Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 7 Black & White

For the daily nail art challenge, today's prompt was black and white! I was really excited about this one because the colors are so simple (not really colors at all). I feel like with the absence of color  I could focus more on the design. I ended up doing a dry marble which has been somewhat difficult for me in the past. I only recently figured out that using a nail art brush is much easier than a toothpick, I don't know why that realization took me so long! The black I used is discontinued: Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro, but the 60 Second line they have now is also great. I used a Pure Ice white. You could use any black and white. I have a ton in my collection and rotate them based on what I am using them for. 

Nail Art: Chevrons with Street Art and Nail Studs

I have a fun and different (for me) combination to share today! I'm finding that I don't actually own that many glitter polishes, but when I saw the unique Maybelline Color Show Street Art collection, this blue and black glitter combo caught my eye. It is called Nighttime Noise. I wanted to showcase it in this mani. I started with a white base, I used Pure Ice Superstar here and on my pointer and pinky fingers added triangle shaped studs from the Born Pretty Store (use my code: HANDX31 for 10% off). I then used Nail Vinyls and painted Sinful Colors Black on Black on my thumb, middle, and ring fingers. 

Nail Art: Sideways Moons

Sideways moons? I'm sure you have heard of half moon manis, but sideways moons? I'n not sure is it an appropriate name, but that is what I am going with here. I just thought of these one night and decided to see what they would look like. I started with a base of China Glaze White On White and carefully freehand painted Pelican Gray on the side of the nail in a somewhat curved shape. Then I painted Wet n Wild Black Creme over the grey in a similar arc shape. I then added some acrylic nail studs from the Born Pretty Store (Use code: HANDX31 for 10% off). 

Born Pretty Store 1 of 3: Rose Tuxedo Nails!

Press Sample

So excited to share with you some nail art products! I have been seeing these sweet little nail studs all over the internet and I've been wanting them all! Turns out, a lot of them come from the Born Pretty Store. This is the first of a three part series on Born Pretty Store products. They sent me three items for review and I have broken them up into individual posts. The first item I have to share is black acrylic studs. I decided to use the bows, but it comes with 12 different shapes. They are pretty small but fit in perfect proportion to my nails. I created a tuxedo like nail design but instead of making it solid, I stamped a rose design with my MoYou stamping plate! Applying the studs was really simple, I just applied top coat over the design, placed the stud where I like it and added another layer of top coat over that.

Nail Art: Galaxy Nails for #hepicksmypolish!

I came across a challenge called #hepicksmypolish, and I knew immediately I wanted to participate! The premise of the challenge is to have your husband/boyfriend/whoever pick out your polish for you. He picks three colors which you have to use and no others except base/top/glitter coats. My husband picked out China Glaze Black Diamond, OPI Vant to Bite My Neck and Essie First Timer. It seemed like a somewhat odd assortment until I realized that he picked them based off of our wedding colors! They aren't exactly our wedding colors, but he did pretty good picking them out.

Swatch and Review of OPI: My Private Jet

Today I have My Private Jet from OPI. This is an older shade and I have heard that the color has actually changed over the years. OPI continues to market this color by the same name, but in reality it isn't the same. Regardless, it is a pretty interesting color. It is a dark brown with some holographic glitter. It is so dark, it could be considered sort of a grey/charcoal but it depends on the lighting. Take a look:

Swatch and Review of OPI: 4 In The Morning

I recently picked up three shades from OPI's Gwen Stefani collection and wanted to share all three with you today. However, I tried to take all the photos outside, as it was one of the nicest days since Winter started, but I lost the daylight. I did get decent photos of one, and that is the only one I will share today. 4 In The Morning, looks just like that, dark but with a little bit of twinkle. It has a satin finish which is supposed to be a tad glossier than a matte finish. In the bottle it looks like a charcoal grey, but on the nail, I would call it more of a dusty black. 

Nail Art: Olympic Nails

As I type this I am watching the Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics! I created a design inspired by a tutorial from Chalkboard Nails. Her tutorial is for distressed nails and my thought was to incorporate all of the colors of the Olympic rings. It turned out a little muttled, and I think I used too many colors. I think it looks really interesting and different though.

 

Nail art: Black and Red Chevron Tips

If you read my last post about the Maybelline Color Show Brocades Collection, you know that I wasn't a fan of Embellished Blue. I did, however, decide to try out another shade:Crushed Crimson. This time, I wasn't disappointed. The polish is still really thick because of the dense glitter, but it was easier to work with. I really like how there is a mixture of shapes of glitter in this polish, especially the random larger hex glitter.

I used two careful layers of Crushed Crimson and then free hand painted chevron tips in two layers of Rimmel Lasting Finish PRO in Black Satin. Really simple. I did this while cooking dinner, which is something I don't recommend, but was doable. I really liked that Crushed Crimson was less textured than Embellished Blue. It is a great Christmas color, and I will definitely be using this again closer to the holidays! Hope you like it!

Nail Art: A Random Sampling

 Hello all! I have a somewhat unusual post for you today. I have a few nail art designs I never shared with you on my blog, but I didn't think these deserved a post on their own, so I decided to lump three nail art designs into one post! If you haven't figured it out yet, I like to play with nail designs a lot. Often I feel like the design doesn't live up to my expectations so I'll leave it on for maybe a day an take if off. The next few designs were of that variety of nail art. The first was for #nailartsep on Instagram (@HandtasticIntentions) and the theme was football. My husband is a Niners fan and I automatically thought I could represent his team on my nails for a little while at least. I'm not a huge fan of football, but why not make my husband happy and do a little nail art in the process?

The next design was one of which I wished I had taken more pictures! I wanted to try a natural colored leopard print nail and I actually think it turned out pretty well. I used some simple dotting tools to achieve this look. Nude: Ruffian, Naked, Brown: OPI, Wooden Shoe Like to Know, Black: Ruffian, Ciré Noir, Top Coat: NYC, Matte Top Coat. Ruffian nail lacquer can be found at Birchbox which is exclusive to the site. I bought the classics set which came with a nude, black and red. Once I finished my design, I felt like I had to have a matte finish, and I really enjoyed the final look. Makes me wish I had a better matte top coat!

This last design is one I had originally planned on writing it's own post about, but I didn't really like this one as much as I thought I would. It was inspired by one of Miss Jen Fabulous' designs seen on her YouTube channel. Pretty easy to do if you have dotting tools and an interesting look. I might try this again with different and more contrasting colors. I used A England Tristam for the dark blue and OPI Thanks a Windmillion for the lighter blue.

This was a pretty random assortment of designs, but I hope you like them! Let me know if you want a tutorial on any of these!

Nail Art: Flower Chevron Tips

Chevron tips!! I can't get enough! Chevrons are so easy and fun. It is pretty much instant gratification. Since the design is so simple, I decided to complicate it a little. I created a multilayer chevron tip manicure. As a base, I started with OPI Bubble Bath which is a pretty sheer nude. It just smooths and creates a nice layer to start with. On top of that I have OPI Can't Find My Czechbook. It is a nice aqua infused sky blue. I added a layer of black as a base for a floral design. I used Wet 'n Wild Black Creme. The flower design didn't turn out as awesome as I envisioned, so I added another layer of black to bring it all together. Photos are outdoors in the shade:

In direct sunlight:

I wanted to do these nails for a contest on Instagram (@HandtasticIntentions). I saw the contest and wanted to enter, but mostly just wanted to try out this design. I think it is pretty fun and I enjoyed doing it. Hope you like it! Thanks for reading!!