Lana Del Rey Nails: Tutorial

Last winter, Lana Del Rey released her awesome music video for Born to Die. When I watched it, one of the first things I noticed about it were the nails (obviously). I promptly recreated the design on my nails and posted about it on the blog. The nails were tipped with a red Vv" outlined in gold glitter. Here is a video snapshot I took of the video:

I can see that a lot of you have been checking out that post, so I thought I might show you, step-by-step, how I recreated this look. 

What you will need for this manicure:

1. Clear base coat 

2. Nude polish (optional)

3. Red polish

4. Gold glitter polish

5. Top coat

6. Small paintbrush

Obviously, you can change up the red polish and gold glitter to other combinations if you wish!

1. Start with a clear or nude base

Here, I simply did a clear base coat on the nail. Use a clear polish if your nails are healthy and not stained - mine are slightly yellowed around the tips, but that will be covered by red polish for this manicure. If you are less inclined to show your natural nail, feel free to use a nude polish instead. 

2. Dot the middle of the tip

Using your small paintbrush and red polish, use a dot to roughly mark where the middle of the nail is on the tip.

3. Dot the middle of the sides
Using your small paintbrush and red polish, use two dots on each nail to mark the middle of the nails on  both edges.

4. Create the "V" shape
This is the slightly trickier part, but the dots are there to make it easier by guiding your brush. With the small paintbrush, connect each side dot from step 3 to the middle dot from step 2. Here, I usually round the lines slightly, creating a bulge and making the "v" slightly concave. However, if you prefer, you can make these lines straight but it takes a little more patience and steady-handedness.

5. Fill in the "V" shapes
Here, you can either use your small paintbrush, the polish brush, or a combination of the two. If using the polish brush, be sure not to stray beyond the lines of the "v"! Cleaning up could be quite the task here (you might have to re-start). To be safe, you could roughly fill in the larger areas with the polish brush and then fill in the leftover, hard to reach spots, with the small paintbrush.

6. Outline the "V" in gold glitter

This part may seem daunting because of the thin line, but it isn't. This is because glitter tends to be forgiving when creating delicate shapes. With glitter, it is not very obvious if the lines are not perfect and the individual glitter bits can be pushed around with a toothpick and pushed into the right shape. That is why I recommend using a glitter for the outlining as opposed to a metallic or opaque polish - glitter camouflages imperfections!

There you go - the infamous Lana Del Rey manicure. In my opinion, this is one of the best manicures out there right now. It is universally flattering and elongates the fingers. Plus, it is pretty sexy. Try out for yourself and you will see!

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American Apparel X Beauty School Dropouts

My set up

Last Saturday, I spent the afternoon at American Apparel in the Rideau Centre doing fun manicures all day. I had access to all of AA's nail polishes (amazing colours) and the manicures were free! 

The spread

I genuinely love working with AA polishes - they have amazing colours that go on very opaque (an important quality in a polish), have bold and awesome glitters, and perfect neons. The possibilities were endless! I had such an amazing time painting everyone's nails and making your nail-art ideas happen! Check out some manicures below with the corresponding AA polishes.

For this leopard print manicure, I used Gold Flash for the base, Cocoa for the spots, and Hassid for the accents. 

For this blue rose manicure, I used Summer Peach for the base, American Denim and Mount Royal for the rose, Crescent Heights for the leaves, and Hassid for the accents. 

For this adorable fairy nails manicure, I used Coney Island for the base, Light Year glitter on the tips, and T-Shirt for the tiny bow on the ring fingers. 

For this girly bow manicure, I used Angeline as the base and Hassid for the bows.

This lovely girl was headed to the Carivibe Festival and wanted to represent Jamaica on her nails - this is what I came up with! I love these nails. I used Hasid, Neon Green, and Sunshine State. 

For these rose nails, I used Mount Royal as the base, Poppy and Rouge for the rose, Crescent Heights for the leaves and Coney Island for the accents.

Love the twist on the classic French Manicure here...I used Dance as the base and Gold Flash as the tips.

I absolutely love this version of the Lana del Rey manicure! This manicure is universally flattering and has an uber-cool factor thanks to the lady who first wore it. I used Dance as the base, Passport Blue on the tips, and Gold Flash for the accents. 

What a great day! Plus, being surrounded by AA clothes was not so horrible either...other than the fact that I was tempted to spend my entire life savings on summer clothes ;)

Can't wait to do this again! Thanks to all the ladies who came out and the superb AA employees who helped make my day awesome.

Thanks for having me!

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Nail Party!

On Thursday, we had the pleasure to join an amazing group of ladies for a belated-birthday-nail-party. It was great! Everyone was so generous - we got offered delicious drinks and snacks all night until we could no longer resist and finally tasted the delicious peanut butter and chocolate squares (SO good). Plus, everyone had such creative ideas for their nails...we were so impressed! And take a gander at the cake they had:

How awesome is that?! Really awesome. Now, check out some of the awesome manicures we did. We had a blast and we can't wait to have more nail parties this summer!

 A great grey base, black French tips, and glitter!

Really great black and gold chevrons (aka "The Lana del Rey) on a peachy base

Adorable white daisies on a lavender base

 A neat turquoise marble effect on a nude base

Great coral-y nails with a punch of a neon stripe...

...and they match her wallet! (unintentional, we promise)

 Juicy watermelon nails perfect for summer!

Thin grey French tip on a peachy base with a lone red accent heart

...and, last but not least, a minty French tip on a peach base with a cute little blue bird...

...so she can literally flip the bird. Ha!

What a great night - we truly cannot wait until our next nail party! Here is the whole group! Hope you had a great time ladies :)

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Thigh High Stockings Nails

I love taking manicures to the next level by adding cool details on the tips. With the popularity of the Lana Del Rey manicure, I have definitely fallen in love with keeping my nails pretty simple except for some special design on the tip. It's all about taking the classic French manicure (yawn) and shaking it up with a modern and feminine twist. These two manicures remind me of thigh high stockings, so that's what I've chosen for the name. Plus, who wouldn't want to sport the spicy playfulness of thigh high stockings on their fingertips? Count me in!

The first variation of this manicure is in black, with a line of black polka dots.

For this manicure, I used Essie's Sand Tropez and Deborah Lippmann's Fade to Black. 

The other version I came up with is red with scalloping - which creates a lace-y look.

For this varation, I used Deborah Lippmann's Naked and China Glaze's China Red.

Ooh la la! 

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That was SO BFF!

Us (the BSDs) getting ready to manicure!

The BFF shopping night was such a blast! We got to spend the evening doing what we love best (nail-arting) all the while hanging out with old and new BFFs alike. Cocktail wieners, wine, manicures, giggling, and shopping...what else could any girl ask for?

Manicuring away!

While we were chatting/shopping away at Victoire Boutique in Wellington West all evening, there was also a super fun time going on at viens avec moi - an ah-mah-zing new shop that just opened up down the street (seriously, check it out...you will not regret it!). I already have a mental list of all the things I need to go buy from there, pronto! (If I were you, I would check out their website, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter - you need to get in on their awesome style). They had a free photo booth set up; stocked with balloons, sunglasses, and hats to pose with; where you could get your photos taken by the awesome and uber talented Christopher Schlesak (check out his Twitter here). Once the night was over, we all popped over to VAM boutique to get in on the photo booth action...we can't wait to see the shots!

Pictured along with some of our supplies

Our manicure addiction was satiated on Saturday night, and we are so thankful to all the awesome ladies who came out with great manicure ideas (we also thank the ones who said "Do whatEVER you want!" Seriously?? Score!). 

Check out some of the final products we came up with:

Shelbie opted for adorable white daisies on a light aqua background. So cute!

Amanda chose a silver background, glitter tips, and mustaches. What a fun combination!

The BFFs pictured together - on their way to see A Dangerous Method! (Go Jung!)

Cathia went for a metallic royal blue to match her outfit along with gold glitter on the tips

Magalie chose a deep burgundy with statement glitter tips...awesome!

BFFs showing off their finger tips!

Madison asked for a neutral base with light aqua polka dots and stripes...love this combo!

Carolynn got a beige base with light pink roses - one of our fave's!

Madison and Carolynn showing off their manis...off to a night full of adventures!

Lynne requested this awesome sliver moon glitter manicure inspired by Style by Santina - love it!

Tanya chose the ultimate deep blue glitter mani - ooh!

The BFFs rocking their glitter manicures - shine on!

Jess got a peach and pink version of the Lana del Rey manicure - love this colour combo.

So cute, Jess!

In honor of Crispin Glover's presence in Ottawa at the Mayfair Theater this weekend, Julie requested a Crispin-inspired manicure (the first of its kind, I think). Note: rats and a middle part . Creepily awesome, Julie!

Fortunately, the creepiness doesn't take away from your cuteness! Hope you had fun at the screening :)

Bonita (the Victoire contest winner!) asked for a (tiny) Matryoshka Doll manicure - adorable!

We love it!

Veronica gave us full creative license so I went with silver and plum leopard to match her dress!

Shannon went with the Lana del Rey...this manicure is so awesome! Great choice.

The BFFs goofing off - great way to finish off the night!

Wee! That was such an awesome experience. We can't wait to see you ladies again for more manicure madness. And thank you to Victoire Boutique & viens avec moi for making all of this possible! BFFs joining forces with other BFFs to support each-other - Ottawa is the best!

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