Nail Art

Perfect for the budding tween/teen nail artist. (4 stars)

Nail art has been trending for several years now and what used to be viewed as trashy, has since become so popular it's everywhere. From the lunch lady to the celebrity, beautytubers to preschoolers. I'm terrible at it but I love it as an art form so I was curious what this book would bring to a young artist. My own daughter is a few years to young for it but a good friend has an 11 year old that I think would absolutely LOVE this book.

The ideas are simple and though I sometimes feel the instructions could have been a bit more helpful to a kid trying to do them they were also very well laid out. Most of these are basics that are very easy—I've done the cloud one myself, for example—and others are a little more involved but still simple enough they look harder than they are—like the watermelon/strawberry which I have also done and got lots of compliments on.

If you're looking for a fun way to keep your tween/teenager busy this summer I would gladly give this book a recommendation. The only thing I didn't care for were how unprofessional a lot of the photos looked, they used fake nails a lot that did not fit the models' nails and it looked awful.

This is a collection of fifteen different designs of nail art. It starts by giving guidance on basic nail care and cleanliness to complete before decorating your nails and then gives step by step guidance on how to complete the designs, including all the tools and materials necessary. The designs are rated according to their degree of difficulty and photographs of finished examples are shown, though I suspect most people endeavouring to follow this would make a greater effort to ensure the fake nails actually fit on their own nails unlike many of the examples shown in the ARC I read. This may be rectified in the published edition, but the guidance is still good. I suspect this will appeal particularly to tweens and teens.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley too, for letting me read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be posted August 11 The nail art book begins with how to give yourself a perfect manicure. There is a list of all the tools you will need to recreate the art in the book and a key that tells you what tools you will need and the degree of difficulty. (Easy, Medium, Expert)

The book recommends decorating fake nails since they will be easier to decorate and then put them on your nails!

I really like the musical notes that they have featured as the 2nd design on the book (difficulty: medium) but I can never seem to grow out my nails and can never type if I have fake nails on! Other designs I thought were cute: pandas and daily news!

There are only 15 designs in the book, but they are a variety of themes and styles so you shouldn't have a problem finding a few that you'd like to try out!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

INITIAL THOUGHTS As I did a some Beauty which included Manicure at college (lots of years ago) when I did my Hairdressing & Beauty Course. So I do enjoy keeping up with the latest nail trends. My daughter also is now a fully qualified level 3 Nail Technician and can do nail extensions along with nail art and other techniques to, so I was really looking forward to checking this book out.

MY REVIEW I saw this one on Netgalley and downloaded it for free to read and review for my blog, and decided to give it a go both from the point of view of a Do It Myself viewpoint, and also from the position of someone who is also able to do nails professional to.
The first thing in the book is the basics of a home manicure. The book begins with a list of items you will need to do all the different types of nail art contained within the book. They are mostly items that anyone who enjoys doing their nails would have already really. The book has images of the nail art finished and then the book gives step by step separate instructions on how to reproduce the nail art. It also gives you suggested colours to use together for the nail art and also lists any extra items you may need for example nail art stickers or a fine nail art brush etc. The instructions are quite clear and fairly easy to follow, there are types Nail Art to suit most tastes and technical abilities. The Nail art is done using normal nail polish that you can buy from most stores that stock beauty products etc. or like most people do these days online!
There are some quite interesting ideas that would suit a "beginner" or young teen who wishes to experiment with nail art. I also think an experienced Nail technician could maybe pick up an idea or two from some of the designs within the pages of this book.
Some of the nail art designs don't look extremely neat but I guess something like that depends of the technique and ability of whoever is doing them. There is also one image that shows an extremely ill fitting false nail/ nail tip stuck onto a natural nail. The problem is that you can see the actual natural nail at either side of the stick on nail/nail tip. This could cause damage to the natural nail and I personally feel that nail extensions, tip stick on's etc should be left for only a professional to carry out to minimize any possible damage to the nail.
So did I enjoy the book? It was okay, though I wasn't really inspired to do any of the nail art within the book. I think it would suit a much younger audience than myself, like perhaps "tweens" or young teens or someone with an interest in nail art.
Would I recommend the book? Yes to young teens, tweens. An ideal stocking filler book for Christmas.
Would I like to read another Nail Art book by the same people that did this one? Probably not unless it was a more professionally aimed one. I guess I'm spoilt in that I have my own professional nail technician on hand to do my nails when I need them to be done.
Would I like to read other Nail Art books by other author.publishers? Yes, from my own point of view and from my daughters position of being a nail technician too.

FINAL THOUGHTS So to sum up really I think this book would make an ideal Christmas stocking filler gift for a 8+ aged girl. I think perhaps even young teens would like the book too. I think if the price was a little cheaper, within the price range of a pocket money purchase it would be even more appealing to youngsters within the tween market too.

Great book for a beginner, it shows different designs to try, tells you some manicure tips, what tools to use, etc. If you are already experienced in nail art techniques, this book probably isn't for you.