Creepy Forest

 I'm so eager to do Halloween nails, I just had to start early! I decided to paint a creepy looking forest, complete with Slenderman because Slendy is awesome.

 I started out with a base of ORLY Mirror Mirror, which is a light gray. It doesn't show on the final product, but I think it keeps the colors more subdued than if they were over a pure white. Next, I used a sponge and added a light dusting of Wet n Wild Teal Slowly and See across the middle of each nail. I then used Nina Blue La La and a tiny touch of ORLY Royal Velvet to darken the top of the sky, and Spoiled Correction Tape to lighten near the horizon. SpaRitual Basalt, a dark gray, was used to make the ground. To add a little more eerie ambiance, I used a small amount of Sinful Colors Exotic Green in the sky and the ground.

 I then added a moon to my middle nail, using Spoiled Correction Tape. Trees were done with a small brush and Sinful Colors Black on Black. Slenderman was painted on my ring nail using Correction Tape and Black on Black as well.

Colors Used:

ORLY Mirror Mirror

Wet n Wild Teal Slowly and See

Nina Blue La La

 ORLY Royal Velvet

Spoiled Correction Tape

SpaRitual Basalt

Sinful Colors Exotic Green

Sinful Colors Black on Black

Autumn Sparkle

 Still in a mood to celebrate the return of nice weather with some autumn colors! I realized it'd been a while since I'd done a fun color blocking design, and I really need to use glitter more often, so why not combine both?

 I started out with ORLY Honeymoon In Style over a clear base coat. I like the effect of subtle glitter over natural nail color. It's not enough to overwhelm everything else, but works well for an extra POW when the light hits it.

 Next, I taped off sections of my tips with some striping tape. I painted the top edge of each nail with one of my favorite polishes, ORLY Rock the World. I love how complex it is - it's this coppery shimmery color with almost mauve/purple undertones. The other color block was done in OPI A Woman's Prague-ative, which certainly pops out and shines more than these pictures show. I removed the striping tape, then accented between the two colors using a line of Sinful Colors Nail Art Pot O Gold.  Lastly,  I dabbed on some e.l.f. Blushing Bombshell, which is orange/coppper mixed hex and micro glitter.

 Colors Used:

ORLY Honeymoon In Style

 ORLY Rock the World

  OPI A Woman's Prague-ative

 Sinful Colors Nail Art Pot O Gold

e.l.f. Blushing Bombshell

And on the sad news side of things, I managed to break my thumb nail pretty drastically! Fortunately it didn't rip any soft tissue, and it gave me an excuse to purchase some nail glue and try some nail repair! It fixed pretty well, but it is very short now... 

Autumn Watercolor

 

 The idea behind this design was to make it look like layered watercolors. I thought about using stamping, but decided to try hand painting instead.

 

 I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White, then added one light coat of Wet n Wild 2% Milk for a subtle cream tone. I then used a small brush and Sinful Colors Poudre to add light leaves and some vague color blobs across my nails.

 Next, I added touches of acetone-watered down Sinful Colors Exotic Green. I did want to focus on the warm colors, so I didn't use much green. Then, I added bright leaves in Sally Hansen Orange Impulse.

 I then added a highlight of SpaRitual Enlightened Soul near the tips of each nail. The last color I used was a mix of Sinful Colors Coffee and more Sally Hansen Orange Impulse. I didn't want to use Coffee alone, because I wanted it slightly warmer knowing that the acetone was going to dilute the color a bit.

Mixing it up a little this week by taking some in-progress pictures! I'll try to get better about doing that...

 Colors Used:

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

 Wet n Wild 2% Milk

 Sinful Colors Poudre

Sinful Colors Exotic Green

Sally Hansen Orange Impulse

SpaRitual Enlightened Soul

Sinful Colors Coffee

Colorful Kitties

 I work at a veterinary clinic, and when I first started doing nail art I had fun trying to make nails matching the patterns of my work scrubs. Since it really has been about a year since I started doing nail art, I wanted to revisit that idea again! I actually did do matching nails to this same top before, but this time I wanted to do a more literal interpretation of the kitties.

 Rather than painting directly onto the nails, I wanted to rise to the challenge of trying to make decals. I also did this early in my nail polish experimentation to make some leaves last fall. I started by laying down two coats of LA Colors Basecoat/Topcoat in small blobs on a sandwich bag. I let that dry for about two hours. Then, using a variety of colors, I painted small stars and the kitties! I painted my nails with Sinful Colors Black on Black.

 The stars were done in Sinful Colors Jolt, Spoiled Correction Tape, and Color Club Twiggie. The cats were a full rainbow of colors!
Yellow cat: SpaRitual Enlightened Soul, tail and paws in Sally Hansen Orange Impulse, belly in Spoiled Correction Tape, stripes in Sinful Colors Black on Black.
Blue Cat: Wet n Wild Teal Slowly and See, Sinful Colors Jolt,  Spoiled Correction Tape.
Pink Cat: CQ Pink, Color Club Blushing Rose, and an unnamed magenta Color Zone polish
Purple Cat: Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac, Color Club Pucci-licious, Spoiled Correction Tape
Orange Cat: Sally Hansen Orange Impulse, Sinful Colors Gogo Girl, SpaRitual Enlightened Soul

Eyes were added using  my smallest dotting tool and Spoiled Correction tape. I then added noses in Sinful Colors Black on Black with the same tool, followed by adding pupils with the tip of a needle. After the decals were fully dry I peeled them off the sandwich bag and stuck them on my nails. One coat of Seche Vite later, and the edges of the decals aren't visible! Unfortunately, the shine made it really hard to take good photos. I mattified slightly with the Fantasy Makers Glow in the Dark polish to see if that would help.

Colors Used;

Sinful Colors Black on Black

 Spoiled Correction Tape

Sinful Colors Jolt

Color Club Twiggie

SpaRitual Enlightened Soul

Sally Hansen Orange Impulse

Wet n Wild Teal Slowly and See

CQ Pink

 Color Club Blushing Rose

  Color Zone Magenta

 Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac

 Color Club Pucci-licious

Sinful Colors Gogo Girl

 

Watermelon

 This past Friday Garnet from The Nail Rainbow and her friend paid me a visit, so of course we had to have a nail party! She surprised me with two lovely polishes and two nail pens, because she's awesome. Of course I had to use them right then and there, and the color combination made me think of watermelons!

 This ended up being a quick and fun design to do. I started with a coat of Zoya Kat (Hehe! Love the name!) and let it dry for a moment. I then used my other new polish, Nicole by OPI Iceberg Lotus, across the tips. Then, using a small brush, I added a vertical stripes in Sinful Colors Mint Apple. I then added a white line using Milani Nail Art White Canvas, and little seeds in Milani Nail Art Black Sketch.

Colors Used:

Zoya Kat

  Nicole by OPI Iceberg Lotus

Sinful Colors Mint Apple

Milani Nail Art White Canvas

Milani Nail Art Black Sketch

Magic: The Gathering

 I have a confession to make. I am a wee bit of a nerd, and while I don't play competitively or anything, I am a fan of the Magic: The Gathering card game. I had an idea for a while to do MTG nails, but I wasn't certain how I would go about them.  I decided to attempt the card backs, because I'm silly like that.

 It took me a bit to figure out how to approach the color of the card backs, since it's a pretty complex color and most of my browns are shimmers rather than flat color cremes. I started out with a base of OPI A-Taupe the Space Needle, then sponged on Sinful Colors Coffee and hints of Nicole by OPI Kim Konfidential. Rather than outlining the oval of lighter orange brown in the center, I sponged on a very light layer of Revlon Tangerine.

I then outlined each nail with a thin border of Milani Nail Art Black Sketch. Using a small dotting tool, I added tiny corner dots near each tip in OPI Call Me Gwen-ever.

 

 For the mana circles, I created the circle by using a hole punch and masking tape to give me a stencil. Starting at the thumb nail, I used ORLY Red Flare and OPI Call Me Gwen-ever for the red mana, Sinful Colors Exotic Green and NYC Flat Iron Green for the green mana, L'Oreal Créme Puffs and Sinful Colors Snow Me White for the white mana, Sinful Colors Jolt and Revlon Mysterious for the blue mana, and Sinful Colors Black on Black and Sinful Colors Cool Gray for the black mana.

Being nerdy can be fun!

 Colors Used:

OPI A-Taupe the Space Needle

 Sinful Colors Coffee

Nicole by OPI Kim Konfidential

 Revlon Tangerine

 Milani Nail Art Black Sketch

 OPI Call Me Gwen-ever

ORLY Red Flare

 Sinful Colors Exotic Green

 NYC Flat Iron Green

 L'Oreal Créme Puffs

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Sinful Colors Jolt

Revlon Mysterious

Sinful Colors Black on Black

Sinful Colors Cool Gray

Koi Pond

 I was feeling rather uninspired, so I asked Garnet of The Nail Rainbow for a challenge. She suggested that I do koi pond nails! Of course I had to give it a go!

 I started out with a base of SpaRitual Osmium, which is a deep navy blue jelly. It took three coats to build to opacity, but I rather like it! After that was dry, I roughed out the fish shapes in Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I added eyes to each fish using a toothpick and a small amount of Sinful Colors Black on Black. Using a small brush, I added translucent shimmery fins in Revlon Powder Puff.

 I then did an image search and pulled up tons of different koi photos. I tried to use a variety of different koi patterns, though I'm not familiar enough with koi to know all of the proper names for each pattern. I used a variety of polishes - Revlon Tangerine (light orange), Sinful Colors Cloud 9 (mid orange), SpaRitual Enlightened Soul (Yellow), OPI Call Me Gwen-ever (Coral-orange?), ORLY Red Flare (red), and Sinful Colors Black on Black.

 I then added some Sinful Colors Exotic Green lily pads to the koi pond, but I tried to keep them subtle to let the fish pop out. As a last touch, I watered down SpaRitual Osmium and brushed it across the tails of each fish, to give them underwater depth.

Colors Used:

SpaRitual Osmium

 Sinful Colors Snow Me White

 Sinful Colors Black on Black

 Revlon Powder Puff

 Revlon Tangerine

 Sinful Colors Cloud 9 

 SpaRitual Enlightened Soul

 OPI Call Me Gwen-ever

 ORLY Red Flare

Sinful Colors Exotic Green

Rainbow Refractions

 I love linear holo polishes. There's just something mesmerizing in watching the holo effect move across my nails! I was in a stamping mood, and I just had to try out stamping with a holo polish!

 The base polish for my thumb, index, and pinky is OPI Tomorrow Never Dies. The holographic polish I picked was the very flashy Color Club Harp On It. I decided to paint a solid coat of Harp on It on my middle and ring nails to show off the full holo effect. I used a stamp design from Pueen, plate 02. I think it actually came out rather nicely! It's been a while since I did any stamping, so I'm glad I didn't have any major mishaps!

Colors Used:

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

Color Club Harp On It

PUEEN02

Oh, We're Off to See The Wizard!

 Wizard of Oz nails! I decided to go with a more literal interpretation of the movie, and I think it turned out rather fun! These photos were taken without topcoat, so that the glare wouldn't obscure the details.

 I started out with a base of ORLY Snowcone (I swear, I'm addicted to that polish). I added a slight gradient to the sky using Sally Hansen Breezy Blue. I then added the grass to each nail by sponging on Sinful Colors Exotic Green.  I sponged on small clouds in Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

 For the thumb nail, I tried to recreate the start of the yellow brick road using SpaRitual Enlightened Soul and OPI Call Me Gwen-ever. The house was done with acrylic paints in various shades of brown. I added the witch's legs with Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Sinful Colors Black on Black, with the slippers done in Salon Perfect He's With Me.

 My index nail was done using more Enlightened Soul for the yellow brick road. I used more brown acrylic paint for the browns in the Lion and the Scarecrow, as well as the hair and skin for Dorothy. I painted her dress using a toothpick and speckled blue ORLY Snowcone over Sinful Colors Snow Me White. The Tin Man was done using Wet n Wild Metallica over Black on Black.

The poppies on my middle finger were done in OPI Call Me Gwen-ever and ORLY Red Flare.

For my ring nail, I painted the Emerald City with more Exotic Green paired with bright Color Club Twiggie.

The final touch was adding a rainbow across all of my nails. I used acetone to water down my polishes on a small brush and give them a slightly translucent look. The rainbow was done in ORLY #816 (purple), Sinful Colors Jolt (blue), Color Club Twiggie (green), SpaRitual Enlightened Soul (yellow), Sinful Colors Cloud 9 (orange), and ORLY Red Flare (...red).

Colors Used:

ORLY Snowcone

 Sally Hansen Breezy Blue

 Sinful Colors Exotic Green

 Sinful Colors Snow Me White

 SpaRitual Enlightened Soul

OPI Call Me Gwen-ever

Sinful Colors Black on Black

 Salon Perfect He's With Me

Wet n Wild Metallica

ORLY Red Flare

Color Club Twiggie

ORLY #816

Sinful Colors Jolt

Sinful Colors Cloud 9

Cloudy Skies

 Cloudy skies! I have way too much fun painting clouds, and I'll take any excuse to have blue nails.

 I started out with a base of ORLY Snowcone, which apparently is my new favorite polish. I then created a gradient starting at SpaRitual Undercurrent, Sinful Colors Jolt, and finally Snowcone. Then, using small sponges and a thin brush, I created the clouds. I used acetone to dilute Spoiled Correction Tape, then layered up the color until it looked more like clouds.

 Colors Used:

ORLY Snowcone

SpaRitual Undercurrent

Sinful Colors Jolt

Spoiled Correction Tape

Swooshy Flowers

 

 Sorry about the silence for these past two weeks! After doing 31 days of daily nail art, both I and my nails needed a bit of a rest. I've still been nail-arting, but not daily and have gone a few days with *gasp* solid color nails!

 

For the first few days of September, I wore a solid coat of Zoya Liberty. I love this textured polish, and it was one I knew I could wear for days and not worry about chipping. However, I did finally cave and paint some flowers! 

 The majority of this was painted with light and dark brown acrylic paints. The orange flowers were done with Sinful Colors Anchors Away. I rather like the contrast between regular textured polish and the topcoat-covered flower nails!

 Colors Used:

Zoya Liberty

Sinful Colors Anchors Away