Girly Nail Art: Spring/Summer Stripes and Pearls

I wanted to do a nail art inspired by some of the Spring/Summer colours I've been seeing around. I'm not very much into fashion in terms of clothes (the way I've got it figured - you either look good in a piece of clothing or you don't, and if you don't, no point wearing it just because it's trendy because you'll just look silly), but I do like appropriating colours I see on the runway and incorporating them into my nail art. After all, isn't there that quote along the lines of "Good artists borrow, great artists steal"? Here is my nail art then, inspired by the fashion runways.

Anyway, let me show you a few of the photos I was looking at that inspired my current nail art. Basically, girliness and sweetness with a little pop of colour.

(Source: Style)

So I tried to use a similar theme - girly, but with a bit of brightness thrown in - as a base for today's nail art. And I liked the pink-and-green combi, too, so I used that colour scheme as well. And because it wouldn't be nail art without any bling, I threw in some pearls for good measure. And that was it, really.




Okay, so not exactly like Prada on the runway. But I quite like it. For the pink base, I used Nails Inc Bruton Street, one of my favourites in terms of the perfect soft neutral pink. The green (or more accurately, aqua) is China Glaze's For Audrey, which I've already done an NOTD with before. The purple is Illamasqua Jo'mina, also a previously featured polish.



This was all done freehand, hence the messy lines. I just painted the pink first, then the green, then the purple. I originally wanted to cover them up with some striping tape, as I like to do when my nail art is messy, but I figured, well, maybe not this time. So yes, you get to see my messsy lines in full glory. The pearls were added last, followed by topcoat.



So there you have it! My runway-inpired girly nail art for Spring/Summer this year. It's pretty easy to do, if you have a steady hand (obviously I don't so it's not that easy for me), and I really liked the addition of the pearls - it really makes it just that little bit girlier.

Spring Aqua Nail Polish Comparisons: China Glaze and Nails Inc

Varying shades of light green-blue (aqua, mint green, etc) seem to be a huge hit for Spring this year, especially with China Glaze's Aquadelic making a storm among nail polish lovers. I wasn't tempted by Aquadelic, since I already had two similar shades in the same colour family, so I thought that I'd swatch these two shades for you.

The two shades I'm comparing are China Glaze For Audrey, which has been much-compared to Aquadelic, as well as Nails Inc Spring Mews, which came out in the height of another green nail polish craze, Chanel Jade. I had bought both For Audrey and Spring Mews separately, so I hadn't realized that there was some similarity between the two. So here they are!

L - R: China Glaze For Audrey, Nails Inc Spring Mews, China Glaze For Audrey, Nails Inc Spring Mews

As you can see, the two are actually pretty similar, although they aren't exactly dupes. China Glaze For Audrey is a little more blue-leaning, while Nails Inc Spring Mews is more green. I'd say Spring Mews is actually a little bit more mint green-ish to me than aqua. Otherwise, the brightness and the creme finish of both colours is the same. I actually used Nails Inc Spring Mews in a Valentine's Day springy NOTD, so more photos of Spring Mews in action are available if you're interested.



L - R: China Glaze For Audrey, Nails Inc Spring Mews, China Glaze For Audrey, Nails Inc Spring Mews

So, do you need both? sure enough, both shades are different enough to own both, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that unless you're a nail polish fanatic (like me), for your average Jane (or Joe), you probably don't. Which shade to choose would probably be down to your skintone. If you're cool, then a blue-leaning shade like China Glaze For Audrey would work better for you, while if you're warm, then a shade with more green, like Nails Inc Spring Mews, would look slightly better. As for me, I'm keeping both!