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 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 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 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 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 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 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

31DC2017 - Day 4: Green Nails

We've finally reached a day where I knew exactly what I wanted to do!
I decided to go for some easy camo nails. These were so easy that they were done in 20 minutes!

I started out with a dark hunter green base, then I just painted on random splotches of green and brown variants. I actually really like how these look from far away, as well as up close!

Colors used:
- KleanColor - Military Green (dark hunter green)
- OPI - Don't Mess With OPI (green)
- China Glaze - Kalahari Kiss (sand)
- KleanColor - Fashionista (murky green-brown)

31DC2017 - Day 2: Orange Nails

Day 2! I was debating on what to do for today's prompt, and I finally decided to come up with something fox-related.

I'm not sure how I feel about these to be honest, but they fit the prompt, so I'm just going to move on. I got my index finger a bit smudged, whoops!

Colors used:
- Catrice - Cloud Nine (grey)
- Catrice - Chilly Orange (orange)
- China Glaze - Spring In My Step (pink)
- white, black

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 16: Geometric

(NEW on this blog: I implemented an Instagram widget! You can now see my most recent Instagram posts in the sidebar! For those of you that don't know, Instagram is where I post all my swatches.)

Wow, I really like how these turned out! They were absolutely impossible to photograph, I swear. I took about 10 pics of these and this is the only one that was acceptable. I promise, these look really rad irl!

I started out with 3 coats of OPI's Suzi Loves Cowboys. This picture makes it look waaaay more green though, it's actually a chocolate brown. I then added these maze-like patterns with ILNP's Abundance. This is a gorgeous pinkish bronze to antiqued gold multichrome polish.

I initially wanted to topcoat these after I was done with the freehanding, but it actually created a really interesting 3D effect (which obviously didn't translate to the picture).

31DC2016 - Day 13: Animal Print

It's day 13 of the 31 Day Challenge and today's prompt is animal print! I decided to be boring and do a standard leopard print mani. I had something else in mind, but I think I'll save that for future runs of this challenge.

I started out with two coats of essence's what a grey-t night!, which is stunning! It was part of their advent calendar, so you can't get it in stores. I then painted on splotches of OPI's A-Piers To Be Tan, which is a caramel/butterscotch color. The last step was to paint on the darker spots with OPI's Suzi Loves Cowboys, which is a perfect chocolate color. I topped it off with a high-gloss top coat and voilá!

It's been a while since I've done a clean leopard print mani but it's so simple I immediately knew what do to.

31DC2016 - Day 11: Polka Dots

Did some teeny tiny dots for today. I really like how these turned out. Simple but effective.

And isn't the base just stunning? This is two coats of essie - leggy legend. I was all over this when it came out last year and I really wanted to use it again. I still love this!

31DC2016 - Day 10: Gradient

Today's nails for the gradient prompt are very autumnal and I am obsessed. I love the color scheme, it just screams fall and y'all might know that is my favorite season. This also marks the first milestone; we have now completed the first third. Can you believe it? We're going to be moving into pattern-themed prompts and I'm very excited!

Back to these nails though. I started out with two coats of Artdeco's 80, which is that vibrant dark orange. I sponged on the gradient and it was done. This was so easy to do, yet the effect seems to be great. I was at a birthday party today and every single person commented on these nails. Even men. So, they seem to be quite eye-catching.

Personally, I was a bit sceptical in the beginning. I love the way dark to light gradients look, but this one just seemed a bit off to me. Maybe it was the fact that the lightest color is very close to my skintone and that kind of threw me off a bit. I'm not sure. However, I grew to love them.

Colors used:
- OPI - Boris & Natasha (purple-y grape)
- Artdeco - 80 (vibrant dark orange) [destashed]
- China Glaze - Peachy Keen (pastel orange/peach/nude)