I Was Made for Loving You

When I think about creating nail art, the things that inspire me are the things that I love. So when I discovered a client's mutual love of the band KISS, I immediately thought of the Dynasty album cover and was inspired to create some badass band member nails for her.

When the hottest band in the world learned of my hand-painted nail designs, they featured it on their official website.

Lights...Camera...Mani!

 Jazz up a simple manicure with some striping tape and a glitter polish from the same color family. If you don't layer your glitter polish too thick it will actually be more chip resistant than regular polish.

 Here I added a little flair with a non-traditional glitter chevron French. Always remember to cap the free edge and use a high quality top coat that provides both durability and shine!

Polish Like A Rock Star

Why not pay tribute to your favorite rock star with your mani? Nothing is more rock and roll than a little drama and flair on your nails! For this look, my muse was my client's favorite singer, David Bowie and more specifically the cover of his Aladdin Sane album.

Using the photo as inspiration, I hand-painted the lightning bolt design on the nails with a striping brush. Anything can inspire nail art, so the next time you watch your favorite movie or hear your favorite song, etc - think about how you can visually translate the things that you love the most to wear on your nails. Develop a style that is uniquely you!

A Monster of a Manicure

With my favorite holiday coming up in a few weeks, I thought I'd revisit some nail art that I created for my Halloween costume last year. I was Ms. Freddy Krueger and created some pointed red and green striped nails to match Freddy's iconic sweater. The red was an old Sally Hansen color that I decided to finish off and I custom mixed the green to get the exact shade that I wanted.

Of course, there are another set of nails that Freddy Krueger is famous for - and I had those too!

Be creative, have fun! Try matching your manicure with your Halloween costume this year!

V Isn't Just For Vendetta Anymore

V-Gap is a nail trend introduced by London-based nail technician, Sophy Robson at Antonio Beradi's Fall '11 fashion show which first became popular in Europe and soon after in the United States. It is somewhat like a V-shaped “Moon Manicure” with a tiny gap in the middle of the design, which gives the illusion of a split. The beauty of this modern look is in its versatility: It can be sleek and subtle with dark or neutral shades and a matte finish, or chic and flashy by combining bright hues and a shimmering finish. The reason that the technique is called “V-Gap” is exactly that – a “V” shape is made at the moon of the nail with nail polish, while leaving a very small “gap” all the way down the center of the nail to the tip.This is definitely a look you are going to want to have in your nail art arsenal!

Nailing Your ABC's

When it comes to fashion, some people are particularly brand conscious and like to advertise who they’re wearing on the front of their shirt or on their handbag, for example. And in some cases, the label is the whole design. So it’s no surprise that a rising nail trend over the past couple of years draws inspiration from this idea of words as fashion. Typography nails are all about displaying letters in aesthetically pleasing combinations, which is not difficult as written language has its own natural balance and form. The easiest way to create this edgy look is with Newspaper Nails. Remember using Silly Putty on a newspaper comic strip? All this technique involves is dipping wet, just-polished nails into rubbing alcohol (or Vodka) and pressing newspaper against them for 30 seconds. Finish with your favorite top coat. Voila!

My favorite variation on this look is to use foreign newspapers -- Chinese, Russian, etc. for an exotic and unique manicure. You can try using comic strips too, but the images are usually too large to fit on most nails and will require careful and artistic trimming to be usable.

If you're not usually a "Do-It-Yourself" kind of girl, there is a typography nail set by The New Black sold at Sephora with all of the materials you will need to execute this manicure with the least amount of work possible. Also, Essie has a full cover nail applique that adheres to nails just like a sticker and wears about the same amount of time as a nail polish manicure (up to 5 days).

The Key to Color Blocking

Keep clients excited with your services by constantly incorporating the latest and most popular trends in nail art design. Geometric patterned nail designs are a go-to manicure trend among celebrities who enjoy pushing the fashion envelope including Fergie, Solange Knowles and Katy Perry. The technique is often called “color blocking” – a simple way of creating patterns that place complementary blocks of solid color next to each other to construct eye-catching designs. For even more pizzazz, different finishes or textures, such as glitter or beads can also be included. This is a style that is fun to wear and ranges from minimal and simple to highly elaborate. Now there’s no excuse not to get into shape!

Make It Metallic

The hottest trend on the streets, in magazines, and on the celebrities since Spring 2010 are super shiny metallic nails. Stars like Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Beyonce have been rocking glimmering metallic nails in both solids and prints over the past couple of years. This look can be accomplished a number of ways -- at home with metallic nail polish or full cover metallic nails sold in stores like Sally Beauty and Ricky's in a brand called Nail Bliss. In the salon, there are more options to acheive this look including nail lacquer, nail wraps such as Minx or Dashing Diva Design FX, and UV gels. Why not be bold and daring this Spring/Summer and shimmer with eye-catching metallic nails?

The Kiddie Nail Craze

Nail services for children have been rising in popularity for some time now, especially with the birthday party set of little princesses that want to get pampered and polished in style. However, child stars and the children of celebrities have recently taken nail services for kids to a whole new level with dramatic style and flair for girls and boys alike. Little Suri Cruise prefers simple polished manicures in pretty pastel shades, while teen pop sensation Willow Smith delights in imaginative 3-D embellished acrylic extensions. The new kid on the block that has everyone talking is Gwen Stefani’s fashion-forward son, Kingston Rossdale. Kingston’s multi-color manis and pedis were the talk of the town and a bold move for him when he began sporting them as a mere five-year-old. Like his fashionable Mom, Kingston has a flair for style and often sports designer duds and a highlighted faux-hawk.

Half & Half For A Whole New Look

Half and Half manis are picking up momentum because there are so many variations on the theme and the color combinations are truly endless. The simplest ways to achieve the look include the straightforward vertical and diagonal styles: the nail is segmented into two halves with color or designs. The more sophisticated half and half look involves taking the curve out of smile lines and using straight horizontal lines across the nail to separate colors and designs for a two-tone look that can be accented in numerous ways. Celebrity fans of this trend include Keri Hilson and Amerie.

Jungle Fever

The lovely ladies of stage and screen are simply wild for animal print nail art. Fun and sexy, this look has a veritable treasure trove of styles ranging from zebra and giraffe to a plethora of jungle cats. Celebrity enthusiasts of this look include Ke$ha, Fergie, Rihanna and Katy Perry, who often like to take it to the next level by mixing their animal print nail art with shimmering metallic polish and glitter. So go on...get your animal print nail art on!

Chipped Manicures

Back in 2008, the New York Times reported that chipped manicures were a hot new trend, but the look faded from popularity before it had a chance to go mainstream. Fast forward to 2010 and the chipped manicure once again made waves in Europe after being sported in saucy shades of red by the editors of Vogue and Elle and on this side of the pond by Tibi designer, Amy Smilovic. Ms. Smilovic went so far as to post her inspiration for the look on the Tibi Facebook page with pictures of a mangled mani she paid for at a nail salon and news quickly trickled down to several fashion blogs. It is unlikely that this look will ever truly catch on outside of the punk/goth scene, but stylish celebrities such as Taylor Momsen, Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus and Jessica Simpson have already been caught rocking this trend – though whether they are intentionally going for this look or are in serious need of a proper manicure is unclear. However, keep in mind -- a flawless manicure will NEVER go out of style!

Lace Nails

Not since Madonna’s 1980’s fingerless lace gloves has lace as a hand accessory been such a sensation! Lace Nails are achieved by cutting thin pieces of lace material and affixing them to the natural nail with nail adhesive. They can then be polished over with a clear coat for a long lasting, shiny finish, sealed with UV gel or left bare for a short-term matte effect. The color, texture and pattern of the lace contribute to the vast variety of options for implementing this look. The nature of the process ensures that no two nails will be exactly alike, which is enticing to those looking to make a unique statement with their manicure. Lace Nails have been spotted on the red carpet upon fashion-forward celebrities such as Blake Lively and Jennifer Lopez, among others.

Blackberry Bling

In this technological age, it seems like everyone is incessantly typing away on their iPhones and Blackberries, as texting has become the preferred means of communication. Along with progress, must come style and “Blackberry Bling” is the fearless fashionista’s way of making more than one statement while texting. The idea is to polish the four fingers of the hand one color and then the thumbs in a different, yet complimentary color or use glitter and gems to embellish them. This makes the thumbs stand out from the rest of the hand, as they are the fingers used to type when texting. An alternate variation is to paint the ring fingers to match the thumbs. This is a fun and flashy look for clients looking for something bold and unique in their manicure.

Crack-tastic Nails!

For a brief moment back in the early 1990s “crackle” nail polish came and went as a beauty trend without much to make it memorable. However, the idea has been vastly improved upon and has recently re-emerged as a fashionable and chic manicure trend. The process involves using two contrasting coats of specially formulated nail polish that “cracks” letting one color show through underneath the other. It's a simple way to achieve a complex-looking nail art pattern. For about a year the trend was gaining momentum in Europe, but it was very hard to obtain the polish in the United States.

Soon thereafter, celebrities like Katy Perry took notice of the fun and edgy look and influenced several American brands to produce their own lines of crackle polish. She released her own version of "shatter" polish with OPI in 2011 to great success and almost all of the major professional and retail lacquer companies have since released their own versions. Some brands are difficult to work with and it's hard to get a smooth even coat of it on nails, so a little practice with it goes a long way. Also, don't try to thin out these products with nail polish thinner! The formula will lose its ability to crack or shatter if thinner is added to it. Love the look, but hate working with the thick and clumpy formulation? Try Dashing Diva's new DesignFX nail appliques (available only to professional nail technicians) which are available in a multitude of patterns -- including several crackle designs.

Katy Perry's Smurf Nails Steal the Show at NY Movie Premiere

Precious few celebrities know how to accessorize quite like the ever glamorous and eye-catching Katy Perry. Mere clothing is heightened to an art form when combined with the right accessories – and that includes nails, of course!

This past weekend, Mrs. Russell Brand glittered like no other on the red carpet of the New York premiere of The Smurfs movie. Rocking newly blonde locks and some 1970’s inspired eye shadow, Katy was decked out in her smurfiest finery, including a bedazzled Smurfette dress by The Blonds and Christian Louboutin heels in that beloved shade of cartoon blue. By far, the detail that pulled the entire ensemble together was her magical manicure created by the fabulous Pattie Yankee-Williams of Dashing Diva Professional. Each nail is a tiny work of art featuring images of the film’s characters, including the iconic Smurf vixen, Smurfette, aptly voiced by Perry in the film.

Thrilled with the finished results of her coordinating mani, Perry tweeted a photo of her nails before the event! Once again the combination of Katy Perry’s fearless style and Pattie Yankee-Williams’ creativity and skill is a winner, hands down!