Tools of the nail art trade

Nail art doesn't have to be expensive! It is very easy to make your own tools out of bits and bobs lying around the house or cheap craft supplies. Here are a couple of items I use -

Detail brushes -

• Old small make up brushes - all you need to do is take a pair of scissors and cut off the bristles leaving a very very thin brush that when dipped in varnish can be used to draw just as well as a shop bought detailer. You can also vary the length of the brush to gain more control 
• Pins - dipping long pins in the varnish and transferring the varnish to your nail by running it across lightly is a great way to get narrow stripes (esp if you are trying pinstripe patterns on your nails)
• Old nail varnish brushes -  if a varnish has run out, take the brush and cut it down just like the make up brush
• Cheap paint brushes - shops like Tiger are a great source of cheaper craft materials, paint brushes can be bought and cut down 

Dotting tools- 

• Old make up brushes - often make up brushes have a rounded end this can be used to create dots of varnish 
• Pins - the rounded end of the pin is a perfect dotting tool for more delicate work, and they can vary in size giving you a range of tools
• Pencils - I use both end of an unwanted pencil, the writing end is reasonably small, while the other end I sharpen slightly to create a larger dotting tool 
• Hair Pins 

Nail Varnish - 

• Having a large collection of nail varnish can be very expensive, I would know I have about 50 bottles. However I rarely spend a lot of money on each bottle. Luckily I live near Stratford Westfield in London where there is a great shop called Beauty Base where you can pick up bottles of LA Colors nail varnish for 99p a go! 
• I also always keep an eye on Boot's especially at the end of season when they sell off summery or winter colours very cheaply. 
• You do not even need a bottle of every colour, if I only need a small quantity of a colour then it is very easy to mix a couple of drops of other varnishes to create your desired shade. Just pick up a cheap paint palette or use an old tin, a drop of nail varnish remover will lift residue dry colour right off.  

Hope this is useful! :)