Bright Sunset

 Prompt: Hand Painted Sunset

I do love painting sunsets so much! I decided to go for super saturated colors this time, to make it even more dramatic. I really like how this turned out!

 

Supplies:

Zoya Dory

Sinful Colors Skylark

Sally Hansen Atomic Tangerine

Sephora by OPI Who's Spinning Tonight

Black Acrylic Paint

OPI Alpine Snow

Zoya Maura

Day 28: Classy Animal Print

 Sorry for the delay in getting these last designs up! I actually did finish the challenge in April, but just didn't get around to posting! For the animal print challenge I decided to do a color blocked leopard print, because leopard print is always good.

 I began with a base of OPI Baring it All, which is a nice mid-tone nude. I then used OPI A-taupe the Space Needle, more Baring it All, and Nicole by OPI Others Pale by Kim-parison to apply a gradient to each nail. I wanted a bit more brightness, so I sponged some China Glaze White on White onto the very trips of each nail. I then added one coat of Sinful Colors 24 Karat to give it all a sparkly finish.

 Once that was dry I blocked off sections with some striping tape, then filled in portions with China Glaze Liquid Leather.  I then used a dotting tool to draw in some leopard spots with more Liquid Leather. The centers of the pattern spots were colored yellow with an unnamed ORLY goldenrod yellow (FBI40037?). It's such a pretty yellow; I have no idea why it wasn't named. As a last touch I added champagne colored nail gems to my index and pinkie nails.

Colors Used:

OPI Baring it All

OPI A-taupe the Space Needle

Nicole by OPI Others Pale by Kim-parison

 China Glaze White on White

 Sinful Colors 24 Karat

China Glaze Liquid Leather

ORLY FBI40037

Day 21: Scaled Gradient

 I've seen multi-gradients like this around the web and always loved the effect, so I had to try it for myself. It's so fun, and definitely eye-catching!

 I began on a white base of China Glaze White on White. On three nails I decided on a green China Glaze Four Leaf Clover and yellow OPI I just Can't Cope-acabana combination. The other two were done in purple China Glaze Plur-ple and neon pink China Glaze Pool Party.

 I used a sponge to apply the first gradient to the base of each nail. Once that was completely dry, I used a chevron nail guide sticker to block off the edge. I haven't got my hands on nail vinyls yet, but I hope to get some soon! In the meanwhile, nail guide stickers seem to do the trick. I repeated twice to space the design across the nail.  Next time I'll have to do alternating colors for something different, but I do love the effect of repeating the same colors!

Colors Used:

China Glaze White on White

China Glaze Four Leaf Clover

OPI I just Can't Cope-acabana

China Glaze Plur-ple 

China Glaze Pool Party

Day 16: Blue Jay Feathers

 The prompt of the day was 'feathers' and I debated between drawing full feathers or painting feather patterns, and patterns won out in the end. I love blue jay feathers, so that of course was an easy choice!

 Of course, I realized after decided on this course of action that blue jay feathers are a really complex shade of blue. For this, I started with a dark gray backdrop of China Glaze Immortal. Over that I sponged a gradient from gray Immortal to mid-blue OPI Keeping Suzi at Bay to navy Sally Hansen Nightwatch. I then built up the shimmery feather texture using the intensely sparkly Finger Paints Surf's Up, shimmery Sally Hansen Blu, and a touch of teal Sally Hansen Pixel Pretty.

 I added the shaft and striping with Wet n Wild Black Creme, The white tips were done in China Glaze White on White. I also added a bit of texture to the grey base of each feather using light gray Ciaté Cream Soda.

Colors Used:

China Glaze Immortal

OPI Keeping Suzi at Bay

Sally Hansen Nightwatch

Finger Paints Surf's Up

Sally Hansen Blu

Sally Hansen Pixel Pretty

Wet n Wild Black Creme

China Glaze White on White

Ciaté Cream Soda

Day 11: Cat Silhouettes

 The prompt for the day was 'something you own,' so I chose my trio of cool cat silhouette wall decorations. I'll get a photo of the actual inspiration up soon! Since they are just black metal silhouettes, I decided to jazz it up a little with a sparkly gradient! Bonus - it glows in the dark too!

 To save me from having to layer up jellies, I knew I was going to start with a white base. On a whim, I decided to add some shnazzy glow! I used Serum No 5 Pure Glow Getter to provide a lovely white glow. Next, I added some condensed holographic glitter to the tips - Sephora by OPI Meet Me At the Disco, followed by some China Glaze Fairy Dust. I love this sparkly combination!

To create the gradient effect, I used tinting jellies from multiple brands. My pinkie used red Julep Wendy with yellow OPI I'm Never Amberrassed. I then went from yellow to green Sally Hansen Sea Through, then to blue Sally Hansen Ice Tint. My index finger finished the transition from blue to purple Sally Hansen Grape Jelly. I decided to keep the flow of the gradient and did a horizontal gradient from purple to orange on my thumb.

  I then used a small brush and black acrylic paint to add the kitties. Two of my silhouettes are of cat faces leaning in from an angle, so I replicated those on my index and pinkie nails. The third is a straight portrait, which I split between my middle two fingers.

Colors Used:

Serum No 5 Pure Glow Getter

Sephora by OPI Meet Me At the Disco

China Glaze Fairy Dust

Julep Wendy

OPI I'm Never Amberrassed

Sally Hansen Sea Through

Sally Hansen Ice Tint

Sally Hansen Grape Jelly

Day 7: Cavalli Dress

 For 'Fashion' theme day, I browsed the internet and found a dress I liked. Mostly, I wanted an excuse to do gradients again! It didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but oh well.

 I put a coat of China Glaze White on White down first, then sponged on a gradient of Tea Beauty Mint Leaf (light blue), Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac (Light Purple), and Sinful Colors Mesmerize (dark purple). For my middle and ring fingers, I cut out diamond shapes in scotch tape and placed them on my nails. When I pulled them up, the edges weren't the neatest due to the time it took to go from white coat to multiple layers of gradient, but it at least turned out decently!

 I added a touch of teal L'Oreal Not a Cloud in Sight to the dark purple tips. I then tried to mimic the belt using a bit of black striping tape and some small white nail gems. It isn't my favorite nail design ever, but it was fun.

Colors Used:

China Glaze White on White

Tea Beauty Mint Leaf

Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac

Sinful Colors Mesmerize

L'Oreal Not a Cloud in Sight

Saint Patrick's Day

 I almost posted this one on time, almost! These are of course my St. Patrick's Day nails, which I really had fun with! Can't go wrong with gradients, I love them so much!

 This began with a base of OPI Alpine Snow. Once that was completely dry, I added on some wavy nail tip guides. I liked the swooshy shape they had, and this let me keep a uniform wave to each nail. Next, I painted my tips in a light green, China Glaze Grass is Lime Greener. I'm so glad I snagged this color, it's so bright and spring-y! I then built a bold gradient using that, China Glaze Four Leaf Clover (because I just had to!), and OPI Christmas Gone Plaid. I used a makeup sponge to create the gradient, and then carefully applied that to each nail.

 After removing the nail guides, I blocked off the gradient in a gold border using Butter London Marbs. I just realized how few WARM golds I have, so I'm glad I snagged this one at TJ Maxx!

I then used a dotting tool and some white acrylic paint to add clover shapes within the green and across the border. Green clover then was added within the white space and layered over the border as well, using more China Glaze Four Leaf Clover. I really had fun with my green nails!

Colors Used:

OPI Alpine Snow

China Glaze Grass is Lime Greener

China Glaze Four Leaf Clover

OPI Christmas Gone Plaid

Butter London Marbs

Speckled Gradient

 Shaking things up with a glitter for once! I have so many glitters, but I so very rarely use them! This was pretty fun, gotta love wearing brighter colors for spring!

 I started with OPI Alpine Snow. It really is my go-to white creme! The glitter is Hard Candy Sugar Rush, which is a black and silver glitter in a milky white base. I had originally thought about building this up to get the full effect of the glitter-in-crelly depth, but time constraints meant I could only do two coats. Still fun!

 Just the white alone seemed a bit bland for me though, so I grabbed Sally Hansen Grape Jelly, which is a tinting jelly. I built up a gradient using multiple coats across my tips, and I really like the effect!

Colors Used:

OPI Alpine Snow

Hard Candy Sugar Rush

Sally Hansen Grape Jelly

Swirly Hearts

 This design was originally done for the week of Valentine's. I was in the mood for something a little more minimalistic (for me at least!) and so I decided to do hearts and swirls on a gradient.

 I started out with a base layer of OPI Alpine Snow, then used a makeup sponge to apply the gradient. The darker gray shade is China Glaze Out Like A Light, and the lighter is Sinful Colors Cool Gray. 

 The hearts I freehanded with China Glaze Tip Your Hat, a lovely bright red, shaded with some ORLY Ignite, another great red creme a few shades darker. I then outlined each with a thin brush and black acrylic paint and added some swirls. I know the swirls aren't the greatest - I need to practice some more! I then added some white highlights to each heart and helped define a few swirls so that they would stand out more against the gray.

Colors Used:

OPI Alpine Snow

China Glaze Out Like A Light

Sinful Colors Cool Gray

China Glaze Tip Your Hat

ORLY Ignite

Sunset Timelapse

 I love gradients, and I love painting skies! That said, this didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but it's still fun. The idea I had was to paint a progressive time lapse of a sunset. Gotta love excuses to paint clouds and gradients!

 I laid down the base gradients as follows:
Thumb: Morgan Taylor Don't Touch Me I'm Radioactive to Julep Bess to Tea Beauty Mint Leaf
Index: Julep Bess to Tea Beauty Mint Leaf to ORLY Flawless Flush
Middle:Tea Beauty Mint Leaf to ORLY Flawless Flush to Julep Cassie
Ring: China Glaze One Track Mind to Morgan Taylor Don't Touch Me I'm Radioactive to Salon Perfect Bellini
Pinky: China Glaze Liquid Leather to China Glaze One Track Mind to Essie Fear or Desire

 I then used a small brush to brush on some clouds on each nail. I used a mix of the base colors to get the appropriate shading on each cloud. On the brighter nails the clouds are shaded in blue, where the later clouds take on a pinkish hue. I used a toothpick and some acrylic white paint to add highlights to the clouds as well as stars to my nighttime pinky.

On my middle finger I added a sun glow in OPI I just Can't Cope-acabana. I also used more Essie Fear or Desire to add a bit more color to my ring nail. Lastly, the horizon was added to each nail tip in China Glaze Liquid Leather.

Colors Used:

Morgan Taylor Don't Touch Me I'm Radioactive

Julep Bess

Tea Beauty Mint Leaf

 ORLY Flawless Flush

 Julep Cassie

 China Glaze One Track Mind

Salon Perfect Bellini

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Essie Fear or Desire

OPI I just Can't Cope-acabana

Crackled Ombre

 I decided to go to my spreadsheet of polish for inspiration, and utilize the first polish I had listed as still untried. That turned out to be a crackle polish! For an interesting effect, I did a horizontal ombre under it and mirrored the gradient with teardrop studs. I love it!

 The ombre was created using SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality on my thumb, Nicole by OPI I Sea You and Raise You on my index, Sally Hansen Blue-ming Fast on my middle, Julep Bess on my ring, and Tea Beauty Mint Leaf on my pinkie.

 The crackle polish is Sally Hansen Star Burst, a black crackle with a generous mix of silver glitter. I was a bit worried that it was going to be a bit too goopy to work, but it cracked easily once applied. I really like the effect when paired with the changing shades of blue.  As a last touch, I used three colors of teardrop studs to mirror the ombre.

Colors Used:

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality

Nicole by OPI I Sea You and Raise You

Sally Hansen Blue-ming Fast

Julep Bess

Tea Beauty Mint Leaf 

Sally Hansen Star Burst

Vibrant Sunset

 I love painting clouds and gradients, so of course sunsets are a ton of fun. My friend Muse suggested the theme, so of course I had to tackle it!

 I knew I wanted to do a blue-to-orange gradient, but I wanted it to have a softer tone. So rather than sponging over a bright white base, I used the slightly more subdued cream OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around (also, it was still on my desk from yesterday). Next, I used a cosmetic sponge and built up a gradient using Color Club Hydrangea Kiss (soft blue), Rimmel Reggae Splash (Peach), and China Glaze Life Preserver (Orange). I added the sun on my middle nail using a halo of OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana, which is a great yellow, and a little China Glaze White on White. I decided to orient my thumb sideways so that I could line it up to show the full landscape!

 To make the clouds, I first started with a medium-sized pointed brush and small amounts of Icing Purple Haze, a medium purple. I then darkened the upper edge of each cloud with Sinful Colors Mesmerize, a darker, cooler purple. I used a little Rimmel Reggae Splash on the underside of the clouds to lighten them. After that, I used a toothpick and some more of the white and yellow polish to outline and highlight the edges of the clouds, leading more to the 'backlit' look.

As a final touch, I used China Glaze Liquid Leather to add a black horizon across each nail. I also added a little tree and a windmill, because windmills at sunset make beautiful photographs!

Colors Used:

OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around (base underneath gradient)

Color Club Hydrangea Kiss

Rimmel Reggae Splash

China Glaze Life Preserver

OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana

China Glaze White on White

Icing Purple Haze

Sinful Colors Mesmerize

China Glaze Liquid Leather

(Trying out doing group bottle shots, let me know what you think!)