31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Recreate Your Favorite Challenge

Heeeeyyyy y'all! Guess what?!? Today is the last, very very last post of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge!!! I seriously cannot believe I made it all the way through! I am not one to finish things, I have a WIP crochet pile to prove it, lol! But those of you that comment here, on twitter and IG have really given me the motivation to finish. So thank you for all the love and support!!!

 

The last theme of the challenge is to "Recreate Your Favorite" and I chose a gradient. I hadn't ever really done one until the challenge and fell in love. Gradients are easy in terms of nail art and can produce some beautiful looks.

 

 

Used:

 

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

O.P.I. - My Vampire Is Buff

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Debut - Tint

 

Make Up Sponge

 

When I got Mint Candy Apple and My Vampire Is Buff, they looked so pretty together in my basket, that I knew they would work well for a gradient. And I was right! One of my favorite things to do to a gradient is layer a glitter or flakie top coat over it. Not only does it help blend the two colors, but also add extra depth for that "Oooooohh" factor.

Sigh. It is polish love.

 

I hope you all have liked my 31 day posts! I admit, I am going to be a little sad not having a challenge post to work on any more. But I want to keep doing nail art, and am going to be posting different designs on a weekly basis, along with more swatches and other things. Also, I have added a tab at the top of my blog for all the 31 day posts for easy reference and inspiration.

 

Hope you all have a great day and be sure to check back soon. I have some delicious goodies waiting to share!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Tutorial

Hey lovelies! Today is the last themed challenge post and I think it may be my fav out of the whole thing! The theme is "Inspired By A Tutorial" and I had a few different things floating around in my head, until I saw the awesome Waterfall Nails by the ever so amazing Sammie of The Nailasaurus. I am crazy in love with this design, and I want to do all the colors!

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - My Vampire Is Buff

O.P.I. - Funkey Dunkey

Zoya - Dannii

Essie - Play Date

Essie - Full Steam Ahead

 

Nail Art brush

 

Oh look! I actually used a different O.P.I this time! lol...

 

Initially, I was super nervous that I wouldn't be able to recreate the look, and also that it wouldn't look right on my longer nails. Sammie definitely knows how to rock shorties! But thankfully my years in college painting classes paid off, and it was as simple as doing brush work on canvas! Good to know that my tuition has paid off in the form of nail art!!!

 

There really is a lot of depth to this design, and I am going through my stash to see if I have enough of other colors to do it again. Seriously, it's so pretty in person. So go check out Sammie's tutorial and do some Waterfall Nails!

 

 

The very last challenge post is coming up Tuesday! I also have a few swatches and some other Nail Art stuff ready to post for you guys. Aaaannnnd!!!! My blog is turning one next weekend!!! I have a super awesome surprise planned, so be sure to follow me on twitter and IG so you don't miss it!!!!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By the Supernatural

Hey y'all! Today is a challenge post day! I am nearing the end of the 31 day nail art challenge, only two more after this one! I honestly can't believe how far I have come by doing this. It has really improved my nail art skills as well as my overall photo skills.

 

The theme for today is "Inspired By The Supernatural," and without a doubt, this was the one I was least looking forward to. Trying to find inspiration was beyond nerve wracking. Late last night, I was complaining to my husband about not having any ideas (while surfing pinterest trying to find one) and he said "How long have you known about it?" quite sarcastically. In the end, I decided to go with a design by Simply Rins, Skull Skittles!

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - MBSW

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

Bettina - Wild Orchid

Julep - Lexie

China Glaze - Tart-y For The Party

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Nail art brushes

Dotting Tools

 

Aside from a little bit of streaking, I think it looks super cute! I wanted to go for the same bright feeling Rin's design had, but used colors that I like and go together. Maybe it doesn't exactly fit into the supernatural theme, but what ever. This is what you get from me, so yay!



 

 

More KBShimmer goodness tomorrow, and then the last two challenge posts Woohoo!!!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Flag

Hey guys and gals! Today is challenge day! Inspired by a flag is the theme and I honestly had a "WTF" moment trying to find inspiration. My husband suggested using Nautical Flags since I could use a different one for each nail. He was a Coastie (Coast Guard) when we met, and he has the flags and their meanings committed to memory apparently. After a quick google search and a mock up using nail art templates from Samarium's Swatches, I totally had an awesome design!

Used:

O.P.I. - MBSW

Pomegranate Laquer - Fit For A Prince

SOPI by Betsey Johnson - Pushing Your Luck

Julep - Lexie

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

Striping Tape

Nail Art Brush

The flags have several different meanings as well as an alphabetical association. I chose flags the correspond with the beginning letters of all out names. Pointer - C, Middle - B, Ring - M, Pinky - R.

I actually really like how these came out! I would totally do it again if we ever went on a cruise or spent a day on the lake.

A pic of my elusive thumb! I painted a bit of rope, or a piece of "line" as they call it on a ship, to go along with the flags.

I posted a pic on IG last night of my design on the awesome nail art templates Sarah made and graciously shared, and I am so glad to have these now! If you like to plan out your designs, this is definitely something to grab.

Aren't they awesome?!?

I am going to try to get some swatches up this weekend. I have a couple of polishes from the KBShimmer summer collection that I grabbed for my birthday!!!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By Artwork

Hey all you lovely people! Hope your week is going well! We have a bit of sunshine today, after an all day downpour yesterday. Rain is great an d all, but all frickin day is a bit much. My garden is looking rather water logged today!

 

Since it is Tuesday, that means another challenge post is up today! I have been eagerly waiting for this particular theme, because I am a huge art dork. Fun fact: I was a fine arts major in college and took long boring classes about art history! So I have a fair bit of knowledge pertaining to artists and their bodies of work. Finding a piece and translating it to nail art was a bit of a challenge, but after I decided to go for a more graphic style, everything fell in to place. One of the best graphic artists, I think, is Andy Warhol. His imagery is iconic, bright and totally eye catching. One of my favorite pieces is an earlier lithograph called "Flowers."

 

 

photo credit

 

 

 

Used:

 

Essie - The More The Merrier

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

Color Club - Coral Cascade

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Man-Go Team

Julep - Lexie

China Glaze - Passion For Petals

 

Nail Art Fan Brush

Dotting Tools

 

I cannot believe how awesome these turned out!!! I am so so so happy with everything about them. And I am totally gonna rock these all day long.

 

For the grassy back ground, I used the fan brush that came with my nail art brush set and I really love the grungy result. Dotting tools for the flowers and topped it all with NYC Grand Central Station (thinned down an excessive amount). Pop art on my finger tips! 

 

 I would really love to play around with this style and do different color combos. Maybe some like the NARS palettes that were released last fall?

Next up is "Inspired By A Flag" and I have noooooo clue what I am going to do! >_<

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Pattern

Hey y'all! I have the next challenge post up today. The theme is "Inspired By A Pattern" and I went with a stamped Geometric design.

 

 

Used:

 

Julep - Lexie

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - In Record Lime

 

Bundle Monster Plate - BM 209

Dotting Tool

 

It's been a long time since I have stamped anything that turned out okay. Stamping is rather tricky for me, but I know if I actually practiced, I'm sure it wouldn't be so hard. Maybe I need to bring Sunday Stamped back after I finish the challenge?

 

I am kinda loving these two colors together. So super bright, with out being neon. I think I may leave this on for a while!

 

 

Monday is my birthday, so I am planning something fun. Hope you join me!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inpired By Fashion

Hey guys and gals! I am trying to get back to my nail art challenge posting schedule, so since today is Tuesday, is time for another challenge prompt. Today's theme is "Inspired By Fashion" and everything I know about the fashion industry I learned from Project Runway. I really don't consider myself to be fashionable. I am totally comfortable in jeans and a cute shirt. Probably the most fashionable thing about me is my nails! I do love the creative design that goes into fashion, and especially doing a little nail art inspired by it, as you have all seen in my Fashion Friday collab posts.

 

I simply did a google search for current runway fashions and came across Diane Von Furstenburg's spring line. This particular outfit caught my eye. I love the color combo and the detailing around the yoke on the top is so visually interesting. I would totally wear it.

 

 

 

 

Used:

 

Julep - Dianna

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Ghost

 

Dotting Tool

 

I tried to recreate the feel and the detailing in the yoke for my design. I was going to add a bit of coral, but I am glad I left it like this.  It has such a 70's bohemian vibe, I totally love it. It definitely ranks up there with my favs from the challenge.

 

Only six more posts left in the challenge! I can't believe how far I have come and that I have stuck with it! Next is "Inspired By A Pattern"!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Book

Hey lovelies! So obviously, I am super off schedule with my challenge posts this week. Just too much going on with little birthdays and fire works to have any real time for nail art.

 

This post is "Inspired By A Book" and I really struggled to find the perfect book for this. I am a huge book nerd and I am one of those people who can get lost in a good story. My favorite book(s) is the Harry Potter series. But it has been done a ton of times in the realm of nail art and I really wanted to do something different. It took a few days to make a decision, but I finally did, and am beyond happy with it!

 

 

I actually just finished reading it to the small person a few weeks ago and fell in love all over again with Pippi. She was one of my literary heroines as a kid, and I still admire her tenacity and good nature today.

 

Used:

 

Zoya - Arizona

 

Middle Finger:

Julep - Ingrid

Essie - Brooch The Subject

Sally Hansen Insta Dry - Butter-Fly Stroke

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Ring Finger:

O.P.I. - MBSW

Maybelline Color Show - Paint The Town

Essie - Brooch The Subject

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

In the end, I couldn't have picked a better book to use and I am so happy with how it turned out. Hopefully, Pippi would be proud!

 

 

I will be trying to play catch up next week. I still have to post the rest of the Essie summer collection and I have an awesome Thermal polish to share as well! Hope you all have a great weekend!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Movie

Hey y'all! I'm back with the next 31 Day challenge prompt, "Inspired By A Movie." I love movies and I love to nerd out over movies. One of my favorite directors is Hayao Miyazaki. I have seen and own almost every one of his movies. He is a masterful storyteller. My all time favorite is My Neighbor Totoro, so I used that as my inspiration. I know it's been done a million times already, but whatever.

 

 

Used:

 

Nails Inc - The Thames

Essie - Cocktail Bling

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

O.P.I. - MBSW

 

I'm kinda "meh" with the result. Totoro ended up looking more like a cat, and the soot sprites are a bit lumpy. I'm not quite sure how to make nail art look smooth, so any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

 

Inspired By A Book is next on the list!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Song

Hello everyone! Another challenge post for today. This is "Inspired By A Song" and it is a little bit sentimental. In the last post, I mentioned my daughter's name is Marley and she was named so because my husband is a huge Reggae fan. Our "family" song is Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. It is a beautiful song about staying positive even when things seem bad. Something we try to live by, and something we are trying to teach our daughter.

 

 

 

Used:

 

Julep - Dianna

O.P.I. - MBSW

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Butter-Fly Stroke

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Man-Go Team

Revlon - Impulsive

Barielle - Wild Orchid

China Glaze - Sunday Funday

Maybelline Color Show - Green With Envy

Color Club - Coral Cascade

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Nail art brushes

 

Whew! That's a lot of polish! I used the Noggin' video for visual inspiration and design and I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. My freehand skills have definitely improved since I started this challenge, but I'm still not anywhere near as good as I want to be.

 

 

I should have some swatches posted this weekend, and I will be late posting next week, because my baby is turning 5 on Monday! We will be spending the day having lots of fun family time, going to the movies and of course cake and presents!

 

Hope you all have a great weekend, and here's the adorable video for "Three Little Birds." Enjoy!

 

 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Color

Hey all, happy (late) Tuesday! My apologies for the late post, my daughter has swimming lessons every day this week, and I haven't had very much time to do fun stuff. We have been so busy since summer started, that it feels like it is going by so fast.

 

Speaking of my daughter, she is the inspiration behind today's post. The theme is "inspired by a color" and I chose Zoya Marley for my color inspiration, because Marley is my daughter's name!

 

Used:

 

Zoya - Marley

Zoya - Stevie

 

Make Up sponge

 

Not only is her name Marley, but her favorite color is purple! And just like her mamma, she loves sparkly things. So naturally I used, Stevie, a pixie dust shade. It was a little tricky doing a gradient with a pixie dust polish and a regular polish, so I ended up just sponging Stevie over a layer of Marley. I really am happy  with the way it turned out in the end, a new way to use pixie dust, yay!

 

 

I tried to get my little miss to do a "Mommy & Me" pose, but she wasn't having it today. To busy playing with her dolls & making play dough cookies for them to care about nail polish!

 

Next up is Inspired By A Song, and I have no idea what to do! Ha! Hopefully it won't be crap!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Water Marble

Hey y'all! Today's challenge prompt is water marble. I was so super nervous about doing one, because I have read about so many failed attempts and all the difficulties associated with it. I literally watched dozens of you tube videos, read all the tutorials I could find, and finally went for it!

 

 

Used:

 

(Marble)

Essie - Naughty Nautical

O.P.I - MBSW

Essie - The Girls Are Out

 

I used The Girls Are Out for all of my nails, except the middle and ring, where I did the marbling.  For the middle and ring fingers, I painted a layer of MBSW to marble over. Being my first go, I wanted to stick with just a couple of nails. I might do a whole hand one day.

 

 

Marbling is not that difficult. But there are a lot of ways that it can become troublesome. My first go turned out perfectly, but for some odd reason, I re dunked my hand in the water and I got a filmy residue all over the pretty nails. (IDK what's wrong with me) So I had to start over. I never got the polish to spread right, even with clean water, after that. And I fiddled with the design too much. But these are things that I know not to do in the future.

 

So if you ever plan to try water marbling, don't be scared! You can create some really amazing designs and a beautiful manicure! But remember these three things: 1. Use clean water ( I used room temp. distilled), 2. Work fast, 3. Don't over work your design. These were the biggest problems I ran in too.

 

If you are drooling over the Essie's I used, never fear! I will be swatching the entire collection over the next week, or so. In between challenge posts, of course. But be sure to check back this weekend, because I have knocked a lemming off my list & will have it for you guys!!!!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Galaxy Nails!

Helllooooo! How are you all doing? I feel like I have done nothing but the busy mom/wife thing for the last few days. I finally got a few moments to sit down and play with polish today, and put together a little mani for the 31 day challenge prompt - galaxy nails! I have never done galaxy nails before, and I was super nervous, but it is so dang easy! Seriously, it took 30 min to do one hand. When I did the tribal nails, I spent about an hour and a half on just five fingers. Big difference.

 

Oh, and if you follow me on InstaGram (you totally should, btw), you may have seen a pretty bad nail break that happened last week, and the resulting nubbinization of my nails. It is hard doing nail art on shorties, so bare with me.

 

 

Used:

 

Revlon - Urban (base)

Essie - Play Date

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Butter-Fly Stroke

O.P.I. - MBSW

China Glaze - Glistening Snow (thinned with a clear base)

 

Dotting Tool

 

I followed the directions from Sarah of Chalkboard Nails (who is beyond awesome) to do these, and yes they are fairly simple to do. So don't feel overwhelmed, if you want to try them! I think my problem was being a little heavy handed with the sponging. Regardless, I am really pleased with the result! Yay, galaxy nails!

 

Water marble is next (lord have mercy on my soul!) and I hope, hope, hope my little nubbies are up to that challenge!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Half Moons

Hello everyone! Today is #18 on the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge, and that means Half Moons!

 

Please Note: Post contains affiliated links.

 

 

Used:

 

Zoya - Ziv

Color Club - Wild Catcus

 

Nail Stickers

Born Pretty Studs (link)

 

Half moons aren't really my thing, but I still wanted to do something pretty. My original color combination didn't work out, so I chose green and gold. Honestly, I'm not really feeling it. I do like the studs, cause anything with studs are that much more awesome. These are from one of the Born Pretty stud wheel, and I love them.

 

So what do you think of studs? Love 'em or hate 'em? My husband thinks they are super gaudy!

 

Fashion Friday is back tomorrow, and then Galaxy Nails!!! Excuse me while I faint.

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my own personal use. All opinons are my own. This post contains an affiliated link. If you click the Born Pretty link and purchase a stud wheel, I will get a portion of the sales allowing me to buy more polish! For more information, please see my disclaimer.



31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Glitter

Hey y'all! I got a new memory card so all is right in the world! Continuing right along with the 31 day challenge, I have Glitter nails for you today!

 

 

 

Used:

 

Julep - Dianna

Essie - Beyond Cozy

 

Striping tape

 

This is probably the most "me" design I have done so far in the challenge. Pretty straight forward and super simple to accomplish. Some basic knowledge of how to use striping tape, and a bit of patience is all that is needed! Aside from an awesome glitter polish. Beyond Cozy is one of my absolute fav glitters, and I knew I was going to use it for this post. Dianna is from the June Julep box and I will have a full review tomorrow.

 

 

 Half moons are next on the list, and I have something fun planned. Hint: it involves studs! Oh, and check back later this afternoon for another Polish Days post!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Tribal

Hey everyone! Today is all about Tribal nails! This is one of the challenge posts that I was most looking forward to when I started. I looooove tribal nail art, but it has always seemed really intimidating. The designs are always so intricate and complicated and beautiful. I honestly wasn't sure I could pull it off. It took me forever to decide on a design, and then I finally managed to create my first free hand tribal mani!

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - MBSW

Maybelline Color Show - Green With Envy

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Butter-Fly Stroke

Color Club - Coral Cascade

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Nail art brush

 

Only one picture today. My memory card cracked while I was taking pics. Boo. At least I got a usable shot, because it took me soooo long to do! But hot damn, I love it. Perfect, definitely not. My lines are not the smoothest or most even, but I am in love with the design and colors! And I am super proud of myself for being able to do it! Yay!

 

I'm about half way through the challenge, this was number 16 on the list. It has been awesome up to this point, but I know the last few ones are going to be really hard. Hope you are as excited as I am!

 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Delicate

Hey guys and gals! Happy dance for getting the post up on time! I am honestly not sure how people do it daily. Talk about nerve wracking. Anyway, the prompt for today's post is "delicate." I'll be straight with you guys for a minute. I am anything but delicate. Inspiration-wise, this was the hardest day yet. Much harder than the horrid animal print post a few days back. Luckily, it turned out much better than that.

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - Don't Touch My Tutu

I Love Nail Polish - Forever And A Day

 

I love a good jelly sandwich, but I've never done a glitter gradient and a jelly sandwich. I love the look, and I think it turned out to be a good representation of delicate. Of course it is all thanks to a super pretty glitter!

Next up is Tribal! I am super excited and nervous for that one. Lots of free hand!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Floral

Second post today! Floral is the theme for this post, and I was inspired by this poppy design from Little Nails. I actually found it via Pinterest and had to do some digging to find the proper source, as it wasn't credited at all. I love using Pinterest for nail art inspiration, but jeeze it can be difficult to find the original artist.

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - My Boyfriend Scales Walls

Maybelline Color Show - Paint The Town

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

Revlon - Posh

 

Dotting Tool

Nail Art Brush

 

I really love poppies. They are so simple, yet so beautiful at the same time. Overall, I am really pleased with how this turned out. I kinda wish I had made different colored poppies, but was feeling completely uninspired at the time. Still pretty, I think.

 

A new Fashion Friday collab post is on the schedule for tomorrow, and it's pretty dang awesome!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Animal Print

Hey guys! So I am off schedule again, but that is all due to this particular challenge prompt. I have no love for animal print. Especially since I cannot do it free hand. This may be the first time in the challenge where it just wasn't working out at all. I have done 3 manis, all different and none of them have come out looking how I want. This is the best one, and since I am behind, I said "screw it" and decided to post anyway. Okay, enough of the complaining.

 

 

 

Used:

 

Zoya - Tracie

Color Club - Cosmic Fate

 

Bundle Monster - BM215 plate

 

I think this one would have turned out better if I had used a darker color to stamp with. While, I think the subtle design looks awesome in person, but it just loses all that in photos. Bah. Like I said, frustrations abound with this post. 

 

 

I will be posting the next prompt later today so I can get back on schedule. Do check back this after noon!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Stripes

Hello lovelies! Stripes today! I have to say, that this was probably one of the harder ones for me so far, for two reasons. One, I changed my mind several times before deciding on a design and color palette. And two, because I am a perfectionist.

 

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - My Boyfriend Scales Walls

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Straw-Ready

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Butter-Fly Stroke

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Blue-Ming Fast

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Striping Tape

 

Creating stripes with striping tape is incredibly easy. Making sure they are evenly spaced is not. As much as I love the outcome, I haaaaaated doing it! So much so, that I didn't even bother doing my thumb. Also, this was so time consuming. I know a majority of nail art is, but man! this was super annoying.

 

My unfinished thumb, which is actually nice so you can see what it looks like underneath the black!

 

I have some swatches for you guys over the next few days, and then back to the challenge posts!