Dancing On Ice: Nail Designs – The Final!

Hey Scratch readers!

I can’t believe this is my final blog post for Scratch this year! This week was the final of Dancing On Ice, but before I go into each look for all of the finalists I wanted to say a few huge thank you’s…

• The Gel Bottle Inc has provided me with all of the amazing colours and products for the series. The team has been amazing to work with and I would highly recommend the brand for its array of shades.
• World of Glitter provided me with some incredible loose glitters including its latest Valentine’s collection. If The Gel Bottle Inc didn’t quite have the glitter shade I needed then the World of Glitter had it. My favourites – and an absolute must-have in my kit – are Aspen and Antigua.
• The Nail Stamping Queen for Stick It. What a find! I will never have any problems with my foils sticking to gel polish ever again and it’s perfect for delicate lines and shapes.
• Taf Products for my Zephyros Dust Collector in Gold. This has been a game changer for me. I always worry about the amount of dust I inhale and this collects pretty much every ounce of it. I’m so impressed.
• My talented assistants – @brentwoodnails, @beeboldbeauty_brentwoodx, @bananasbeauty_ and @nail_houserock_.
• Finally, @marcosgurgel for taking me on every year. You are truly inspirational and I’m so happy to be a part of such an incredible team!

Now I’ve done the thank you’s, here is how I created the Dancing On Ice finalists’ nails…

Third place – Libby Clegg (celebrity):
It has been such a pleasure to work with Libby, she’s always laughing throughout her appointment. For her nail look this week she opted for a beautiful pink and lilac ombré design, so I used The Gel Bottle Inc shades in Marilyn and Californian. Firstly I applied a layer of Californian (the dominant shade) all over the nail and cured. I then applied the same colour at the base, half way up the nail, and then Marilyn from the top downwards to meet in the middle. Using The Gel Bottle Inc ombre brush, I swept the product from side-to-side, moving up and down slightly until blended. Once happy, I cured and applied World of Glitter in Aspen. I finished with the Extreme Shine Top Coat (using two coats to ensure the design is super smooth).

Second place – Vanessa Bauer (professional skater):
This is the third set of nails I have created for Vanessa for a bolero routine so I wanted to ensure it was completely different to what she had in previous years. Her dress had hints of gold so I mimicked this in the design. I used my go-to lilac shade (Californian) and applied this all over the nails. I then applied Vegas using a detail brush at the base of the nail in a curve and filled in with the gel polish brush. As this is over the lilac, you may need two coats of the glitter shade. I absolutely loved this design over the long oval shape.

Winner – Alex Murphy (professional skater):
Alex has been on such a journey this year so it was lovely to see her so thrilled to win this year. This was my favourite nail look of the three for the final. Alex had quite a few colours in her dress, so I wanted to incorporate them into a marble design. Firstly, I applied the main colour (Californian) and cured. I then applied the Blooming Gel, which is my go-to for any design like this. You want to apply colour directly over this – so do not cure! I used shades Viola, Daisy and Marilyn, applying one colour at a time using the ombre brush and detail brush in a variety of places over the whole nail. You will se the product begin to merge together on its own – its amazing! Cure it when you’re happy and then apply thin lines of your glitter shade, D004, to finish it off. It’s so easy!

My last thank you goes to you guys for reading my blog each week and for all of your support and kind messages on Instagram. Thank you again and keep checking in at @nails_by_mads to keep up to date with nail art, how to’s, behind the scenes of jobs I’m working on and product recommendations.

Finally, thank you to Scratch for giving me this platform. See you next year!