31DC2015 Day 8 - Metallic Nails

It's day eight of the 31 day challenge and the prompt is metallic nails. Initially, I was going to play around with some foils but none of them called out to me so I went a different route.

31dc2014 Day 11 - Polka Dots

My favorite day of the 31 day challenge is here! I love polka dots so so so so much! When I was planning out my designs for the challenge, this was one of the first that I came up with. 

Also, I am SO pleased with the way this design turned out! I would wear this one every single day. It doesn't hurt that I used my favorite color. ;)

Just a Quickie: Mixed Patterns

Funky Fingers Cyclone Sky

Funky Fingers Venom

A Glimmer of Spring

Yesterday, us Michiganders had a gorgeous day. It was warm (to us) and sunny. Everyone was riding around with their windows down, myself included, and in t-shirts and sunglasses. Yes, there may still be several feet of snow on the ground but it was good enough for us. Now, it's cooling down and they're calling for six inches of snow. Nature likes to play with our emotions. 

To immortalize our beautiful day and to invite the real Spring to come soon, I did a little neon floral nail art!

Mardi Gras

Although Mardi Gras isn't until Tuesday, I thought I'd post my Mardi Gras nail art today, instead. Living in Michigan, Mardi Gras isn't nearly as big a deal as it is down south. I still love it, though. Honestly, I mostly love the colors. Ha ha. There's something about Mardi Gras colors that just says party!

I spent quite some time deciding what design to do and couldn't settle on just one. So, I threw a bunch together into one fun and festive manicure!

Fizzy Funky French

I don't know how many of you are feeling the effects of "Winter Storm Hercules" but we sure are. Here in Michigan, we got quite a bit of snow over the last 24 hours. In our area, we got between 12-15 inches! I love it! Unfortunately, with the ridiculous temperatures (the windchill right now is -35 degrees!!!) the snow is pure powder and I can't even build a snowman! :(

Today's manicure has absolutely nothing to do with the snow. I just love the snow! :)

Just a Quickie : Simple Spots and Studs

Base color - ULTA Blues Cruise
Dot color - Butter London The Full Monty
Studs from The Born Pretty Store

31DC2013 Day 26 - Inspired by a pattern

I was so tempted to do a polka dot manicure today since that's my favorite pattern. I decided, instead to use a pattern that I found on Google. 

Rainbow Dots!

After the last few days I've had at work, I needed to do something bright, cheery, and hopeful with my nails. Rainbows came to mind and so did polka dots. There is just something about seeing polka dots that makes me happy.

So. Here's everything that I used for the polka dots; Art Club Red, OPI A Roll in the Hague (orange), Julep Charlie (yellow), NYC High Line Green, Julep Ally (blue), and OPI Purple With a Purpose. The base is NYC French White Tip. I topped it all with China Glaze Fairy Dust.

It's bright, colorful, glittery...polka-dotty? I love it.

Neon Spots

I was in the mood for polka dots today. Dots are my favorite pattern. Also, dotting tool manicures are so easy and quick but you can get some great looking results.

I used Sally Hansen Celeb City for the base color. For the spots, I used four different sized dotting tools and four Art Club nail art polishes. The purple is Purple Rain, the pink is Technicolor Doll, the green is Neon Green, and the orange is Daytona. Super pretty, if you ask me. :)

Making up for lost time...

I've got four manicures to show you today. Sorry, again, for the gaps between posts. Hopefully, these designs will make up for it a little.

Essie Bikini So Teeny. I love this shade of blue. It's lovely for spring/summer. The glitter gradient is Art Club Fine Silver.

 

Something simple for this manicure. OPI Berlin There Done That with NYC Manhattan for the tips. I thought this design with this color combination was very chic.

Splatter! I love doing splatter nails. They're so easy and fun (although messy) and the look is so unique. The base color is Funky Fingers Cyclone Sky. The splatter colors are Sally Hansen Snappy Sorbet and OPI Planks a Lot.

 

This is my favorite of the four. OPI Berlin There Done That for the base. I used three sizes of dotting tools and Sally Hansen Snappy Sorbet, NYC Skyline Blue, and NYC French White Tip for the dots.

 

Mixed Patterns

I did Trisha's nails for her last night. She had an idea of what she wanted but she wasn't 100%. She wanted something plaid-like. We played around with some color combinations and then I suggested adding in some polka dots. She loved the idea.

 

The base is OPI Alpine Snow. For the dots, we used OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous. The plaid is Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous again, alongside OPI Moonraker and Sally Hansen Snappy Sorbet.

I loved the idea of the mixed patterns so I did the same. I went with a monochrome look, though, and more patterns.

I used Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, as well, but I paired it with Zoya Kelly. From pinky to thumb I did polka dots, rays, checkers, gradient, and horizontal stripes. I'm super happy with this manicure. From afar, it's subtle. There's a lot of sparkle, though, and that's just how I like it.

Bubbly dots

I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my nails. I opened my silver box and laying on top of the other colors were Zoya Kelly and Wet n Wild Black Creme. So, that's what I went with. 
 

 

Kelly on my index, middle, and pinky fingers. Black Creme on my ring finger and thumb. Then, I used a dotting tool and OPI Alpine Snow, SH Celeb City, Zoya Kelly, and Wet n Wild Black Creme. I love it. The dots remind me of bubbles.

Dots!

As much as I loved my last manicure, I've been itching to redo my nails for a couple of days now. I finally broke down today. I've been wanting to do this design for a while but never did because I thought it would be too time consuming.

 

It was! Well, it took me no time at all to do my left hand. The right hand, however, took a while. Regardless, this was such a simple design. I started with Sally Hansen Silver Sweep over my entire nail. Top coat, let it dry, tape off half of my nail and then a coat of OPI DS Mystery. Top coat, let it dry, and then lots of quality time with a dotting tool. Top coat, let it dry and tah-dah! Ha ha. It's well worth the effort, though. It's a nice twist on your classic polka dots. Yay!

Matte play!

As I sometimes do when I have nothing better to do, I went to Ulta today. (It's my favorite store. My friends and I sometimes call it the Mother Ship.) Of course, I left with a new nail polish. Of course, I HAD to put it on my fingers. :)

Zoya Kelly. Isn't it pretty? It's a purple/grey/blue cream in person but, since my camera sucks at capturing colors properly and I have a terrible habit of only doing my nails when its dark out, it looks much more blue in the photo.

Then, a nice coat of NYC Matte Me Crazy because I'm obsessed with it and put it on everything. They look like little chalkboards! :)

A dotting tool dipped in top coat later and . . . pretty polka dots! I love this look. It's subtle at a glance but edgy. Hubby says, "That's awesome!" I agree. :D

Because I got bored...

As much as I loved my cute little gingerbread man nails, I got bored and decided to change them. I do that. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my nails so I asked a guy at work what color I should paint them. When I named off the available colors, he chose black and silver. Later, I was inspired by another co-worker's purple shirt. Thus, the color scheme for this manicure was born. I knew I wanted a purple base and some sort of design over top in black and silver.

I went with OPI Purple With a Purpose. As usual, my camera sucks at capturing purples. Really, this color is much less blue. It's a nice royal purple color with a tiny hint of pink and blue shimmer. It's my go-to purple.
It took me quite a while to decide what design to do. I knew I wanted to use my dotting tools. After much deliberation, I decided to do some stippling. I started with the silver.

I used Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep. Then, over top, more stippling in black.

A few spots of Wet n Wild Black Creme and a layer of top coat and done! I love it! Now, we see how long this lasts before I'm bored again. :P