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)

31DC2016 - Day 26: Inspired by a pattern

Not necessarily inspired by a well-known pattern or anything, but based on a picture I found through a quick google search. I wanted something 80s-esque and this is what I picked.

To be quite honest, I'm not sure if I like these or not - they look a bit like a children's birthday party kind of nail art. Maybe that's just me though.

I started off with a white base, then freehanded the zig zag curves with primary colors. I didn't go over them as many times as I probably should have, which probably contributes to me finding these quite childish. Oh well.

In other news: Only 5 designs left! Wow, it seems like yesterday that I did my gradient nails for this challenge. I am really excited for the end though. I think this run of the challenge was quite exhausting for me, balancing freelance work (and a super messed up sleeping pattern) with nail art is quite the task!

Colors used:
- white
- China Glaze - Kiwi Cool-Ada (green)
- essie - forever yummy (red)
- Formula X - Dynamite (yellow)
- Manhattan - It's Complicated (blue)

31DC2016 - Day 22: Inspired by a song

 Happy first day of fall everybody!

In celebration of the change of seasons, I was inspired by Ed Sheeran's Autumn Leaves for today's prompt. The song itself is quite sad, but I like it a lot. If you don't already know, I'm a huge fan of Ed's music and can't wait for his new album to be released.

I started off this mani with two cats of essence's sweet caramel sweets. I had originally planned to use butter LONDON - Tea with the Queen, but I realized I have been using that polish a lot in this challenge. That and the fact that my bottle is almost gone.

I continued by doing a very simple glitter gradient with China Glaze - Golden Enchantment. I love this polish. It's basically the golden version of Fairy Dust. Lastly, I painted on the leaves in various shapes and sizes. I'm pretty sure I ended up inventing shapes by the end of it. Of course, I topped it off with some glossy top coat.

I'm really pleased with how these turned out.

Colors used:
- essence - sweet caramel sweets (tan)
- China Glaze - Golden Enchantment (gold microglitter topper)
- essie - playing koi (sienna)
- essence - do you speak love? (red)
- Formula X - Dynamite (yellow)
- OPI - A-Piers To Be Tan (chocolate milk color)

31DC2016 - Day 3: Yellow

Alright, I have a bit of a confession to make with these. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I dislike (read: HATE) the color yellow. BUT. I really really do like the base of this mani. The polish is Formula X - Dynamite and I picked it up when I went to Warsaw almost a year ago.

It's not your classic sunshine yellow, it looks a bit like Kraft Mac & Cheese. It's a bit mustard-y in some lighting. I think it looks quite nice on my skintone and I never say that with yellows!

On to the design itself; I was unsure of what to put on top of this color. I ended up going for these tribal-styled triangles and I actually really like the look! All of this is freehanded, I didn't even use tape for the shape of the triangles!

Colors used:
- Formula X - Dynamite (dark yellow)
- OPI - A-Piers To Be Tan (medium brown)

#PTXWorldTour - Nail art inspired by Pentatonix!

Man, this weekend was crazy!
If you couldn't tell by the title, this design is loosely inspired by the 2 time Grammy winning acapella group Pentatonix.

This weekend, they came to Vienna as part of their world tour. Of course I HAD to go. The whole night was insane! But I won't go into too much detail here.

On to the nails!

The nails were basically inspired by the color scheme of their newest album. I tried to make the colors as accurate as possible.

I started off with a white base, then I did several layers of colors, using the watercolor technique. This particular look was also inspired by Chalkboard Nails. She even has a short text tutorial on her post, check it out!

I used a TON of different colors, basically trying hard to mimic watercolor on paper.

Colors used:
- Monochrome shades:
  - white
  - essence - grey zone (light grey)
  - LOOK - street (medium grey) [destashed]
  - China Glaze - Concrete Catwalk (dark grey)

- Pink shades:
  - China Glaze - Heat Index (neon pink)
  - China Glaze - Rose Among Thorns (darker hot pink)

- Blue shades;
  - China Glaze - Bahamian Escape (light blue)
  - China Glaze - Sunday Funday (light - medium blue)
  - essie - make some noise (medium "neon" blue)**

- Green shades:
  - China Glaze - Drink Up Witches (neon green)
  - China Glaze - Kiwi Cool-Ada (darker neon green)

- Yellow shades:
  - China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky (sunshine yellow)
  - Formula X - Dynamite (darker, slightly orange-y yellow)
  - China Glaze - Lady And The Vamp (neon orange) [I added this to Dynamite to give it a bit more dimension]

**This polish actually stains - a lot. I don't recommend this if you don't know how to get rid of stains on fingernails and cuticles (or just don't want that kind of mess).

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 31: Honor Nails You Love

IT'S OVER!!!!

Guys, words can't express how happy I am that this challenge is over now. I liked being challenged, but my nails started taking the toll.
But hey, I did it! 31 consecutive days of nail art.

Anyway, the design I chose to re-create is this design by seizethenail on Instagram. I created mine differently than she did which is why it looks quite a bit different to hers. Either way, I'm very happy with these!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 27: Inspired by artwork

I had a lot of fun with today's mani! The piece of art that inspired me was Claude Monet's Twilight, Venice which is also called San Giorgio Maggiore At Dusk.
I was originally going to do the Mona Lisa, but let's be honest, that's impossible.

Here are the colors I used:

Bonus picture - part of the mess I left
behind after I finished this mani

white
Sally Hansen - Lemon Heaven (pastel yellow/cream) [destashed]
essie - forever yummy (medium red)
Artdeco - 80 (dark-medium orange) [destashed]
essie - vibrant vibes (light green, pastel)
OPI - Bastille My Heart (darker red)
China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky (yellow)
Formula X - Dynamite (darker yellow)
essie - make some noise (medium electric blue)
China Glaze - Bahamian Escape (light blue)
black

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 25: Inspired by fashion

I am officially calling these 'snowed in rainbow pinwheels'. I swear, the gradient/faded edges look just like a dusting of snow (or powdered sugar) to me. It wasn't intentional though.
The lines on these aren't the cleanest, but considering the short time I actually spent on them, they're not too bad.

Here's the t-shirt I based this mani on:
http://www.mwmgraphics.com/TEES_515/hand_painted/mwm_hand_painted_tees_3.jpg 

Colors used:
black, white
OPI - Bastille My Heart (dark red)
Formula X - Dynamite (dark yellow)
wibo - Nr. 2 (rosé) [destashed]
Maybelline - Lavender Lies (muted light purple)
Manhattan - 10B (dark blue) [destashed]
flormar - 421 (orange) [destashed]
OPI - Jade Is The New Black (medium green)
butter LONDON - Slapper (teal)

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 23: Inspired by a movie

Today's manicure is inspired by the movie Finding Nemo. This was the first movie I ever saw in the cinema, back when I was 7. I will try to take you through every nail, explaining what I wanted to depict and which colors I used. Make sure to click on the pictures to magify them!

Let's start with the pinky! This is a purple to yellow gradient with yellow polka dots on the bottom three fourths of my nail. This was inspired by the character Gurgle, who is a purple royal gamma fish. I didn't really have a blue-based purple in my stash that was bright enough to resemble his actual colors, so I used essence's amazed by you [destashed] instead. It's more pink/red-based, but it worked well. The yellow I used is Formula X - Dynamite.

The design on my ring finger was inspired by the character Gill. He is a white moorish idol and I tried representing his appearance by starting with a sideway gradient from yellow to white. The yellow is the same as above, the white is essie - blanc.
I then painted on some dark purple on either side of the gradient. The purple I used is OPI's Russian Navy. The last step was to paint on his scars with the white polish.

The middle finger represents Dory. I started with two coats of Manhattan's 10B [destashed]. I then painted on the black markings with essie - licorice and finished the design by adding her back fin with China Glaze's Happy Go Lucky. This is a lighter and cooler yellow than Dynamite.
I ended up shading/highlighting the lines where the blue and the black meet with essence's blurry up!, which is a white jelly polish.

The index finger was obviously inspired by the title character. I started off with two coats of Artdeco's 80 [destashed] then added the detail with black and white polish. Unfortunately, my bottle of essie's blanc has gotten a bit goopy, so this finger and my thumb ended up a little thick in places.

The design on my thumb was inspired by the character Deb. Deb is a blue and white striped damselfish. I started this just like my middle finger, then added in the white "stripes" and lined them with essie's shelter island. This finger also had the issue of being a little thick in places.



This isn't really something I would actually wear outside the challenge, but it was a lot of fun to create for sure!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 21: Inspired by a color

We've reached the 'inspired by...' prompts, which means we're two thirds through with the challenge! These last couple prompts tend to be the ones I dread, because I don't watch enough movies or read enough books to actually do manicures based on one of them. Nevertheless, it needs to be done, so I will try and find a way to make it work.

Today's prompt is 'Inspired by a color' and I chose London Town by Sundown by Catrice.
It's a beautiful shimmery dark red and I used it as part of the gradient. It ended up showing through on my index finger only though.