New 31DC Day 31: Recreate someone else's mani

Finally, the last day of the challenge is here. I missed a couple days, but I made it to the end! I'm a little sad to not have a specific look to do each week, but I'm also relieved that I can go back to doing whatever I want. Challenges are a lot of pressure!

Anyway, for this day, I decided to recreate this look from Lisa at Polished Elegance. She did it for her favorite color day, along with a very helpful picture tutorial. I absolutely love argyle, and knew that I had to do it as soon as I saw hers.

I did 2 coats of SquareHue- Happy creme on all but my ring finger, where I did 2 coats of Sinful Colors- Snow Me White. Then I taped off the squares and painted Happy creme on the ring finger. Then I took a striping brush and Orly- Dazzle to do my lines. Topped it all with one coat of HK Girl.

I really love this look and want to do it again sometime, my right hand didn't look nearly as good as my left, I'm not too good with the striper yet. I hope I did this justice!

New 31DC Day 29 & 30: Inspired by a blogger/fave technique

I may be cheating ever so slightly with this one :) I'm combining days 29 & 30. One of the first blogs I started following was A Girl and Her Polish, and I'm always impressed with her amazing work. So I chose this look of hers as my inspiration. I wanted to try both double stamping, and stamping over a texture. Stamping is also my favorite nail art technique, so you're getting a two-for-one in this post since I'm already a couple days behind.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze- Bump and Grind. Aside from Crackle, this is the only textured polish I own so far. I'm still not sure I'm a fan, but I absolutely love the color of this one. My husband says it looks like Rhino Lining. I tried this just after I bought it, and every picture I took, it looked orange. So, I made myself a little homemade, makeshift light box, lit with a flashlight app on my iPhone. Pretty hi-tech right? It's made such a difference! I couldn't even believe it!

I stamped with BM-316 and Sally Hansen- Blue Away, then again with Milani- White on the Spot.

I added a coat of HK Girl to see if it would smooth out the texture a bit. It still kind of drives me crazy. It did a little, but could probably use another coat. Oh well, I think I'll just tough it out this time. Maybe I'll learn to love it?

New 31DC Day 28: Inspired by your favorite color

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, I think it's been pretty obvious that my favorite color is pink :) 

I started this look with 2 coats of SquareHue- Happy creme. Then I grabbed 2 sizes of dotting tools and added some dots with SquareHue- Day glow, and Sinful Colors- Snow me White.

I was really happy with the way this one turned out!

New 31DC Day 27: Inspired by you

I had every intention of doing my nails last night for this challenge. Then we ended up spending 3 hours at the emergency room so our 7-year-old could get 22 stitches in her forehead. Long story short, my nails are naked.

Check out what the other girls did for today!

New 31DC Day 26: Inspired by your country

The good ol' USA. I figured red, white, and blue was only fitting. So I picked up this cool glitter, appropriately named Freedom from Pure Ice. It's packed full of red and blue glitter, with cute little silver stars in it.  I let the bottle sit upside down for awhile before I started because all of the stars were settled in the bottom. Even still, I was only able to fish a couple of them out and you can hardly see them on the nail. My base was 2 coats of Milani- White on the Spot.

New 31DC Day 25: Inspired by your childhood

I did a lot of swimming when I was younger. I was on the swim team for probably 7 years, and took lessons for years before that. We spent so much time at the pool every summer. Practice twice a day and swim meets every weekend. It was great.

 

I started with a glitter sandwich, inspired by this look from Essie at iHeartPrettyPolish. Since I saw her mani, I have been searching for Revlon-Royal. I finally snagged a bottle in a recent blog sale :)  Anyway, I started with 2 coats of Royal, then added 2 coats of LA Colors- Sparkling Diamonds, then topped with one more coat of Royal and topped with HK Girl. 

 

I added the waves on the tips with BM-216 and Sally Hansen- Blue Away. The image didn't want to transfer very well, but you get the idea :) I like this one better without the stamping, but it definitely reminds me of the pool.

New 31DC Day 24: Inspired by a game

Sorry all, I'm doing bad at keeping up on this challenge! Even the laid back version! I was going to do Scrabble nails for this day...but I didn't get around to it. So you'll just have to imagine that they were awesome :) 

Check out what the other girls did for this day.....

New 31DC Day 22: Inspired by a fabric

I used my daughter's blanket as inspiration for this mani! It's pink on one side, and zebra print on the other side, It's in the background of the second picture here.

I started with 2 coats of Milani- White on the Spot. Then stamped the zebra print with BM-223 and Konad- Special Black. I added one coat of HK Girl to make sure that was very dry before the next step. I taped off a section and painted 2 coats of NYC- Love Me Red Creme. Once that was dry, I used LA Colors- Silver Glitter striper along the lines. It could have done without the glitter I think...

Overall, I really liked this, and it matches her blanket really well! And her bedroom...and half of her wardrobe...let's just say I'm a big fan of pink and zebra :)

New 31DC Day 21: Merge or Melt

For today's challenge, I had big plans. I wanted to try watermarbling again, then I wanted to try the reciprocal gradient, then I ran out of time :(  It seems like I've been really busy, but at the same time, I feel like I haven't really accomplished anything. Anyway...I ended up with a simple glitter gradient.

I started with 3 coats of OPI- You're Such a Budapest. I LOVE this color! Then I added LA Colors- Jewel Tone for the gradient. I liked how it turned out.

This polish looks more blue in these pictures. My camera has a hard time capturing purples.

New 31DC Day 20: Texture

Texture is one trend I'm not super fond of. I haven't tried any of the new textured polishes, but I really like everything to be nice and smooth. Even gritty glitters drive me crazy. So crackle was really the only type of texture polish I even own right now.

I started with a base of 2 coats of Essie- Your Hut or Mine. This was also my oldest untried polish. I was supposed to post that a few days ago, but I never got to it. I love this pretty golden shimmer it has to it. I put one coat of Sally Hansen Crackle- Ink Splatter over top. I didn't use top coat so it would stay very textured.

New 31DC Day 19: Favorite Polish

I have a lot of polishes that I really love, but I would have to say this is my favorite. It's Orly- Miss Conduct. I actually saw this one on my way to check out at Sally's one day. I just caught a glimpse of it on the shelf. I picked it up and looked at it and I had to have it. I think it's absolutely gorgeous! When I don't have time for stamping or some elaborate nail art, this is the polish I reach for so I don't have naked nails. I don't have a picture in the sunlight, but it's amazing. The holographic glitter is awesome.

New 31DC Day 17: A new technique to you

I missed day 16! I had a sinus infection and ear infection last week, so I didn't get much done at all, and my nails were last on my to-do list. Sorry all. :(

The theme for day 17 is a new technique to you. There are quite a few techniques I have yet to try, but I decided to go with fan brushing. I have a fan brush that I had never used, and it seemed easy enough. It was fairly easy, but my base was way too thick, so my whole look just wasn't drying. I ended up removing this right after the pictures.

I started with one coat of Sinful Colors- Snow Me White, and 2 coats of Sinful Colors- Cinderella. I used the fan brush and Wet 'n' Wild- Denim Chrome, and went over that with Salon Perfect- Pure Azure. Topped with one coat of Out the Door.

This wasn't my favorite. Maybe a different color combination would have been better.

New 31DC Day 15: Watercolor

I'd never tried watercolor before this challenge. So I watched a few youtube videos and decided I was ready to try it out. It didn't really work out like I had hoped. I should have stuck with 2 colors instead of adding the 3rd. They were too dark and just kind of mushed together, not my best work.

I started with one coat of Milani- White on the Spot, then added a coat of Out the Door for added protection from the acetone. I swirled on NYC- Boundless Berry, LA Colors- Sea Siren, and a nameless purple from Maurices. I went a little too deep on a few of the colors and ended up with some holes through the white. I tried to fill them in with the next color, but it didn't work so well. Oh well, I'll try it again another time. Topped it all with one coat of Out the Door.

New 31DC Day 14: Stamping

Ahh stamping :) A technique I feel comfortable with. For this one, the only difficult thing was narrowing it down to one look! There's so many fun things I want to try. I absolutely loved what I ended up with here. I read in the Adventures in Stamping group on Facebook that Pure Ice- Silver Star was a good silver to stamp with. So I bought a bottle, and was not disappointed! It was amazing! It stamped perfectly over the dark base. And bonus, it's super cheap :)

I started with 2 coats of Essie- Go Overboard. I could have gotten away with one careful coat, but I wasn't so careful the first time around. Which makes me want to use this color to stamp too.... 

Then I stamped with BM-210 and Pure Ice- Silver Star. I added one coat of Jordana- Crystal Ocean for a little sparkle, and one coat of Out the Door to finish.

What do you think of this one? I love the feathery look.

New 31DC Day 13: Cheer yourself up mani

I had a hard time with this theme. I don't really have a go to look for when I'm feeling down. Eventually I decided to go with my favorite color combination and figured that would make me happy. It worked! I loved this one. I absolutely LOVE gray and pink together.

On my thumb, which I now realize I never took a picture of, I did 2 coats of Milani- White on the Spot and one coat of Orly- Winter Wonderland. You'll just have to believe me when I say it was pretty :) On my index and pinky, I used 2 coats of e.l.f.- Misty Haze. I love this gray, but it chips the next day :( My middle finger is 2 coats of Sinful Colors- Easy Going, followed by one coat of KleanColor- Holo Pink. My ring finger is 2 coats of Misty Haze, then stamped with White on the Spot and BM-201. Then I used a dotting tool and Easy Going to add the little heart. One coat of Out the Door to finish it all off.

New 31 DC Day 12: Tape Mani

Today's theme is tape mani. I have lots of craft scissors, and had all kinds of ideas for this one...but then I put off doing it until about 11:30 last night. So let's be honest, I kinda half-assed it. But, it was my first time using striping tape! So that was fun. I have lots of other things I want to try with the striping tape, I've just been nervous to try it. I think it turned out pretty good for my first time! I didn't stick it down quite good enough on my pinky, oh well.

I started with 2 coats of Orly-Dazzle. I really like this silver, it doesn't stamp well though. Still searching for a good silver stamper. I taped off my lines and added one kind of thickish coat of Salon Perfect- Pure Azure. Topped with one coat of Out the Door.

I'm going to try something hopefully more exciting with the striping tape in the near future.

New 31DC Day 11: Splatter

The theme for day 11 is splatter mani. I'd never done this technique before, so I looked at a bunch of others, watched a few youtube videos, and this is what I ended up with. I got really frustrated doing this one...for some reason, I couldn't get the polish to splatter right for the life of me! So these are the only 4 nails that ended up being splattered :) 

I wanted to do a springy look, but it didn't really turn out how I had imagined. I tried to use yellow too, but absolutely couldn't get it to work.

I started with one coat of Milani- White on the Spot. For the splats I used Essie- Cute as a Button, Nina- Lilac-ing Discipline, and Sally Hansen- Mint Sorbet. All topped with one coat of Out the Door.

In the end, I think it's kind of cool looking, but I think it's a little to messy for me. I just didn't love it. Maybe I'll try again another time with different colors and see how I feel.

New 31 Day Challenge Day 10: Geometric

Today's theme is geometric. I couldn't come up with anything fancy, so I just went with stamping. This blue has been sitting in my untried pile for awhile now, and I really like it!

I started with 2 coats of NYC- Water Street Blue, followed by one coat of Out the Door. I stamped with BM-319 and Milani- White on the Spot, all topped with one more coat of Out the Door.

This was also the first time I used White on the Spot. It was great for stamping!

New 31 Day Challenge Day 9: Saran Wrap

This was my first time trying the saran wrap technique. My nails are super short right now, I've had quite a few breaks lately :( Boo. This wasn't my favorite look...it's just kind of messy, and I'm too OCD for that. Maybe if I tried it again, or maybe with different colors...I don't know. Just something about it, I don't love.

I started with 2 coats of Essie- Cute as a Button (love this color!!). Then one coat of Out the Door. I blobbed on some spots of Nina- Lilac-ing Discipline, Sinful Colors- Snow Me White, and Cute as a Button. Then used the saran wrap to sponge it around. I added one coat of Jordana- Crystal Ocean for some sparkle, and one coat of Out the Door.

New 31 Day Challenge Day 8: Duo Chrome, Flakie, or Holo

 I know I missed the challenge for day 7...I'm hoping to get caught up on that. It's been a super busy week, my baby girl turned one, and I've had appointments to get ready for Lasik this week!

This look started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors- Easy Going, followed by 2 coats of KleanColor- Holo Pink. I really loved this glitter! This is the first time I've used it and it's amazing. I love the way it sparkles in the sun, it's hard not to stare at :)