Dancing On Ice: Nail Designs – Week 2

Hi Scratch readers!

I’m back again for another jam-packed week of nail art behind the scenes at Dancing On Ice. This week I had the help of my assistant Hannah, of @bananasbeauty_, as we had lots of nail looks to create – from full sets to intricate nail art. Hannah is amazing so be to give her a follow on Instagram!

Every week I have my personal favourite nail looks, so here are a few of my top looks from this week and a breakdown of how I achieved them.

Jessica Hatfield (professional skater):
This week, Jessica and Radzi Chinyanganya wore a 90s-inspired outfit so colourful nails were a must! For this, I took inspiration from one of my favourite nail techs, Michelle Humphrey. Through the stress of being pulled into the show last minute after Michael Barrymore’s departure, Jessica had bitten quite a few nails so a full set was essential. I opted for clear tips so that the nail was completely natural underneath the design. I used a thin layer of The Gel Bottle Inc Clear Rubber Base Coat, followed by The Gel Pot in Clear.

As always, be sure to not allow any bubbles to set in the hard gel as this will reduce the strength and, as we are not covering the entire nail with colour, you could see some white dots from refining. Once refined, I applied multiple gel polish shades from The Gel Bottle Inc including Gilly, Pink Panther, Bolt, Papaya, Bellflower, Sea Light, Blue Lagoon and Tiger to small sections of the nail, applying at random. Once set, I applied The Gel Bottle Inc Matte Top Coat to finish.

Libby Clegg (celebrity):
Libby also needed a full set purely for length, as we wanted to create a nice design for her look. I’m not usually a fan of red and white nail art, as sometimes it can look quite Christmassy, so opted for something simple but effective. For this look, I used The Gel Bottle Inc The Gel Pot in 4 and Marshmallow as the base colour. Using gel polish shade Candy, I created red tips dragged down to one side of the nail using a very thin nail art brush and filled in the rest with the brush from the gel polish bottle to ensure it wasn’t too thick. I then used my dotting tool and placed a white dot (using The Gel Bottle Inc in Daisy) in one corner to match her red and white costume. I finished with The Gel Bottle Inc Extreme Shine Top Coat for a super shiny look. I love that this top coat is non-wipe, simply because a lot of the time the cast has to rush of for rehearsals so it’s super speedy and keeps it’s shine!

Maura Higgins (celebrity):
How amazing was Maura’s costume this week?! Maura likes a nude nail so we stuck with The Gel Bottle Inc shade Naked and just jazzed it up a little. To match her multi-coloured hem costume we went for a vibrant pink and orange ombré line down the middle of the nail. For speed and ease I used the Lecenté Pink and Orange Powders as they are extremely easy to blend and brush away over a tacky top coat. Again, I used The Gel Bottle Inc Extreme Shine Top Coat to finish. I always apply two layers over something like this to ensure it doesn’t wear away.

Here is a breakdown of what products we used for all of the other looks we created for the Dancing On Ice cast members:

• Trisha Goddard (by Hannah): Clear Rubber Base, gel polish shade Gilly and Extreme Shine Top Coat
• Carlotta Edwards: Clear Rubber Base, The Gel Pot in Clear, gel polish shades Waterlilly and Vegas, Extreme Shine Top Coat
• Lucrezia Molinari (by Hannah): Clear Rubber Base, gel polish shade Royal Navy and Extreme Shine Top Coat
• Alex Schauman (by Hannah): colour change using gel polish shades Madonna and Milkyway followed by Extreme Shine Top Coat
• Brianne Delcourt (by Hannah): colour change using gel polish shades Royal Navy and Bling followed by Extreme Shine Top Coat

That’s it for this week – be prepared for an amazing week coming up… Its one that you won’t want to miss! Don’t forget to give me a follow on Instagram via the handle @nails_by_mads for more behind the scenes looks.