Nail art: Stripes and roses

For this nail art I used Essie Lapis of Luxury. I freehanded the stripes and polka dots using a striper brush and dotting tools, before adding the roses, also with dotting tools, and their leaves with a small nail art brush.

These roses are so simple but so cute and I got a load of compliments on this NOTD. The method I use is to put a blob of red and white together on my nails and use a dotting tool to swirl them together. Lots of bloggers have done tutorials for roses so it's worth having a look around if you want to try this technique!

OPI Mermaid's Tears and Bows

I did this nail art recently when I fancied doing something freehand. I looked for some inspiration in my WAH Nails Book of Nail Art (I will post about this at some point!) and settled on the 'Polka Bows', without the polka!

I started with a base of OPI Mermaid's Tears. I then used a white (can't remember exactly which but probably China Glaze White on White) to make a bow shape, before finishing them off using a Models Own nail art pen. These were reasonably easy but I still need a bit of practice on straightening out my lines, especially on my right hand! Nonetheless I got a load of compliments on these and spent a lot of time staring at them myself!