Today I have some nail art to show you. This isn't typical of my normal designs, mostly because I almost never use shatter/crackle. It's not that I don't like it....it's just that I don't love it. But the trend shows no signs of dying anytime soon, so i may as well embrace it to the best of my ability.

Here's the result of a sponged nail using 4 different colors with a thick coat of black shatter over it.

What's your favorite backdrop for a crackle polish? I'm trying to find some new and interesting techniques to use since I'm not a huge fan of the "standard crackle look". Any advice or tips?

Zoya's Tanzy is gorgeous. Much more gorgeous than I expected it to be. Full of a rusty muted orange micro glitter that applies like a dream and dries in record time (for a micro glitter...). As soon as I put it on, I knew that it needed tiger stripes. It's the perfect color for this nail art. Don't you think?

I'd never done tiger stripes before. It was very quick and easy to do. I still prefer leopard print though ;)

To me, half moon manis are chic and a good way to use nailart to achieve a unique but simple look. But, as you can see from this mani I did for today, it's quite easy to "jazz them up". This is 2 coats of China Glaze's White on White and the black I used is Sinful Colors' Black on Black. So essentially you could call this a "White on Black on White" half moon mani. :)



If you're interested in how I did the basic half moon look, you can head on over to Painting Rainbows and check out the tutorial I did as a guest blogger.

The biggest inspiration for me getting into nail art was Japanese nail art. Nobody does it quite like Japan. They have the most talented, creative, and hardcore nail techs over there, and to say that I'm jealous would be an understatement. But despite being jealous, I'm also appreciative. I've gotten many ideas from looking at their creations, and even more hours of enjoyment just by looking at pictures of these awesome nails they decorate. 

I love the dainty girly 2 tones black/pink french tips

yes, they even have mini tutorials!

Note: The the nails second down on the far left are remarkably easy to create using scotch tape :)

These are all so. fucking. amazing.

Pseudo heart shaped Pucci print. Awesome.

Where can I get those little round pieces of glitter? I love that look, and it looks extremely easy...although very monotonous to achieve. I literally have hundreds of these on my hard drive and I'd love to post more of them if anyone else loves them as much as I do :) So let me know! And please, if you use any of them as inspiration in your nail art designs, let me know so that I can check them out!