31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 13: Animal Print Nails

Hi everyone!!

I'm super excited to show you the challenge mani that I created for today! It's simple and I think that it doesn't have too much going on, which I believe is the case for the most part with animal print manis. I decided on doing french tips with the animal prints overflowing onto my bare nail (on top of the base coat, of course). So check it out below and let me know what you think! Welcome to The Polish Zoo!!

 I used several different polishes so bare with me! And everything was used after applying a base coat.

To get this look: 

• Thumb (zebra print): French tip was made using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and the zebra print was made using a medium sized detail brush and Sinful Colors Black On Black
• Pointer (leopard print): French tip was made using Piggy Polish Stand At The Edge. The leopard print was made using Revlon Top Speed Varnished and Sinful Colors Black on Black and a medium sized detail brush and small dotting tool
• Middle (cow print): The french tip was made using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and the spots were made using a medium sized detail brush and Sinful Colors Black On Black
• Ring (giraffe print):  The french tip was made using Orly Country Club Khaki and the print was made using a medium sized detail brush and Revlon Totally Toffee
• Pinky (tiger print): The french tip was made using Sally Hansen Insta Dri Snappy Sorbet and the print was made using Sinful Colors Black On Black and my smallest sized striping brush

 

This mani was quite fun to create and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I didn't want an overpowering animal print mani this week so I opted for the french tips instead The entire look was not time consuming either because I just made quick french tips and didn't have to worry about them being super clean since I was going to put the print over it anyways. Also, animal print is never PERFECT. There are always some imperfections so it allowed me to just go with flow in creating the different prints.

My inspirations! 

What did you all think about my mani? I really like love it!! Let me know your thoughts on this one or if you have any suggestions/tips/ideas to help me next time I decide to do an animal print mani.

Make sure to check out my friend's post today at My Life In Turquoise!

13 down, and 18 to go!! Check back next Monday for the flower challenge mani!!

Crumpet's March Amateur Nail Art Contest Winner!!

Hi everyone!!

I finally saw this post on The Crumpet's blog about the March Amateur Nail Art Contest winner! A big big congratulations to Rebecca from Killer Nails for winning!! She had an adorable blue gradient mani with jellyfish! Definitely take a look at her page if you get the chance because she has many other great manis.

I'm also so excited that I came in 2nd!! There's no prize for any of the winners since it is an amateur nail art contest but that doesn't matter. It's still so nice to see that others are liking my attempts!! So thank you all once again for voting for my mani :)

Last but not least, Jessica Plumley over from Lacquer Love came in 3rd with a beautiful stamping mani! Take a look at her blog as well if you get a chance!

Tri-Polish Challenge (April #4) - Splatter

Hey guys!

Can you believe that this is the last post for April's Tri-Polish Challenge hosted by Crumpet's Nail Tarts? May's challenge will be here soon, though, and the colors for May are blue, grey, and red so it'll be exciting coming up with new manis for that!

But back to this month's last post. To refresh, the colors for April are Turquoise, Pink, and Orange. I haven't used Orange for the last two posts so I had to bring it back for this last post. I wanted to do a splatter mani but I don't have any nail polish thinner. I tried to do it without the thinner anyways but it wasn't working for me. So I decided to do a freehand splatter! I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out.
**The turquoise that I am using is the closest to turquoise that I have**

To get this look:

• After applying a base coat, I put on two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. White nail polish is always streaky unless you apply a few coats. You could still see some streaks through the second coat but since I was going to be putting splatters over it anyways, I decided to leave it
• I then put "blobs" (one at a time, of course) of China Glaze For Audrey, Sinful Colors Island Coral, and Maybelline Color Show Orange Fix. 
• Using a toothpick (you could use any pointy/sharp object), I dragged the polish outwards to create the splatter look. 
• I also added dots of each polish here and there to enhance the effect
• To end it, I finished off with a top coat!

Doesn't it look cool? It wasn't hard to create either. What do you all think of my final post for the Tri-Polish Challenge?? Leave me comments in the section below to tell me what you think! I hope you all liked it! I have a tutorial for this so I'll be putting that up soon.

Check back soon for my next 31 Day Challenge mani! Animal print is next and I have a great idea for that :)

Tri-Polish Challenge (April #3) - Fusion Dotticure

Hi guys!

There's only one more tri-polish challenge post for April left after today! But don't worry, Crumpet's Nail Tarts hosts a tri-polish challenge every month!! So to recap: April's colors are Turquoise, Pink, and Orange.

**The turquoise polish that I am using is the closest to turquoise that I have**

I had such a busy schedule today so I decided on the simplest of manicures for today's challenge. Nonetheless, I think it looks cute in its simplicity! I might be sticking with simpler manis for a while just because I'm job hunting and am running around like crazy these days. Sigh! Job hunting is so stressful! Anyways, take a look at my mani!

To get this look:

• After putting on a base coat, I put on two coats of China Glaze For Audrey on my thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger
• I then put on two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White on my ring finger
• To end the base polishes, I put on two coats of Sinful Colors Island Coral on my pinky finger
• After letting my ring finger (the white nail) completely dry, I used a small detail brush and Sinful Colors Island Coral to create the wave
• Then using China Glaze For Audrey and a small dotting tool, I added dots to the white section of my ring finger 
• Of course, I ended it all with a shiny top coat

I'm happy with this being so simple but hopefully I can do something a bit more dramatic for Thursday's post!!

I had originally intended to do a tape mani but I couldn't cut the tape properly in the wave shape that I wanted. One peak would end up pointy, bigger, or lopsided, so it was so hard to get it to stay the same shape!! Any tips??

What do you all think of the look? Leave me comments in the section below!!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 12: Stripe Nails

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend, I know I did! I definitely think today's challenge mani is one of my all time favorite manis. Originally, I had planned to just have nude nails with some black stripes over it because I couldn't think of anything special to create with stripes. But then, I found my inspiration! I stumbled upon (yes, literally using stumble upon) a home decoration website and voila! found my mani. To add a little more to my inspiration, I realized that one of the vases we have with random pieces in it would fit into the mani perfectly and I opted for the feather accent.

http://www.arthouse.com/product/opera-fun-super-stripe-black-and-pink-125

I took the pink and black stripes and decided to have a feather as my accent. Also, even though the picture with the striped wallpaper has a silver lamp, I thought gold would do a better job standing out. The great part about my mani was that it matched the outfit that I wore on Saturday! I had to go to my friend's engagement party and the outfit was white and pink so it fit perfectly. Here's what my attempt looks like:

To get this look:

• After putting on my favorite base coat, Essie 3-Way Glaze, I used Revlon Top Speed Pink Lingerie as my colored base coat. It's a lovely soft pink! 
• Then using my thinnest striping brush, I added stripes to all of my nails, except my ring fingers, with Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Sinful Colors Black On Black, and Revlon Copper Penny (shown in the picture above)
• For my accent ring finger, I used my wide, feathery striping brush and Sinful Colors Black on Black to create a feather and then finished it off with a little Revlon Copper Penny dot at the base of the feather
• I sealed the entire mani with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat so that I can enjoy it for a couple of days!

Although I absolutely LOVE this mani, I was in a bit of a dilemma after I had finished creating it. I liked the stripes that I made on my right hand better, but I liked the feather from my left hand better. Hence, I have pictures of both hands above, hah. But I do love how the stripes turned out. I love how I was able to get them to stay thin! I also love how I was able to keep the feather looking plush and full the same way the inspiration feather really is.

I really hope you all like this mani as much as I do! And definitely let me know if you agree with me about which hand has the better stripes and feather. I'm curious to see what you all think looks better! So, as always, feel free to leave me comments in the section below! And if there is anything that you would like me to try out or want to see, please, let me know!

Can you believe it? 12 down, and only 19 more to go! These challenges are getting more exciting now!

Have a great Monday, everyone!

Tri-Polish Challenge (April #2) - Retro Arrowheads

Hey guys!

Today is day 2 of the Tri-Polish Challenge hosted by Crumpet's Nail Tarts! To refresh, the colors for April are Turquoise, Pink, and Orange.
** The "turquoise" I am using for the challenge is the closest color I have to turquoise**

I thought about doing something a bit more abstract so I ended up with funky arrowheads! Surprisingly, I ran out of tape after doing my thumb and it had taken so much time already that I decided to just freehand the rest of it, so it is a bit sloppy, but I tried very hard to keep the lines as straight as I could!! My back and shoulders are still spazzing so it was tough.

To get this look:

• After putting on my favorite base coat, I started off with the black arrow at the base of my nail and created the arrow using a small striping brush and Sinful Colors Black On Black 
• I then went and added the other black "arrows" near the middle of the nail using the same small striping brush
• Next up, I used a striping brush and China Glaze For Audrey to create the full turquoise arrows and the half arrows
• The full pink arrows and half pink arrows were made using a small striping brush and Sinful Colors Island Coral
• I made my pointer finger the accent nail, and instead of making half arrows, I just kept it as full arrows and did not add the vertical white stripe
• To finish off the look, I added the white arrows and the stripe down the nail using the striping brush and Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and then, as always, ended it all with my favorite top coat

This was hard to do after I ran out of the tape and I like how it turned out, but I think it would have been amazing if I had been able to do this look on all of the nails using the tape. No use crying over spilled polish though, right?

The overall look ended up turning out pretty cool. It has a retro/tribal look to it, don't you think?

I hope you all liked my mani and I look forward to coming up with another look for next Tuesday's Tri-Polish Challenge post!!  But before that, check back soon for my next challenge mani in the 31-Day Challenge!! Leave me comments in the comments section below to let me know how I'm doing! I love getting feedback!!

Tri-Polish Challenge (April #1) - Dotticure

Hey guys!!

I'm participating in my very first tri-polish challenge, hosted by Debbie Crumpet from The Crumpet!!! It's so exciting doing all of these challenges! So just like the 31-Day Challenge, this challenge has rules too.

Rules:

• Crumpet's Nail Tarts will be choosing three colors each month and you must ONLY use those three colors to create the manicures
• The colors for April are Turquoise, Orange, & Pink
• That being said, you have free use of white, black, silver, gold, and glitter toppers
• You must choose 1 polish to represent each color choice and use the same three polishes throughout the challenge
• The challenge has 4 posts each month: the Tuesday and Thursday of the 3rd and 4th week of each month 
• For April: 16, 18, 23, 25

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Here's a look at my first challenge mani!

I saw an amazing mani by Manicurator that I have been wanting to try and make. You can see her mani here. She created an amazing stained glass effect and I wanted to see if I could do something like that. It didn't turn out quite the same and I think it's because 1) she used darker polishes and 2) she used jellies. Mine are the complete opposite, light cremes. The mani still turned out pretty cool.

To add a little something extra, I added dots!

To get this look:

• As always, I started off with my favorite base coat Essie 3-Way Glaze
• The base was created by randomly dabbing China Glaze For Audrey, Sinful Colors Island Coral, and Maybelline Color Show Orange Fix
• I dabbed the different polishes several times until I was satisfied with the look
• Then I used dotting tools in various sizes to create the dots. The black dots were Sinful Colors Black On Black, the white dots were Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and the gold dots were Revlon Colorstay Fall Mood
• To top it all off, I used my trusty Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat

 *** I know the dots are not well made. My shoulders and back muscles are still pulled and I couldn't keep my hand steady for very long and ended up rushing 
**The turquoise that I am using is the closest to turquoise that I have**

I hope you all liked my attempt!! I'm looking forward to coming up with something else for this Thursday's (April 18) challenge mani!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 11: Polka Dot Nails

Hi guys!

This post probably won't be too long because I somehow sprained my back and shoulders so keeping my arms in this position is actually killing me right now :(

To start off the second third of the challenge, I chose to do a very simple pattern with a lot of dots but it didn't quite turn out the way I had imagined it, which is probably because I had planned out the design to go on long nails but I ended up cutting mine over the weekend. I'm trying squoval nails for the first time!!

The base polish is Piggy Polish The Right To Bare Feet and it's such a pretty orange/coral color! The dots were made using Sinful Colors Black On Black and a small sized dotting tool. Originally, I was going to put a bouillon bead at the base but I can't seem to find my stash, so I opted for three tiny, silver caviar beads instead.

I like how it turned out but I do wish that I had kept my nails longer. The design would have turned out much better and cleaner. With these short nails, you can't really really tell what the design with the dots is supposed to be. No matter! It'll be better next time.

  

I hope you all liked it and I'm super excited to show you all the stripes challenge mani next week! I've been waiting to try it out for a while now! 

11 down, 20 more to go!!! The half way mark is coming up!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 10: Gradient Nails

Happy Monday everyone!

Today is such an amazing day in Chicago! The weather is finally awesome (even though the wind is trying to knock me off my feet) and it's definitely getting me out of the winter blues!

The challenge mani for today had to have some type of gradient. I have never created a gradient before so I was a bit worried as to how it would turn out or if I would even be able to make one. I saw a lot of tutorials on the best way to create a gradient and my first attempt failed miserably. I couldn't figure out why because I waited for the base color to dry completely, put the polish on the sponge, used the up and down motion, but the polish just did not want to cooperate. I then noticed that the sponges in all of the tutorials had openings, or "pores", that were quite visible and then saw that I couldn't see the "pores" in the sponge that I was using. So I ran out to Walmart and found makeup sponges that some pores in them and tried those out. They worked!!! I'm super super happy with this mani and I will be definitely be using gradients a lot more because they look awesome!

So here I have a tropical, warm weather inspired gradient mani for you all!

The light base polish that I started off with was Sinful Colors Island Coral (even the polish color is from the tropics!!). I then created the gradient using the Island Coral along with Sinful Colors Timbleberry and Sinful Colors Amethyst. The palm trees were created using a small detail brush and Sinful Colors Black On Black. I guess it was a Sinful Colors kind of day for me!

Seriously, I am so in love with this mani and so happy with my first attempt! It's also making me miss the super warm weather and beaches and everyone fun about the summer. I can't wait for it to be nice enough to go to the beach!!

I hope you all liked my attempt at the gradient! If you have any suggestions or ideas on what else I can do with a gradient, feel free to email me or leave a comment in the comments section below!

As always, be sure to check out my friend Hetal's gradient mani at My Life In Turquoise!

So that's the end of the first 3rd of the 31 Day Challenge!! 
10 down and only 21 more to go!

Have a lovely Monday, everyone!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 9: Rainbow Nails

Hey guys!!

I'm super excited to show you all my challenge mani for today. Originally, I was going to have one balloon on each finger but then I realized that I would have to lose one color since there are only five fingers. So I decided to have two balloons on each finger so that I could fit in that extra color.

I'm also dedicating this party inspired mani to my boyfriend's nephew because his 1st birthday just passed!!

A lot of polishes went into creating this challenge mani. I wanted to have a base color because I didn't want to have the balloons and confetti on my bare nail and I didn't want to have a white background either. So for my base polish color, I used one coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Platinum because I still wanted to have a VNL. The red balloons and confetti were made using Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Perfect Cherry. All of the orange was created by Sinful Colors Courtney Orange. I used Revlong Sunshine Sparkle for the yellow but it was too light so I ended up going over it with Wet n Wild Fast Dry The Wonder Yellows. The green I used was Sinful Colors Irish Green. The blue was made using Rimmel London Marine Blue. And last but not least, the purple came from Nicole by OPI Prized Possession Purple. Now for the detail work. For the balloon strings, I used Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen Black. To make the "shine" streaks on the balloons, I used Nubar Nail Art Pen Basic White. Of course, none of this would have been possible without my handy dandy small detail brush!

Even though there were a lot of nail polishes involved in making this mani, it would super easy because of the detail brush. I worked with one color at a time so that I didn't have to keep cleaning the brush after every single use. But I'm not going to lie, as easy as this mani was, it was highly time consuming because of all of the small detail work.

This is such a fun mani and it makes me so happy every time I see it! It just reminds me of parties and all the fun that goes along with it. I really hope you all love this mani as much as I do!

Be sure to check out the challenge mani by My Life In Turquoise!

That's 9 down and 22 more to go!