Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 30 Jellyfish

I love Oh My Gosh Polish's designs and her awesome accent. She does tons of YouTube videos showing us how to do her nail art, so I definitely recommend taking a look at her videos and subscribing. She has inspired me in the past and today I decided to try another of her designs. She recently did a video featuring a jellyfish design, so I did a re-creation here. I embedded the video at the bottom of the post, but be sure to check out her channel, linked above! I must apologize, my photos are quite up to standard because I was loosing the light and they just aren't quite right. I also turned them differently so you can see the jellyfish correctly. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 17 Glitter

I have another late post to share today. Day 17 for the daily nail art challenge was glitter. I thought this one over so many times and I didn't want to just do a simple glitter polish. I've had Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale for a long time and have only used it once, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to pull it out. I decided to do a matte finish on this gorgeous jelly and add a stamp (Born Pretty Store D14).

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 28 Inspired by a Flag

For the "Inspired by a Flag" prompt, I had to think about it a bit. Since I paint some version of the American Flag on my nails every year, I decided to go for something different. I have always wanted to try to paint a Union Jack, but I wanted to make it pastel, because wanted something non-traditional. I decided to just paint it on as accent nails and I think this turned out really nice! I started with a base of Sinful Colors Sugar Rush and then I painted the white stripes with acrylic paint. I then added the pink and used Color Club Endless. I really liked the pastel effect of it all. I couldn't think of what else to add to the other nails, so for once, I left them alone!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 13 Animal Print

As you can see from the title, this post is really late! I just missed this one a while ago and never made it up. I had high hopes of doing something atypical for animal print, but I just ran out of good ideas and just did something simple. I started with a base of Pure Ice Darkside, a deep maroon with gorgeous gold shimmer and stamped leopard print on a portion of my thumb, middle and ring fingers. I also added some stripes and called it good. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 27 Inspired by Artwork

I love Alphonse Mucha. I have been a fan of his work since the first moment I saw it, and have been lucky enough to visit the Mucha Museum in Prague, Czech Republic. I knew that his work was what was going to be my inspiration for today's "Inspired by Artwork", but I kept lamenting over the fact I can't paint like Mucha. Finally I realized that inspired by doesn't mean reproduce or copy. Therefore I based my design on the tones and shapes I saw in two pieces of which I have small prints: Poetry, from the Four Arts (1898) and Lorenzaccio (1896). I started with a base of Color Club Mod in Manhattan, a favorite off white. Then I stamped with Born Pretty Store plate QA90, which I have had problems with in the past, but served it's purpose here. I used Maybelline Bold Gold for that stamp. Then I stamped another image from Born Pretty Store plate QA88 in Revlon Trendy. I think the tones and shapes mimic what I am seeing in these two pieces.

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 26 Inspired by a Pattern

For the nail art challenge today the prompt is inspired by a pattern. I had pinned this images of fabric a long time ago as inspiration, so I used that for my pattern inspiration today. The original picture is from Chronographia on Etsy. I started with a white base (Pure Ice Superstar) and painted blobs that resembled the shapes of the feathers with Zoya Dove, Rocha and Rooney which seemed to be perfect matches for the colors!I then painted black stripes with acrylic paint to make them look like feathers and gave it a matte top coat. I'm really into matte finish lately.

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 19 Galaxy Nails

I have an overdue post today, day 19 of the nail challenge was galaxy nails. I love galaxy nails and have been wanting to try a pastel version. It was a really simple process with high impact. I love it! I started with a base of NYC Robin's Egg Blue, then I sponged on NYC Mimosa Bouquet, Jacaranda Flower, and Sally Hansen Blue-Away. I then painted little stars with white acrylic pain and added OPI Pirouette My Whistle for a glitter topper. I love it as a glitter topper for galaxies because it has both small and larger glitters which look like stars. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 23 Inspired by a Movie

The movie I chose for the nail art challenge, inspired by a movie, was Alice in Wonderland (2010). I actually chose a dress that Alice wore in the court of the queen of hearts. I would love to put a photo of it in this post, but I cannot find an original source for the photos I am finding so I won't, but if you google Alice in Wonderland Red Court Dress, it will come up. It was a tulle poofy dress with a red to black underskirt and a sheer white overlay with stripes and hearts on it. Ever since I first saw this dress in the movie, I have loved it. It is so out there, but girly and sort of steampunk it inspired me. I loved it enough to remember it years later and recreate it on my nails!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 25 Fashion Inspired

I am back at it today with some more nail art for the #31DC2014 challenge! I had to have self imposed "work appropriate" nails today, so I started off the day with a base of China Glaze Foie Gras from the Hunger Games Collection. That has to be one of my favorite collections of all time. No joke, go check it out. Foie Gras is a really nice brown/taupe creme. In some lights it is completely brown, in others it looks grey or taupe. I love colors that change like that. The challenge prompt for today is fashion inspired, and I could totally do some beautiful crazy things for that, but I am feeling the simple plaid today. It may be because it is officially fall or because it is raining here, but I love a good plaid.

Above The Curve Nail Lacquer Harry Potter Collection!

Press Sample

Today I have a new to me indie brand to share with you! Above the Curve Nail Lacquer recently released their Harry Potter Inspired Collection and I couldn't be more excited to play with these! I love Harry Potter and have been a fan for a really long time. I was send Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Patronus Charm, and Wingardium Leviosa for review. There are others in the collection, and I suggest you take a look at their Etsy shop. I added a bit of nail art as well to be able to count this for the daily nail art challenge! Today's challenge is inspired by a book.

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 21 Inspired by a Color

Inspired by a color is a fairly easy challenge for me. I've had something on my mind lately though. My friend posted on my wall asking what nail polish could match the teal for Ovarian Cancer Awareness, which happens to be this month. It got me thinking and I wanted to create a design for Ovarian Cancer Awareness. I picked a polish that isn't quite teal because it holds a special meaning for me. For Audrey is almost teal, more of a blue really, but it is one of my favorite colors. My Aunt Audrey passed away from Ovarian Cancer. Needless to say, I miss her a lot. Thus brings up the topic of Ovarian Cancer, it is something all women need to be aware of, so check out the website and learn about the symptoms and risk factors.

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 20 Water Marble

The dreaded water marble day! I of course am a day late, but I  technically had these done on time. I just had to take photos today. Anyway, water marbling is really cool looking, but really difficult to do well. I think water marble was one of the things that got me hooked on nail art. For this challenge, I wanted to do three colors that looked very fall, but one refused to cooperate, so I changed my plans. I used OPI Miami Beet (my first OPI ever!), Vant to Bite My Neck?, and San Tan-Tonio. San Tan-Tonio was the difficult one. It would spread really well on the water surface, but then when I went to add another color it wouldn't let it spread. Oh well, Miami Beet and VTBMN worked really well together, and I just added San Tan-Tonio by dotting it on along the lines. 

Swatch and Review of OPI Stay the Night

I needed to take a bit of a break from all the nail art, so I have a swatch post for you today! I am slowly getting behind in the challenge, but I am still hopeful I can pull it together and finish all of them! I just hate putting out nail art I don't love, hence the pauses in nail art. Therefore, I have a beautiful swatch today! I took a trip to TJ Maxx just to see if they had my favorite strengthening base coat. I recently ran out, and sometimes they have it for a great price. I alternate between Essie Grow Stronger and OPI Nail Envy, so I was really excited to find Grow Stronger for only $4.99! It is usually $9 or $10 now. I also found an unexpected beauty OPI Stay the Night for only $3.99! I believe this is from the Mariah Carey Spring 2013 Collection. I only have sprung from that collection and for some reason this one never caught my eye until now. It is a textured black base with some red leaning pink glitter in it!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 18 Half Moons

Press Sample

Last post today, I promise! I created some nail art with all three polishes from the Northern Star Macbeth Collection in conjuction with the 31 Day Challenge. I just reviewed the Macbeth Collection, so be sure to take a look at that! The challenge today is half moon mani, so I created one with these beautiful fall colors! I started with a base of Hurly Burly and added a coat of Cauldron Bubble and finally added dots of Toil & Trouble.

Northern Star Polish Macbeth Collection Review!

Press Sample

Northern Star Polish is one of my favorite indie brands and I am so glad to be able to bring the MacBeth Collection to you today! This collection releases TOMORROW, so be sure to look out for that. I have Toil & Trouble, Hurly Burly, and Cauldron Bubble. I just posted about some cuticle oils she sent, one of which is releasing along with these polishes tomorrow, so be sure to check out that post!

Review: Cuticle Oils from Northern Star Polish

Press Sample

Northern Star's cuticle oils are amazing, I really think they work well. I was lucky enough to receive a few from Kristin and I am sharing them with you today! I already own Appletini and it has been one of my favorite go to oils and I own quite a bit! One is already available, one is in conjunction with the Macbeth Collection (being released tomorrow), and another will be released next month. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 16 Geometric Print

Hello! Sorry my posting has been a little sporadic lately, I am trying to keep up with the nail art challenge posts, but it takes time! For today's post I am doing yesterday's challenge. The theme was geometric print. Funny enough I was wearing a geometric print dress to work yesterday, so I used that as my inspiration for my nails. It has a Mondrian feel to it, but not exactly a copy. I did some Mondrian nails a little while back and loved the result, so these were a lot of fun and reminiscent of that design.  I started with a white base coat and free hand painted with Zoya Ling for the blue, Zoya Dove for the grey, and Color Club Sunrise Canyon for the chartreuse.

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 15 Delicate Print

I am still behind in the #31DC2014 challenge, but not by much! Day 14 was delicate print. I went the easy route and stamped. I'm not sure if some might call this cheating, but I don't care, stamping is hard and I'm pressed for time! I started with a base of the beautiful Orly Flawless Flush. I think Flawless Flush really is flawless, it is such a gorgeous soft shade that I think everyone needs. I then stamped a fleur-de-lis pattern over that. The stamp I used was from the MoYou Tourist Collection 07 plate, man I love that plate! I then added some dots that kind of look like studs. I really wanted to use studs but the square gold ones I have a re just a bit too big for my nails. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 14 Flowers

For today's nail art challenge, I did a mani swap with a friend on instagram! Her username is @beautyintact, so be sure to go follow her! The challenge for today is flowers. A mani swap is where you take a design from someone else and copy it, they do the same with you. It was my first one and I thought it was really fun!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 12 Stripes- Tweed

Today, the daily challenge is stripes. Since fall is coming on, I feel like tweed would be appropriate. I've been wanting to try tweed for a while, so I thought this was a great excuse. I used Sinful Colors Hot Spot as a base, which is a gorgeous dark blue with shimmer and then alternated stripes both horizontally and vertically of Enchanted, Sail La Vie, and Tantalize. I also added some bow studs from the Born Pretty Store. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 11 Polka Dots

I have a late post today because of my swatch post this morning. For the daily nail art challenge today is polka dots! I love polka dots, but I created something a little different. More like a pattern. I used all Zoya polishes: Tilda, Stassi, Dove and Trixie. I started with a base of Dove and created layers of dots starting from the tip of the nail working back toward the base. 

 

Swatch and Review of Daily Hues Fall Collection (Partial)

Press Sample

Today I have three polishes from the exciting fall collection from Daily Hues Nail Lacquer! This is the brand that brought us Blaze and my favorite Isys! The three that I have are Neri, Ashlyn, and Elsa! There are some stunners in this collection, so prepare yourself!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 10 Gradient

Today the daily challenge theme is gradient. I love gradients and I do them all the time it seems like. I started to think about what I wanted to do for today's look. I thought of all kinds of crazy designs and things I had seen and wanted to try, but I settled on the gradient version of a french manicure. I can't remember where I first saw this design, if I do, I will link it here. I remember the first time I saw it, I thought it looked so soft and feminine. I used a nude color rather than a sheer and traditional white. The nude I used was Rimmel London 60 Seconds in Caramel Cupcake. I think this is my favorite nude at the moment! I also used Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I sponged those on and topped it with Fairy Dust and voila!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 9 Rainbow

Press Sample

Today is rainbow day! I had tons of ideas for the challenge today, but I decided to go with a water marble and some dots over a beautiful sparkle polish! I started with Daily Hues Ashlyn from her new Fall Collection. I will have a swatch post for you soon on the polishes I received from that collection. For the rainbow colors I used Julie G's summer collection! I swatched those as well, and I was really impressed. I didn't know they water marbled well until I tried it here!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 8 Metallic

Today's challenge is metallic nails for the daily nail art challenge! I have been wanting to use OPI's Push and Shove for a while, and I don't know why I hadn't pulled it out of my stash yet. It is perfect for a metallic challenge. It is the closest to a mirror polish I own! For today's look, I was inspired by the lovely The Dalai Lama's Nails. She did a black and white ruffian, and I thought that would look nice with a metallic. The other color I used was OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest. This was one I have been wanting for ages and this summer received it as a gift! I wanted to create something simple here, so I pulled out the striping tape again, but only put down one or two stripes on each nail. Push and Shove is super finicky so I had to be sure to put the special base coat down before layering it over the other polish. 

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: #31DC2014 Day 6 Violet

I almost posted this one the same day as the challenge for #31DC2014! At least now I can say I am caught up with this daily challenge. I can't believe how difficult it is to keep up with this, but I think I am creating some really interesting new looks! Today the challenge is violet, I'm not sure what shade of purple violet is, so I just went with a purple I love and haven't used recently. I started with a base color of Orly Saturated from their recent Baked collection. Love this deep purple crelly. It is so luscious! I have been seeing a fabulous take on the turquoise nail look by Oh My Gosh Polish and The Nailasaurus, and I thought, why should that effect be restricted to a turquoise look? I decided to recreate it for today's challenge! Instead of using black and gold I used a shimmery somewhat sheer red and a gold. I used Revlon Blackberry, which I got ages ago, you can't even read the front of the bottle anymore! I did this separated water marble with that color first then again with OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby. which has fast become one of my favorite gold colors. This was from the Gwen Stefani collection. It was an amazing collection!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 5 Blue

Today I have a fun blue look to share with you for #31DC2014! The prompt for Day 5 is blue, which happens to be my favorite nail polish color! I decided to use all Essie polishes for this look. I started with a gradient of Rock the Boat and Avenue Maintain. Over that I laid out what seemed like miles of striping tape and then painted Aruba Blue over that. I top coated and added some rhinestones over the pointer and pinky fingers. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 4 Green

For the #31DC2014 daily nail challenge, Day 4's challenge is the color green! I love greens, especially deep forest greens. My all time favorite polish is St. George from A England, so today I paired it with another favorie Essie First Timer. I thought the contrast between the two would work really well. St. George is a holographic deep forest/emerald green and First Timer is a minty creme with no shimmer. I started with a base of First Timer and used the dry brush technique to brush St. George all along the outer perimeter of the nails inward. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 3 Yellow

Today I have #31DC2014 Day 3 Yellow! I really like the combination of yellow and grey, so I thought I would add yellow flowers over a grey base. I used Sally Hansen Wet Cement and acrylic paints for the flowers. I just kind of brushed around until it looked like a flower. I really want to work on my acrylic painting skills in this challenge. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 2 Orange

Slowly but surely I will get caught up in the #31DC2014 challenge. In the meantime, I will be posting more than one post a day to do so, hopefully that makes you more happy than anything else! Day 2's prompt is the color Orange. I wanted to use the color Beach Baby from Northern Star Polish which I also reviewed for her a while back (Summer Collection Review). It is a really interesting tangerine type of orange rather than a typical orange with some micro shimmers in it. I combined a couple of negative spaces and white stripes all over to create this sort of skittle mani. I used acrylic paint for the white.  

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 1 Red

I decided to participate in Chalkboard Nails' 31 day challenge, and I am already super late! So, I will be posting a series of challenge posts and hopefully catch up by tomorrow. For day one, the prompt was a color: Red. I love red nails, I know some aren't a fan of it, but I have always loved red nails. Red is a lucky color after all! I received this really unique and lovely color, Burning Embers from Northern Star Polish a while back for review (Summer Collection Review). I thought Burning Embers would make a great base for nail art for day one! I then added a stamped image from the Born Pretty Store Plate QA 88 which I also previously reviewed (Turquoise Stamping). Also, if you would like 10% off at the Born Pretty Store use code: HANDX31. I used Zoya Pepper for stamping and it worked surprisingly well.

Press Release: KBShimmer Fall Collection

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


KBShimmer Fall Collection Polishes Set for Release on September 15th  
The collection includes a combination of jellys, iridescents, and glitter top coats.

  

KBShimmer announces the fall collection, an addition of 9 new polishes to its 3-free polish line. The collection also includes the re-release of ‘Jack,’ a Halloween-themed favorite. “When creating the fall collection, I was inspired by all the wonderful colors of the season, from changing leaves to pumpkins, and I converted those into warm, wearable colors,” KBShimmer Owner, Christy Rose, said.

The fall collection pulls the trending colors of the season and combines them with a dash of fun. “I wanted to highlight a few of our favorite trending fall colors, and we created Stonewashed and Leaf of Faith based on color tones in the fall Pantone lineup,” Rose said.

The Collection also features “Jack,” a retro Halloween best seller from the KBShimmer polish vault. This easy-to-apply glitter polish is sure to spook your friends while adding a touch of glitz to this dark and scary holiday.

Each KBShimmer bottle will retail for $8.75 on the website, www.kbshimmer.com. For sales outside the U.S., visit www.harlowandco.org.

The Glitters & Holos:

A Raisin To Live
Deep and dark, this is a deep burgundy, blackened Ox-Blood colored polish full of holographic sparkles.

Swatch and Review of Zoya: Chita

Hello! I am sorry I haven't posted for a few days, my husband and I went camping! We have been wanting to go to Crater Lake for a while now and Labor Day weekend was the perfect excuse. Camping is really hard on your nails, so I thought I would go with just a plain textured polish this time. Zoya Chita is a forest green textured polish from their PixieDust line. It has a lot of gorgeous sparkle! I took the photos below in our camp site in full sun.