Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Jenny Packham

I felt like having red nails, so when I saw this glamorous red dress by Jenny Packham, I knew it was the one I wanted to use as my inspiration for this day of the challenge.

I had fun freehanding in some squiggly designs which look a bit floral but weren’t really supposed to be flowers.

I’m pleased with the result – they seem classy yet fun and quirky at the same time, which is what my nail art mission statement would be if I had one!

I used: The Boltons – Nails Inc, Don’t Pretzel My Buttons – OPI

I’ve got a bit of catching up with my posts to do over the next week or so, as I’ve fallen behind in the challenges due to it being feria week here in Córdoba, having a guest to stay this weekend and a trip to Granada planned for our long weekend next week! I’ll try to get back to more regular posts after that!

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Monique Lhuillier

I was feeling a bit exhausted from doing a new manicure every day (again) and was looking for something quite simple for this one, which is not easy given some of Monique Lhuillier’s most fabulous creations are anything but simple.

This bold but simple silver and black dress was just what I was looking for and I’d just picked up a new silver polish which I was eager to try out, so it all worked out perfectly! The silver needed several coats but was very pretty and looked amazing in the sunshine.

I was fairly pleased with the result – it was a pretty manicure but maybe a bit too simple for my taste. I think my skill with the striping brush is improving and my lines are looking less and less wobbly every time I try something like this.

I used: Just Gorgeous – Anny, Black Taxi – Nails Inc.

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Giambattista Valli

I had a great manicure idea planned for this one and then I got home and saw that just another nail art blog had done a fantastic version of the exact same manicure I was going to do! So I started searching for something new and found this pretty draped fabric dress. Surprisingly it’s my second yellow dress that I’ve used for inspiration in this challenge even though yellow is not really one of my favourite colours either on my nails or in my wardrobe.

It was also one of those manicures which I started on without really knowing where I was going with it and how it would end up. It was fun and I got quite a few compliments on it today which I didn’t expect, but I’m still not convinced yellow is my colour!

I used: Sumner Place – Nails Inc, Yellow – Sweets Sweet, Hampstead Gardens – Nails Inc, Holland Park Avenue – Nails Inc, Boot Camp – GOSH

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by L’Wren Scott

I love L’Wren Scott’s designs so much that I could do a month’s worth of nails inspired by her! So it was really difficult to choose one design to base my manicure around for this day of the challenge. These dresses screamed nail art to me though, with their vertical stripes and black or white zigzag shapes.
I painted the stripes in with a medium sized striping brush and then used tape to create the black or white zigzags over the stripes.

I felt pleased with this design, it was fun but not too in your face – I’ll be sad to take this one off!

I used: My Boyfriend Scales Walls – OPI, French Quarter For Your Thoughts – OPI, Black Taxi – Nails Inc.

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Stella McCartney

I’m not used to changing my manicure every single day and this week seems to have been a busy one for me and for my nails! So I was looking for quite a simple idea for the Stella McCartney inspired manicure and found it in this bright colour-block dress.

It was an easy design to do with a layer of a sheer white topped with a curved orange block and a white tip. As much as I love challenging myself with intricate pattern and detail, it was nice to do something simple and bright!

I used: Top of the Ice Stream – Essence, Papaya Punch – China Glaze, My Boyfriend Scales Walls – OPI

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Elie Saab

Oh dear, this one didn’t turn out well… Elie Saab’s dresses are fairytale beautiful and the thing that stood out to me most was the textures he uses. I love the sheer fabrics decorated with flowers, stripes and patterns. that’s what I wanted to capture in my nail art.

Based on dresses like these, my idea was to layer a sheer pink and a sheer white and then decorate them with tiny white and pink flowers. The sheer part worked ok but the decorations started out too subtle, so I kept going with them and they ended up looking blobby and distinctly un-elegant.

I used: Top of the Ice Stream – Essence, South Molton Street – Nails Inc, Warwick Avenue – Nails Inc

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Stephane Rolland

This challenge is really tough and today’s especially so! From a fashion and design point of view, I love Stephane Rolland’s creations. They’re so sculptural and really play with the possibilities of what shape and form can bring to fashion. They’re very pure in that they don’t rely on colour or pattern and focus all the attention on shape. In terms of inspiration for (non 3D) nail art – his designs are not easy to work with!

I liked the simplicity of this black and white dress and the nail art design seemed like it should work in my head. I don’t think it came out as well as I imagined though and the irregularity of the white shapes looks accidental rather than intentional.

I used: Black Taxi – Nails Inc, Floral Street – Nails Inc, OY-Another Polish Joke – OPI

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Renta was a tough one as there were so many gorgeous gowns to choose from. I loved this bright and fun yellow dress. It feels summery and I thought the black and white flowers would work well for nail art.

I didn’t have a yellow that matched the dress colour well, but I think the overall effect works. I wish I had gone over the black lines one more time to make them look a bit smoother – this is not my neatest work ever! I used acrylic paint for the flowers and I still haven’t quite mastered using it. Sometimes it works really well for me, other time it just feels so thick and heavy to work with…

I used: Mellow Yellow – Sally Hansen, black and white acrylic paint.

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Marchesa

I wasn’t going to do another challenge for a while but this one sounded really fun, so I’m going to participate in at least a few days of it. I’m a couple of days late starting but I’ll catch up.

The Ten Days of Couture Nail Art has been organised by Just Another Nail Art Blog and I love the idea of taking inspiration from some of fashion’s top designers.

The first on the list was Marchesa – after getting distracted by their fabulous bridal collection and wishing I could have a Marchesa gown for my wedding, I finally found this stunning diamanté dress which seemed like it would translate perfectly to nail art in the form of a glitter gradient. I’ve tried a glitter gradient once before and it was a partial success, so I was keen to have another go at this technique. I like the gradient effect better over a dark base colour so I think this manicure was more striking than my previous attempt

I used: Wanna Say Hello – Essence, Electric Avenue – Nails Inc, Devonshire Street – Nails Inc

You can see the list of Couture designers that will be inspiring us here if you feel like joining in.