Summer Nails Courtesy of LacqLustre (The Most Talented Nail Artist I've Seen in YONKS)

We know I'm a nail nut, we know I'm partial to a touch of my own nail art and we know I love to find people as crazy about the art as I am. Cue a chance encounter on Reddit last week, where I came across these stunning Easter Chocolate and Caramel Bunny nails by LacqLustre. It was only when I followed the link to her site that I found some of the most incredible nail art talent I've seen in quite a while, naturally I asked for a guest post immediately. Take it away, T!

Hello everyone! I'm just a girl who loves nail art and can never pick a favorite color. I have an obsession for the whimsical, the cheesy, and the sparkly! I started LacqLustre as a way to justify my insatiable polish hoarding, and it turned into an amazingly fun hobby. My favorite nail art to do is a three way tie between florals , food, and polka dots. 

Gerbera daisies are one of my favorite flowers and they never fail to cheer me up. I hope they do the same for you! 

Polishes Used:

Background color: China Glaze Electric Pineapple

Black: Wet N Wild Black Creme

Yellow: OPI The It Color, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky

Pink: China Glaze Sugar High, China Glaze Designer Satin

Orange: Sephora By OPI Paisley Me Attention

Red: China Glaze Roguish Red, China Glaze Ruby Deer

Thanks to Sue for giving me the chance to share them with y'all! -T

Well, huh? Isn't she a natural genius? Do yo'self a favour and go check out her site LacqLustre.com today, if you're a nail art nut on even the smallest scale you appreciate this girl's mad skillz. 

Thanks a thousand T, I'm definitely going to give these a shot now that the sun in shining in Dublin town *touches all the wood*. Also, China Glaze Electric Pineapple will be mine! 

If you'd like to see your work, nail art or

otherwise featured on CherrySue, do drop

me a line and let's chat!

Elie Saab SS14 Haute Couture Nails Tutorial - AKA The Only Way I'll Ever Afford to Wear His Designs

I never claimed to be a Fashionista but if one designer makes me swoon every single time, it's Lebenese sartorial genius, Elie Saab. His wedding gowns (and pretty much everything else he puts his hands to) are quite literally breathtaking. When I saw his SS14 Haute Couture show (Linked here) I was agog. AGOG. Being realistic though, the only way I'll ever afford to wear one of these works of art is to paint it on myself. Elie Saab nails Howaya!

You know me and nail art by now, I try to find the simplest way to get the best effect, mostly because I want to be able to do my right hand too. I've come up with a tutorial so simple that it needs NO INSTRUCTIONS. Look at the pictures with your eyes, pick out your colours and go! 

What did I tell you? Simples. I love this look for Spring/Summer, of course you can mix and match what colours you'd like to use but once set against a stark white nail bed you really can't go wrong. 

I used all Essie for these but there's no need to be so precise. Just grab: 

• 1 White
• 4 Greens
• 1 Peach
• 1 Fuchsia
• 1 Black (for flowers)

These remind me of the Rihanna Marc Jacobs nails in how simple they are to create. 

What do we reckon? Will you give them a shot? 

NOTD - A Feel for Teal with Inspiration a la Ashley Tisdale

I was really impressed when I saw Ashley Tisdale's New Year Nails and it wasn't even to do with THAT ROCK. Her mani looked so simple yet effective that I thought I'd give it my own twist just to see how simple it is. First up - here's how lahhhvely her's were: 

Photo yoinked from http://instagram.com/ashleytisdale

For my version, as well as 5 stick on gems the colours used were: 

• Essie Naughty Nautical
• Essie Blanc
• Barry M Aqua Glitter
• Kiss Nail Art White

Wanna see how simple that middle finger is? 

And it really is that simple, one cross and two triangles in each section - man I do love an effective easy nail look. 

What do we reckon, will you give them a go? 

Bourjois Adora-Bleu: Easy Breezy Nail of the Day

It's been a little while since I've done a Nail of the Day post but this periwinkle prettiness, Adora-bleu, from Bourjois just had to be shared. 

I used the stoopidly simple paperclip technique to add some white and yellow daisies to Summer it up a little and am thrilled with the results. 

Bright breezy blues like this are great complemented by silver polishes too but be sure to use a top coat as the lasting power on Adora-bleu isn't as fabulous as most of the 

Bourjois polishes I've used. 

You'll find Adora-bleu here on Littlewoods, though I managed to pick it up in Boots on the Buy One Get One Half Price deal so if you can visit the shops be sure to do that instead.  

Are you a fan of the blue nail look? 

NOTD: Simple Mint Vintage Roses

You'd have to be blind not to see the mint take over this Spring/Summer, luckily I'd a trusty bottle of Barry M's Mint Green from last year to throw something together quickly for work and meetings today. 

Of course a thin nail art brush will give you much more defined roses but a) I was too tired to go up the stairs last night and b) I kinda like the abstract look. 

Simply dot a light colour 4 to five times on the nail bed and surround it with a darker complementary shade. Exactly the same technique as with leopard print, funnily enough. A couple of green leaves and voila! you're sporting abstract roses. 

What's on your nails today then? 

Rihanna & Marc Jacobs Resort Nails - How To

It's been a little while since I've done a nail art design so when I saw Rihanna pouring out her heart to Oprah in Marc Jacobs Resort mint halter neck this week, I wasn't thinking 'poor ol' RiRi', no, I was thinking 'Oooh that design sure would make some purrty nails. 

The colours are gorgeous together, very like the cherry blossom nails I had previously, just in a slightly different design. Fancy seeing how simple they are to recreate? 

Colours used

A dotting tool and toothpick can be used for the florals (or of course a bobby pin)

Starting with a mint base, the flowers are done with two small dots of each colour. The small pink dots and green leaves are all done using the toothpick, it's much easier to do fine details with the sharper tip. 

Accent Nail

Because the upper half of Rihanna's frock is a concentrated mix of all colours I wrapped the tip of the dotting tool in tissue paper, dipped it into the polish and placed it straight onto the accent nail. 

Place your flowers randomly on the nail bed

The final look

I'm unsure as to whether the accent nail works without the context of the dress but I absolutely love these colours together. It can be recreated using similar colours should you not have the ones I used to hand. 

What do we think? Will you be wearing Marc Jacobs on your talons any time soon? 

Nail Art for Nail Biters - Love Lace

Any of you that follow me on Twitter will have seen me wail about two disastrous nail breaks this week. Instead of wallowing (which I did briefly anyway), I've decided to make use of my newly found nubs as they grow back to their former glory and show you one or two nail looks over the next couple of weeks that can be used on shorter talons. Be you a biter or a breaker, these simple looks will work for you. First Look... Lace. 

They're so short! 

I've used a lace inspired look as the triangle of white on a neutral colour actually elongates the nail, fooling the eye and accentuating the length, it's almost as if you haven't actually been munching on them ad infinitum. Here's just how simple it is to achieve this look. 

1. Start with two coats of your neutral base colour. I chose Bourjois Beige Glamour (that isn't beige at all, it's a dusky rose pink)
2. Using the striper brush place two lines in a chevron formation on the nail bed. I used Model's Own white Nail Art Pen. 
3. Repeat step 2 so that you have four lines. 
4. Using the nib place dots between the two lines on both sides. 
5. Two dots close together and joined at the tip make love hearts. Place two on each side and one in the centre. 
6. A swish of Seche Vite seals your design. You and your nubs are good to go!

 You could always add a few more features like below, but I felt the simpler the better, while nails are this short. Once my own scratchers are long again I'll do a tutorial on a more embellished look. 

A little busy for shorter manis. 

That was six simple steps to nicer nubs. Are you a lover of the lace?

Quick Dry Drops from Zoya and Essence

My grá for nail art runs deep - we know this . My grá for saving time and simplicity runs even deeper. That's why when Supernail Ireland sent me Hurry Up Drops with a recent Zoya package I was intrigued to try them out. 


Turns out they kick ass, one drop on each nail works in 60 seconds to dry them to a beautiful shine. Now, not Seche Vite high shine or Sally Hansen Insta Dry quickness but the dropper application means that you're guaranteed no drag on your nail art designs or decorations (crystals etc.)


For those of us that don't have the budget for Zoya (€17.20) just now though but want to try the concept, Essence have come to the rescue, yet again. Priced at €2.49 Nail Art Express Dry Drops do exactly what they say on the bottle and can be used for ordinary manis as well as nail art wonders. 

It has to be admitted that I do prefer the consistency of Zoya but both dry your nails in just over a minute and give exactly the same result shine wise. While I may never stop being a sucker for Seche Vite, these are a welcome addition to my nail stash and nail art arsenal. 

What think we? Have you tried these drops before?

Valentines Nails - Paperclips Never Fail to Impress Me!

Here we have my first of 3 Valentines nail art tutorials on the run up to the big day. Knowing how many manicures with red, white, pink and combinations of all of three, I wanted to try something different. 

Tools for the job: 

• Base colour: Nails Inc, Paddington
• First accent: Nails Inc, OMP!
• Second accent: Essence, Lime Up
• Paperclip
• Toothpick
• Foil to work from (quickest & easiest clean up)

After your basecoat, apply two coats of your base colour and allow to dry. 

Place your accent colour(s) on the foil for use, if you are trying this for the first time, one colour at a time will be easier. This prevents the second colour from drying too fast as you work. 

Dip the end of the paperclip in your first colour...

& place it on the nail bed

A Second touch at the base of the first and angled away makes your heart!

Place three or four hearts, depending on your nail bed size (Different directions works best for a quirky effect)

Move onto your second accent colour and repeat!

Using either end of a toothpick (or small dotting tool) place tiny dots in alternating colours to fill the gaps and tie the design together. 

The hearts can be tidied using the toothpick too. If you have smudged or been a little over zealous with the paperclip a touch of your base colour on the toothpick should clean it up nicely. 

Finish with a swish of your favourite shiny top coat and that's them. Valentines nails in minutes!

What do we reckon? Will you give them a go?

Konad Nail Stamping - I Wuz Wrong

Konad nail stampers have been around for quite a while now. If I'm honest I've always avoided them because they seemed too fiddly to me, no, I'm not a fan of faffing about to get my talons done.

My Sis picked me up the Christmas special that was on recently on pigsback.com so I was happy to give 'em a whirl.

Luckily, as well as the M12 Christmas plate I recived  the M57 animal print one too. We all know I love animal  print nails. 


Konad recommend you use their polish for stamping purposes as the consistency is so thick, while reading that factoid I was put in mind of Barry Ms Metallic Nail Paint that's just too thick to sit on the nail alone. Tan-spankle-ah-dah! Idea. 

I'm highly recommending using the plate on kitchen towel so when you scrape the excess with the scraper it's caught on the paper.

1. Apply the polish to the pattern of your choice & scrape off the excess using the blade/scraper. 

2. Pressing the stamp firmly onto the plate you lift up your design.

3. Starting at the tip of your nail roll the stamper onto the nail bed in the desired position. For full nail coverage roll side to side without ever lifting the stamp.

4. After a swish of topcoat (Seche Vite preferably) admire your design!

Honestly, this couldn't be easier, folks. You need to work fairly quickly as dry polish will not transfer from the stamp but after a nail or two you'll be flying.

One tip I'll give you is to have mini polish remover pads or remover on tissue to hand to clean as you go (The plate & the scraper). This makes the design sharper and the whole process a lot quicker.

The other designs from the same plate

Head on over to Konad.ie for lists of local demonstrations, prices and products available. Leon has special offers available right now, such as 5 plates for €35 and boasts some of the best customer service skills I've experienced. If it wasn't for #operationshutyerpursehole I'd be over there right now!