Nails with Daniella: Stained Glass Manicure!

Introducing a new feature on The Beauty of Life ... Nails with Daniella! My friend Daniella C. is a seriously talented nail artist (check out the Disney Princess manicure she did for me before my trip to Disney World), and we'll be collaborating once a month to bring you some fun, intricate, interesting nail designs. First up? This awesome stained glass manicure!

Before we started this design, Daniella asked me (half jokingly, I think) if I minded having crazy nails. I think my response was somewhere along the lines of, "You're kidding, right?" And, as you can see, the result is a little crazy ... but in the absolute best way.

Once we decided on the design, it was time to pick the colors. Our brains must have been in sync, because both Daniella and I were thinking about using pinks and blues with hits of silver and white! We narrowed down our choices from about 20 to the five you see here:

OPI Blue Grotto (the dark blue)
Thakoon for NARS Koliary (the turquoise)
Dolce & Gabbana Passione (the dark pink)
Chanel Graphite (the silver)
Mattese Elite White Nail Art Paint

Daniella really wanted to make every nail different, and I agreed. I like that every nail shows a unique stained glass effect. To create the look, Daniella carefully painted both straight and angled stripes, lines and blocks in each color. We also stayed away from using the same color combinations on each nail or even using every color on every nail, so you really have to look at all ten to get the final effect!

I like that while every nail is so different, they create a seamless experience. The blocks of color meet in similar patterns, and the constants of white and silver running throughout give it continuity.

Stay tuned for more manicures with the fabulous Daniella! I can't wait to see what she creates next!