The Nail Art Sourcebook Review

Before I say anything else, can I let you in on a little secret? I've been meaning to review this book for you for over a year! I was given it for Christmas the year before last, and I've had these photos sitting in a folder since last August waiting to be used. I am a bad, bad blogger!

Ah well, better late than never, right?

The Nail Art Sourcebook by Pansy Alexander-Potter and Mineko Sugita is, unsurprisingly, a book filled with nail art designs, Over 500, to be more precise. 

The book includes a wide variety of different themes, including floral, glitter, jewelled and even bridal; and each one has been split in to chapters to make browsing easier. While the 255 page book is laden with nail art images, this book doesn't include tutorials to go with them; working out how to recreate them is down to the reader. It's a book full of pictures to gain inspiration from, which is probably best suited to nail art pros or any nail art fan who isn't afraid to dive in and give new designs a shot with their creativity. The images could also be taken to a nail technician who could do the design for you.

The following are some of my favourite designs from the book.

As you can see from this 'small' selection, there is a variety of nail art in different colours, patterns, prints, and styles in the Nail Art Sourcebook. While they're not all to my personal taste- for instance, I'm not a fan of the jewelled look- I think there's something in this book for every nail art fan. There are florals, animal prints, love hearts, stars, tartan, polka dots, 3D designs, glitter, and even holiday themed ideas for Christmas. And that's just for starters! There is just so much inspiration in this sourcebook.

Some of the nail art is modelled on hands of different skin tones, and those photos are beautifully shot and wonderfully clear. Other ideas are presented as single artificial nails. with 2 to 4 of them displayed on a single A5 page. The variety of images makes the book interesting to browse through, and I always feel inspired from flicking through it.

The book also provides helpful information on caring for your nails, and explains how to use various tools such as stencils, striping tape, and nail transfers to help the reader learn how to create any nail look.

It retails at £14.99, which I think is a little steep for what is essentially a coffee table book, but if you consider how many images are provided in it, it doesn't seem so bad. It's currently available through Amazon here.

I think it's a great little book, but if you're looking for a book to show you how to recreate designs step-by-step, then this isn't the book for you. You may prefer DIY Nail Art instead.