31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 18: Half Moons

Hey guys!

This post is going to be pretty short because it's super late, I just got back from my brother's high school graduation, and I'm too tired to function! I have the next post in the 31 Day Challenge for you: half moons! My original idea was completely different but I didn't have enough time to create it since I had to go to my brother's graduation today. So, I opted for something much simpler.

To get this look:

• After applying a base coat, I put hole reinforcements stickers on my nail (on the lunula) and then applied two coats of Revlon Teak Rose.
• When that was dry, I peeled off the stickers and then filled in the half moons with Revlon Colorstay Bare Bones using a small brush.
• Using a striping brush, I created the three lines with Revlon Totally Toffee.
• To finish off the look, I used a dotting tool to add dots with Revlon Colorstay Bare Bones and Revlon Totally Toffee.
• I ended it all with my trusted top coat.

I liked the end result. It was simple enough but still cute! Also, it is a little sloppy because I was in such a rush to get it done. I hope you all still liked it! And now I am off to bed!! Check back tomorrow because I will have some updates about my blog for you all!

Tri-Polish Challenge (May #3) - Tie-Dye Explosion

Hello everyone!

Today is the third TPC post for May! These TPC posts finish so quickly; I can't believe that there is only one more post left for May! And even though May is almost over, Chicago can't seem to get its weather in check. Oh well...

Remember, the colors for May are Red, Grey, and Blue.

For today's post, I decided to use a drag marbling technique. I found an awesome tutorial by Brie from Lacquerheads of Oz. Take a look at how my attempt turned out!

To get this look:

• The tutorial says to use white as a base polish to create the look but I tried to do this several times with a white base polish and even if it was completely dry, I ended up peeling it over when I was dragging the other polishes.
• I worked with one nail at a time and first put a long red blob using Revlon Revlon Red on my nail, followed my a long grey blob using Revlon Midnight Haze, and then ended with putting a small blue blob using Revlon Coast is Clear. I put the blue last because it's a very thin polish and whenever I put it first, the red would end up mixing in with it and would overtake the blue.
• Then I used a toothpick (you can use a needle or any other pointy tool you may have) to drag the polish outwards (from the blue polish blob to the grey polish blob). 
• To get rid of the bumps and ridges, I added my favorite top coat.

It's the not as clean as Brie's tie-dye design but I think with some practice, I'll get used to this. I only got this end result after trying this out about 7 times on one of my nails, and I still ended up having to redo my middle nail three times after the other nails were done.

I think it turned out quite nice for a first attempt, don't you think? Have any of you ever tried the drag marbling technique? There are several other designs you can make with this aside from the tie-dye look.

I also love how the blue gives the whole look a nice pop! The pinky nail, to me, turned out the best, which is odd because usually I am the most disappointed with my pinky nail. Take a look at my pinky in the first picture I posted and the next picture.

Clean up was really hard. I should have used tape around my nails but I thought that it wouldn't get that bad. Clearly, I was so wrong and the nail polish decided to get back at me for not listening to the tutorial! I was also surprised at how hard this was for me considering the drag technique with a single polish blob is not hard at all. I even made a tutorial for that! Practice makes perfect, huh? I'll definitely keep trying!

Anyways, let me know what you think of this! Also, don't forget to check out the other great manicures from today! Check back on Thursday for the last TPC post for May.

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 17: Glitter

Hi guys!

Today, I have for you the next post in the 31 Day Challenge: Glitter manicure! I had a hard time thinking of something to do for this one so I decided to go find some inspiration. Kayla from Nails by Kayla Shevonne is my absolute favorite nail blogger so I went through her blog and found this! The whole manicure looked like so much fun so I knew that I had to try it out! My challenge mani for today is inspired by her Mish Mash Mint Mani.

To get this look:

• After applying a base coat, I applied two coats of Sinful Colors Timbleberry to use as my base polish color on all of my nails. It's such a pretty coral!
• Pointer: I used a dotting tool and Sinful Colors In The Spotlight to apply glitter dots randomly on my nail. I then used a small detail brush to outline the dots with Sinful Colors Black On Black.
• Middle: Using a small detail brush and Sinful Colors Black On Black, I made a drippy outline. Then I filled in the drips with Sinful Colors In The Spotlight using my detail brush.
• Ring: I used my detail brush to add a rectangular section of glitter to the side of my nail with Sinful Colors In The Spotlight. Then, using my small detail brush, I added the black outline and random black lines to the non-glitter area.
• Pinky: With Sinful Colors Black On Black and a small detail brush, I painted a triangle and the triangular lines. Then I filled in the gaps with Sinful Colors In The Spotlight using a detail brush.
• I smoothed everything out by applying my favorite top coat.

I think my drippy nail would have better if I made the drips using the glitter first and then outlining it. But what's done is done! I also don't like my pinky nail. Oh well. Out of all the nails, I think the pointer finger nail turned out the best with the leopard print!

However, all together, I do like this mani! I think it's fun and it's definitely something that would be fun to wear over the summer. What do you think?

I think the glitter went well with the coral polish as well. So that's always a plus!

Let me know what you think of this! I would love to get some feedback/tips form you.

Make sure you check out my friend's 31DC mani at My Life In Turquoise.

I have several great ideas for next week's 31DC mani so make sure you tune in next Monday! But before that, I have the 3rd post for you for May's Tri-Polish Challenge tomorrow. There's a cool technique that I saw that I want to try out for it.

That's 17 down and 14 more to go!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 16: Tribal Print

Hi guys!

I have the next manicure for the 31 Day Challenge for you. I think it looks fun and well...my brother said that it reminded him of the rugs that were in our hotel in Guatemala because of the print that I used. He's a little...odd? But in reality, they really do resemble them!

Anyways, let's get to the good stuff! This manicure was super fun to create and I now know that I love tribal print!

To get this look:

• I used Revlon Colorstay Bare Bones as the base polish on all of my nails and then decided to create the print over it.
• I used a small detail brush, thinnest striping brush, and dotting tools in various sizes, along with Revlon Lagoon Afternoon, Maybelline Color Show Orange Fix, and Sinful Colors Black On Black to create the various prints that you see.
• I sealed everything with my favorite top coat!

Coincidentally, my manicure ended up matching my outfit because I wore a nude colored dress. I love when things work out like that, don't you?

I hope you all liked my attempt at a tribal print manicure. This was my first real attempt at a tribal manicure (I had doodled on my nails in India and it ended up having a tribal-esque feel to it and my 2nd manicure for April's Tri-Polish Challenge mani had a tribal-esque quality to it). What do you think of it? I know that I need some work to make things a bit more even and cleaner, but I'm still happy considering it is my first attempt.

If you have any tips or suggestions, please let me know in the comments section below!

And as always, check out my friend's mani at My Life In Turquoise.

Now, that's 16 down and 15 more to go!! We're more than half way through this. No turning back now!

A quick word: My thoughts and prayers are with all of the families affected by the tornado in Oklahoma. It's devastating news but the heroic actions of the first response team lessened the blow. Stay strong, Oklahoma!

Weekly Challenge - Cocktail: "Shaken, Not Stirred"

Hi everyone!

Today is the last day for cocktail week! Something that I always think of when I hear the word "cocktail" is James Bond. Therefore, today's mani is inspired by 007! Two aspects of James Bond in particular served as my inspiration for this manicure:

http://scifipulse.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Bond_gunbarrel.jpg / http://0.tqn.com/d/cocktails/1/I/5/L/-/-/94116773_9.jpg

The first is the shot (no pun intended) of James Bond through a gun barrel and the second is the Vesper Martini, which James Bond always orders "shaken, not stirred" and claims to have created.

It's a rag tag mani but I think it works together just because I believe the main aspects of Bond were captured.

To get this look:

• Thumb: I tried to create the gun barrel by using Revlon Silver Screen as the base polish and Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen Black for the swirls. I also used Sinful Colors Snow Me White to make a white hole in the middle to show the open end of the barrel (the thumb was a bit of a fail; I tried to create a gun pointing back to towards the barrel, but I couldn't figure out how to do it in that small of a space).
• Pointer: The logo of James Bond "007" has to be in a JB mani! I used Revlon Top Speed Golden as the base polish and then used Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen Black to write 007. I had to add some "bling," aka glitter, so I used Sally Hansen Gem Crush Lady Luck.
• Middle: James Bond is always in a tux or a nice suit so I had to include that! I made the tuxedo using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Sinful Colors Black On Black.
• Ring: The Vesper Martini! This is where the cocktail part of this challenge comes in. I used Revlon Top Speed Varnished as the base polish and then created the martini using Revlon Silver Screen and Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen Black. I tried to make the glass look frosted so I did that using Essie Matte About You and then I used Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen Yellow to make the hanging lemon peel. Again, I added some glitter from Sally Hansen Gem Crush Lady Luck to have a light, blingy effect.
• Pinky: What's 007 without his women, right? I added a strapless red dress to finish off the look. Revlon Top Speed Golden was used as the base polish once again and then the dress was made using Zoya Sarah. 

**I used a small detail brush and a dotting tool to make this mani**

I'm pretty pleased with this mani! It took a long time just because there were so many different polishes that were used and there was something a lot going on on each nail. Do any of you think of 007 when you think of drinks/cocktails? It's so classic for me!

Let me know if you all like it! I hope that you do. It was a little hard for me to make the mani because my nails are super narrow. I try to keep them a little longer to compensate; I need more room so I keep them longer since my nails are not wide at all. But I try! It definitely is a challenge trying to fit everything onto a skinny little section but it's not impossible.

Hopefully you all like it and if you want to take a look at my other cocktail challenge mani from this week, you can do so here.

Take a look at the manicures the other challengers created for this week below!

Now, I'm finally off to bed! I love the warm weather but my allergies have finally kicked in and they're definitely winning this war. Allergies: 1 | Ruthvi: 0   :(

Check back tomorrow for the next 31 Day Challenge post. Good night, everyone!

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!!

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 :)

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!!

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!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 8: Metallic Nails

Hi everyone!!

I have a funky mani for you today to fulfill my metallic challenge! Metallic things always seem to be pretty funky to me so I decided to do something like that for my mani because I couldn't think of something else, hah. I think I could have done something different to it to make it a little better. Also, I could not capture the real colors of the polishes even if my life depended on it. I think i ended up taking about fifty pictures and then gave up. Then tried again a little while later, still with no luck. So please bare with me on these photos.

This mani was made using SEPHORA by OPI Queen of Everything. Then I used a medium sized detail brush and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Potion to add the purple/blue metallic/duochrome polish on top of the silver metallic polish. It still seemed a little plain so I went back and added the stripes using Sally Hansen Crackle Ink Splatter.

The mani was very easy to make since it only involved striping across the nail. But I really like how it looks! It's so different and "out there" and quirky!

I really hope that all of you liked my mani and enjoyed seeing something different! I definitely had fun creating it and can't wait to show you next week's challenge mani!

Don't forget to stop by at My Life In Turquoise and see my friend's challenge mani for this week.

Woo! 8 down, 23 more to go!!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 7: Black & White Nails

Hey guys!

I can't believe it's already week 7!! Time has been going by way too fast. This week's theme is black and white and I knew just what I wanted to do for this mani. It's the perfect theme to combine my two favorite things. I give you nail art and pandas!

Any one of my close friends can tell you how much I love pandas. They're adorable and definitely my favorite animal!!

The face of the pandas and the french tips of the accent nails were created using Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White. The eyes, ears, and noses of the pandas were made with Wet n Wild Black Creme. For the "bamboo" on the accent nails, I used Nubar Nail Art Green Frost and Nubar Nail Art Mint Frost. (And as always, I started off using my favorite base coat, Essie 3 Way Glaze and topped it all off with my favorite top coat, Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Anti-Chip Top Coat).

I'm happy with how this turned and it was super easy to do after I figured out which tools to use. I thought I would be able to make the entire face of the panda using a small detail brush but quickly found out that it was too messy. I ended up using dotting tools in various sizes to get the eyes and nose and then made the ears using the detail brush. I absolutely love how the accent nails turned out and think they look perfect!

The only bad about this mani is probably my habit of not waiting long enough for the mani to dry. I applied to top coat too soon and it kind of smeared the pandas. The bamboo was fine though. 

I think it's really cute and I hope you all liked my mani too!

Also, check out my friend's mani for this week at My Life In Turquoise!

Wow! That's seven down and twenty-three more to go!! Stay tuned for next week's METALLIC nails!