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 14: Match OOTD

My outfit for February 14 was pretty boring because I just went to the doctor and work that Friday. This manicure matches my outfit for Saturday, February 15th, which was a blue skirt with white pin stripes, a red top, and my black bead necklace.

So, to match my outfit, I used Ciaté Power Dressing, Seche Warm Hearted, Essie Licorice and Marshmallow, and Orly Instant Artist Crisp White with Butter London Nail Foundation as the nude color on my index finger.

February Day 11: Pastel

I used OPI Pink-ing of You for the base, Essie In the Cab-ana and L'Oréal Royalty Reinvented for the polka dots, and Orly Instant Artist Crisp White for the stripe. I applied Ciaté Cutie Pie (a light, sheer pink) over the entire design to soften the colors.

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 7: XOXO

L'Oréal Not a Cloud in Sight, Orly Instant Artist Crisp White, and Essie Matte About You were used to  create this look.

I'm not crazy about this look since writing with nail polish is a struggle for me, but at least I was able to fulfill this day of the challenge.

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.

May's Purple Thursday Week 3 - Delayed Post

Note: I did try to upload this post on-time, and I believed that it had uploaded. I was very disappointed to see that it never did. Since then, I've tried repeatedly to upload this post, gotten an error message, and then became very frustrated with the whole complicated, problem-ridden procedure. Now I'm back and hopefully I won't encounter the same issue. 

I decided to do Galaxy nails with my poor rendition of the USS Enterprise...because I'm seeing Star Trek tonight. 

I used Barielle Hidden Hideaway, L'Oréal Royalty Reinvented, Essie Splash of Grenadine, Ciaté Magic Carpet, Orly Instant Artist Crisp White, and OPI Pirouette My Whistle. Plus a Essence polish I can't remember the name of (stat tuned). 

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?

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.

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.