Micro Bead Nail Art Tutorial

A real 2012 retro nail art idea is the micro bead manicure; it's a simple but kind of messy nail art tutorial but it can look really effective for a special occasion.

I got this idea from Coleyyyful when she posted about her little ebay buy, I had to try them just out of curiosity. The ebay seller has a number of different colour beads so there's probably something for everyone depending on what sort of colour you are wanting. I got silver (pictured above) and rainbow so I could have two different looks. 

You get 20g for £1.75 which isn't bad at all; because these are so tiny 20g is actually a lot! After using them once I still have enough for at least another 3/4 applications I reckon, if not more! As Coleyyyful's tutorial suggests, this is a really easy look to recreate; there are 3 simple steps (after the obvious prepping beforehand which you do before any manicure). All you need is a little pot to keep the beads in, a bigger tub (where excess beads drop), a nail colour of your choice and a top coat.

- Choose a base colour and paint it onto your nail (I used one quite thick coat)

- Hold your finger over the larger tub and pour beads over the nail until completely covered; repeat on all nails and let them set for a minute or two.

- Paint some good quality topcoat over the top to try and seal the beads onto the nail.

And there you go, a Micro-Bead manicure for £1.75!

I love the look of these especially for a special occasion; not so sure about the feel of them but they are very eyecatching. Unfortunately for me longevity is pretty much nil, they are so easily flicked off but as I say it'd be ideal for a night out or 2 days absolute tops because after that they start to look scruffy as some of the beads have fallen off. This isn't anywhere near as messy as I first thought, they don't drop off in bed like I thought they would, they just come off during everyday activities (i.e. Washing up, opening cans etc.)

Easy Children in Need Nail Art

You know I'm all for extremely easy nail art on Girl Up North so I wanted to share this easy Children In Need nail art with just one accent nail that makes the design unmistakable!

All you'll need for this Children in Need nail art is a shade of yellow, a white nail polish, a red, a blue, a green and a dotting tool. 

This tutorial doesn't involve any intricate bear drawings; just 3 simple steps to Children in Need nails:

Step 1:
Paint 4 fingers with your chosen shade of yellow, leaving out an accent finger next to your little finger

Step 2:
Paint your accent finger next to your little finger with the white nail paint. Leave this to dry completely.

Step 3:
Using the dotting tool, dot the red, blue, green and yellow nail paint onto the accent finger.

This nail art is a really fun and inexpensive way to show your support for Children in Need, don't forget to share it with me on Instagram if you try it!

Aztec Nail Art Tutorial

Nail art doesn't have to be complicated and this aztec nail art design is so simple to recreate with just a few tools and nail colours. As with any nail art tutorials on Girl Up North, you can customise the colours to your liking; this is just an easy tutorial for aztec nails.

All you need for this tribal nail design is a striper brush, a dotting tool, a small nail art brush and a white nail colour for the base... the rest is up to you!

Step 1:

Paint your nails with a white base colour; I painted my nails with Sinful Colors: Snow Me White, to give a good base. Leave this to dry completely.

Step 2:
Paint over your whole nail again with a colour of your choice; pictured is Essie Lapis of Luxury. Let this dry completely.

Step 3:
Now take a striper brush, and paint a stripe 1/4 of the way up from the bottom of my nail using a contrasting colour. I used China Glaze: Shocking Pink (Neon). 

Step 4:

Use a striper brush again to paint a black line above the pink, I used Sinful Colors: Black on Black.

Step 5:
Now leave a gap and paint a white line using Sinful Colors: Snow Me White about halfway up the nail.

Step 6: 
Leave another gap and paint another white line, 2 black lines were painted around the white line. Then add the detail with a dotting tool and a small nail art brush.

Aztec/Tribal nail art is one of the easiest nail arts to do, if you make a mistake, you can easily cover it with a line and make it look like it was supposed to be there. You can also change it to your personal preference and make it as 'in-your-face' as you want!

Hope you have fun trying to create some aztec nails, if aztec nails aren't your thing, why not have a look at my leopard print nail art tutorial.

Guest blog by Paige from Nailsaholic.

3 Step DIY Leopard Print Nail Tutorial

I'm a huge fan of leopard print and wanted to transfer my love onto my nails in the easiest way possible so here's a DIY leopard print nail tutorial that you doesn't require any expensive equipment or skills, you can use colours of your choice and the more random you are, the better!



To create this nail art I used a black nail art pen, a nude colour for the base and a pastel blue colour for the detailing. I found that nude was the best base and obviously black to guide your spots but the colour around the black can be totally your choice; I think a pastel green or pink would also look fab.

Step 1:
Paint the nails with a base colour (preferably a light nude shade). Leave this to dry completely.

Step 2:
Pick up a light blue shade (or the colour of your choice) and do rough dots around the nail, don't have too much nail polish on the brush otherwise the dot will end up too thick and won't dry properly. The size of the nail will depend on how many you do but again, make sure these have dried completely before moving on to the next step.

Step 3:
Using a nail art pen or tool, draw little C shapes around the blue dots and add some more rough C shapes around the nail.

(let the polish dry in between each step, otherwise it'll be a smudged mess)

The key with this leopard print nail design is not to be too precise, since when were leopard prints all the same? You can do as many dots and dashes as you like, it's down to individual preference; that's what I love about this design, no two are ever the same. Don't worry if you don't have a steady hand, especially when using the nail art pen, I found that instead of doing a solid line it was easier to do tiny little joined up dots.

Leopard print nail design not your thing? Have a look at my other nail art tutorials.