13 Saturday Sep 2014
Posted in Nail Art
I cheated and combined two prompts, but I was also running behind so what better way to catch up?
I went with a purple gradient today with some purple dots to hide the bubbling from the top coat!
I hope you like it!
I used 3 coats of Milani Power Periwinkle as my base.
For the gradient, I used a makeup sponge, Milani Power Periwinkle, Sephora by OPI Domestic Goddess and Caffeine Fix.
I dotted with the same Milani polish.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
12 Friday Sep 2014
Posted in Nail Art
Sorry about the not so great lighting, I’m trying to find better over the weekend!
I’ve fallen a bit behind because on day 10 I experienced a hit of exhaustion. I wanted to incorporate day 10 and 11 but everything I tried was a real nail fail and I lost steam quickly. I have an idea of what I want to do and hopefully it turns out how I want!
Anyways, here are my stripes for today…I am really stretching the prompt but as I see it, the design is made of up stripes, right?
I hope you like it. I am a little annoyed though, I sponged the base but it just came out like I smeared the stamp 😦
I used 3 coats of Zoya Goldie as my base. This time I actually remembered to use the shimmer-y polish as my base so clean up was so much easier!
I sponged with Sinful Colors Chick Chick and Julie G White Orchid.
I stamped with MoYou London Back to the 80s plate 02 from the Time Travelers collection.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
Check out the other stripe manicures below, there are some real stunners in the collection today!
10 Wednesday Sep 2014
Posted in Nail Art
Tags
#31DC2014, Color Club, dotticure, freehand, Pop Beauty, Revlon
For someone who loves neons, colors and brights it is a surprise I have so much trouble with rainbow prompts. As you know, I am not a fan of the traditional rainbow scheme but it is the only inspiration that comes to mind. Many people did lovely sugar-spins and gradients and everything else I could think of so I was at a loss. Of course, it isn’t a problem to do the same thing as other people and it is bound to happen during a daily challenge but who wants to look at the same thing multiple times?
I was literally sitting on the floor at 8pm staring at my nail polishes and other art tools and my brain shut off. I had no idea what to do. I turned around and put away my new shoelaces which had just come in from Converse when it hit me. Inspiration from my shoelaces (You’ll see what I mean below!) Not exactly “rainbow” but it will do for being totally stuck on a prompt for two days!
I hope you like it! Apologies on the sub-par photograph. I could not get my camera to focus on both the shoelace and nails, I tried to choose one that sort of showed both. In retrospect, I should have chosen the nails over the laces. Oh well, lessons for next time!
I used 2 coat of Wet n Wild Black Creme.
I dotted with Color Club Poptastic, Wham! Pow!, Almost Famous, Pop Beauty Pacific Hoot and Revlon Gel Envy High Stakes. I was thrilled to find I had the exact nail polish matches for each color on the laces. The teal photographed bright on the laces but please take my word for it, they are matches!
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
Check out the other rainbow manicures below!
08 Monday Sep 2014
Posted in Nail Art
Metallic bases with black stamping work nicely but I wanted a little extra from yesterday’s nails so I water-colored gold for a braised look. I cannot decide whether it looks cool or just muddy. What do you think?
I hope you like it either way!
I used 2 coats of Chanel Peridot as my base.
I stamped with Milani Swift Black and a Bundle Monster plate (sorry, once again do not have it in front of me!)
I used pure acetone and Zoya Goldie.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
Check out the other metallic nails below!
07 Sunday Sep 2014
Posted in Nail Art
Traditional black and white screams geometry to me so I went with simple stamping today. Have you ever felt like one day your nail art techniques just click and everything goes exactly as planned? The last few days have been just that and I have been really happy with my designs.
I was having really good luck with Out the Door topcoat so I used it over my stamping. Unfortunately, it smeared the design on my index finger! At least the rest turned out well. I matte the finished result because, well, why not?
I hope you like today’s manicure!
I started with butter London Cotton Buds and 1 coat of INM Northern Lights as my base.
I stamped with Konad Special Polish Black and a Bundle Monster plate, (which I don’t remember because I do not have it in front of me!).
I finished with a coat of Essie Matt-e About You.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
Check out the other B&W below!
05 Friday Sep 2014
Posted in Nail Art
Tags
#31DC2014, Essie, FingerFood theme, freehand, marbling, Milani, Nail Art, Nfu Oh, Sephora by OPI, Zoya
See sidebar for more information.
I am kind of super excited I am a day ahead in the 31 Day Challenge. It gives me a little wiggle room in case I lose steam during the month. I decided to kill two birds with one stone because I was itching to use some of my neglected purple polishes.
I avoided water marbling. I tried a couple of times but they were fails and I felt discouraged. I attempted ziploc marbles but I was too impatient for them to dry so I tried a toothpick marble. It is hard! I kept scraping my base and I could not really “marble” but I liked the end result. Without top coat, the design resembled the Picasso Swirl technique; with top coat, it looked a lot more like what I was after.
I hope you like my manicure today! I like the cloudy, floaty feel (if that makes sense) of the creams on top of the flaky base.
I started with 2 coats of Zoya Payton and 1 generous coat of Nfu Oh Opals Nfu 51 (one of my severely neglected polishes…sometimes I wish I used it more, sometimes I want to save it because it was discontinued!) as my base.
I marbled with a toothpick, Sephora by OPI Domestic Goddess, Essie Smokin’ Hot and Milani Vivid Violet.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
Check out the other violet nails for the 31-Day Challenge!
…and the marble manicures for the Theme Buffet!
04 Thursday Sep 2014
Posted in Nail Art
Tags
#31DC2014, Bundle Monster, butter London, freehand, INM, Milani, Nail Art, Pop Beauty, stamping, Urban Outfitters
I can’t wait until tomorrow to post this! I was on a roll today and knocked out two manicures…Have you ever done a manicure and it came out EXACTLY the way you hoped? This manicure was exactly that.
I saw it, I did it, I loved it!
I cannot stop looking at my nails.
This is my second attempt at gradient stamping and I am so thrilled with how they mix in the middle. The blue and white look so cool together! Eep! I’m really digging today’s design! I was inspired by one of my first nail arts (Smile Like You Mean It, linked here) but if I do say so myself, I have gotten better at cleanup and sponge gradients!
I hope you like it as much as I do!
I used 3 coats of Milani Power Periwinkle as my base. I do not know why but it did not reach full opacity until the third coat, even with thicker application.
For the gradient, I used a makeup sponge, (from cuticle to tip) Milani Power Periwinkle, Pop Beauty Pacific Hoot, and Urban Outfitters Blue Velvet.
I sealed the gradient with INM Out the Door top coat. I don’t particularly like this top coat because it smears my nail art but it is perfect for blurring gradients.
I stamped with Milani Peacock (I am running out and can’t find it anywhere…this is one of my favorite blues!!), butter London Cotton Buds and Bundle Monster plate BM-304.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
Check out the other blue manicures below!
the Rite of Aging...early 