31DC2015 Day 1 - Red Nails

It's finally here! The 31 Day Challenge is officially upon us and I'm STOKED! I know a lot of people begrudgingly take part in the challenge but I love it. It is difficult at times but it IS called a challenge for a reason. I'm particularly enthusiastic this year because I've been in a bit of a slump and this is just the thing to perk me up!

I knew days ago exactly what I wanted to do for the day one prompt AND which nail polishes I wanted to use. I'm never this prepared!

31DC2014 Day 1: Red

Aaaannnd we're off!

It's finally here! The 31 day challenge has arrived! I'm ready for it, too. I've been brainstorming ideas for over a week and getting myself mentally prepared. The only thing that could possibly get in my way now is feeling too tired/lazy to do my nails. I'm not letting that happen, though.

The challenge prompt for day one is red. The prompts for colors are always the hardest for me just because there are a near infinite amount of things you can do with a prompt that vague. So, my plan of attack is this; pull out every polish in the color (red, in this case) and pick a few that I like together. Narrowing down the colors makes it easier to decide what, exactly, I want to do! For today, I went with a patchwork mani!

Early Christmas Mani

So, this weekend my friends and I are competing in a gingerbread house contest for work. This is the third year that we are participating. Last year, we came in second place. It's so much fun and I can't wait. The theme this year is Disney so the designs should be fantastic. Anyway, since this is a Christmas event, I had to do a Christmas nail design, of course.

I started with my FAVORITE red polish. OPI Danke-shiny red from their Germany collection. I was distracted by Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (LOVE) so I unfortunately forgot to photograph my nails with just the red on them. It's just as well, though, because it's hard to capture the beauty of this color. It's just a touch cooler than your classic red. It shimmers so beautifully it almost has a metallic look to it. It is just amazing.

After the red, I chose a Christmas design from my Bundle Monster stamping plates. (I love these things! I still haven't mastered them so they aren't perfect. Be patient with me.) I chose an all over design with a ginerbread man surrounded by holly on plate BM-222. 

I used Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep. Adorable, right?? After a whole ten minutes, I decided that they needed glitter.

I chose OPI Save me from the Nicki Minaj collection. This glitter it nuts! I adore it. It's surprisingly dense for a clear based glitter so I actually had trouble applying it thin enough to keep from covering the design too much. It's LOADED with silver micro-glitter and these ultra-prismatic bar glitters. With every movement of your hand, you catch so many colors. Daylight is the best way to view this glitter but the sun decided not to make an appearance today. (Michigan. -_-) I think this combination is just perfect. The red is perfect in contrast with the silver. The gingerbread men are ADORABLE and the prismatic glitter looks like tinsel. Super super super!