Simple Cobalt Accented Nails (with Pictorial)

Hello, hello! I cannot believe that it is already the end of August, where does the time go?! It seemed like just yesterday when I moved back home, and now I'm packing up to go to school again. Summer slipped through my fingers and I can definitely feel autumn creeping in slowly. It's been feeling quite chilly around here recently too; I've already begun to spend my days wrapped up in my warmest blanket and curled in a ball. I am not ready for this, and nothing will ever prepare me for the cold Canadian winters. 

Anyway, this design is the very last of the August weekly nail art challenge , and I must say, I am very proud of the fact that I actually followed through and completed the challenge. I've been very interested in various nail art challenges before, but I've never gotten off my lazy butt long enough to actually complete a set, so I'm giving myself a pat on the back for this. In all honesty, it was a lot of fun to do, but I am uncertain if I will be keeping up with the other weekly nail art challenges to come because I am unsure of how busy I will be during the school year.

This, by far, has to my favorite out of all the August WNAC themes. I have to admit that I found it quite difficult to picture these two colours coming together in the way that they did, but I am super happy with the results. This design also gave me a chance to use a polish I have not used since last summer- 'Bubble Trouble' (by L'oreal). It is just the most gorgeous polish ever, I love it so much, and I have no idea why I've neglected it for so long.

Now, without further ranting, here are my tips and tricks on how to create your own version of these nails:

• Start off by painting your nail a light peach colour. I used L'oreal's 'Bubble Trouble' , which a a somewhat translucent polish, so I had to use several coats to get my desired opacity.
• Use a wedge shaped makeup sponge to create the gradient, the white polish I used is Sally Hansen's 'White Out'
• Next, use a striper brush to create a single blue line down the middle of your nail. Here, I used Sally Hansen's 'Pacific Blue'
• Using a thin brush, widen the blue stripe at the cuticle end of your nail and taper it about 1/3 down the nail into the blue stripe you created
• Outline your blue accent with either a white polish or acrylic paint and add a thin white line to either side of the blue to further accent it, making sure that it follows the curve of the blue line
• Finish your design off with a glossy topcoat and add some 2mm blue rhinestones (optional), the rhinestones will make the design pop out more...literally.

.....And that's it! A really minimal but bold design!