31DC2013 Day 21 - Inspired by a Color

In an attempt to catch up with the challenge I would like to show you a second manicure today. This is my manicure for Day 21 of the 31 Day Nail Challenge. The challenge is to be inspired by a color. I was inspired by the name of this beautiful blue Tawdry Terrier Howling at the Moon lacquer. I instantly knew that I wanted to try adding a howling wolf to it...

As I mentioned, the base of this manicure is Tawdry Terrier Howling at the Moon. The rest I added using acrylic paint, a sponge and a detailing brush...

This is actually the second howling wolf manicure that I've done since starting this blog. The first one was for Halloween two years ago. This doesn't happen often, but I think I like the old manicure more than this new one. This wolf seems to be a bit hunched over and not committed to howling. Also I'm not pleased with the blurriness around the moon. I was trying to create a haze similar to my inspiration image (see below), but sponging was probably not the best way to achieve that. I'm sure I'll be trying this manicure again at some point...

I used this beautiful image that I found online for inspiration...

(source)

I would love to know what you think of this manicure!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

31DC2013 Day 8 - Metallic

Today is Day 8 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge with the theme of Metallic nails. What could be more metallic than nail foils? I have not gotten to play with nail foils to much, but I recently got the Best Glue Ever (yup, that's what it is called) and I'm so in love. I'm sure you'll be seeing more foiled manis in the future, but here is one for today...

For this manicure I started out with OPI Incognito in Sausalito, a dark nearly black blue cream. I will have full swatches for you when I return from vacay! For the foil, I watered down a few drops of the Best Glue Ever and then applied it with a fan brush in a random pattern. When the glue dried, I applied the foil over it. The foil I used is  from The Born Pretty Store...

I just love how this turned out! Really couldn't stop staring at it. And by the way Best Glue Ever, is really the best glue ever! So much easier to apply nail foils than with nail polish. No more mess or frustration! Hence why you'll be seeing more foil manis in the future ;)

What do you think of this look? Have you tried nail foils yet?

P.S. This post is pre-scheduled while I'm on vacation. I may not be able to respond to comments until I return, but I greatly appreciate them and will respond as soon as I return!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

31DC2013 Day 7 - Black and White

As this post goes live, I'm heading on vacation, but have no fear, I worked my little tushy off to keep up with the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge and have scheduled posts to entertain you. The theme for challenge Day 7 is Black & White. I have been wanting to try the water spotted technique for a while now and finally got an excuse to make time...

For this manicure I started out with a base of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. To create the dotted pattern, I put a drop of black nail polish into a cup with water and sprayed with a bit of hairspray. When the pattern had formed on the water, I dipped my nail into it. I then repeated that for each nail. Check out youtube for great tutorials on how to do this...

I tried putting Elmer's Glue around my nails for easy clean up and it completely melted when I dunked the finger into the water. Can we all just say a collective "duh Anutka, the glue is water soluble. What were you thinking?" Ok, so second attempt was with Liquid Palisade around the nails and it worked perfectly. Lesson learned...

This water spotted technique really sounds easy in theory, but came time to reality it was somewhat frustrating. The polish didn't always react as I would have liked. At times it either ended up with either no dots, tiny dots, or most often one large hole as the polish ran away from the hair spray. Then I found that after I had sprayed the water a few times, the polish no longer wanted to spread at all and I had to switch out the water. Quite a lengthy process to say the least, but I would definitely do it again. Love the look of it...

Are you seeing lobster hands here? I don't know what blogger is doing with my images since they are NOT red to begin with. Anyone else have this happening to their images?...

Sinful Colors Snow Me White is a pure white cream. The application is actually quite good for a white polish. I only needed two coats for complete coverage and it wasn't streaky. My brush was quite wonky, but that's a whole other story. These swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: SinfulColors Collection: core Color Name/Number: Snow Me White, 101 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

As always, I'd love to know what you think of this!

P.S. This post is pre-scheduled while I'm on vacation. I may not be able to respond to comments until I return, but I greatly appreciate them and will respond as soon as I return!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

31 Day Challenge Recap!

Wow, I can't believe the challenge is officially over! Crazy to think that I started it back in August and finished it just now. A 30 day challenge in a little over 3 months! :)

I hope that this goes to show that you don't have to commit to doing a challenge every day to participate. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I can see a definite improvement in my skills (both in nail art and photographing it) from when I started.

Click on any of these to be taken to the original post with photos and details on the manicure!


It is so fun to see them all together! Which one (if any) stood out to you?

I honestly don't know who the credit goes to for creating this challenge, but I am glad I stumbled on at Here Comes the Sun back in August. Here it is if you choose to accept it! :)

Let me know if you have done this challenge or will be trying it. I love to see everyone's take on it!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)