Quticles: UK quidditch in nail art

Although quidditch is dirty and violent, and that’s just how we like it, there is no reason why you can’t go into a tournament looking fabulous, even if you come out haggard and bloodied. This is just going to be a fun series of nail art, inspired by the teams of the UK and maybe Europe if I get through all the UK (or if I get a request/have a good idea). Because I am poor (a student), none of the designs have thus far cost me any more than £10 to make*, and they are really fun, so give it a go if you fancy it! ** I am not trying to make anyone feel like quidditch needs to be more ‘feminine’, or that women need to be made-up at all times regardless of the activity they’re doing. Women don’t have to be conscious of their appearance when playing sport (or anywhen, actually); I just thought this might be a fun way for people to demonstrate their team allegiances, IF YOU WANT TO. If you aren’t into nail varnish, let your nails go naked; you can rock that just as well ;). Furthermore, BOYS ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM FABULOUSNESS. Feel free to try any or all of these designs, I promise you’ll feel 900% more fabulous if you do. ** * update: other than the VC1 design, which used a whopping 10 different colours

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Leeds Griffins

I know it’s been a while, I’ve been busy er... having a broken collarbone. It interfered a bit with nail-painting endeavours.

Anyway, I had the revelation that I actually have a perfect colour match for leedsgriffins, so obviously I had to do a design immediately. The colours haven’t come up as well on this picture (I’d have to wait for a sunny day which seems unlikely at the minute), but I can assure you they are terrifyingly perfect. I used circular stickers to get a nice clean line but I fucked up a bit on the index finger (hence why you can see it’s a bit bumpy), but on the whole 8/10 would recommend. Anyway, as everyone knows Leeds’ kit is well sexy, most especially because of that cute tail on the butts, so naturally I had to do the tail on the thumb nail. I really like Leeds’ colours actually, I think they’re really rich and beautiful, and not overused like some (*cough* red *cough* black). Possibly the best kit in the UK, haven’t decided yet.

Ingredients

Konad (Green), I bought it for like €5 I think in a market in Nantes, so good luck

Sephora (Cross the Line), €3,95 in Sephora

Time

40 minutes

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Brizzlepuffs (Bristol)

Hooray Brizzlepuffs! Everyone loves the Brizzlepuffs; it's hard to believe that they've only been around since the start of this season, as they've made such a huge splash in the QUK scene, with their fixtures selling faster than 1989 and an impressive showing at Christmas Cup. The Brizzlepuffs' colours are, like Reading's, very Gryffindor; I decided to use glitter to represent their enthusiasm and joie de vivre, and I think it turned out pretty cool. The tips were painted with a cotton bud and the glitter painted on as normal afterwards; the big B, à la Regina George's necklace, was painted on with a dotter tool and a lot of patience.

Ingredients

[red] Technic - it doesn't have a name or price because I got it in a multipack, but there's the brand for you anyway. Also everyone does red, so.

[gold base and lettering] O.P.I. (Goldfinger), 2012 Skyfall Bond Collection, discontinued

[gold glitter] Technic (again), shade BQ5038

(I know this is literally the least helpful ingredients list ever, but no one follows them anyway so it's fine)

Time

40 minutes

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Valentine's Cup

STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND LOOK AT THESE.

I'm just SO EXCITED for Valentine's I couldn't wait :D. Just in time for the first round of bidding, I did a quove-themed design with BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL DETAILS. Each finger other than the thumb has a heart on it, and the thumb has, as you can see, Cupid's bow on it! There is no huge secret as to how these were done; for the hearts, I used a dotter tool (my favourite things), and drew from the top of the heart down to the point twice, so the excess varnish would form the rounded top. The contrast on all the nails but the index finger isn't particularly fantastic, but I wanted to have them anyway so. The bow was a bit more complicated, but basically I used the thinnest tool I had and just kinda prayed. (DID IT IN ONE TAKE THOUGH, AW YEAH) Just hold the tool like a pencil and go to town.

Ingredients:

Gradients:

[thumb] Boots Natural Collection (Sugar Mouse), £1.79

[index finger] Sinful Colors (Vacation Time), £1.99 (I love nail varnish colour names so much, they're so daft)

[middle finger] Technic (got it in a multipack, and they're not named or numbered so...)

[ring finger (but not really because it's my right hand...)] Sephora (Cross the Line), €4,95 in Sephora

[little finger] Rimmel London 60 Seconds (506, Central Love Heart) £2.69 in Boots

Hearts:

O.P.I. (The Spy Who Loved Me), 2012 Skyfall Bond Collection, discontinued

Cupid's bow:

[bow brown] Technic (as above)

[arrow shaft brown] Technic (as above)

[arrowhead gold] Collection 60 Seconds Hot Looks, Shimmey Shake (52), £1.99 in Boots

[fletching and bowstring] Rimmel London I <3 Lasting Finish (239, Your Majesty), £2.99 in Boots

Time:

60 minutes

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London Unspeakables

I AM REALLY PROUD OF THIS OKAY.

So! I originally wanted to do like a quartered black/purple thing like London's actual crest, but jeez that is a lot harder than it looks. Also, the purple that I used for this was so dark that it was somewhat difficult to figure out where the black ended and purple began, so all my effort would have been for naught. I will redo this design at SOME point with my brand-new actual-London purple (I am also going to redo Edinburgh because I got the colours slightly wrong (oops)), but there are quite a few clubs for which I haven't done ONE design, never mind two, so hold your horses, London.

ANYWAY. So yeah, the black/purple is halved rather than quartered because laziness, but the MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE is the mini snitch on the thumb! Look, it's so cute! It is actually super easy to do - I just used a cotton bud soaked in yellow with the excess wiped off, then a very fine nail pen (but a cocktail stick will do) to do the little wings. Easy peasy, and looks like real effort!

Ingredients

[black] Miss Den Paris Couleur Absolue (Noir) €3,99 in Leclerc

[silver] Rimmel London I Love Lasting Finish (Your Majesty) £2.99 in Boots

[purple] Collection 60 Seconds Hot Looks (Parma Violet) £1.99 in Boots (also you lie, that is not parma violets, parma violets are like lilac or some shit)

[yellow] Sephora (Jaune) €3,95 in Sephora

Time

30 minutes

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Chester Chasers

So many red teams! So, using the exact same varnishes that I used for Southampton, I stole the pattern from Chester's crest for the middle nail. I used a metal dotter tool to apply the lines, but I'm sure a cocktail stick would do just as well - or even just the brush, if yours is fine enough (mine was pretty thick).

The rest of the nails are just a fun way of using the team's colours - and you should definitely note that the white stripes could be chaser headbands, hence a nod to the team name. (I always felt a bit bad for non-chasers who play for Chester, but I'm sure they don't mind :P.) I really like this design because it's so striking, even if it was deceptively fiddly to get right.

Ingredients

Boots Natural Collection (White) £1.89 in Boots

Rimmel London 60 Seconds (Central Love Heart) £2.69 in Boots

Time

30 minutes

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Reading Rocs

With their gold and red kits, everything from Reading has a distinctly Gryffindor look about it, which is highly appropriate for this dauntless team. I have taken inspiration from Reading’s mascot, the mighty Roc (a vast eagle), for this design, the gold triangles intending to represent its claws, and the red background its plumage. I used Sellotape to create the triangles and painted gold over the red. DON’T PUT THE SELLOTAPE ON UNTIL THE RED IS COMPLETELY DRY. Wait until the nail is totally, perfectly dry- then wait another five minutes. Make a cup of tea, watch a YouTube video, do whatever, but your red has to be absolutely dry or else it’ll come off with the tape. When you paint the gold over it, take the tape off quickly, when the gold is still wet.

The little nail being painted in solid gold is a nod to Reading being home to many of the snitch academies which have been hosted in the UK, and the general importance of snitching to Reading quidditch.

Ingredients

Rimmel London 60 Seconds (Central Love Heart) £2.69 in Boots

Gold base: One Direction’s Little Things (Niall) £3 in Superdrug

Gold glitter: Collection Hot Look Nails (Shimmy Shake) £1.99 in Boots

Time

40 minutes

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Oxford Quidlings ** GUEST POST **

Check dis shit out! Claire Evans of the Oxford Quidlings did a SUPER COOL Quidlings design as essay procrastination (nails as essay procrastination, I highly approve) - the owl in particular is brilliant! Will definitely be copying as a Quidling supporter for their next independent tournament.

(Remember that if you or anyone you know has a burning passion for nail varnish and quidditch, send your designs our way! They make this blog so sexy.)

xxx

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Southampton Quidditch Club ** UPDATE **

So I decided that the last design, whilst appropriate to the kit, was way too boring; Soton released their anchor theme shortly after I had done their design, and I couldn't possibly pass up on such a fantastic motif, so here is the brand new Southampton look!

Ingredients

Boots Natural Collection (White) £1.89 in Boots

Rimmel London 60 Seconds (Central Love Heart) £2.69 in Boots

  Time

 30 minutes

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University of North Carolina **GUEST POST**

*** GUYS. STOP EVERYTHING YOU'RE DOING AND LOOK AT THIS. THIS GIRL (Alex Drose, of UNC (that's in America!! :O)) HAS GOT MAD SKILLS AND YOU ALL NEED TO SEE THEM RIGHT NOW. I AM UNWORTHY *bows*. ***

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Quidditch team soared into existence in the autumn of 2011, participating in the Carolinas Quidditch Conference for two years before exploding into the IQA scene by qualifying for World Cup 7 in its first year as an official team in the Mid Atlantic region in 2013. Founder and former President Alex Drose loves nail art and decorated her nails appropriately to match the uniforms for World Cup weekend. The light blue color is strongly associated with the university, often referred to as “Carolina blue.” The argyle pattern on four nails is also significant to the university as it is seen on the basketball jerseys (hoops legend Michael Jordan played at UNC) and of course had to be included on the quidditch jerseys (link or add pic below). FYI argyle is a total pain to try and recreate on nails. The snitch is painted on the pinkie of the right hand with hoops and a quaffle on the thumb. A bludger and a bat are on the opposite thumb and I felt the need to include some iconic Harry Potter symbols such as the Deathly Hallows, lightning bolt scar, and Harry’s glasses. This look was fairly simple for the majority of nails. Paint each the light blue then draw with a striper brush or a toothpick (circles are difficult with brushes, at least for me) in black on top. For argyle instructions check out cutepolish on youtube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzKMQ-PrYxM

Ingredients:

Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Breezy Blue $5

Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear White On $5

Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Black Out $5

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep (on Harry’s glasses) $5

Borghese Nail Lacquer B360 Mezzanotte Blue $8

I used a striper brush in the Sally Hansen colors because I love the Sally Hansen polishes (in case that wasn’t obvious). I buy them when they go on sale for $2 or $3!

Time:

45 mins+ (the argyle was tricky for me)

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Nottingham Nightmares

With Lucy Quidditch at their helm, it is well-known that Nottingham are a very fabulous team; therefore, adhering to the same principles as those we applied to Bangor, glitter is absolutely compulsory in this design. Using their black kit, which is both entirely appropriate to their fearsome name (changed from Nargles during the 2013/14 season) and eminently practical given the muddy nature of quidditch, I’ve made a design resembling the starry night sky whence Nottingham emerged.

Ingredients

Miss Den Paris Couleur Absolue (Noir) €3,99 in Leclerc (sorry guys, I realise French stuff is not particularly helpful :( but you can find a basic black anywhere so) Sephora (Silver Fever) €4,95 in Sephora*

Time

20 minutes (super easy!)

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Bangor Broken Broomsticks

Ever since they crashed onto the UK quidditch scene in March 2013, Bangor have been one of the most boisterous and recognisable presences in the country. Taking noise, facepaint, and a plethora of brightly coloured hair everywhere they go, there is no team more energetic or ~fabulous~. There is therefore only one appropriate medium for this exuberant team: GLITTER. The pattern is obviously based on their 2013/14 season kit design (the green is on the top half of the nail because it’s easier to do the top half in the darker colour because of reasons), but there have been plenty of rumours about a new kit; this design will probably be updated when it comes out.

An addendum: Because of the glitter, be vigilant about putting your base coat on. You do not want glitter welded to your nails for eternity, even if it is fabulous.

  Ingredients:

Green base: Rimmel London 60 Seconds (Camouflage) £1.99 from eBay (I think it’s been discontinued, sadly, but for what it’s worth, the Liam colour of the One Direction collection is exactly the same colour)

Green glitter: Sinful Colors (Call You Later) £1.99 in Boots

Gold base: One Direction’s Little Things (Niall) £3 in Superdrug

Gold glitter: Collection Hot Look Nails (Shimmy Shake) £1.99 in Boots

Time:

30 minutes

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Loughborough Longshots

Loughborough have just released a new kit design, and it is super sexy- of course, I had already finished this before this announcement, so I will probably update it at some point but I don't own a maroon yet so that will have to wait (but I am excited at the prospect!). This pattern is based on their logo; the purple (which I am actually in love with) is obviously the primary colour in their logo, and the silver loops (at the risk of patronising you all) are the hoops. I do think it's quite fabulous, even if not totally representative of their current kit, and that suits Loughborough very nicely.

Ingredients:

SEVENTEEN Colour Carnival (Purple Shimmer) £1.99 in Boots

Rimmel London I Love Lasting Finish (Your Majesty) £2.99 in Boots

Time:

25 minutes

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Avada Keeledavra (Keele Quidditch)

I was originally going to have a nude base for this, because everyone knows how much Keele like getting naked, but I tried it and the green looked a bit sad and lonely, so here we are. This isn’t a perfect adaption of the Keele kit- if it were then there would just be a little corner of white and the rest would be green- but I thought this was adequately representative of the bravery it takes for a team in the UK to choose white as one of their kit colours (seriously, your laundry must be a nightmare), and also looked quite dynamic and cool. It is surprisingly easy to get the green stripe even; just use the normal brush which comes with the varnish and try to do it in one swoop, and be quite happy to encroach upon the skin either side for retrospective removal.

  Ingredients:

Boots Natural Collection (White) £1.89 in Boots

Claire’s Accessories (Dork) £1.00 (It’s been discontinued, but you are really not missing much. I had to do two layers and the first was horribly watery; I would have advised you to look elsewhere even if it were still available.)

  Time:

20 minutes

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Falmouth Falcons (Tremough Quidditch Club, Cornwall)

Although I have to admit I've never met Falmouth in person, their kit is sooo sexy; it looks really professional and original, and is just generally a beautiful thing. Actually, so do their designs for their website/tumblr; Falmouth are generally on it on the the aesthetics front. Since I do not have the skills required to draw teeny tiny birds on my nails (YET), I decided to take the chevron-style thing from the top of the shield on their kit and put it over their primary colour. It's not the neatest thing ever (I am still cultivating my skillz), but I hope the intention comes across sufficiently- and it looks quite good in real life when you're not SUPER ZOOMED IN.

Good luck for next season, Falmouth!

  Ingredients:

Miss Sporty Lasting Colour (Atomic Blue) £1.99 in Boots

Boots Natural Collection (White) £1.89 in Boots

Nail art brush pen £2.02 for set of 3 on Amazon

Time:

25 minutes

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Oxford Quidlings

Perhaps the team in the UK which best exemplifies the quality of ‘adorabloodthirsty’, the Quidlings are the charming version of the Chimeras (although also formidable on-pitch, in the best of OUQC traditions). Taking this theme forward, then, and thinking too of the rounded shape of the Quidling owl, polka dots are a cute and appropriate choice for the adorabloodthirstiest of them all, as they are a pattern rarely seen in formal wear, and are generally associated with playfulness and youth. Polka dots are easy to do in nail varnish; just paint your base as normal, then use a toothpick with the end cut off (or, if you’re feeling swanky, a nail art pen) to blob the dots on. Mine are a bit uneven as patience is not my best quality, but they can look super good if you put the time in.

  Ingredients

Boots Natural Collection (White) £1.89 in Boots

Miss Sporty Lasting Colour (Atomic Blue) £1.99 in Boots

(optional) Nail art brush pen £2.02 for set of 3 on Amazon

  Time

25 minutes

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Southampton Quidditch

Southampton are fierce. Everyone knows it. From their clever and ferocious playing style to their Ferrari-esque scarlet kits, everything about Soton quidditch is bold. It makes sense, then, that their soul as represented in nail varnish ought to be no-nonsense; none of this faffing around with glitter and teeny tiny brushes. (Although all of the above is true, I am of course just trying to cover up the fact that I have just taken their kit and abstracted it into nail art form. Love you guys and your easily adaptable kit <3.) This style is super easy to do; just paint the whole nail in a white base, and do a single scarlet stripe up the middle. Allow time for drying, or you’ll get a kind of smeary pink, which is not fierce at all :/.

  Ingredients

Boots Natural Collection (White) £1.89 in Boots

Rimmel London 60 Seconds (Central Love Heart) £2.69 in Boots

  Time

 20 minutes

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Holyrood Hippogriffs (Edinburgh)

Okay, I officially love Edinburgh forever because in attempting to emulate their kit design, I have discovered a cool new way of doing gradients :D. Edinburgh’s kit is unbearably cool with their blue-to-red gradient, which is pretty distinct amongst UK teams- of course, being one of the rare beasties which are Scottish quidditch teams, it makes sense that they would do things a bit differently. We sadly haven’t seen much of them down south, but hopefully they will be gracing us with their presence and snazzy kits somewhen in the near future! Anyway, this gradient thing is actually super easy to do; just dip a cotton bud in the nail varnish of your choice, dab off the excess, and go to town. You might have to go over the line a couple of times to get a nice uneven look, but it doesn’t take very long at all to dry because you’re using relatively little varnish. If you want a cleaner line, try using a sponge.

  Ingredients

Accessorize Metalized Nails (Sapphire) £4

Okay, for the red I used the red shade out of OPI’s James Bond Skyfall Miniatures set because it was the darkest red I own, but it’s since been discontinued. I should think any darkish red would do the trick, though :). Still, FWIW.

Time

20 minutes