52 Week Challenges - Slime and Spiderwebs

The Reddit challenge this week is Gradient or Ombre.
The I'm Simply Complex challenge is Spiderwebs.

It's the week before Halloween, so I figured why not combine the two challenges?
I didn't do any cleanup on this one, because by the time I was finally finished, I was so frustrated with it, I just wanted to take the pictures and be done with it all.
I had to do it several times - due to bumps, colours not working properly together ... you name it - ugh.
I do love the manicure though!

For the Gradient portion, I decided to do a green syrup manicure.
I started with a coat of Wet n Wild Jade covering 3/4 of my nails.
I added a second coat about half-way down.
For the tip, I didn't think another coat of Jade would do it, so I used Sinful Colors Show Me The Way.
To blend it all together, I went over it with OPI Firefly
Then, to give it that extra Halloween "oomph" I used Wet n Wild's Glow in the Dark topcoat.

Once that was thoroughly dry, I stamped on a spiderweb using Bundle Monster plate BM13 and OPI Black Onyx.
I added a spider from the same plate on my thumb.

Reddit Challenge - Inspired by Reddit

I've actually only been on the nail polish board on Reddit, so this was a bit tough. I was going to go with the main colours of Reddit (blue orange white) and do something with that, maybe draw the alien.

Then, I volunteered to help someone out by taking a series of photographs of how I do my nails, step-by-step, including any sketches or inspriation.
Well, I figured this was good enough - it was a manicure I've been meaning to do, and had a sketch of (I never do that), but just never got around to it.
Reddit inspired me to go for it.

On my thumb and ring finger, 1 coat of OPI Black Onyx

Other fingers 2 coats of ORLY Rock The World - I really like this one, it's a wine colour with gold shimmer.

Then comes the detail ... using my Claire's white detail polish, I painted blocks and stripes on my thumb and ring finger, and large french tips on my other fingers.

I painted over most of the white with Clare's Scented Banana and ORLY Rock The world. Then I used QUO by ORLY Instant Artist Black and Claire's White detail polishes to clean up the design.

The design is actually inspired by something - a dress I think? I haven't been able to find it since I did the original sketch.

It was a lot of work, but it turned out well!
There are several layers in some spots, so I'm not sure how long it will be until this chips.

52 Week Challenge - Pink Sugar

This week's theme is pink / breast cancer awareness.

I wanted to try out sugar spun nails (youtube tutorial), so I picked a base colour and two shades of pink and went at it.

I started off with one coat of Avon Matte Concrete.

For the texture I went with Wet n Wild Lavender (I have no idea why this one is named lavender ... this is lavender, the nail polish is more of a deep pink) and Sally Hansen Pink Blink.

If you don't want to watch the tutorial, all you really have to do to achieve this look is put a few drops of nail polish onto a palette, then stir and pull at it with a toothpick until it is thick enough so that when you dip the toothpick in and pull it out it creates a string - just pull that string over your nail and keep going until you're happy with it.

It does require quite a bit of cleanup - taping around the edges of your nail would probably help.

My nails are very rounded, so it was difficult to place the strings near the edges, but I think it looks funky mostly in the middle of my nail.

I did use a topcoat on this one, but I had to paint it on my nail sideways - it was too thick to cover behind the ridges. I actually liked it way better without the topcoat. Oh well, next time.

Later this week, I'll be doing the Reddit challenge - "Inspired by Reddit"

Reddit 52 - Blue Marble

This week's Reddit theme is Blue!

As previously mentioned, Sinful Colors Cinderella makes a reappearance here. I really do like this colour.

I started with my cheapie Fascino #047 pale blue creme - one coat on each finger.

Then, I taped off my ring finger and did a water marble using #47, Cinderella, Sally Hansen HD Lazer (blue/purple duochrome), Claire's Jazz (medium blue jelly with blue sparkle), Color Club Blue-Topia (deep, dark blue jelly) - I dotted the colours into the water randomly then swirled and dipped. I ended up with large waves on both hands rather than swirls, but I really like it.

On all my other fingers, I added two coats of Cinderella.

Pretty Blue!

Check out this link to see what others did with the Blue theme

52 Week Challenge - Animal Print and Thanksgiving

Two challenges here... both from the old 52 Week Challenge

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When my friend and I split a couple of orders of stamping plates, I let her have all the animal print ones, because I'm not a huge fan, but I ended up with a zebra print stamp.

2 coats Zoya off-white
1 coat Sally Hansen Polar Bare

OPI Black Onyx used to stamp on the zebra print from Bundle Monster plate BM16

It was a little too plain, so I went in with Wet n Wild Lavender Creme (bright pink) and added a french tip.

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My husband's family celebrates Thanksgiving a little differently - they do hamburgers (not turkey burgers and thanksgiving fixings ... real hamburgers with all the fixings). It makes for a fun, relaxed Thanksgiving.
This year, his parents were in Africa, so we volunteered to host his sister and her family for dinner. It was a LOT of fun.

So, in honour of our strange Thanksgiving ... I did a hamburger feature nail.

I "cheated" and used acrylic paint because I don't have a tan nail polish.

I finally managed to get my hands on a bottle of Sinful Colors Cinderella - it's a gorgeous pale blue jelly with a pink/gold iridescent shimmer. So. Pretty. I think that this is one where, if I spot another bottle, I will buy it.
I decided to use it for this manicure, and it will be making a reappearance later this week for the Reddit Challenge Theme

Reddit Challenge - Autumn Taping

For the first week of the Reddit 52 week challenge, the theme is taping - my previous tape manicure is here.

I wanted to try the alternate version of the patchwork manicure I found - it's taping off angled sections of your nail. (using this tutorial from Chloe's Nails Blog).

I knew I wanted to use NYC Pumpkin, because it's my favourite orange and it's October.
A friend gave me a lovely bottle of polish last night - Sally Hansen Chestnut. It's a deep red-brown shimmer.
I grabbed my Wet n Wild Rustic to complete the trio.

I love how well the colours go together.

Still working on my cleanup technique - I need a better brush, and I think I should change away from the acetone free remover.

Guest Manicure - Stormy!

This is a super busy week - I'm going to fall behind on my weekly challenge (I have two now - check out the links in the sidebar)

Anyways, to help me out, one of my friends, Manpreet, did a very pretty stormy manicure for my blog!

Without further ado ...

The base is a Sally Hansen black polish, the clouds were done using a Konad stamp (the stamp is actually cranberries), the lightning bolt was free-hand using a yellow OPI polish and the rain was done using an iridescent Wet n Wild glitter polish.

Love it Manpreet!

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In other news ... Here is how the nail strips turned out after a week - not bad! Just nail growth and some tip wear. I could have worn them longer, but I wanted to take them off because the edge that was at my cuticle kept catching on my hair.

I don't know if it was just these particular ones, but oy, what a pain in the butt to remove.
There is a yellow layer, and then a black layer. I held the cotton ball over top of the nail for a minute or two to soften the polish, then I pulled it off. The yellow polish came off, so then I had black squares - after scrubbing for a bit, it finally came off, but I had little black flakes around my fingers, and occasionally a little ball of adhesive.

At the price these things are, I don't know that I'd get them again - they are REALLY cute, but for the price of a bottle or two of polish you get one manicure. For people who are into nail art, but can't / don't want to do their own, they're a great option and I would highly recommend them ... for me? I don't really think so.
(bonus: if you have really short nails, cut the strips in half, and only use one pack - save the second pack for a second manicure later!)