31DC2017 - Day 31: Honor Nails You ♥

Woot! It's done! Third consecutive year!

I decided to honor some pretty simple nails from hausoflacquer today. I love the contrast of black and white and I like a good simple skittle mani every now and then :)

Colors used:
- black, white
- essence - grey zone (ligth grey)

31DC2017 - Day 30: Inspired by a tutorial

Whoopsies. I didn't post this yesterday because I unintentionally spent the night at someone else's place even though I was planning to go home and actually do this mani!

I decided to go for a combo of side-swept and dry brush nails. I learned both of these techniques through tutorials :)

Colors used:
- Catrice - Sweet Macaron Sin (caramel/nude)
- essie - in stitches (terracotta)
- essence - love me like you do (pinkish brown)
- essence - i dreamed a dream (muted purple)

31DC2017 - Day 29: Inspired by the Supernatural

These are really fun to look at!

For today's 'inspired by the supernatural' prompt, I chose to do my first ever mermaid scale design! The scales are freehanded and even though they're really simple, I love the contrast of the blingy base against the black lines.

The base is a wild mixture of black, all of the essence shimmer toppers, and a pretty opalescent glitter topper. I started with a black base, then sponged the shimmer toppers on randomly and finished it off with two coats of the opal glitter.

Also, where the heck has the time gone? I was really swamped this month with a group software project I was working on (hence the late and rather minimalistic posts) - but that is done now and I feel like I completely missed out on September.

Colors used:
- black
- essence - ...to the moon and back! (pink to red shimmer topper)
- essence - you are my sunshine (yellow/gold shimmer topper)
- essence - my piece of paradise (green shimmer topper)
- essence - catch the wave! (turquoise shimmer topper)
- essence - crush on you (blue shimmer topper)
- deBBY - 29 (opalescent glitter topper)

31DC2017 - Day 28: Inspired by a flag

So, for today's 'inspired by a flag' prompt, I chose the flag of the Bahamas. I just really like the color palette (even though I'm not the bigest fan of yellow) and I could see it translating onto my nails quite well. I also used a polish I hadn't worn before for this, so I'm very happy about that too.

Colors used:
- butter LONDON - Slapper (teal)
- China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky (yellow)
- black

31DC2017 - Day 27: Inspired by artwork

I'm fairly happy with these! I did keep it simple, but I really like the contrast.

I chose to get inspired by Keith Haring's work for this prompt. It's such a simple style really, but some of his pieces are really creative and meaningful.

Colors used:
- black, white
- Yves Rocher - Garance (red)

31DC2017 - Day 26: Inspired by a pattern

Another late one, oopsies!
So today, I chose to do some nails based on a chessboard pattern - just to mention it right off the bat: Sarah from Chalkboard Nails did the exact same thing a couple years back and I definitely remembered that mani while thinking about what to do for today.

I especially want to apologize for the crappy picture quality today! (I took this pic in a different setting than normal, so that's probably why it's even worse than usual - I also didn't watermark it ^^)

Colors used:
- essence - miss captain (muted blue)
- essence - ? (silver foil from a tie&dye set from a couple years back)

31DC2017 - Day 25: Inspired by fashion

I dunno. I was going for a 3D sweater knit look, but it just came out ... chunky? Whatever, moving on...

Colors used:
- essence - pure beauty (pinkish nude)
- essence - i dreamed a dream (mauve)

31DC2017 - Day 24: Inspired by a book

Yeah, I know - not technically just "a" book. And honestly, I never read the books (I'm speaking of Harry Potter if you weren't aware) - I didn't get into the franchise until aout 4 years ago. I'm good at resisting hyped up movies and books.

Soooo yeah, I chose to represent the four houses - based on the color scheme and pattern of their ties. I didn't have a subtle enough yellow, so it's a bit too bright for my taste, and it doesn't go well with the rest of the nails.

As always, I suck at freehanding lines, please forgive the squiggliness!

Colors used:
- China Glaze - I Sea The Point (bright blue)
- essence - let's take an elfie (shimmery white)
- butter LONDON - British Racing Green (dark green)
- essence - we will spock you! (silver linear holo)
- China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky (sunshine yellow)
- JESSICA - Batty (shimmery black)
- essence - pink & perfect (burgundy)
- OPI - 18K Ginza Gold (yellow gold)

31DC2017 - Day 23: Inspired by a movie

This year, I decided to get inspired by Frozen for this day of the challenge. Not gonna lie - I didn't start painting this until right before midnight - so I kept it simple. I wasn't too convinced by it (almost called it a fail), but then I put n matte topcoat and wow, I really like it now!

Colors used:
- painted polish - Blue As Summer Skies (white crelly with blue glitter)
- China Glaze - Frostbite (bright blue)

31DC2017 - Day 22: Inspired by a song

We write our words on paper planes and ride 'em through the hurricanes. So remember when our memories fade, our love will never age, even after our planes touch down again.

Such a pretty song! The song I chose for today's prompt is Paper Planes by Alexander Jean. I always enjoy listening to it when it comes on and I just kind of love everything about it.

I chose to write out a part of the song and dang, that was hard. The lettering is tiny on these! I also use quite sheer polishes, so I had to go over the words multiple times - which made it more difficult. On the other nails, I painted a paper plane and its sparkly trail.

If I had had more time, I would have made the whole thing glow in the dark - but I'm already ridiculously late as it is.

Colors used:
- LOOK - street (medium grey base)
- essence - let's take an elfie (shimmery sparkly white)
- Catrice - Pink Love Affair (pink with blue shimmer)
- black, white

31DC2017 - Day 21: Inspired by a color

Yayy, these were so fun to make! They took me way longer than I will admit, but that's also the reason why this post is up so late. I would have put more effort in if I had had more time, but oh well. Oh, and also, I used a new topcoat today and it totally smudged my index finger (and I'm a bit bitter about it tbh).

If you couldn't tell, I chose to be inspired by Fairy Dust by China Glaze, which is a beautiful micro-microglitter topper. The fairy was a bit hard to paint, especially when it came to the face, but I'm fairly happy with her. The glare kind of ruined the pic a bit, but I included two additional pics so you can get a better picture of what the finished product looks like.

I am officially calling her the "autumn fairy", here to bring us rain and plenty of warm beverages. The leaves on the trees are so envious of her wings, so they try their best to become as vibrant as them. Her dress is made of a naturally sparkling fabric, that makes the air smell like cinnamon when she flies past you. (I don't know, I like making up stories :P )

In all honesty, I painted the dess with Orly's Space Cadet, which is stunning! The veins on the wings actually smell like cinnamon!

Colors used:
- essence - my dear reindeer (grey-purple base)
- essie - spin the bottle (nude)
- Catrice - Sweet Macaron Sin (slightly darker pinkish nude)
- essence - do you speak love? (dark red)
- essence - from me to you (red-ish terracotta)
- Catrice - Chilly Orange (cool-toned orange)
- China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky (yellow)
- Revlon - Autumn Spice (sparkly dark brown, smells like spices)
- Orly - Space Cadet (brown-ish green multichrome glassfleck)
- China Glaze - Fairy Dust (microglitter topper)
- black, white

31DC2017 - Day 20: Watermarble

Wee, we're two thirds done with the challenge already! These past 20 days went by super quick.
Today, we're looking at the watermarble prompt, and I did a clear and black marble over a white to orange gradient (I'm really looking forward to Halloween, can you tell? :P ).

I totally copied this idea from @nails_by_erin - she did these a while back but I really loved how they look!

Colors used:
- white, black
- China Glaze - Japanese Koi (neon orange)

31DC2017 - Day 19: Galaxies

Wee, I still love galaxy nails! And I'm really happy with how these turned out :)

I started off with a navy base, then did some watercolor with a neon pink and then sponged on the rest of the colors. I then added the stars and dots on top.

Colors used:
- MaxFactor - royal blue (navy)
- China Glaze - Rose Among Thorns (neon pink)
- OPI - Do You Have This Color In Stock-Holm? (purple)
- Manhattan - I Like (cobalt blue)
- essence - rock my soul (shimmery teal/turquoise)
- Dance Legend - Hospital For Souls (shimmery light blue)
- essence - message from the north pole (gold to pink shimmer topper)
- essence - glamaxy far, far away (flakie topper)
- white

31DC2017 - Day 18: Half Moons

I know, I know - another powder mani. I had a different idea that didn't end up working like I had imagined. I'm quite pleased with how these turned out - half moon manis are not usually my favorite. As always, the powder is from Born Pretty [I believe this is called 'unicorn powder'].

31DC2017 - Day 17: Glitter

Did some super simple nails for today's prompt, nothing too special. I used a blue jelly polish over a silver microglitter polish, then added some sparkle over top.

Colors used:
- claire's - Magic Show (silver microglitter)
- claire's - Neon Twilight (blue jelly)
- white

31DC2017 - Day 16: Geometric

I decided to try out another powder I bought from bornpretty recently and used it as a base for today's "geometric" prompt. I originally did this geometric overlay a couple years ago - back then I did it over a neon gradient.

I used China Glaze's I Sea Your Point as a base for the powder and I am OBSESSED with how it looks. I don't think these pictures truly captured the effect.

31DC2017 - Day 15: Delicate Print

So I got some pretty exciting nail mail today - the new Bornprettystore chameleon + holo powders! I applied these to my to middle fingers (what you see in the picture was my first ever time using them) and I really like how they turned out. I took some extra pictures to try and capture the multichrome shift.

For the 'delicate' part, I went for a lace-type pattern (originally created by Chalkboard Nails) on my ring and pinky finger but I couldn't capture it to save my life. I think you can imagine what it looks like.

Materials used:
- black
- BornPretty powder
- ILNP - Abundance

31DC2017 - Day 14: Floral

I'm sticking with my tradition of doing an extended mani for this day of the challenge. I decided to re-use the daisies from my "Heart Don't Break Around Here" nails from earlier this year.

Colors used:
- essence - the night of magic (dark navy blue, basically black)
- China Glaze - It's My Turn (gold scattered holo)
- white

31DC2017 - Day 13: Animal Print

Okay, I definitely took the easy way out with these again.. oops!
Also, I slightly mismatched the two pinks - but it was the closest I could do!

Colors used:

- essence - the ice is melting (grey to taupe thermal - doesn't change much though!)

- China Glaze - Heat Index (hot pink jelly)

- claire's - Freaky Deaky (black and pink glitter topper)

- black

31DC2017 - Day 12: Stripes

For today's "stripes" prompt, I went for some holographic fall-colored horizontal stripes! I am really pleased with how these turned out! I'm not usually good at freehanding stripes, but for some reason, these weren't all that hard!

These did end up a bit lumpy in places, as well as having some uneven edges, but considering I freehanded all of these, I am willing to look past it. I mixed linear and scattered holos and I'm just really really happy about the color scheme. I wore these to the ice skating rink today and I just couldn't stop staring at them.

Colors used:
- essence - we will spock you! (silver linear holo)
- ILNP - Diablo (red scattered holo)
- Dance Legend - Pied Piper (green scattered holo)
- Dance Legend - Anthem (purple linear/scattered holo)
- Zoya - Dream (blue scattered holo)

31DC2017 - Day 11: Polka Dots

I'm really pleased with how these turned out!

I love the combination of the slightly cool-toned grey and the warm-toned gold multichrome! Generally, I think combining metallic shades with cremes is greatly underappreciated.

Colors used:
- Catrice - Cloud Nine (grey)
- Catrice - Enchanted Camouflage (gold multichrome)

31DC2017 - Day 10: Gradient

For today's prompt, I decided to go for a murky green gradient, topped off with a holographic topcoat! It kind of reminds me of decaying leaves. I was hesitant about the glitter after I put it on, but it's really starting to grow on me.

I did this gradient on a bare nail (apart from the base coat) and it turned out better than expected! I was worried about the middle color not getting opaque enough (because it's a jelly/crelly), but it worked out fine!

Colors used:
- KleanColor - Military Green (dark green)
- China Glaze - Budding Romance (murky green (jelly))
- KleanColor - Fashionista (brownish green)
- China Glaze - Golden Enchantment (gold microglitter topper)

31DC2017 - Day 9: Rainbow Nails

We're getting closer to the second third of the challenge and I am very grateful! I never really know what to do with just a single color as a prompt, so these last two prompts were much better for me!

I also feel like I've completely gotten into a "autumn" mood, so I'm feeling more inspired now.

That being said, let's take a look at today's design!

I went for a rainbow melted watercolor look today. I started off with an off-white base and let that dry for a while before I started the watercolor. I think I've explained the technique before, so I won't go into too much detail now. I basically tried centering the colors near the cuticles and have them disperse towards the tips. I'm really happy with how these turned out!

- ♥ - ♥ - ♥ -

Colors used:

- OPI - Skull and Glossbones (buff/off-white)

- essence - do you speak love? (red)

- Revlon - Orange Spice (orange)

- Formula X - Dynamite (yellow)

- OPI - Don't Mess With OPI (green)

- Orly - Blue Suede (blue/teal)

- OPI - Do You Have This Color In Stock-Holm? (purple)

31DC2017 - Day 8: Metallic Nails

Welcome back!

For today's prompt, I went for a grungy distressed metal look. I'm really quite happy with how it turned out!

I started off with a gold to green duochrome base, then started sponging and brushing on some different colors. I went with a warmer toned gold to bronze, silver, and even some green to brown duochrome! I then made random markings with a sharpie and went over them with acetone to create a watercolor-like look. Lastly, I added some black dots on top and sealed it off with some matte topcoat.

I included a flash picture below so you can really see that green I used. The pic is a bit blurry (and also a bit overexposed) but I think it does the job.

Colors used:
- Catrice - Enchanted Camouflage (gold to green duochrome)
- s-he - 321/130 (bronze)
- Manhattan - Heart Of Stone (antiqued silver)
- OPI - Green On The Runway (green to brown duochorme)

31DC2017 - Day 7: Black & White Nails

Okay, I totally took the easy way out with these, sorry!

I basically had too many ideas floating around in my head, so I just started with this spotted base. It looked so good that I didn't really want to put too much on top of it. Hope y'all can forgive me ^^

Colors used:
- white, black
- Dance Legend - Spot-It! Black (black spotted topper)
- charm/3d decoration from claire's

31DC2017 - Day 6: Purple Nails

Look at all that holo goodness!

So, not gonna lie, I once again had no idea what to do. I was already wearing Cupcake Polish - Berry Good Looking and I ended up doing the gradient on top of it (which is probably why the hue is slightly uneven when you're comparing pinky and ringfinger with middle and index finger - oopsies.).

I took Zoya's Aurora and Payton for the gradient, then did some simple white flowers, with China Glaze's GR8 in the middle. I kind of dig these. Y'all probably know I'm a sucker for holo, so these are extra pretty to me. :)

31DC2017 - Day 5: Blue Nails

I love these. I really do.

I, once again, took inspiration from a painting by Hajin Bae. The vibe is similar to the one I used as last year's inspiration.

I started out with a base of navy blue on all of my nails. After that, the steps vary.
For the plain star ones, I sponged on some lighter blue and some purple (that I mixed myself a few weeks ago). I then painted on the stars and dots with white, yellow and a lighter purple.

For the ones with the clouds: I tried to mimic a watercolor effect with that slightly lighter blue. Then I started to trace the shapes of the clouds with a thinned out white polish. After I was happy with it, I went back over it with light blue and light purple, then added that slight gradient above the clouds with light blue. Last step: adding the dots.

My thumb was the hardest one. I wanted to recreate the whole thing, but I eventually decided to leave out the buildings and their reflection. If I had had more time, I totally would have added those too! I started with the shape of the moon, then added the clouds and the horizon. I went over all of that with various colors to give it more dimension, then added the dots again.

These were a lot of work, but I really love them. Oh, have I mentioned they glow in the dark too? Perfect!

Colors used (I mixed a ton of colors myself, so here are the components of those):
- Yves Rocher - Bleu Pensée (navy)
- China Glaze - I Sea The Point (slightly lighter blue)
- China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky (yellow)
- white
- neon pigments (to mix the purple and some pastel neon blue with)
- glow in the dark topcoat