Day 23: Animal Theme

Day 23 - Animal Theme. I chose Tiger print for my animal themed manicure. I used Seche Captivating and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black. I didn't apply any topcoat because I liked the shine of Captivating under the matte Jet Black. 

February Day 9: Hearts

Apparently some of my favorite manicure ideas only pop into my head when I only have 30 minutes to create the look and no time for it to dry.

For these contrasting hearts I used Essie Splash of Grenadine and Marshmallow, Ulta Blue Streak and Sun-Sational, L'Oréal New Money and Crazy fro Chic, SinfulColors Hazard, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black.

February Day 4: Polka Dots

Please pardon the dot smears - that's what I get for doing this in 30 minutes (including top coat). Please pardon the glare - it was cloudy and rainy when I took this photo.

I used Essie Bond With Whomever and Licorice, L'Oréal New Money, Orly Instant Artist Jet Black, and Seche Warm Hearted.

Another Crazy Retro Pattern

I was experimenting with some different manicures I could make using the same colors. This somewhat retro pattern was a result of that and has been used as a guest post on one blog already.

I used L'Oréal New Money, Essie Bond With Whomever, Barielle Love, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black.

Twinsie Galaxy Nails

My sister and I did Twinsie Galaxy Nails recently and I loved the outcome.

I used Essie Licorice and Turquoise & Caicos, SinfulColors Snow the White, Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac, and Nicole by OPI Here Kim's the Sun.

Bows + Everybody = BoBody

I was lacking inspiration/motivation for a manicure but remembered doing a swatch of this yellow a while back and loving it.

But how, you may ask, will I jazz this up a bit? Cage match style...sorry, more of The Office references.

Well of course I'm going to be inspired by the bow on my Ciaté Big Yellow Taxi polish bottle. ;) I added Essie Splash of Grenadine for a splash of contrast and Essence bow rhinestones.

Glitter-licious, It's Hot Hot

Matte Glitter? Yes please. I used my favorite black polish for the base, Essie Licorice. Then it was a combo of Milani Teal and Hot Pink glitter topped off with Essie Matte About You top coat to finish off this look.

Glitter and Grunge

After doing a manicure that included trying to draw letters...and failing horribly (I might post that up later), I did this glitter gradient and saran wrap manicure that is more my style.

I used L'Oréal Royalty Reinvented as the base, Sally Hansen Snow Globe for the glitter gradient, and Essie Licorice as the second color for the saran wrap effect.
 

Papaya Nails

Clearly this is an older manicure because I have now gone back to square-shaped nails, but I knew I needed to try papayas out on my oval/almond nails before I changed it up again.

Papayas are my favorite fruit. However, my husband thinks they smell like feet and won't sit next to me on the rare occasion I eat some papaya. IMO, there is nothing like the refreshing, soft, cool, and sweet feeling of fresh papaya in my mouth.

So let's get down to the nitty-gritty on how I created this look:

1. I painted two coats of SinfulColors Hazard as the base.
2. Using the brush that came with the polish, I painted a thin layer of Ulta Cream on the Crop in an elongated oval in the center.
3. Topped it all off with Essie Matte About You.
4. Using a dotting tool and Essie Licorice, I made the "seeds."
5. With a dotting tool again and Seche Vite top coat, I randomly dotted on top of seeds to make them more shiny.

(To me, fresh cut papaya doesn't look really juicy but the seeds are slick and shiny.)

Red Carpet Worthy

For this manicure, I embellished it a little more by adding subtle glitter to the red.

So here's what I did:
Ciaté Dangerous Affair (solid red) and Enchanted Rose (red glitter)
Sonia Kashuk Smoke and Mirrors (applied with a thin paint brush)
Orly Instant Artist Jet Black

By the time I finished, I thought it looked rather elegant and classic. What do you think?

Ruffian Girl

So I tried my hand at the ruffian style manicure for the first time using OPI Pedal Faster Suzi! and Ciaté Headliner. I love how the colors look together, especially the contrast because Pedal Faster Suzi! has a pink/silver shimmer and Headliner has a subtle gold sparkle.

For this look I just painted my base color and then added the second color but with some distance away from my cuticles. So it did take time and a steady hand. I still need practice to get a better curve, but it was fun twist on just regular nail painting.

A Full-On Dotticure

I was inspired by Lucy at Lucy's Stash for this dotticure. I couldn't get the vibrant purples to correctly show up although I tried several poses and lighting arrangements. The base is Barielle Grape Escape and the polka dots are SinfulColors Mint Apple and Pink Forever, OPI Pink-ing of You, and Essie Licorice. 

I did the same design on both of my hands. You can see my dominant right hand at the bottom of the page. I thought it turned out pretty well...especially since it got so repetitive.

Left Hand - Indoor Lighting

Left Hand - Indoor Lighting

Left Hand - Natural Light

Right Hand - Natural Light

Connect-the-Mustache

Can you see the mustache? I used Ciaté Mojito and Barielle Grape Escape for the sponging, Essie Shine of the Times over that, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black for the mustache. Note: I used Essie Marshmallow as a base so that the colors would be opaque but also light.

Abstract and Warhol Inspired

Polka dots and flowers that ended up looking like anemones. It feels very vintage and cutesy to me. Someone commented on Instagram that they were reminded of Andy Warhol's art when they saw this photo. I used Ulta Blue Streak, Julep Kate, SinfulColors Pink Forever and Hazard, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black.

Stripe Bright

I used eight different colors to achieve this multi-stripe mani. I used SinfulColors Pink Forever and Hazard, Ulta Sun-Sational, Ciaté Mojito, Headliner, Cookies and Cream and Twilight, and Barielle Grape Escape.

I just applied each line with a thin nail art brush.

Dark and Light - Gradients and Feathers

I was inspired by Kaitlin Ferland at The Daily Polish for this mix of light and dark. I used black polish for the index and pinky finger and have determined that I think black looks more sinister on oval/almond shaped nails. Then I did a blue-purple-pink gradient over a white base and layered a sheer pink over that to tone down the colors a bit. Then I tried my hand at drawing feathers.

Note: Why do my nails look so short in photos? They are actually pretty long...longer than how long I would let them get when I had square shaped nails.

I used Essie Licorice, Julep Kate, Ulta Blue Streak, Barielle Grape Escape, Orly Butterflies, OPI Passion, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black.

Bows and Polka Dots

A friend of mine loves Hello Kitty and asked me to do a Hello Kitty manicure. She showed me a pic of it, but I don't know who originally did that manicure. All the nails, except the accent nail, were very much like my version of it. Unfortunately, I can't draw to save my life. So I tried to do Hello Kitty's bow instead of drawing her. I think my right hand turned our better but figured I would post both...it was my first time doing bows and this tutorial by The Daily Polish was really helpful.

I used SinfulColors Pink Forever, Orly Instant Artist Crisp White and Jet Black, Julep Kate, and, for the bow only, OPI Pink-ing of You and Nicole by OPI Here Kim's the Sun.

Left Hand

Right Hand

Underwater Abstract

I was inspired by Chalkboard Nails for this manicure using Nicole by OPI Mer-Maid for Each Other and Orly Instant Artist for the wavy lines. I wish I could find the exact post that Chalkboard Nails did, but she has such a great blog I recommend just exploring it and getting inspiration.

Because of the green/blue base and wavy lines, my nails ended up looking like abstract seaweed to me.

Mustache Nails!

With SinfulColors Hazard as the base, I did a mustache manicure by drawing one with Orly Instant Artist Jet Black. It took me a while to get the mustache just right. My tip is to draw the mustache thin at first and then thicken it up where needed for a full, luscious, and symmetrical mustache.

We also have a guest appearance by Aurora, my sister's Golden Retriever.

Inspired by Aubrey Hannah

I was inspired by Aubrey Hannah's for this manicure. I used SinfulColors Pink Forever with Essie Pure Pearlfection and Matte About You. Then for the accent finger, I used Essie Licorice with Matte About You and, with a thin nail art brush, I applied To Dry For top coat for the (zebra) stripes.

Aubrey Hannah has an Instagram account and a blog. Check it out!