Leopard print nails

Unfortunately, my floral and spotty nails were chipping already, so I opted for another change of nails - leopard print! It is one of the easiest and quickest designs I paint, and makes a change from how I would usually have my nails. Leopard print can be done in any colour, but I personally love the natural feel of the traditional leopard print.

What you will need:

Nail varnish remover

Cotton pads and cotton earbuds

Base and top coat (I'm using Rimmel's Nail Nurse Nail Rescue as my nails are fairly brittle at the moment)

A nude colour varnish (Barry M GNP 10 Lychee 313)

A brown nail varnish (Barry M 310 Mushroom 117)

Dotting tools (or the end of a pen lid or hair grip)

A black nail art pen

1. First of all I like to tidy my nails up. I suffer with really dry and excessive cuticles, and so I rub in CND Solar Nail and Cuticle Oil most days, but I also use Sally Hansen's Gel Cuticle Remover. I leave it on for 5 minutes and then push my cuticles back gently with an abrasive cuticle stick. I then apply my base coat to protect my natural nail from the polishes.

2. I then apply two coats of the nude colour nail varnish.

3. I then drip a large dot of the brown nail varnish onto my board (you can always drip it on cling film or paper - anything you don't mind getting dirty - the advantage of cling film or paper is you can just throw it away). Then, using a dotting tool (or pen lid or hair grip) I then cover my nails in dots. 

4. Using a black nail art pen, I then go around the brown dots. If you don't have a steady hand, this nail art is perfect for you! I deliberately make my hand a little shaky, as I think the leopard print looks better when the black outline isn't perfect. Don't do full, neat circles around each dot. Do two semi circles around each brown dot, or leave little gaps in the circles you make. If there are gaps on your nail, do a little dot in the black nail art pen, just to fill the space. It's difficult to explain but super easy to do. I've included a close up photo below

I'd love to hear feedback about my blog so far - I'm just doing a little bit of everything 'Shannon' at the moment, but if there is anything in particular you are enjoying, I'd love to know! Also, if anyone could recommend any nail art techniques, I would love to try them!

♥