Poinsettia Power!

well it's the most wonderful time of the year, also the busiest, sleepiest and broke-iest. i haven't had much time for fun nail art lately, but tonight, i decided to drop everything and paint my little nails. (they really are little. the hot dry heat has made most of them crack.)

Barry M Gold Foil, Butter London Come to Bed Red, Essie Going Incognito, Essence Mellow Yellow

Ever since i did the rose tips a few months back i really wanted to try them as poinsettias. and it turned out great [good enough]! i feel so festive! [now that part is true]

I used my smallest angled nail art brush for the petals and leaves. 

and a small dotting tool for the yellow dots of course.

i did not practice these, but oddly enough the first one i did came out the best, my index finger.

for the thin lines that separate the petals i added green and red together, and used a long striping brush.

i hope you were inspired to try some christmas/holiday nail art of your own.

thanks for reading!

31 Day Challenge: Inspired by fashion

Day 25: Inspired by fashion! In case you don't know... fashion isn't my favorite thing in the world to keep up with. But someone i do keep up with is Nicki Minaj (super stoked about her OPI collection BTW). She wore a CRAZY outfit at Fashion Week this year. she was picked on by some, but i say it's just Nicki being Nicki. while i admit the outfit is over the top, it was very easy to be inspired by. Here's Nicki!!!

(get it gurrrl)

What i used: SH Sun Kisses, Essie Jelly Apple, Essence Mellow Yellow (i need a new yellow) Sally Girl White, SH Blue It, SH Black Out

I was mostly inspired by the last 6 rows of pom poms. (that's all that would fit :P)

I am NOT crazy about this color combo, but i had to stay true to fashion, right??

I wonder if Nicki would be proud?

haha, anyway that was fun. this would be a cute design with more colors, different colors, maybe a cool contrast-y color under it. i may be inspired by this look again. :)

31 Day Challenge: Inspired by a book

Day 24: Inspired by a book. Today's challenge was interesting! I couldn't decide if i wanted to pick a random book that would make a cool mani. or pick my actual favorite book and hope a version of the cover would be awesome. I went with the latter. The Endless Steppe is one of my all time favorite books. Here's how i was inspired by the book...!

What I Used: LA colors art deco black, Catrice ASHley, Essence Chuck, Sally Girl White

I used a matte top coat to make everything dull. like a book!

 I really like this eye. 

I was trying out a new clean up brush and took a giant chunk out of the side of my thumb. sad times.

The challenge is almost over, only a few days left! I'm having a Nail Party again on Saturday. Any fun ideas for me and the girls to try/do/eat/drink??? :D

31 day challenge: Inspired by a movie

Day 23: Inspired by a movie! OH man, this one was easy to think of. Bambi. that's right, Bambi. probably my all time favorite movie, or at least my all time favorite movie that would make cute nails. 

What I used: Milani Pink Rocks, KC Pastel Pink, Essence Mellow Yellow, Color Club Earthy Angel,CC Nomadic In Nude, Sinful Colors Happy Ending, SH Black Out, Catrice ASHley.

a flower, Flower (skunk), Thumper (bunny), Bambi (deer) Butterfly.

i wanted to keep these very simple and almost iconic. at least for the main characters. 

the little bunny tail is probably my favorite!

 So, whats your favorite movie. I know i watched Bambi at least every week for a while, that is until the Lion King came out. ;)

31 Day Nail Challenge: inspired by a song

Day 22: Inspired by a song. This is one of my favorite videos, and a really great song! i love all the bright colors shapes, and movement. Because of all the gradient in color i knew i wanted to use sponging. and because of all the crisp lines i knew i also needed to use tape.

What I used: Julep Cameron, Nabi Lavender, CC Red-ical Gypsy (har har), CC New Bohemian, Essence Chuck, Essence Mellow Yellow, Sally girl white.

Ring finger sorta looks like boba fett.

Silly me. i had ran out of tape...and things got... complicated.

But i made the most of it!

I think the pointer and pinky are my favorites.

 

I am totally and completely disappointed in myself on this one. :( i redid my middle finger about 6 times, and by the last time it was approaching 11 pm, and i was like "screw it!" Sorry. but... manicures shouldn't take 5 hours. (there was a trip to Target (Bubble wrap!) somewhere in there, but i know that only took half hour.)

31 Day Challenge: Inspired by a color

Day 21: Inspired by a color! Today is sort of a funny day, i was inspired by a color, but inspired to do fancy, party, birthday nails, in this color! ...because it's my birthday weekend!!! My friend Lauren and I share the same birthday, 4 years apart, but still the same day. So she came to my house and we painted our nails to match each other! We were both inspired to do blue and gold.


Lauren's Nails:

What Lauren used: Butter London Big Smoke, China Glaze Gr8, Milani Gems Gold, Sally Hansen Set The Stage.

Both hands! we did it kinda random, but they still match.

i love the little laser/star burst things we did. my first time trying that look.

My Nails:

 What I used: Essence Chuck, China Glaze Gr8, Milani Gems Gold, Sally Hansen Set The Stage.

SO there you have it! Due to.. birthday...partying... i will resume the challenge on Monday;)

PS!!! if you read my post about the OTHER 30 day challenge please note that i found the original owner of that list, and i'm updating that post to link back to her, but her blog is the sugar cube! check her out!!!!

31 Day Challenge: Water Marble

Day 20: Water Marble... wow. this was a terrible mess! i almost did a dry marble, just because i knew how much cleaner that would have been. but i wanted to stay true to the challenge and do a water marble. keep reading to see why i hate water marbles.

okay, last time i did water marble i didn't tape up my fingers. this time i did, and i was hopeful that it would come out better!

all taped up, tape, cup, polishes ready to go!

pour the polish in the cup, room temp water, i did swirl these, just forgot to take a pic.

time it takes to dip fingers in water: less than a minute. time it takes to clean it up... lost track.

What I used: Barry M Turquoise, Kleancolors pastel pink, Essence Mellow yellow

the biggest problem was the water causing bubbles on my nails.

it did that to my thumb so badly it never dried properly and i had to take

it off and just paint some stripes of the colors on there...

 i like how the index finger shows a purple color, but i didn't have any purple in the cup... pink + blue = purple. not my plan, but okay.

re is no rhyme, reason, order, safe zone, or boundaries to water marbles, everything just goes everywhere and does whatever it wants. that is not my style. i like clean lines. i like crispness! 

have you tried a water marble? was it a failure or a success?