Category Archives: Nail Art

Nail Art: Canadian Flag Nails & Tutorial

Image of Canadian Flag Nails ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

Boo. My second attempt at nail art kind of failed. Sad face. They don’t really even look like the Canadian flag! Hahah. Even though I don’t really want to post it, I have to because Swatch And Learn is proudly Canadian. And since I did an American flag one, I have to represent north side of the border. I had a blast with the American flag one, especially when I inspired a co-worker to do a tape manicure design, too! That’s always encouraging.

I also had fun with my Canadian Flag nails. I got to work with Sally Beauty Sprinkles – I used the heart shape because I <3 Canada. Tee hee. I’m still working on my taping technique because there was, again, some bleeding. If anyone has any advice for me, I would love to hear it. I’m just starting out and want to get better!

~Whisper~ I like my American Flag nails (design wise) better because it’s cuter and more intricate. But shhhh. Don’t tell our Canadian readers. ~End whisper~ Continue reading →

Nail Art Tutorial: The Grapes of Wrath Nails

12 Replies

The Grapes of Wrath Manicure & Tutorial Nail art is so much fun, especially when it’s food-related! Am I hungry? Probably! I’m hungry for fun(ny) nail art!

Today I wanted to do grape nail art, but decided to put a little quirky twist on it. Here are my The Grapes of Wrath Nails!

Haha, as you can see, the middle finger has a bunch of very upset red grapes. Maybe it’s because the other clusters of purple grapes are staring at him and smiling. Who knows? (I wanted to make the red grapes look angrier, but I goofed up on the eyebrows. Should’ve made the angle more acute.)

What do you think is the background story here? Is Mr. Red Grapes upset because he’s being judged?

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. And when life hands you sour grapes, make quirky nail art! Continue reading →

Nail Art Tutorial: Fried Egg Nails

18 Replies

Egg Nails Tutorial, Pictures & Swatches If you follow Swatch And Learn on Twitter, you’ll know that a few days ago, I woke up in the morning with a strong craving for chili. Very unusual considering I like having eggs for breakfast.

Today, I decided to pay tribute to one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast…because sometimes I’m a bit of a goofball. Normally I like scrambled eggs, but I thought that a fried, sunny-side-up egg would look cuter and less like polish poo-poo. (Yes, I am also apparently very mature, which is why I said poo-poo. And which is why I also said it a second time.)

Hope you have fun looking at my silly Fried Egg Nails! It was really simple to do, and I’ve explained it all step-by-step alongside visual aids in case you’d like to try it, too.

If you try your hand at it, maybe you could also add some bacon! (With all the scented polishes out there, it’s too bad there isn’t a bacon-scented one…although I’m not sure if I would want to smell like bacon all the time. The neighborhood dogs might chase after me…) Continue reading →

Nail Art Tutorial: Strawberry Nails

26 Replies

Easy Strawberry Nail Tutorial For a long time, I’ve been wanting to create Strawberry Nails. Not only am I a huge fan of the fruit, but I am a child of the 80s and was in love with Strawberry Shortcake!

Then on Tuesday, I came across an absolutely adorable strawberry manicure on one of my favorite nail blogs ever – Steph’s Closet! (Steph is a real sweetheart & I’ve followed her blog for years.)

She makes everything look easy, and she is the Queen of Polka Dots…hehe! (Check out the link to her strawberry nail post at the bottom of mine. If you stop by, tell her that Mary sent ya!)

For these strawberry nails, I wasn’t sure which pink polish to use. But then the Nail Polish God spoke: China Glaze Strawberry Fields! (I love it when lacquer makes the choice obvious for me…hehe!)

Then, for the dots and leaves, I used a mixture of OPI, Zoya, and Konad polishes.

Further along in this post, I’ve included a tutorial with step-by-step instructions and photos in case you want to put your own spin on this.

I’m having a lot of fun doing fruit nail art. What do you think of my strawberry nails? Would you like to see me attempt other fruit-inspired manicures? I’d love to try more! Continue reading →

Nail Art Tutorial: Neon Rainbow Argyle Konadicure Using Konad Image Plate m60

6 Replies

Rainbow Neon Argyle Nail Tutorial Konadicure Swatches Especially in the summer, I love to crack out my neon nail polish. It’s so bright that even in the shade, it looks like it’s glowing! And that makes me really happy.

But this time, I couldn’t decide which neon polish to paint my nails with, so I decided to use four…plus Konad Image Plate m60 to give it a different flavor.

For this Neon Rainbow Argyle Konadicure, I used Essie Funky Limelight, China Glaze Sun Worshiper, China Glaze Pool Party, and China Glaze Kiwi Cool-Ada! Put those together and you’re ready for a manicure mambo!

It was much brighter in real life than in my photos. I think it was a fun look that I may try again with different colors.

What do you think? Will you be sporting any neons this summer? Continue reading →

Nail Art: Patriotic American Flag Nail Art & Tutorial

16 Replies

Image of Patriotic American Flag Nail Art ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

Howdy! Happy 4th of July to all our friends on the south side of the border! Hope you have a great long weekend with friends, family, loved ones and some BBQ’d meats. At least that’s what I did on Canada Day!

Anyway, I want to celebrate this special day with my very first real nail-art attempt. I’m actually surprised with it since it’s my first ever design, although of course there is room for improvement. I made soooo many mistakes doing this, but that’s how we learn, right?

I had a lot of fun creating this Patriotic American Flag Nail Art… so much so that I’m thinking of doing an entire series on national flags! I’m hoping to take a vacation overseas soon and was just thinking (and getting excited) about traveling to a foreign land with its flag on my nails. OoOOo. Continue reading →

Nail Art: Hello Kitty Nails

13 Replies

Hello Kitty Image Plate Nail Art Swatches I’m not obsessed with Hello Kitty merchandise, but I do think she’s cute. So when the Born Pretty Store was giving away 1000 or so image plates featuring the adorable feline, how could I resist?

I’ve had the plate for a while, so it’s about time that I used it, right? Did you join in this promotion and get yours free, too? Share your Hello Kitty manicure with me – I’d love to see!

After playing around with it for a bit, these are my Hello Kitty Nails using the Born Pretty Store Image Plate M71!

It’s nothing fancy, but it did make me smile every time I looked at them.

Continue reading →