After the Valentine’s cute nails the week before, I was after something a little tougher for my next manicure and my new Nails Inc leather effect (out of stock) black varnish fit the bill.
Nails Inc Bling It On Leather & Skulls - Black

Although it comes with tiny crystal skulls and glue to apply, I really wanted to try out my new 1mm square silver studs that had just arrived from Born Pretty Store – which is a great place to get hold of low cost tools, brushes and all sorts of things for nail art.

After a base of OPI Nail Envy, I painted 2 nails on each hand with 2-3 coats of leather polish and added two studs.  To avoid looking too goth, the rest of my nails were painted in two coats of OPI Skull & Glossbones with a coat of Orly Sheer Nude in between to add a hint of warmth. Nude nails were topped with a coat of Seche Vite and a single stud – no topcoat for the Nails Inc to maintain the slight crazing and semi matte finish.  It really does look like a fine textured leather – I might try adding a matte topcoat in future to see if it gives a suede effect to the leather.

Here’s the finished look! I think it looks classy but edgy too.  Not too goth, not a boring nude nail either (despite it being the _in_ thing right now, it’s just so dull!!)

Studded leather and nude nails by Keely's Nails

I’ve included a close-up of the Nails Inc so you can see the finish a bit better… You can see I applied the studs with the polish to avoid shine off any glue seepage.  The studs were fairly easy to apply although a little fiddly to position before the polish dried.

Studded leather nails by Keely's Nails using Nails Inc
Next blog up… Birthday Nails!!