#31DC2014 - Day 18: Half Moons...Ripply blue nails

Hi there lovelies! I am one of little words today and wont bore you with a silly little intro or rant. I’m blaming it on my epic mental tiredness at the moment...I’m saaaawry! But you guys are here for nails right? Let’s get to it then shall we?

Day 18: Halfmoons 

Aaaaah, one of the very few prompts I was not looking forward to. Half moons plainly said, just looks weird on me. I don’t know if it’s the shape of my cuticles or my short nail beds but like I said, it looks weird! So after I scouted the net a bit and consulted with my adviser aka Ordinary Misfit, I decided to reach for my stamping plates once again.

I started out by laying down 2 coats of Zoya Song on all my nails except for my ring finger. When this was dry, I stamped on my cuticle area with Bundle Monster Plate BM-426 and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. On my ring finger I layed down 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White and with the same Bundle Monster stamp, went in and stamped randomly all over the nail with Zoya Song.

Even if this is a halfmoon mani, I really like how it came out! The stamping kind of reminds me of water ripple and man, I love love LOVE Zoya Song! But that being said, I do love blue so I might be a teensy bit biased!

Lots of mad love...

#31DC2014 - Day 17: Glitter aka...Sparkly honeycomb sparkles

Aaaaaaaaaah! I am posting before sunset! Yes, I classify that as a SUPER WIN! I do apologize for my sporadic posting lately but I’ve just been feeling a little out of it. I am getting back on track now though so YAY for me! Today we are hitting the Glitter Prompt of the #31DC2014. Such sparkle! Much amaze!
 

Day 17: Glitter

I didn’t have a stack load of ideas for this prompt but I did want to do glitter placement. I love the honeycomb style of hex glitter placement and have been dying to give it a try! So what better opportunity than the Challenge right?

I started by laying down 2 coats of Morgan Taylor Invitation Only on all my nails. When this was dry, I layed down zig zag chevron nail vinyls by Nail Vinyls over my index finger and pinky and layed down a thick coat of OPI Grape...Set...Match over it, pulling the vinyls off immediately. On my middle finger I layed down a coat of clear polish and placed loose hex glitter from Born Pretty Store on the topcoat. Lastly, I layed down some more vinyls on my ring finger and filled half in with OPI Grape...Set...Match and placed a few more loose glitters on the other half.

I love how the 2 polishes make each other pop! Yes, my honeycomb glitter placement is anything but perfect but I still like it! I just wish I can find some matte hex glitter because the glitter picks up the glare of my lamp immediately. And I just love me some matte glitter! Any advice??

Lots of mad love...

#31DC2014 - Day 16: Geometric aka ...Do I need a aka?? Nah!

Hi lovelies! Okay, is it just Pretoria or did your seasons also not get the memo about making a slowish “transition” into the next season?? Just over 2 weeks ago we were freezing our butts off and now we are complaining about how hot it is! No pleasing us, is there?? Now if only we can get some rain so this damn static will get the hell out! IT HURTS DAMMIT!

 

Day 16: Geometric Print 

I once again did not have too much inspiration for this post except for I knowing that I had to use Morgan Taylor Hot Hot Tamale. She has been sitting in my polish case since 1 September and she has been calling me! I swear it! So after digging around in my stamping plates, I found a geometric-esque pattern that gave me happy feels and went to town.

I started by laying down 2 coats of WOW Nail Polish #393 on all my nails, except for my ring finger. I then placed stamping decals that I made using WOW Nail Polish #393, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Morgan Taylor Hot Hot Tamale and Bundle Monster Plate BM-414, on my nails. On my ring and index finger I cut the decals with a straight line and covered only certain sections of my nail. I also lined the area around my cuticle with WOW Nail Polish #393 and a thin are brush. Lastly on my ring finger I layed down 2 coats of Morgan Taylor Hot Hot Tamale and placed little triangles on the nail that I made with polish blobs that I cut down.

 

Really camera?? Of all the times I want you to make a polish shine in all her glory you go and spazz out?? Just because she is bright and luscious! *gasp* Shame on you! Other than that I think it looks quite cute! Not too hard to do and still fun! Oh, and have you noticed my nails are shorter? Stupid tear that turned into a full on break on my index finger. But luckily I like shorter nails!

Lots of mad love...

 

#31DC2014 - Day 15: Delicate Print aka HA! Thea and Delicate! Funny!

Hi lovelies! Freakity frak frak! We are on day 15 of the challenge you guys! And I am still here! WHAT?? I feel I deserve a scouts badge for that! PERSEVERANCE! HELL YEAH!

Day 15: Delicate Print

Hmmm...me and this prompt. It scared me a tiny bit! Do I look like someone who can do or does delicate?? Never! I’M SO HARDCO...oooh look! Bunnies! Okay, so maybe I’m not insanely hardcore but I’m not a big “delicate” fan. So I did what every sensible non delicate flower would do and reached for my stamping kit.

I started by laying down 2 coats of Essence Dare It Nude. When this was dry I layed down some striping tape in a chevron pattern over all my nails and filled it in with Essence Prom-Berry, making sure I pulled the tape off immediately. Finally, I just blocked off the small chevron section of my nail with sticky tape and stamped a flower pattern with Essence Prom-Berry and Bundle Monster Plate BM-211.

This mani is insanely simple but I am liking it quite a bit! Sometimes a bit of simplicity is all that is really needed. In hindsight though, I should’ve made the chevron’s a little bit thinner but it still looks kinda cool.

Lots of mad love...

 

#31DC2014 - Day 14: Flowers aka Breezy Cherry Blossoms

Hi loves! I'm not going to take up too much of your time today as it is Sunday and who wants to spend their Sunday morning reading a silly intro! Let’s get straight to the #31DC2014 funsicles shall we?

Day 14: Flowers

I was quite excited about today's prompt! I love floral nail art as it always looks classy and is very versatile. There are so many techniques you can try. Ranging from dots for roses to intricate free hand designs. I decided to go with one of my very favorite types of flower for this mani after some spurring from my fiance and this SUPER easy tutorial from Robin Moses. *bows head down to the Youtube nail art Master* I give you cherry blossoms!

I started out by laying down 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White on all my nails. When this was dry I took my dusty old nail art fan brush and Tip Top Nail Chic Cha Cha Cha and made light sweeps over the nails from the one corner. Using the same brush and OPI Fly, I just repeated the process to make it look slightly more streaky. Then for a final time I went in again with Tip Top Nail Chic Cha Cha Cha and the fan brush and added a few last streaky sweeps. To make the little branches, I used WOW Nail Polish striping polish. Lastly for the flowers I used my trusty small nail art brush and Sinful Colors Folly and made irregular shaped blobs going from big to small all along my branches and a few random ones here in there.

You guys! I am so HAPPY with this! Seriously! I'm actually planning on doing this again month end for our annual family reunion weekend. Who wouldn't be happy when they're sporting some pretty cherry blossoms on their nails?! Also, please go check out Robin Moses on Youtube. AMAZING is an understatement.

Lots of mad love...

#31DC2014 - Day 13: Animal Print aka Hides Head In Shame...

Whas happenin’ smexy people! It is a GORGEOUS Saturday here in sunny Pretoria and man, I wish the pool was a little bit warmer! My summer time sadness is almost OVER! Whoooo! But for now let’s get back to the reason why you are actually here: The 31 Day Challenge. And today we have animal print so let’s do dis ting!

Day 13: Animal Print

The idea of the #31DC2014 is to, well, challenge yourself right? And that is exactly what I tried to do here. Challenge myself to something different from the conventional leopard or zebra print mani. In hindsight, I should’ve just stuck to that because EPIC FAIL! But quite a bit of effort went into this mish mash of a mani so I didn’t want it to go wasted so let’s take a look at my utterly sad attempt at an Abalone Shell mani...I do apologise in advance.

SOURCE

I started out by laying down 2 coats of China Glaze Spontaneous on all my nails. I then made random blobs with China Glaze Grape Pop, China Glaze Spontaneous, China Glaze Starboard, Sinful Colors Bali Mist and Sinful Colors Endless Blue all over my nails and blotched them up using the saran wrap method. When this was dry, I used my thin nail art brush and WOW Nail Polish #393 and made random swirly patterns over the nails. Then I took a little bit of Avon Star and the gold polish from Tip Top Go For Gold duo set and mixed it together and just lightly dotted it over the nails with my thin nail art brush. Lastly, I took the tiniest bit of Essence Miss Universe and just touched here and there on each nail with a thin nail art brush. I didn’t add any topcoat as I kind of wanted to keep the uneven look as the shell isn’t perfectly smooth.

The overall mani I like! I really do! But it doesn’t look anything like the shell or like it did in my head! *EEEEEEEGH!!!!* I has a sad...but I did try so that makes me feel a little better. And the next time I try it I will definitely know what to do differently. So to future successes!

Lots of mad love...

 

#31DC2014 - Day 12: Stripes aka OH MY GLOB! I actually made it!

Hi guys! I know I am a little later than usual (only by about 8hours) but I was so ready for this post and then me happened! Yip, you heard right! ME! Been struggling all day with my internet and have been swearing my service provider up and down it’s whole family tree only to realize when I got home today that the only reason why it didn’t want to connect is because my laptop had a “few” (*cough*14*cough*) updates to install...WHICH I KNEW ABOUT FOR ALMOST A WEEK NOW!!! But am sorry that “Me” happened. And to my service provider? I am sorry for wishing that your armpits would be infested by the fleas of a thousand camels! Now! Today’s post for the 31 Day Challenge!

Day 12: Stripes 

Today I probably have the most meh mani in all of meh history! But I was really tired when I did it and had no ideas whatsoever. So I decided to keep it simple and just did a good old plain striping tape mani.

I started by laying down 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. When my nails were completely dry, I layed down striping tape horizontally over my nails. I then went in with WOW Nail Polish #393, Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, Tip Top Nail Chic Sun Kissed and Nubar Competition Red and filled in the open spaces, pulling the tape off immediately.

I think these nails came out okay. It is definitely not my neatest work but it is still show-able! Hopefully inspiration will hit me full on for the Animal Print prompt for tomorrow...please inspiration!

#31DC2014 - Day 11: Polka Dots aka Happy dots!

Good morning loves! Are you ready for this?? Are you?? Because I so am! The second section of the 31Day Challenge! Whooooooo for “Styles”! And we are kicking off styles with Polka Dots so why don’t we get right into it, shall we?

Day 11: Polka Dots

I had a ton of ideas milling through my head with this prompt but none of them really got me excited. Then I remembered a conversation I had with Ordinary Misfit and Mama Zombie Mumbles about a sponge mani that Mama Zombie Mumbles did last week and I have been dying to give it a go ever since. So why not now??

I started out by laying down 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. When this was dry I took a piece of make-up sponge, cut it into small pieces and randomly sponged all over my base with OPI Fly, OPI If You Moust You Moust, OPI Do You Lilac It?, Tip Top Nail Chic Lemon Fuel and China Glaze For Audrey. I then added a thin layer of China Glaze Fairy Dust over the sponged base because we all know China Glaze Fairy Dust makes everything more awesome! Lastly, I made random sized dots over all my nails with various sized dotting tools (and a glue bottles cap).

Doesn’t this look cool? I wish I could’ve worn this for more than one day because the effect was quite eye catching in real life! But it just gives me an excuse to do it sometime in the future again and that is good enough for me!

Lots of mad love...

 

#31DC2014 - Day 10: Gradient Nails aka Sugar that won't go to your hips! WIN!

Hi lovelies! Hmmm...do you feel that? It’s the feeling of being halfway through the week! It is also the feeling of accomplishment because today is the last prompt for the “Color” section and I’m still here! High 5 to myself! Booosh!

Day 10: Gradient Nails 

Can I please cue a groan? Because I feel like this moment needs a groan! I CAN’T DO GRADIENT MANIS! At all! Please note when I say gradient, I mean the stupid sponge method one. My colors do not mix right, I start it to high up (or too low!), I move the sponge sideways up and down too much and then the “gradient” is HUGE! So no. Not happening...and you can stop pouting dammit! I went with the next best thing. An ombre gradient of sorts! And the sugar spun method!

I started out by laying down 2 coats of WOW Nail Polish #393. When this was dry I used the sugar spun method [TUTORIAL by Nailasaurus] and pulled strings of China Glaze Starboard (dark green), Nubar Green Tea (medium green) and Sinful Colors Pistache over my nails, creating a gradient from dark to light. 

I was so chuffed with how this came out! Sure, I’ll admit cleanup was a pain (as you can see by my beautifully green stained index finger’s cuticle) but the results were ABSOLUTELY worth it! This is definitely a mani I’m going to redo after the challenge...with a thick coat of petroleum jelly around my nails of course!

Lots of mad love...

 

#31DC2014 - Day 9: Rainbow Nails aka SO MUCH COLOR IN YOUR FACE!

Good morning lovelies! After today there is only one prompt left for the “Colors” section of the #31DC2014 people! Exciting stuff! But for today, let’s enjoy the colorful prompt of Rainbow Nails.

Day 9: Rainbow Nails
 
Today’s prompt was quite a bit of a head scratcher to me. Rainbow nails...how many things can you actually do with that? Yes, the color possibilities are probably endless but of course my boxed in human brain got stuck at rainbow. I definitely wanted a rainbow in there somewhere. And then it hit me! Well, two things hit me! 1. I’ve been dying to use my Lush Lacquer (now better known as Polish Me Silly) Freckles. And 2. I love meme’s. Grumpy cat, Overly Attached Girlfriend, Socially Awkward Penguin...you name it, I LOVE IT! Some of my favorite meme’s are the Rage Comics. They consist of a whole lot of awesomely badly drawn characters like Forever Alone Guy, Cereal Guy, Troll face and of course...PUKING RAINBOWS!

I started out by laying down 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White on all my nails. When this was dry I went in with a thin nail art brush and WOW Nail Polish #393 and painted my little guy in. To create the rainbow I used the thin nail art brush again, Tip Top Nail Chic Walking On Sunshine, Tip Top Nail Chic Jazz Berryblue, Tip Top Nail Chic Sexy Bikini, Tip Top Nail Chic Grape Dance and China Glaze I’m With The Lifeguard. To finish everything off, I added 2 coats of Lush Lacquer Freckles over my index finger and pinky.

YOU GUYS! Look at that neon glitter go! Isn’t Lush Lacquer Freckles just gorgeous?? I really liked how all of this came together. Yes, puking rainbows might be a little weird but I am a little weird and I love it!

Lots of mad love...