyfriend thinks the mani is "badass", haha, what are your thoughts?

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Superhero nails

Hi guys! On my previous lightning bolt manis I got many comments saying how they have a superhero quality, I really liked the comparison and I do have a thing for stereotypical superhero outfits ;) You know, with the bold colors and graphical patterns. So for today I made actual, intentional superhero nails. And yes, I used my last lightning bolt mani to achieve this look ;) The colors I picked are Diamond Cosmetics Blue Bell, China Glaze Millenium and a red shimmer from Etos, a Dutch drugstore. I really like how it turned out, I think it definitely says superhero! Hahah. This mani would probably work well too with the MAC Wonderwoman polishes, but with a gold lightning bolt in the middle instead of silver. Unfortunately I don't own those cute polishes, but I'll live :) Anyway, hope you guys like it and have a great weekend!

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Blue and silver lightning bolt

Hi everyone! Today I have another lightning bolt mani to show, because frankly I'm still hooked :) And I hope you guys aren't bored with this design yet, because I've got more of 'em coming up this week... Mwuahahaha... This time I used China Glaze Millenium for the tips and the blue is Diamond Cosmetics' Blue Bell, which is quite similar to Essence's Chuck, so I'll have to do a comparison of those two soon.
Thanks for visiting!

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My Favorite Jeans goes lightning bolt

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a great day. The mani for today's post is an update of the second lightning bolt French I did, it was turquoise with black tips. The day I was wearing that mani I found a polish that I wanted for so long but since it's discontinued I didn't think I would find it again. I'm talking about H&M's My Favorite Jeans. Lately I've been obsessed with foils, especially if they're blue, and that's exactly what My Favorite Jeans is. The first time I had it in my hands, I wasn't that much into nailpolish yet, I thought both color and finish were weird, so I put it back. I can slap myself now for doing that! So fortunately I found one last lonely bottle of it on the bottom shelf of an H&M! My favorite Jeans is a foil with a grey-ish blue base, kind of like jeans, with bolder blue flecks. The flecks are subtle but make the polish less dull. I love it :) And it was also the perfect polish to add some shimmer to the lightnig bolt design I was wearing. I just applied tape again the way I always do for the lightning bolt, only this time I placed the tape a bit more towards the tip, covering up a little part of the black. So that after adding My Favorite Jeans and removing the tape, there's still a line of black visible. Finally I added a layer of matt topcoat, the one I use is from Essence.

I like how the mani came out and that it only takes little effort to achieve the look. If you want to recreate it and could use some help, just check out the tutorial by clicking here or in the tab at the top.
Thanks for reading guys!

Before Mr. Matt

Before My Favoroite Jeans

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Tutorial: Lightning bolt French tape mani

Hi guys, it's time for another tutorial! This time I will show you how to make the lightning bolt French. The design is very simple to achieve and perfect for covering up extreme tipwear or VNL. What you need is just a bit of regular tape and a pretty, covering polish to match your base color. Let's get started!

So start with the base color you like (if necessary with a basecoat underneath) and let it completely dry. This can be one that's yet to be applied or one you're already wearing.
On the picture I'm wearing Ms Jagger Green from Pieces that I applied the day before I shot this picture, as you can see there's some VNL and a tiny bit of tipwear.

Now take a little piece of tape and cut it in strips lengthwise. You'll need one strip a nail. Also cut a bunch of triangles that you'll need for step 3, again one piece a nail.
Place a strip diagonally on your nail and make sure the side that's closest to the polish-area is really stuck on the surface, meaning that that side of the strip should not be wrinkled. 

This is the part where you need your triangles. Take a triangle and place it on the diagonal strip, with one point pointing to your tip, like shown in the picture. It doesn't really matter how your triangles are shaped, as long as they have at least one sharp (less than 90°) point to create the fierce zigzag shape of a stylized lightning bolt.

Now apply your top color. Of course you can pick any color you like, but personally I prefer contrasting colors so the pattern will show up better. And if you plan to cover up your tipwear, make sure the topcolor is an opaque polish. When you're done polishing, carefully pull off the pieces of tape. My advise is to do step 2, 3 and 4 on one nail at a time.

At last apply your topcoat, clean up and you're done. Striking! :P

Finally some useful tips:

• For my tape manis, all I use is regular stationery tape. But you might prefer something else, so just experiment with different sorts of tape to figure out what works best for you.
• For your base color you can use any polish you like, however one-coaters will allow you to place the tape much sooner because those are usually fast drying. Of course you can also quicken the drying of polishes that require several coats to cover, by applying a fast drying topcoat. (I use Seche Vite). 
• Your layering color(s) can be either a one- or two-coater. Because you've already applied a base color, most polishes that usually take two coats to cover now will do with one.
• Though I mention cutting the tape strips as step 2, I admit it is safer to cut before applying the base color. However, if you've learned how to cut the tape without having it touch your polished nails, it can save you a lot of time.
• You might want to leave the cut strips somewhere else than the edge of your desk/table, to prevent them from getting stuck to the surface while you're busy. You do not want to have to peel them off with your freshly painted claws!
• Apply your top color in one thin (but opaque) coat, this will create crisper lines.
• When you're removing the tape strips, try to remove them individually, if you can, because most of the time your design will come out neater this way
• Using tweezers to remove the tape strips can prevent your freshly painted nails from getting smudged.
• It's not always necessary to start all over if you've messed up your design, often a little touch-up with a nailart brush can solve the problem.
• If you want to use a matte topcoat, use a regular one underneath. My experience with matte topcoats is that they smudge the design very easily, even when it's completely dry. Applying a normal topcoat first will prevent that.
• Moisterize your cuticles afterwards, because the tape can really dry out your skin!
• You can practice this tutorial on your old mani that you applied a day (or more) before. If you succeed, you've got yourself a fresh mani, otherwise you were going to remove it anyway!
• If you feel like this design is too time-consuming for a full mani, you can also use it for an accent nail (or two).
• Have fun and practice makes perfect ;)

I would absolutely love to see your attempt on my design, so feel free to leave a link to your creation in the comment section!

Polishes I used in this post are Pieces Ms Jagger Green and Color Club Where's The Soiree?.

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Struck again

Hello guys! Since I'll be busy celebrating (mostly working, really) all day tomorrow during Queen's day, I'm posting this mani now :) It's another lightning bolt French. (Excuse me for the horribly corny names I come up with for my tape designs, but it's the best, non-confusing way to keep them apart.) The base color I used is Ms Jagger Green from Pieces, it's a really nice, bold teal creme, probably one of my favorite polishes. It applies very smoothly and covers in two coats, but the best thing is it doesn't stain! Which is quite rare for blue/green polishes. So no complaints at all. And the black is Color Club Where's The Soiree, if you've been reading my blog for longer you know it's one of my best buds!
I you like the lightning bolt design, just stay tuned because I've been preparing a tutorial for next week :) The design is very easy to do and great for tape-beginners. I've received some comments from readers that couldn't get my other tape designs done succesfully, so I hope this design will help those people to improve and get the hang of the taping technique. Goodnight!

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Lightning bolt French - mattified

Hi everyone! Yes, I mattified my mani, again! Haha. Don't you just love how a matte topcoat can completely change a look, only by changing the finish?! They're especially great for graphical patterns like this one, the matte finish reduces reflections so the pattern is more visible :) Have a great night!

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