Fireflies

 I never get tired of watching a field full of fireflies. I remember chasing fireflies growing up, and I still get lost in the magic of watching a dark night full of dancing lights. So of course I had to try to capture that in nail form! For bonus points, these nails are animated!

I started by putting down a base of Sally Hansen Nightwatch, then sponged on a band of lighter color in the middle using Sinful Colors Jolt. Trees were added with some China Glaze Liquid Leather. In the foreground I spotted on some Revlon First Class for a bit of texture.

For the fireflies, I used a small dotting tool and Serum No 5 Pure Glow Getter. I wanted to tone down the white, so I lightly dotted some sheer OPI I'm So Amberrassed to give them a more yellow effect.

And because it's fun, I hid NFC lights from Bundle Monster under all the polish! I love the effect!

Colors Used:

Sally Hansen Nightwatch

Sinful Colors Jolt

 China Glaze Liquid Leather

  Revlon First Class

Serum No 5 Pure Glow Getter

Day 30: Challenge Day - Simple Design

 For the last day of our month of nail art, my friend challenged me to do something simple. So I decided to take a multichrome polish since I already have trouble covering up the lovely shifting hues, and just add a tiny accent.

 I used a single coat of the amazing Dance Legend Knight over China Glaze Liquid Leather. I love this copper-to-pewter multichrome so much, it's magic!

 As a tiny little accent, I added a metal square to my middle two nails and put a square nail gem in the center. Not much, just something for a little extra punch.

Colors Used:

Dance Legend Knight

 China Glaze Liquid Leather

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 27: Holographic Heaven

 I'm definitely going to have to take some photos of sparkly holo goodness in the sunlight tomorrow! I love linear holos so much. They're like magic!

 I began with a coat of KBShimmer Myth You Lots over Wet n Wild Black Creme. Myth You Lots is one of my favorite polishes, bar none. It's so shifty and holo-tastic! It's always so hard to do anything to cover up that loveliness, so I decided to go minimal.

 I decided to test out the stamping decal technique using a design from Pueen plate 32. I removed a bit from the bottom of the design to give more space for the silver to shine. The black stamping was done in B.M.C. Noir Black. I filled in the spaces with blue holo Color Club Over the Moon and silver holo Color Club Harp on It. I like how the colors compliment the shifty multichrome rather well, even when it shifts to warmer hues.

 Sunbeam photos!

Colors Used:

KBShimmer Myth You Lots

Wet n Wild Black Creme

B.M.C. Noir Black

Color Club Over the Moon

Color Club Harp on It

Day 26: Fly Me to the Moon

 Whew, after a busy week I desperately needed a break. I did do nails for both the 24th and 25th (Nightmare and Dream themes, respectively) but they really didn't turn out the way I wanted. So I decided to just take a bit of a much-needed rest instead of redoing them, though I may put something together after the challenge is over.

 Anywho! Today's theme was 'Inspired by a Song', and I happened to have Sinatra playing so I figured any excuse for space-themed nails was a good one. I started with Zoya Payton, since I haven't tried starting galaxy nails with purple before. I then sponged on some Sephora by OPI White Hot, and then sponged Zoya Dream in sections overlapping the white and purple both. I wanted a bit more bright blue, so I added a bit of Fing'rs The Boys In Blue.

 I then used more White Hot to add the moon and the rocket with exhaust trail. Using a bit of acetone and Zoya Loredana I added shading to the moon. I think it didn't turn out half bad!

Colors Used:

Zoya Payton

 Sephora by OPI White Hot

 Zoya Dream

 Fing'rs The Boys In Blue

 Zoya Loredana

Day 23: Rainfall

 Whew, was zoning out this evening and almost forgot to post today's nails! The theme was 'Rain', which was an odd one for such a beautifully sunny day. Heh! I decided to try to mimic rainfall on a flat surface, and I think it turned out okay!

 For a good gray backdrop I chose Zoya Loredana, which is one of their matte velvet colors. I love this complex gray! I decided once again to use acrylic paint for the art, since it's faster and I figured it would do the rain effect more easily.

 I did a sort-of waterfall striping at the base of each nail using white acrylic paint in varying degrees of 'watered down' to change the translucency. I  then used a combination of dark gray and white paint to paint in the water splashes in a puddle on the tips of each nail. It made for an interesting effect!

Colors Used:

Zoya Loredana

Day 22: Colorful Fishies

 Today's theme was 'ocean', so I decided to do a colorful coral reef scene. Woo!

 I used Finger Paints Inkblot Blue for a base. It's such a vibrant and intense blue jelly! I was sad that I had to work late and wasn't able to get a photo in the sun, because this blue is INTENSE on a sunny day.

 The fish and details were painted in acrylic paint since I was short on time. It's still fun, gotta love fishies!

Colors Used:

Finger Paints Inkblot Blue

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 20: Forest

 The theme for today was 'Forest', so I decided to do a sort of backlit forest silhouette. It was fun! It looks best at a distance, as I was a little messy with the details and brush strokes are visible close up.

 I began with a background color of Maybelline Canary Cool, as it is one of my favorite beiges. I love that it leans slightly yellow. On  top of that, I layered a forest scene. I decided to use acrylic paints for this, mostly because I had them out and nearby. Woo!

 I started by putting in a light brown set of trees in the far background. I then added leaves in light green, followed by dark green leaves and branches. As a last touch, I decided to add a deer, some tiny birds, and a squirrel. The deer turned out decently enough!

Colors Used:

Maybelline Canary Cool

Acrylic Paints

Day 19: Water Marble

 Woohoo, water marbling! I do so love water marbling. I had a tough time thinking of a good color scheme, but I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.

 My chosen colors for this were dark teal OPI Amazon, Amazoff, light green Sinful Colors Mint Tropics, yellow Morgan Taylor Doo Wop, and China Glaze Peachy Keen. I realized the Peachy color was breaking up a little, so I decided to prime my nails with a coat of Peachy Keen to make the patches invisible.

 I'm going to have to do more water marbling this summer. It's still one of my favorite techniques. Yay!

Colors Used:

OPI Amazon, Amazoff

Sinful Colors Mint Tropics

Morgan Taylor Doo Wop

China Glaze Peachy Keen

Day 18: Dotticure

 Dots everywhere! This was so much fun to make, and I love the effect! It's been a bit since I've played with dotting tools, and I really should use them more often in simple designs like this.

 I began with China Glaze White on White and let that dry completely. I used a bit of striping tape to block off a diagonal section of the base of each nail. I filled in each with a different color. Starting from my thumb, I used purple Wet n Wild On A Trip, orange OPI Call Me Gwen-ever, blue Poparazzi I Want To Be Royale, green Sinful Colors Mint Tropics, and red Julep Drew.

 Next, I dotted a line of large dots in white along the colored edge, then followed with additional rows of increasingly smaller dots. The same was done with matching colors on the white side. I think it turned out fun and interesting!

Colors Used:

China Glaze White on White

Wet n Wild On A Trip

OPI Call Me Gwen-ever

Poparazzi I Want To Be Royale

Sinful Colors Mint Tropics

Julep Drew

Day 17: Glitter

 Glitter out the wazoo! I decided to go with stamping over full coverage glitter, and it was so sparkly I had the hardest time trying to photograph it!

 I started with a silver multisize glitter polish, Sephora by OPI Are you Glistinin'? I then decided to add a blue hue with a tinting polish, Sally Hansen Ice Tint.

On top of that, I stamped a design from Pueen plate 49 using B.M.C. Royal Blue. On the vertices I placed multicolored hex glitter for extra bling effect. So much glitter!

Colors Used:

Sephora by OPI Are you Glistinin'?

Sally Hansen Ice Tint

B.M.C. Royal Blue

Pueen 49