A girl and her love of nail polish

Archive for September, 2012

30 Day Challenge Day 30 – Tutorial: Bold Retro Wallpaper Nail Art

It’s Day 30 of the 30 Day Challenge, and I’m proud to say that I made it all the way to the end without missing a day. Not bad for my first challenge!

Off the top, I’d like to thank Rachel from Polished Criminails for getting this iteration of the challenge going and for organizing the InLinkz codes that made it possible for us all to link to each other. And thanks also to all of the other bloggers that participated. I really enjoyed seeing what everyone else came up with.

So on to the manicure, which is inspired by a tutorial. It’s based on this video tutorial from IndigoNova1, recreated with a slightly different color scheme.

Black and White Retro Dot Nail Art with Color Club Tweet MeBlack and White Retro Dot Nail Art with Color Club Tweet Me
For the base I used Color Club Tweet Me from my September BirchBox, which is a chartreuse creme. I really didn’t like it in the bottle but I thought it would provide a great backdrop to this design, and I’m so glad I tried it out. I like it a lot better on the nail. And first glance I thought it was yellow, but now I see it as more of a green. As far as formula though, it goes on very streaky and patchy. I used three coats here, and had it not been for the fact that I was going to put nail art on top I would have needed a fourth.

Black and White Retro Dot Nail Art with Color Club Tweet Me

For the dots I used Orly Liquid Vinyl and Ulta Snow White, and then Kiss striper polishes in Black and White for the stripes.

Black and White Retro Dot Nail Art With Color Club Tweet Me

As recommended in the notes of the video tutorial, I used the blunt end of a wooden skewer as a dotting tool to create the largest dots. For the smaller ones, I used the head of a pin. This was pretty simple to create and pays off big with a strong visual element. It would look good in a lot of different color combinations.

Black and White Retro Dot Nail Art With Color Club Tweet Me

And here’s a look at Color Club Tweet Me on it’s own:

Color Club Tweet Me

Thanks very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed some of the manicures I came up with for the 30 Day Challenge. Next up for me is the Nail-aween Challenge from datyorkLOVES (not too late to join, if you’re interested) and the Polish Us Pink Breast Cancer Awareness campaign organized by The Subtle Shimmer and several other bloggers (another not-too-taxing one that you can still join).

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that participated in the 30 Day Challenge this month.
I know we all needed a lot of encouragement to get through, so thanks for providing it! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 29 – Supernatural: Vampire Nail Art

Coming in under the wire here on Day 29 of the 30 Day Challenge because it took me all day to figure out exactly how I wanted to portray the theme of vampires for my inspired by the supernatural manicure.

Vampire Nail Art

I’m a big fan of most things vampire these days: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Twilight, Being Human, Anne Rice novels, etc., etc..

I finally found this manicure based on the Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV series, so I used that as the basis and then tweaked it a bit to be more generally vampire themed rather than specifically Buffy.

The thumb represents fire. The index finger represents dripping blood, ever-present in most vampire lore. The middle finger is a cross necklace. The ring finger is a stake through a heart and the pinkie is a vampire bite. So representing both sides with this one: the vampires and the weapons that can take them down.

Vampire Nail Art

Here are the polishes I used:
thumb: two coats of Color Club Catwalk Queen, Sinful Colors Lets Meet, Kiko 359, China Glaze Riveting, Ulta Steppin Out

Vampire Nail Art Fire

index: two coats of Ulta Snow White, Ulta Steppin Out

middle: three coats Orly Royal Velvet (untried for 30 Days of Untried), Kiss Silver striper polish

Vampire Nail Art Dripping Blood, Cross/Crucifix

ring: two coats of Orly Liquid Vinyl, Essie Very Cranberry, Kiss Silver striper polish

pinkie: two coats of Ulta Snow White, Orly Liquid Vinyl, Ulta Steppin Out

Vampire Nail Art Stake Through The Heart, Vampire Bite

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 28: Storm Warning Flag

For Day 28 of the 30 Challenge Challenge, we were tasked with doing a manicure inspired by a flag. I wanted to do something a little different, so I went with maritime weather warning flags.

Storm Warning Flag Nail Art

I based my design on the storm warning signals. The storm warning flag consists of a black square in the middle of a red square. Flying two storm warning flags indicates a hurricane.

Storm Warning Flag Nail Art

I painted my pinkie to mimic the storm warning flag and my ring finger like hurricane flags. The other fingers don’t represent actual flags, just other designs that picked up the color scheme.

Storm Warning Flag Nail Art

As for the colors, the red is Ulta Steppin Out — untried for 30 Days of Untrieds — which is a nice red but very thick. The black is Orly Liquid Vinyl and the white is Ulta Snow White. The white stripe on my thumb is with a white Kiss striper polish.

Storm Warning Flag Nail Art

Originally I was going to work in small craft warning and gale warning flags (on red triangle flag and two red triangle flags, respectively) but I didn’t like the way they came out so I replaced them with what you see here. I was trying to use striping tape to block of triangles, but the Ulta Steppin Out really was too thick to work for that. Maybe I’ll try this manicure again sometime with a different red.

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month.
I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 27 – Artwork: Mark Rothko Nail Art

I had to enlist my sister for help with this one because she works in the fine art field. I needed recommendations on artists to look at for Day 27 of the 30 Day Challenge, inspired by artwork. She pointed me toward Mark Rothko, an abstract artist whose nearly 50 year career started in New York in the early 1920s.

Mark Rothko paintingsMark Rothko paintings

Mark Rothko Nail Art

I modeled each nail after a different one of his paintings.

Pinkie: I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Let’s Meet. The orange block is China Glaze Riveting and the white block is NYC French White Tip

Ring: The base is two coats of Sinful Colors Slate. The violet block is A-England Elaine and the white block is NYC French White Tip.

Mark Rothko Nail Art

Middle: The base is one coat of Essie Very Cranberry. The middle block is Sally Hansen Wine Not, the bottom block is Kiko 359 with a little Wine Not mixed in, and the top block is Megan Miller Lemon Ice, my untried for the 30 Days of Untrieds challenge I’m doing simultaneously.

Index: I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Cinderella. The top and bottom blocks are an unnamed shimmery turquoise shade from Paris Nail Lacquers (also untried). The middle stripe is the same color mixed with a little Wet n Wild I Need A Refresh-Mint

Mark Rothko Nail Art

Thumb: One thick coat of Orly Liquid Vinyl. The stripe is Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby mixed with China Glaze Riveting.

Mark Rothko Nail Art

Hope you like it!

 

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month.
I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 26 – Pattern: Dark Chevrons

Wow, only a few more days left in the challenge; the end is in sight! For Day 26 of the 30 Day Challenge, we’re tasked with creating something inspired by a pattern.

The pattern I chose was chevrons.

Dark Chevron Nail Art

I started with a base of two coats of Sinful Colors Slate. I then used three different colors to create the chevrons:

Dark Chevron Nail Art

I created the chevron pattern with a series of Xs: start with an X made out of color No. 1 at the cuticle end, then lay an X made out of color No. 2 to the right of it so that you’re moving toward the tip. Then color No. 3 to the right of that. It’s not that far off from the technique you would use for a fishtail braid manicure.

Dark Chevron Nail Art

I alternated the other colors throughout so that they stayed in the same order but I started at a different place in the rotation. So pinkie is 1, 2, 3, then 3 becomes 1 on the next nail, if that makes sense. Each nail was then finished with a final X of Sinful Color Slate so that each would have Slate on the tip.

Dark Chevron Nail Art

I like the pattern on this but I think I would have done better with a different color selection. I was aiming for dark fall colors, but it needed a bit more contrast between the colors. Hey, you live, you learn.

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month.
I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 25 – Fashion: Color Club Catwalk Queen

I missed the Emmy Awards Sunday night because I was watching football instead, but I did scan through the photos from the red carpet looking for inspiration for today’s manicure, Day 26 of the 30 Day Challenge, inspired by fashion.

I found this photo of Tina Fey and used it as inspiration for today’s manicure.

Tina Fey at the Emmys

Photo from eonline.com

I’d like to note at the top that this manicure looked nearly perfect last night, but by the time I was able to photograph it this morning, I was already experiencing significant shrinkage along the cuticle line from the fast-dry top coat. Sorry!

Gold Foil Tip Manicure with Color Club Catwalk Queen

I started with two coats of Color Club Catwalk Queen as the base and then added one coat of Orly Liquid Vinyl on the tips, topped with Poshe fast-dry top coat. Color Club Catwalk Queen was untried for me, for 30 Days of Untrieds.

Gold Foil Tip Manicure with Color Club Catwalk Queen

When I was ready to start the gold leafing, I added one coat of regular top coat to the nail, added the gold leafing and then sealed it with Poshe.

Gold Foil Tip Manicure with Color Club Catwalk Queen

The gold leafing I used is from my stash of vintage nail art supplies. I’m not sure if it’s still available anywhere, but it’s called Nail Nuggets. It comes as one-inch pieces of gold foil. I use an orange stick to rip away small pieces of the foil, dip the tip of the stick in top coat and use that to pick up and place the foil.

Gold Foil Tip Manicure with Color Club Catwalk Queen

Simple, but pretty.

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

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I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 24 – Book: Put Me In The Zoo

I went to my son’s bookcase for the idea behind today’s post, Day 24 of the 30 Day Challenge, inspired by a book. The book I chose is one we’ve been reading a lot at bedtime lately, Put Me In The Zoo by Robert Lopshire.

Put Me In The Zoo

Put Me In The Zoo Polka Dot Nail Art

If you’re not familiar with it, it’s about a spotted creature who wants to live in the zoo but is rejected by the zookeepers. He meets two children and tries to show them that he should be in the zoo because of all of the wonderful tricks he can perform with his spots (changing color, putting them onto other things, throwing them up in the air). But in the end the children tell him that maybe the zoo isn’t the best place for him afterall. With all of his talents, he should be in the circus instead.

Put Me In The Zoo Polka Dot Nail Art

My manicure is based on the scene in the book where, after changing his red spots to blue, orange, green and then violet, he turns his spots to all of those colors at once.

Put Me In The Zoo Polka Dot Nail Art

For the base I used three coats of The Nail Junkie’s Daffodil, followed by one coat of Poshe quick-dry top coat. Daffodil was an untried for me, for the 30 Days of Untrieds challenge I’m participating in simultaneously.

For the dots I used the head of a pin as my dotting tool with the following colors:

  • Blue: Nails Inc. Baker Street
  • Orange: Kiko 359
  • Green: SInful Colors Last Chance
  • Violet: A-England Elaine

I finished it with one coat of Poshe.

Put Me In The Zoo Polka Dot Nail Art

“With all the things that you can do, the circus is the place for you!”

Have you ever based a manicure on a children’s book?

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month.
I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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