31 Day Challenge, Day 17 - Glitter

Yes, yes I have been seriously slacking on this and yes, I skipped Tribal (I'll come back to it later).

I did today's nails really quick-like and it shows...I just wanted to get something out.

I used Fingerpaints Purple Palette as my base color. It's super sheer and I ended up doing 4 coats to get to this opacity because I chose to not use any 'underwear'. Then I did some drippy tips with Orly Halo. It looks much better in person than in the pictures but if I did it over again I'd use a creme for the drips...much easier to work with.

Don't mind my skin owie - I got too zealous with my file.

Cult Nails Convert Pack #4

Cult Nails currently has what they're calling 'Convert Packs' for sale.  They consist of 2 polishes meant to be layered together and Wicked Fast top coat.  I purchased #4 a few weeks ago and am blown away by the beauty of Seduction layered over Time Traveler.

These photos show 1 coat of Time Traveler, a rich dark navy cream - a perfect blue in my opinion - with 2 coats of Seduction.

On a slightly related note I am thinking of attempting to fix my broken nail with tips and gel polish as seen in a tutorial on The Polished Mommy.  Has anyone else used this or a similar technique and if so what were your results?

31 Day Challenge, Day 9: Rainbow Harlequin with China Glaze Cirque Du Soleil

Whew, today's nails took me a lot longer than expected and they're still not all they could be.  But, I love the new Cirque Du Soleil collection from China Glaze.  The colors are just amazing.  So bright and vibrant, just beautiful.

Colors Used:

China Glaze: White on White
China Glaze:  Surreal Appeal
China Glaze:  Escaping Reality
China Glaze:  Igniting Love
China Glaze:  Hanging in the Balance
China Glaze:  Def Defying
China Glaze:  Creative Fantasy
China Glaze:  Fairy Dust

31 Day Challenge, Day 6 - Violet

Ever since I was a little girl I've loved the color purple.  I once painted my room a lavender and had blinds to match.  So, I was looking forward to today's challenge theme. :)

Today's new-to-me technique is striping with a fan brush.  I saw these nails and had to go in search of the tutorial.  It seemed easy enough so I gave it a try.  The colors I used are listed below.

Zoya - Julieanne
Revlon - Lily
Zoya - Perrie
L'Oreal - Paparazzi Pleaser
Sally Hansen - Vigorous Violet

Purple Polka Dots

I had a totally different color block mani done with greys and blues but messed it up beyond repair before I could take pictures so I have this...purple polka dots.  The base color is Zoe from Julep, the lighter dots are Perrie by Zoya and the darker dots are Monica by Zoya.

I love polka dot manicures, as I've said before.  They're simple to do and look neat. :)

Stripes a-plenty

So...after spending a few hours looking at my last mani and being unhappy with the pairing of Glitter Goblin over Bizarre Blurple I decided it had to go.  I was just going to do a plain color, no art, because I still had costumes to finish for my kiddos.  But then I ran into this post from Let Them Have Polish and knew I had to be a super huge copy cat.  I used to play roller derby and have fond memories of wearing lots of stripy socks and tights.

I used 3 shades from Sinful Colors for the base on alternating nails:  Cloud 9 (orange, right hand), Dream On (neon purple, left hand) and Irish Green (both hands).  Then I got down with the striping tape and the Wet 'N Wild Shine Black Creme.

Here are my stripes!  They're not as good as the inspiration but they'll do.  Yes, there is a huge ding on my pinky on my right hand - it was a casualty of last minute costume finishing.

Sort of Halloweenish

Halloween is my favorite holiday but for whatever reason I am having issues getting into it this year.  I bought the China Glaze Wicked polishes a little while back and have yet to use them so I did a little something today.  It's just a simple manicure but I like it.  I used Bizarre Blurple and Glitter Goblin to do simple stripes. I have to say I'm kind of disappointed in Glitter Goblin.  I don't know what it is but to me it just looks dirty and muddy.  I probably would have liked it better if the silver in it was gold instead.

Zoya!

I've seen manicures similar to this on several sites and thought it would be cute and fun to do...and it was.  For this I used 5 Zoya shades: Robyn, Charisma, Perrie, Maura and Dana.   The blue base is Robyn and the accent nail is Perrie - all of the colors were used for the dots.

<3 purple

I really like this one, might even keep it for more than a day. I used Zoya Monica for the base color then stamped with China Glaze No Plain Jane using BundleMonster plate BM-209.