Paranormal Sightings | Magnetic nail art!

I'm baaaack! (Again.)


Today I have some exciting nail art to share with you! I used bow polish's Ritual which is a stunning magnetic polish. It has a mesmerizing cat-eye effect when you move your nails. Make sure to check out my instagram post for a video!


I swatched this polish yesterday and decided to use it as a base for some nail art. I ended up painting some paranormal things over it.
Unfortunately, it was a bit hard to photograph, and the glow isn't all that impressive either.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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

DIVIDE (Ed Sheeran) Nails ♥

 I'm back again with some new nails for you! Today at midnight, Ed Sheeran released his third studio album, titled Divide. Being the crazy fangirl I am, I stayed up just to listen to it as soon as it was released and painted these while waiting.

I used Dance Legend's Hospital For Souls as the base for this mani. It's a super shimmery light blue glow in the dark polish. I was already wearing this and it just so happened to fit the color of the album quite well. I did three coats.

Then, I painted on the details with black. I am so pleased with how these turned out and I'm super impressed with the glow too!

31DC2016 - Day 28: Inspired by a flag

Played it safe today. I'm not the biggest fan of this prompt and since I didn't do a 4th of July mani this year, I'm using that as an excuse for this.

I really wanna call this a deconstructed USA flag, I like the effect of the white bar glitter as the scattered stripes. For the stars, I went for a mixture of stars and dots - randomly assembled on my nails. I think this is an okay mani, I could've done better but I think I hit my yearly breaking point. Luckily, there's only 3 prompts left!

Colors used:
- essie - forever yummy (red)
- Manhattan - 10B (blue) [destashed]
- white

31DC2016 - Day 21: Inspired by a color

We've reached the first challenge fail! Haha.

Seriously though, I kinda like these but I also kinda hate them. I knew from the beginning I would never ever be able to top last year's nails for this prompt. I chose to be inspired by essence - bubble bath [destashed].

I like the 3D effect on the bubbles, I just wish it had worked on all nails. I'm not even sure why it didn't.

Anyway, on to tomorrow's prompt!

Colors used:
- essence - bubble bath (pearly pastel blue) [destashed]
- black, white
- China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky (sunshine yellow)
- China Glaze - Japanese Koi (orange)

31DC2016 - Day 19: Galaxies

I don't do galaxy nails nearly enough. It's been a whole year since my last one (also for this challenge)!

I loosely based this mani on this picture.

I started off with a layer of dark blue, then started sponging on all kinds of colors. As soon as that was done, I added all the tiny white stars. I added some glitter in random places, sealed everything in with top coat and it was done!

Galaxy nail art is so simple, I love it.

Colors used:
- MaXFactor - royal blue (navy)
- China Glaze - I Sea The Point (royal/bright blue)
- China Glaze - Bahamian Escape (light blue)
- essie - lapis of luxury (pastel blurple/cornflower blue/etc)
- essie - lilacism (lilac)
- essence - amazed by you (red-toned purple) [destashed]
- wibo - Nr. 4 (duo, here I used the creme side; magenta) [destashed]
- Manhattan - Meow-tyful (bright magenta)
- China Glaze - Fairy Dust (silver microglitter topper)
- white

31DC2016 - Day 15: Delicate

The two times I've completed this challenge before, I've always done some sort of lace for the delicate prompt. This year, I decided to change it up a bit!

And wow. I don't think it gets more delicate than this.

I started out with three thin coats of China Glaze - Frostbite. This is such a stunning blue. Can you believe I got this polish last Christmas and haven't worn it until now!?

I started freehanding the dandelion ... petals? ... fluff things? Yeah, those. I freehanded them with slightly thinned out white polish. I think they turned out great! Unfortunately, my index finger was smeared a bit. I decided to go with two simple dots on my ring and pinky finger.

Hope you like these!

31DC2016 - Day 5: Blue

I love these so much.

Today's prompt was blue and since I've secretly been planning to do all of this year's design in fall colors, I knew I had to reach for some navy polish.

This design was loosely inpired by this design by Hajin Bae. I took that artwork and altered it and wow. I really am obsessed with these. The stars are unnaturally tiny and were really difficult to paint, but I think I did a decent job.

Colors used:
- MaxFactor - royal blue (navy blue)
- China Glaze - I Sea The Point (bright blue)
- essie - lapis of luxury (blue-purple)
- essence - lean on me (cream - used for the stars)
- MaxFactor - burgundy crush (burgundy)
- essence - blurry up! (white jelly - used for the "orbs")

#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).

Neon watercolor - Take 2!

I'm back again with some more seasonally appropriate designs! Well, one.

This idea is one I've already translated onto my nails back in January (for my birthday). However, since we're closer to summer now, I wanted to re-do it. I used some more neon shades - also, this version (sadly) doesn't glow in the dark. (I did use one gitd polish, but it looks a bit odd as a gitd mani)

Mariposa, Borboleta - Nail art inspired by a song

I'm back!
I haven't been too inspired lately, which basically meant I was using the time to wear a lot of my untried polishes for the first time. While that was cool and I enjoyed it, I still enjoy nail art a lot more!

This one is very special. The picture is a bit crappy, I apologize for that. However, I did this just in time for the release of Mariposa, Borboleta by Nick Howard. I first heard that song at a private concert of his I went to in December and I have been so so so in love with the song ever since. Today is the official release of the single. The design is inspired by the artwork on the cover of the single.

Also, as if I didn't already like this enough, I made it glow in the dark too! That is basically perfection.

Colors used:
China Glaze - Highlight Of My Summer (bright mint)
essence - i care for you (off-white)
essence - lean on me (very pale cream)
essence - winter wonderland (pastel blue)
China Glaze - Bahamian Escape (light blue)
models own - banana split (cream/pastel yellow)
Catrice - (S)wimbledon (vibrant turquoise)
white
essence - the night of magic (almost black, dark blue)
Serum No. 5 - Indi-Glo (glow in the dark royal blue)
Serum No. 5 - Highlight (glow in the dark jelly nude)

// note: Most of these colors don't appear in their "true" form on my nails, there was a lot of mixing and blending involved in the making of this manicure :) Also, I think those are all the polishes I used, but if I missed one, I apologize.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 24: Inspired by a book

So today, I have my first fail of the challenge. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the design. It's wearable and I didn't have to deal with any major crises. However, this wasn't my most inspired mani. It feels like I kind of rushed through it and kept it very very simple.

Anyway, today's design was inspired by The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss. To be fair, I haven't read this book at all, so I based this design off the book cover. My index and middle finger represent the pattern on the cat's hat and my ring finger and pinky loosely represent the color scheme - red, blue and white.

Colors used:
black, white
essie - forever yummy (red)
b pretty - sky (blue/teal) [destashed]