NEW 31 Day Challenge: Recreate Someone Else's Mani!

The final day, day 31! I'm a bit sad to see the end of this challenge, but also a bit relieved! I'm so behind on my review work, and my creativity began to suffer a bit toward the end there! I do still have two posts to do to catch up- I was sick last weekend, so I'll post my Childhood and Country manis this upcoming weekend.

Before I get down to the LAST mani of the challenge, I want to express my thanks. First of all: Crumpet! This challenge was SO much fun, and really pushed my boundaries several times. Thank you for coming up with the whole thing! Second: to every single participant: every single one of your manicures was wonderful. Thank you so much for your creativity, your time, and the peek into your lives. And finally: to my readers! This challenge was much longer than any I've done previously, and was daily, so my regular posting style did change dramatically. Thanks for sticking with me! So, without further ado: here is my copy cat mani for today!

The mani I chose to recreate can be seen here. It is from the Merge or Melt day, by Dressed Up Digits. I loved this mani so much that I considered buying the polishes that she originally used! But I'm not a huge fan of magnetics, so I went with what I had on hand. I started with a base of Sinful Colors Midnight Blue, then sponged on a gradient with the same and Sinful Colors San Francisco. My peacock stamp didn't want to cooperate, so I ended up with this swoopy design. I think it's from RA-107. I stamped first with Sinful Colors Black on Black, then again off center with Essie Penny Talk.

Thoughts? What was your favorite mani from this challenge? It was so hard to pick just one- I considered doing one massive post with about 10 that I wanted to recreate . . . be sure to check out the rest of the recreations in the links below!

NEW 31 Day Challenge: Inspired by a Blogger

Today's theme was a tough one! I follow so many amazing bloggers, not to mention all of the amazing manis put forth by all of the ladies participating in this challenge! I had so many set aside for the recreate day, that I thought I would use one of them for today :)

I was inspired by this mani by Nails by Ms. Lizard, but I was in NO mood to do a watermarble at the moment. So, as this one is only inspired, I added my own take on it. I started with a coat of Revlon Top Speed Spirit (creme white) and stamped using Sinful Colors Black on Black and the watermarble-y design from RA plate 107. I then took a few striping polishes- Kiss Nail Art Bikini Pink and Beach Green, and Sinful Colors Me First, and painted over most of the white areas left beneath the stamping. It took me a few nails to get the hang of it, but I ended up loving it! I especially love my ring finger, and how the neon yellow at the tip looks like a heart :)

There you have it, dears! Inspired by the lovely Ms. Lizard- be sure to check out her mani, as well as the rest of the challengers in the links below!

NEW 31 Day Challenge: Inspired by Your Favorite Color, featuring Physician's Formula

Today's prompt was to do a manicure inspired by your favorite color. Well, I'm a pink girl, all the way, but we already did a "pink day", way back on the 4th. We also did "Your Favorite Color Family" on the 6th. I wanted to do something completely different from either of those days, and I came across this beauty at Walmart, and thought it fit the bill!

This beauty is the Endless Color trio in California Goddess, by Physician's Formula. I didn't even know Physician's Formula made nail polish! I've always been a fan of their blushes and shadows, so I thought I would give the polish a try out. There is even a nail art guide along one side of the box, showing several different ways the colors can be combined. 

The bottles snap together- how cool is that?! They probably won't fit in a Helmer once they're stacked, but I keep my polish in standard desk drawers, and they fit just fine.  

As you can see from the photos, the California Goddess set that I chose contains dark but bright (does that make sense?) orange jelly, a lighter bright orange creme and a raspberry pink that is somewhere between a creme and a jelly finish. All polishes are shown at three coats, and there is no VNL to be seen from the jelly or the semi-jelly. The lighter orange (unfortunately, there are no individual polish names) was a bit streaky, but the other two went on perfectly. And can I just say how much I'm in love with that pink? I want a full size bottle, but I didn't see any polishes in the PF display, other than the sets. 

Physician's Formula can be purchased at Walmart, Walgreen's, CVS, et cetera. Pretty much: wherever drugstore brand polishes are sold. They were priced at $9.97 at Walmart, with a $2 off coupon on each trio, which I stupidly forgot to use. 

Have you given these a try yet? Will you? 

Be sure to check out the rest of the "favorite color" manis in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Inspired by YOU

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I struggled a bit with today's prompt. As I'm the one doing the nail art, and coming up with the ideas and color combinations, isn't EVERY nail art design I do inspired by me? So I thought. And thought. And thought some more. Ultimately, I decided to do something that was inspired by me, physically. Just like the Inspired by Fabric, and Inspired by Nature, I did this one based on looks alone. 

To explain slightly: I am very pro body modification. I have many tattoos, and even more piercings, and I've seen some gorgeous stamps out there with old school tattoo designs on them. Unfortunately, I don't have any of those stamps, so I made do with what I did have. 

I started with a base of Orly Night Owl (granted a little dark for my skin tone, but I just LOVE this color! Can't you tell? This is probably the 4th time I've shown it!) Then I stamped using Sinful Colors Black on Black. The stars are from an unnumbered Salon Express plate, and the wings and bird are from Red Angel plates whose numbers I can't quite recall (but will look up for you if you're absolutely interested). I dotted around the "tattoo" designs with my smallest dotting tool and some more black. I added a few dots here and there using Sinful Colors Heavy Metal to represent the piercings. 

This post, and this nail art, feel very personal, and while I try to be open and honest with my readers, I'm aware that many people still view body modification as an abnormality. I am proud of each and every one of my tattoos, and they all have a meaning that is deep and special to me. The piercings don't really have a meaning, but I just don't feel like I look like me without them! 

I know I promised you I would never show you my feet, but this doesn't really count, as I'm wearing shoes. I also had to show you at least one tattoo, right? I have matching lizards on the tops of my feet. With a name like Liz, you just can't go though life without being called Lizard at least a million times!

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NEW 31 Day Challenge: Inspired by Nature

Hello, loves! Today is a very big day for me- our challenge prompt is Inspired by Nature. I wanted to do something to really challenge myself, and I fell in love with this photo. So I set about recreating it, and actually took step by step photos. So, without further ado, I give you my very first tutorial!

In addition to your polishes (which I will list with each step), you will need a cosmetic sponge. I cut mine up into about 9 pieces- on the left is the chunk that I used, versus the full sponge on the right.

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Hard As Nails No Hard Feelings, a lilac creme. Using a corner of my tiny sponge bit, I dabbed down the center of my nail using Sinful Colors Amethyst (a medium purple creme), making sure to let the lighter purple shown down the center. 

All sponging was done with a small corner of my tiny sponge pieces. I used about three bits throughout this design. Your mileage may vary, based on how many colors you use.

Around the outside of the Amethyst sponging, I dabbed on NYC In A Minute Battery Park Purple (dark plum creme). To lighten up the middle even more, I sponged on Sinful Colors Mauve (pale grey-lavender), covering most of the No Hard Feelings that I left open in the first step.

Around the outside of the Battery Park Purple, almost to the edges of my nails, I sponged on Sinful Colors Inkwell (blackened plum). 

On the very edges of my nails, I dabbed on Pure Ice Party Hard (dark navy creme). Then I randomly sponged on some Orly Fowl Play (dark purple flakie glitter) over the whole nail, to deepen the color and add some sparkle. 

The sponging part is done! Yay! At this point, I cleaned up a little bit, then painted over the whole nail with Revlon Glimmer Gloss Pina Colada Pop (gold iridescent micro glitter), to give the whole thing a night sky feeling. 

And the Grand Finale! Using the thinnest brush I had and a white creme polish, I zigzagged across the nail, through the lightest center part, branching out near the tips to create the lightening forks. I found that shaking my hands slightly made for a very nice, jagged electricity bolt effect. I topcoated (Seche Vite) while the white  polish was still tacky, which softened the lines a bit more.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever tried lightening bolt nails? What awesome power of nature inspires you? Be sure to check out the rest of the amazing manis in the links below!

NEW DC: Inspired by Fabric

Hello, dears! I certainly hope that you're warmer than I am today- our high here in Wisconsin was all of 2 degrees! (Fahrenheit)

Our prompt for the day was nail inspired by fabric. The above picture is a scarf that I absolutely fell in love with this winter- a mixed Nordic print, knit scarf in grey and berry tones- gorgeous!

Here we have my attempt to recreate said scarf. I had this mani planned out from the beginning. There are so many stamping plates out there with amazing "ugly Christmas sweater" images on them, and I love them so much, that it didn't even dawn on me that I didn't own any of them! I had to improvise :) My bases are Sinful Colors Cool Grey (index), Sinful Colors Cool Grey topped with a few coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Polar Bare (middle, ring) and Wet N Wild Wild Shine Tickled Pink. I then drew the designs on with Sharpie. That's right: I own a HUGE pack of Sharpies in every color imaginable, and while the colors aren't as vibrant as polish or acrylic paint would be, they give me much more control over the image I'm creating. 

What fabric designs are you constantly drawn to? Nordic knits and paisleys are definitely eye catchers for me! Be sure to check out the rest of the fabric-inspired nails in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Merge or Melt

Merge or Melt is another great prompt that is wide open to interpretation. Put simply, it is anything that causes your colors to merge, or melt together. Awesome! I thought I had this one in the bag!

I started with a beautiful grey gradient: base of Revlon Speed Dry Spirit (white), and then sponged on the gradient with Sinful Colors Cool Grey, NYC Sidewalkers and Sinful Colors Ardois. I loved this gradient so much that I promptly effed it up completely-

- with this mess! I tried to do a black, white and clear watermarble, so that my shades of grey would show through. Don't do this! I had moderate success using clear polish (Gelous) to watermarble with during my Christmas challenge, so I thought this would be easy peasy! I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Black on Black and Wet N Wild Clear, for the record. I gave up on the clear after three disastrous attempts on my index finger, and did a straight black and white watermarble. Which was . . . okay. I'm not incredibly proud of it, but every failure is a stepping stone to success, right? 

Does it look better at an angle? . . . not really. I did, however, learn three valuable lessons during this particular prompt. 

1. Don't get cocky! I've only attempted to watermarble twice, and they were both fairly successful, so I thought this one would be no problem. 

2. Quit while you're ahead. That gradient was simple, but I loved it. I did consider just leaving it, but as I did a plain gradient for the Color Opposites prompt, I felt I needed to jazz it up.

3. Don't watermarble with black polish. Just don't! I taped off my nails, I oiled up my cuticles with balm, and I still spent 45 minutes cleaning up. And my cuticles still look a mess. So I think I'll just avoid black from now one! (And red too, most likely.)

Check out the rest of the lovely challengers in the links below- hopefully they were more successful than I was today!

NEW 31DC: Texture

I have to be honest, right out of the gate. I HATE anything even remotely texture-y on my nails. I will never do a caviar or velvet mani. I'm not remotely interested in the spun sugar technique. I will definitely not be buying the OPI Liquid Sand polishes. That said, I really had to wrack my brain to come up with something for today that would fit the challenge and still be "me".

Matte is definitely a texture- score! I don't care for the feeling of wearing matte polish, but it looks cool, so I do on occasion. Here, I started with a base of Sinful Colors Black on Black and topcoated with Seche Vite for high shine. Once that was dry, I freehanded a French tip with NYC Matte Me Crazy topcoat. Then I used a dotting tool to make matte dots on the shiny part of my nail, and Seche Vite to make dots on the matte French tip..

I do actually really like this look- I think it's sleek and sophisticated and edgy, all at the same time! I wish I had left off the dots on the tip, though. Too much.

Do you hate texture as much as I do? Or are you a texture junkie? Make sure to check out the rest of the challengers in the comments below!

NEW 31 Day Challenge: New Technique

Late post, sorry dears! Today's challenge was to use a technique that is new to you. I've done so many new techniques throughout this challenge (Saran Wrap, The Crumpet's Splodgerama, Watercolor . . .) that I thought I would have a difficult time coming up with a technique that I've never used. Pinterest to the recue! (Hey- follow me- I Pin tons of nail stuff :) I finally settled on drymarbling.

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Mint Sprint (bad move- don't use fast dry polish!), then randomly added some drops of Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Limestone and Nina Ultra Pro Blue Blaze. Then I used a toothpick to create swirly patterns in the wet polish. 

I'm undecided on this mani. I'm not a huge fan of blue polish, but I do have some, and in the interest of color variety, I decided to go outside my comfort zone for today. My only two attempts at watermarbling have been moderately successful, and I prefer the look of a watermarble to that of the dry marbling. I don't hate this mani, but it is kind of . . . meh.

Be sure to check out all the links below- I'm excited to see what "new" things some of these mavens have come up with!

NEW 31 Day Challenge: Splatter

I was super excited about today's prompt, as I have never done a splatter mani before. I know the how-to's an such, I had just never gotten around to trying it. And let me tell you: it is MESSY! I know, I know: I've seen other bloggers complain before about how messy it is, but it just didn't sink in. This wasn't just "watermarble" messy, this was "cleaning polish off of my wrists" messy. I wish I had thought to take pre-cleanup photos! 

Also, protip: Try using coffee straws. I used a regular bendy straw that I had, and I could barely get any polish to blow out of it! And when it did, I tended to get huge globs. Smaller is definitely better!

For all the grousing about the difficulty and the mess, I LOVE the finished product! This is definitely an eyecatching technique, and I will absolutely be doing it again! After procuring some coffee straws, of course :) I started with a base of NYC In A Minute Sidewalkers, a nice medium grey. Then I went to town with a straw and all of the creme pinks I could find: Sinful Colors Pink Forever, Wet N Wild Wild Shine Tickled Pink, Sally Hansen Insta Dri Presto Pink, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure I Pink I Can and Sinful Colors Cream Pink (which, to be fair, isn't really a creme- it has subtle shimmer). 

I call it an unmitigated success, more than making up for yesterday's geometric fiasco! Be sure to check out everyone else's lovely straw art in the links below!

NEW 31 DC: Geometric

I probably did four manis for today's prompt. The stamp design I wanted wasn't working with the polish I wanted, and my tape wasn't laying right, blah blah blah. Whether this mani is the best of the bunch is debatable, but it is the only one I liked enough to take photos of. You win some, you lose some, right? All part of the learning process. 

All three colors (yes, there are three- the color contrast between my base and triangles isn't very apparent) I used in this mani are BRAND NEW Sinful Colors that I found at Walgreen's the other day- I'm a Sinful sucker! The base is Cool Gray, the diamonds were freehanded on with a striping brush and Mauve, and the dotted lines were done with a striping brush and Ardois. The whole new Sinful Collection (I couldn't see the name, as Walgreen's had it shoved on a very narrow bottom shelf) is very reminiscent of their Fall Muse Collection, but much more pastel. Very muted, greyed out shades, which I love!

To give credit where it is due, I was inspired by this argyle post by Top Coat It.

Check out the other geometric designs in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Saran Wrap

Today's mani represents another brand new (to me) technique, the saran wrap mani! Though, in the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't have any saran wrap in the house, so I had to use cut up bits of a sandwich bag.

I began with a base of LA Colors Color Craze in Flicker, then Seche Vite. Once that was completely dry, I painted on Rimmel Sunset Orange, bunched up my bit of baggie and dabbed it off a bit. One nail at a time, of course. Then I painted on Sinful Colors Cream Pink about halfway up my nail, and dabbed that off a bit. 

I love the overall effect of this, especially since the yellow and orange are very jelly-ish, but I don't think I quite got the hang of it until I hit my ring finger- my ring and pinkie are by far my favorites :)

Check out all the other saran wrap manis in the links below!