31DC2013 - day 30

It's the final day of September, the second last day of the 31 Day Challenge.
Bittersweet, isn't it? Doing the challenge is always fun because I enjoy challenging myself and also seeing what others come up with based on the same prompts, but at the same time it is a big hassle!
Also I am sad that September is ending because that means my birthday month is over and I can no longer use it as an excuse... "I've been too busy to clean my room, it was my birthday."

Today's theme is Inspired by a Tutorial. I wasn't sure what to do so I hopped on YouTube and did the first one that caught my eye.
I've always been meaning to try out the Cartoon Nails from Cute Polish, originally by Nancy Mc Nails I believe. What better time than now?

I'm in love with the look! I could wear this forever, it is just too cute.
The last time I wore an outlined nail I did not like it at all, but this I dig.

They look cute with my "&" ring, no? (From Forever 21. Of course.)

You may have seen this photo on my Instagram already. Loved it, so I'm posting it here too! Haha.

I used what seems to be my go-to color, China Glaze - That's Shore Bright. I use it all the time.
The black was done with an It's So Easy striper.
The white is Sally Hansen - Whirlwind White with a small brush.
For the matte finish I added a coat of Butter London Matte Finish Topcoat.

I also tried it glossy by adding some Seche Vite on top, but I'm not sure which one I like better.

Hooray! Just one day left. Hope you guys liked these nails, and see you tomorrow for the finale!

31DC2013 - day 29

Need I tell you how excited I am that after today there are only two days left of this 31 Day Challenge? Haha! Don't get me wrong, I love doing the challenge, it just came around at a bad time for me... Heh. I need some relaxation time, my nails included!

Today's theme is Inspired By The Supernatural and most people may think of ghosts or aliens but I think of my very favorite television show, Supernatural, which premieres its new season next week! I am so stoked.
Of course I'm doing nails inspired by the show again... But in a somewhat different way.

Inspired by a Supernatural shirt! (Okay, I don't think the shirt is actually licensed to have anything to do with the show, but it says Supernatural, it has skulls, and studs, I had to have it, duh.)

I used rhinestones to emulate the patterns of big and small studs on the sleeves, and using some tape I added black triangles with some gray shading at the tip. I think it matches the shirt wonderfully!

When I thought of this idea, I was wondering if I would have the right color for the job.
I looked to my nail table, and BAM, Color Club - In Theory was already out and waiting for me.
It was polish-fate!

I used Color Club - Where's The Soiree? for the black and some Zoya - Dove with a sponge for the smoky shading.

The stones were from Cheeky Beauty.

Do you guys like these Supernatural (kinda) nails? I love how they look!
Any more Supernatural lovers in the house? Hope so! Wonder what's gonna happen in the new season... Yay!

31DC2013 - day 28

Hey guys! The 31 Day Challenge is finishing... today is Day 28! The theme is Inspired By A Flag.
I find this prompt to be a weird one because I don't see flags as particularly inspiring, but I thought of a good one this time, the TOMS flag!

White stripe on a blue background! Simple yet effective.

I used Essie - Rock The Boat as the base color. Three thin coats for full opacity. Let it dry with some Seche Vite and then I added the white stripes using Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Whirlwind White and some tape to make it sharp. Easy!

I sell Toms in the store where I work and I fully endorse them, not just because of their business plan but also because they are ridiculously comfortable.
Confession - I have 13 pairs. Maybe I'll Instagram a photo of all of them soon... Haha!

31DC2013 - day 27

Hey guys! Yet another last minute post for me. Apparently I am just not good at time management this month. September was probably a bad month for me to do this challenge...

Today's theme is Inspired By Artwork.
I thought all day about it, and almost resorted to just using a water decal and calling that art, but I decided to tough it out and do the idea I had been thinking of.

I thought about tattoo art... I thought about watercolor art... And I decided on watercolor tattoo nails.
Have you guys seen all the beautiful photos of watercolor tattoos floating around on sites like Pinterest? I'm obsessed with the look.
You take simple black tattoo linework and add light and watercolor-esque coloring, and you get a gorgeous result.
I took that style of art and turned it into nail art!

I used some stamping images that mimic tattoo styles that I like, used my favorite colors for the watercolor, along with a favorite nude polish, and BAM pretty nails.

The stamping image on my middle finger is from Konad m77, and so are the small star details on the thumb.
The other two images are from Bundle Monster - the big star on the thumb is from BM-206, the bow is BM-317.

I started with a base of OPI - My Vampire Is Buff and I used jelly polishes to create the watercolor effect of coloring within the lines and also outside the lines.
I picked four of my usual go-to jellies...
China Glaze - Are You Jelly? (purple)
China Glaze - Keepin' It Teal (teal)
China Glaze - Heat Index (pink)
China Glaze - Ride The Waves (blue)

I'm really glad I decided not to be lazy and actually did these nails because I really enjoy them! It's just too bad I'll have to take them off tomorrow.

31DC2013 - day 26

OMG it is Day 26 of the 31 Day Challenge and I am even doing this post before 11pm at night! I must have had a lot of free time today... Not really. But enough to get this done before the last minute!

The theme for today is Inspired By A Pattern and I decided to do a manicure I have been meaning to do for a long time...

A LEOPARD MANI TO MATCH MY HAIR BRUSH OH YEAH.

I am stupid obsessed with my hair brush. Not only is it beautiful but I just love how it feels. It doesn't rip my hair out and the little balls on the tips of the bristles are actually part of the bristle and don't break off and turn your brush into a scratchy weapon of scalp death.
I love my brush so much I bought backups. Yeah. I got 99 problems and a hairbrush ain't one.
I got mine at Winners and Ross, so check those types of stores for them if you want one.

If the people at Ionika are reading this post I would totally accept free hair brushes as a perk for this kind advertisement. LOL.

(I also have a mini hair straightener from them which I got at Marshall's for only TEN DOLLARS and it is totally awesome too and dual voltage so you can take it to Europe without electrocuting yourself.)

Maybe I should moonlight as a hair blogger, too.  

Back to the nails for a second, I went on a throwback and broke out an old favorite Sally Hansen from when I just started blogging. (Hey it is Thursday! Throwback Thursday! #TBT!)

The base is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Trouble Maker.

The leopard was done with Sally Hansen X-treme Wear - Lacey Lilac and some black polish with a dotting tool. 

FIVE MORE DAYS LET'S DO THIS GUYS.

31DC2013 - day 25

Day 25 is Inspired By Fashion and I've got 25 minutes to write this post before midnight!

I work in a clothing store so I am always surrounded by cool clothes with nice patterns, and I chose one of my favorite Volcom shirts to mimic.

Tada! (Sorry for the little bits of black residue I could NOT get off and did not have time to get off.)

Because I needed something easy, I decided to go with a stamping image from Mash, plate Mash-42.
The base color is Color Club - Bright Night from the Kaleidoscope Collection and I stamped with Konad black special polish.
I also used Color Club topcoat from my Kaleidoscope set because it was nearby and I smeared my stamping a little. But my Seche Vite has been annoying me lately so whatevs.

But wait... I guess this kinda applies more to tomorrow's theme of Inspired by a Pattern, doesn't it? Oh well, this is a shirt!!!

Working in a clothing store where you like all the clothes is HARD. Good thing there's an employee discount!

I finished the post with 15 minutes to spare... Phew!

31DC2013 - day 24

It is Day 24 of the 31 Day Challenge and the theme is Inspired by a Book.
In both previous years of this challenge I did nails inspired by different books from one of my favorite authors, Ellen Hopkins, and this year shall be no different. (Check out Glass and Perfect.)

This year I modeled my nails on the art for Impulse! This was always my favorite book from Ellen Hopkins but I haven't read it in a while. This has made me want to pick it up again!

I started the nails with a base of OPI - Paint My Moji-toes Red. It's a red with just the right dusty tint to match the book cover.
I used three colors on top with the dab-off method to create the messy, almost splattered look:
OPI - Oh Cabana Boy
piCture pOlish - Warning
China Glaze - Gothic Lolita

I added black lines for a little more interest.

And now I'll go share this to Ellen Hopkins' Facebook page and hope she stops by my page.
Hope you guys like it! Just one more week left in the challenge!

31DC2013 - day 23

Helloooooo everyone. This post is brought to you by a miserable Rebecca - I have a toothache to end all toothaches and I have to get a previous root canal removed and a new one put in its place, plus it is infected and I need antibiotics which don't mesh well with my Crohn's or my treatments for that... And not to mention I can't take any painkillers stronger than Tylenol because of said treatment...

Thanks, crappy old dentist, for ruining so many of my teeth. Much appreciated. I love being in agony because your "fix" for my previous agony has failed a couple years later and someone else has to continue to clean up your messes. (Plus I'm sure you can imagine how wonderful it is to pay for all these things twice.)

Anyway. It is Day 23 of the 31 Day Challenge and the theme for today is Inspired by a Movie.
I am in a Tylenol haze and could not come up with anything original for this one... So with some help from Chalkboard Nails I landed on Legally Blonde. Pink nails. Anything pink. 

I think Elle Woods would approve of these nails! Don't you?

I started with a base of China Glaze - Dance Baby and I added just about any type of pink rhinestone I had on an accent nail. Big, small, pearl, heart, bow, flower, teardrop...

It reminds me of those cute cell phone cases you can get with rhinestones and other crap glued all over them. I kinda wanna keep this nail on forever... But I imagine things will start falling off soon as I did not encase them in topcoat so not to ruin the look.

The bow is my favorite. Obvi.

And now I am off to sulk in pain. Toodles!

31DC2013 - day 22

Hello and welcome to Day 22 of the 31 Day Challenge! Another hard day - Inspired by a Song.

All day long I struggled with finding inspiration for this theme. And then inspiration struck me. By way of Sisqo.

 LET ME SEE THAT THONGGGGGG!

LOL.

I crack myself up. OMG. The Thong Song.

The base color is OPI - Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh and the thongs are:
China Glaze - Gothic Lolita (purple)
China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover (green)
China Glaze - Surfin' For Boys (orange)
China Glaze - Beach Cruise-r (pink)

I did the words with acrylic paint. I need a new tiny detail brush because I think the acetone is eating mine!

I'm still laughing about this. Man. The year 2000 was a good year. Thank you Sisqo.

31DC2013 - day 21

Hello to everyone who has been following me on the 31 Day Challenge! Not going to lie, I am happy the challenge is now in its final stage and I won't have to be doing it for much longer.
I'm getting burned out on these prompts!

The theme for day 21 is Inspired by a Color. This is always a weird theme because like, aren't the first 8 or 9 days basically that already?
I always choose to be inspired by a particular nail polish instead of a color.

The glitter here is OPI - Pink Yet Lavender. I think that is a really stupid name but it works for the color I wore underneath it, Orly - Lollipop. 

Today I was wearing a shirt that was actually the exact color of Lollipop and my mom said something along the lines of: "That shirt is pink but also like, lilac. I like it."

And my brain went PINK YET LAVENDER and that was how I decided on this manicure. 

However it did NOT cooperate with me because for some reason as soon as I touched it with topcoat it said NO and dragged and bubbled... I think it was due to a weird new bottle of Seche Vite.
Thus I didn't get to photograph the nails with the shirt but hey. You win some you lose some.

Pink Yet Lavender. Interesting choice Mariah Carey + OPI. 

Now what to do for the remaining 10 days...

31DC2013 - day 20

Ahh, the Water Marble day. One of the scariest days of the competition...

I did not want to do a marble on all nails so I went for marble accents with one of my favorite glitter polishes...

Tada! This manicure was inspired by my hugest Instagram nail crush, The Polished Okie. Girl be killinnnnn' it with marbles and gradients and all around everything.
I totally didn't do her manicure justice because my marble is not as pretty but hey, what can you do.

The first nail I marbled was the middle one and it came out too yellow for my liking so the second time around I reversed the color order and then that one was almost too purple... No happy medium!
I wish the two marbles matched better. Ah well. Still pretty.

The glitter of course is Lush Lacquer - Clowning Around.
I marbled using six colors from China Glaze, all but one coming from the Summer Neons 2012 collection:
China Glaze - Gothic Lolita (purple)
China Glaze - Beach Cruise-r (pink)
China Glaze - Splish Splash (blue)
China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard (green)
China Glaze - Sun Kissed (yellow)
China Glaze - Orange You Hot? (orange)

I love the combo of neon glitter with the neon marble! Hope you guys like it too.
Water marbling always makes me want to do it more often but then I remember the mess...

31DC2013 - day 19

Hey everyone! Today's theme for the 31 Day Challenge is a fun one! Galaxy Nails!

I chose to do a pastel galaxy again because I think they are just soooo pretty and dainty.

Isn't it out of this world? Bad pun.

I started this manicure with a light pink-nude base, OPI - Steady As She Rose, to allow the various shimmers I sponged on top to stand out.
I don't know if this is all of the ones I used, but here's what I can remember:
China Glaze - Shaken Not Stirred
China Glaze - Martini Pedicure
China Glaze - Grape Juice 
OPI - You're Such A Budapest
OPI - Pedal Faster Suzi
OPI - Give Me The Moon!

Using white acrylic paint I added some stars to enhance the galaxy effect.

AND I ADDED A UNICORN. Yes. Yes I did. A unicorn galaxy.
It's from Mash plate Mash-39.

I lurveeeeeee this manicure. I actually had this done before I went away because I just tried to get as much done as I could.
And I'm glad because again I had practically no time today... But I have tomorrow off!

I hope you guys like these as much as I do!