Amelia’s Magazine | Christmas Nail Art and Nail Varnish Gift Guide 2012

Beauty Portrait by Sine Skau
Christmas Beauty by Sine Skau.

The beauty and fashion world’s obsession with fabulous nails seems to show no sign of waning: in fact, the speed with which images appear on the #nailart hashtag on instagram is mind boggling (go on, try searching). There are a lot of people obsessed with what to put on the end of their pinkies… nail art, it seems, is the ultimate expression of creativity in a consumer society where hard manual labour is no longer the norm. Tap-tapping on a computer or iphone is of course the perfect way to admire beautiful nails, and who can resist getting swept away in the fun?

Snow Queen by Dom&Ink
Snow Queen by Dom&Ink.

My new found love affair with nail varnish stems from the fact that I’ve realised what a great beauty lift it is and I can usually fit in a new set of nails in the slim gap between Snarfle going to sleep and my own bedtime. Also, my nails are way stronger now that I am a mum, which makes it easier to wear nail varnish on a regular basis: I put it down to all that breast milk I’m making.

Summer tans (if you were lucky enough to get one) may be nothing more than a distant memory but there’s plenty of fun to be had with winter beauty. Here’s my guide to some festive ideas for nails this Christmas time.

Ciate caviar manicure
I had my nails done with a Ciate Caviar Manicure during the Snow PR press day a few weeks ago: this look is a major nod to the texture trend currently rampaging through the nail world (shatter top coats have given away to 3D textures like the Caviar micro baubles and matte looks such as velvet, leather and concrete). It’s supposed to be worn on its own but my rainbow was done with an orange base, and it looks like my nails are caked in hundreds and thousands: good enough to eat.

Ciate christmas advent calendar nail polish
Ciate Christmas advent calendar. Image courtesy of Lily Pebbles.

Unfortunately it didn’t last. Having said that in general I am a big fan of Ciate nail polishes – they look ever so pretty in their square pots adorned with a little black bow, and the basic colours last really really well. I’d love to have one of their sweet little advent calendars (above) : a new colour in a mini pot every day.

Christmas glitter nails nail art
For a more easy going textured effect there’s nothing like applying a heavy dose of glitter to get that Christmas mood; which is exactly what I did today when I found this metallic pink glitter varnish at the bottom of my in nail polish tin.

polish infatuated opi skyfall nail polish The living daylights
The Living Daylights by OPI. Image courtesy of Polish Infatuated.

If you want a more up to the date look you could go for OPI‘s The Living Daylights, part of their Skyfall range, to tie in with the Bond movie of the same name. Here seen on a dark base coat.

OPI_gold flake top coat
OPI gold flake top coat. Image courtesy of Sparkly Vernis.

I’d personally love a pot of the real gold flake nail varnish too: it creates a kind of supremely luxe leopard spot effect. How delightfully decadent.

christmas-nail-art-designs-red snowflakes
Moving on to more trends: there are a lot of snowflake transfers around – I’ve never tried them but they seem an easy way to achieve something wintery. Above is a fun look I found online. There are some great Holiday themed wraps available from Minx Nails.

I asked nail enthusiast Laura Thompson of Clothes Hound to put together some special Christmas nail art for me, and here’s what she came up with:

clothes hound nail art christmas snow storm hands

Watch the tutorial for how to create Snow Storm nails above.

Laura writes ‘Christmas Crackers – theres no such thing as ‘too much’ at Christmas time, so here is just about every festive nail I could think of. I think my personal favourite is the ombre style snow storm with sleigh silhouette (above), but it’s so hard to choose I may just have to have a new design for each week in the lead up to the big day!’

clotheshound_christmas nail art
clothes hound nail art christmas wheeltools
‘To create the designs on my wheel I’ve used a variety of polishes (see photo), sponges, a striping brush, dotting tool, a wooden skewer and nail art pens. I’m a big fan of Ebay for nail art products; that’s where I get my pens, gems and tools. I try to use household products as much as possible to make it easier for others to recreate.’

I also love these Christmas nail art suggestions on We Were Raised By Wolves. And for those who are really serious about their nails: here are some great ideas for presents from some of my favourite brands (the ones that have both great coverage and staying power):

Couture nails inc nail art christmas gift
This couture set by Nails Inc is bling-tastic. Pick your favourite crystal encrusted lid, add the coloured varnish of your choice, and personalise the gift box with stickers.

Baublebar and Essie christmas gift nail art
Jessica nails offers a cute little trinket box with two Christmassy shades, but it is another brand that really comes up trumps. Essie has teamed up with Baublebar to offer you a bespoke set of bangles to go with your nail varnish: I think this idea just about sums up how important nails have become – now you can accessorise to match your nail varnish rather than the other way around. Go on, give in to wonderful nails: tis the season to enjoy them.

Categories ,#nailart, ,2012, ,3D textures, ,Advent Calendar, ,Baublebar, ,Beauty, ,bespoke, ,Bling, ,Bond, ,Breastfeeding, ,Caviar Manicure, ,Christmas, ,Ciate, ,Clothes Hound, ,concrete, ,couture, ,Crystal, ,Dom&Ink, ,Essie, ,Fake Tan, ,Gift Guide, ,Holiday, ,instagram, ,Jessica, ,Laura Thompson, ,leather, ,Lily Pebbles, ,Matte, ,Mini Mani Month, ,Minx Nails, ,Nail Art, ,Nail Polish, ,Nail Transfers, ,Nail Varnish, ,Nail Wrap, ,Nails Inc, ,OPI, ,Polish Infatuated, ,Self Tan, ,Shatter top coat, ,Sine Skau, ,Skyfall, ,Snarfle, ,Snow PR, ,Snow Storm, ,Snowflake, ,Sparkly Vernis, ,Summer Tan, ,Tanning, ,Textures, ,The Living Daylights, ,trend, ,Trinket box, ,Velvet, ,We Were Raised by Wolves

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