Category Archives: Tutorials & Tips

Nail Art Tutorial: Cookie Monster Nails

Cookie Monster Nails Nail Art Swatches For a while, I wanted to create Cookie Monster Nails. But it was only until now that I went ahead and did it.

These don’t exactly look like Cookie Monster, though, so I’ll say that they’re inspired by him. 🙂

Only after I started painting did I Google photos of other people’s Cookie Monster nail art, and I kinda wish I looked first because my attempt would’ve turned out better.

Had I not painted my entire nail blue and allowed the googly eyes to sit on top of the blue part, it would’ve looked more like the fun Sesame Street character. If you’re confused, check out the link at the bottom of my post. I’ll show you how someone else did it and how hers look more recognizable.

I still really like this manicure because it’s silly, and I think it’s really fun to have smiling faces on my fingertips.

What do you think? Would you try this? Should I try some other Sesame Street characters? Continue reading →

Nail Art: Blue & Gold (Crooked) Diamond Nails & Tutorial

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Image of Blue & Gold Crooked Diamond 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. **

I was just thinking how far I’ve come since Swatch And Learn was first launched. I’ve tried more things, toed my comfort-zone line… and bought a hella lot of makeup products that I’ve justified by saying, “It’s for the blog.” While Swatch And Learn has taken part in the death of my wallet and sometimes caused me to stay up late to finish a post, I am glad to be a part of it. And I’m really grateful for all the support everyone has shown. We hosted a 1-year blog anniversary giveaway to show our appreciation, but I really want to say: Thanks! Thanks for your support – through comments (which we love to read and answer) and through returning to read our praises/rants of products. 🙂

I’m no expert or guru by any means. I just love playing with colors, something I think we all gather because of. That’s why I’m not embarrassed to show my Blue & Gold Crooked Diamond Nails to you. Well, OK. I’m a little embarrassed. I didn’t actually intend for them to be crooked. Sad face. It’s a good thing I wasn’t aiming for hearts, or they’d be crooked hearts! *awkward laugh*

Anyway, this is a fairly easy design to do in terms of technicality. If you have more patience than I do to place the tape at the right angles on the nails, yours will definitely turn out better (i.e. straight)!

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Nail Art Tutorial: Octopus Nails

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Octopus Nail Art Tutorial & Swatches My previous nail art post featured alien cow nails! Today, I bring you another funky manicure – Octopus Nails!

The quirkier the manicure, the happier I am, apparently. 🙂

Do you stick to classic manicures, or do weird nails like these excite you, too?

Want to know what inspired this manicure? True story: an octopus actually predicted the soccer World Cup champions!

His name’s Paul the Octopus, and if you want to read about this incredible sea creature who should’ve been named Zoltar instead, keep reading. I’ll provide a link at the bottom of this post.

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Nail Art: Red & Silver Swoop Nails & Tutorial

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Image of Red & Silver Swoop 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. **

OK. I don’t even know what a swoop looks like. But I’m calling this design that because that’s the first word that came into my head. So… let’s go with it. 😛 I think my head was thinking of the Nike swoosh, but it’s not exactly that, so it came up with swoop. If you can think of a better adjective for the pointy arrow thinga-ma-jig in the middle of the nail, please let me know. LOL

I got elf Red Velvet recently and wanted to test it out, but I was in no mood for an all-red mani. So I decided to throw silver into the mix because I love this awesome neutral color that has some bling to it. Then I thought: “What the heck? Let’s throw some oddly shaped tape on the nail, too, before painting.” Hence, the Red & Silver Swoop Nails. Is it stunning? No. Lol. But it’s a simple look that’s good as a fast and easy mani that’s not boring. Continue reading →

Nail Art: Hong Kong Flag Nails & Tutorial

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Image of Hong Kong 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. **

So a couple of days ago, I did a nail design for the Canadian flag. My patriotic love doesn’t end at Canada. I was born in Hong Kong where I studied until grade 2 before my family moved to Canada to avoid 1997. We didn’t know what would happen when Hong Kong was returned to China, so we upped and crossed the ocean with everything we owned. I think moving to another country is the change that has affected me the most in my life. It was hard because the cultures and practices are so different. But since I was young, I was able to adapt more easily than the rest of my family.

I miss Hong Kong, but the one thing I don’t miss is the heat there. I’m sorry to all the summer lovers out there – but I can’t stand the heat (so I got out of the kitchen). The sweat, the stickiness, the stench, the sun in your eyes, the dehydration, the feeling tired, the… you get the idea. It doesn’t help that my car’s A/C died and is spewing hot air. BTW, does anyone else ever wish that you could change your car’s color like you change your nail polish? So many times I’ve wondered what my car would look like with a certain polish on.

WOW. I digress. Sorry! Here is my design for Hong Kong Flag nails. It also looks like a cool floral design, doesn’t it? I really like it (not to pat myself on the back or anything :))!
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Nail Art Tutorial: Panda Nails

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Panda Nails Nail Art Tutorial Bear Nail Art Tutorial By now pretty much everyone has seen the cute YouTube clip of a baby panda sneezing. Awww!

And most people should know that the panda is an endangered species. If not for conservation efforts, this beautiful creature might cease to exist.

To help raise wildlife awareness, I decided to create Panda Nails this time. Hope you like it.

Surprisingly, this nail art doesn’t involve a lot of tools. In fact, I used the regular nail-polish brush for all of it except for the eyes and paws – used a dotting tool for that.

It also only uses 3 colors – black, white, and green, so hopefully you’ll find it easier to replicate than, say, The Grapes of Wrath Nails that I did earlier.

Let me know what you think and if there are any other animals you’d like to see me try to paint. I’m not a good artist, but I’m always willing to try. Effort is worth a lot.

P.S. I just thought that you could try doing this in primary colors and they’d look like gummy bears!

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Nail Art: Canadian Flag Nails & Tutorial

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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 →