Pink and Gold Rococo Nails

Today’s “metallic” nails for the challenge are very unlike my usual personal style. It was nice to step outside my box though, as I was super happy with the way these turned out! Girly and fun and kind of rococo-esque, don’t you think?

My pink base is American Apparel Coney Island. I haven’t used an AA polish in a really long time… I always forget how great they are. Their colors are lovely and the formula is really nice.

The frame embellishments on my pointer and pinky are from a grab bag I ordered at Ocean Nail Supply. I can’t remember where I got the brass studs from, but I imagine you could find something similar from ONS or a site like Daily Charme.

I chose one of my favorite gold polishes for the accents: China Glaze Goldie But Goodie. I like the complexity of it — it has these gorgeous flecks and a sort of coarse visual finish to it. I used nail vinyls from Love, Angeline for the pattern on the middle and ring fingers.

More metallic manicures:

• Nfu Oh 61 silver holographic
• Magnetic metallic with gold leaf
• Distressed metallic gradient
• Matte metallic gold French tips

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Bright-to-Vampy Sexy Pink Gradient

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw a shot of this manicure quite a while ago. It took me a bit to get it up on the blog because of the Challenge, but here we are! This girly-yet-vampy gradient was a huge hit when I previewed it, probably because it's hard to resist the moody gradient with a pop of color.

Nail polishes used:
Essie Too Taboo
American Apparel Berry
American Apparel Hassid

There's not too much to this to explain; I used a triangle makeup wedge to sponge on the gradient. I grabbed a burgundy color to bridge the gap between the bright pink and the black shades.

Don't get discouraged if your gradients are coming out less-than-snazzy! You probably need to keep adding layers of sponging until you reach the desired look. I probably did four or five rounds of sponging to achieve the opacity here. Just be sure to give each round a moment or two to set before you begin on your next layer.

I loved this look and wore it for three or four days. What are some of your favorite gradient combinations?

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Nail Art Is Dead - Barbara Kruger Inspired Nail Art

This year, for "inspired by artwork" day of the 31 Day Challenge, I tackled an idea that I've contemplated in the past. My nails are inspired by the work of Barbara Kruger, a conceptual artist who often addresses how words and images, particularly in the media, can affect our identities and assumptions about truth.

Her signature style features black and white photographs overlaid with declarative text, often accentuated inside red rectangles. Notable Kruger pieces include "I shop therefore I am," "Your body is a battleground," and "No." I got a little cheeky with my interpretation and chose "Nail art is dead," a sensationalist idea that I occasionally see pop up on my feeds. Clearly I disagree!

Nail polishes used:
Polish My Life Storm Clouds
Polish My Life Saint
American Apparel 7th and Alameda
American Apparel Hassid
INM White Porcelain
OPI Coca Cola Red

I'll tell you what, this was horrifyingly time consuming. The letters are freaking tiny and I needed them to look a certain way to match the font that Kruger uses. The base was easy -- I used a square nail art brush to paint on some brushy marks in the style of the Nailasaurus streaky watercolor nail art.

Then I freehanded the red rectangles and text, which took me a good hour and a half to two hours. I was constantly refining the shape of the letters and had to re-do one of the nails once. Still, I think it is a huge success! Except now I'm blind from the tininess of the letters.

Previous nail art inspired by artwork:

• Jackson Pollock's One: Number 31
• Warhol drip nail art
• Kaws' Kawsbob

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Ruby Red Japanese Floral Print

One of the most flexible prompts in the 31 Day Challenge is today's prompt, "inspired by a pattern." I once again enlisted the help of my friend Kristi for brainstorming, and she suggested a gorgeous Japanese bookplate floral print from designer Tory Burch. I loved seeing a floral done entirely with shades of red; it really stood out to me.

Nail polishes used:
OPI Steady As She Rose
OPI Coca Cola Red
American Apparel Port
Shimmer Polish Cindy

I love the contrast of the soft, neural base, with the bold, sumptuous burgundy. I painted the floral print freehand, and layered a red glitter over the dark cabernet as an accent on my thumb. Overall, I am so happy with these nails. Another winning idea from Kristi! Maybe I should start paying her...?

Previously, on "inspired by a pattern":

• Dark, matte, and dotted
• Partial checkerboards
• Pretty paisley

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Inky Negative Space Nail Art Inspired by Donna Karan

Today's 31 Day Challenge prompt is "inspired by fashion." One upside to doing the challenge in September is that this day always follows New York Fashion Week, so there is plenty of inspiration to browse. I flipped through a massive Harper's Bazaar slideshow and fell in love with this Donna Karan dress. I made sure to include not only the inky shapes, but also the black detailing and negative space of the neckline.

Nail polishes used:
Polish My Life Birthday Suit
American Apparel Hassid
Painter's tape

I taped off skinny triangles at the base of my nail, and then painted on the cream shade. I removed the tape, and used the distressed/dry brush technique to add the inky shapes in black. Then, I used a small nail art brush to add the delicate black V details at the tips of the triangles, as well as a few smaller splatter details.

I love the graphic, splattered look of this, and the black and white palette only enhances the graphic effect.

Previously, on "Inspired by Fashion" day:

• Max Azria spring look
• Betsey Johnson bright gradient with "silly string"
• McQueen textured skull scarf

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70's Style Polka Dot Floral Print

This 70's style, fall-appropriate floral is my polka dot nail art for the 31 Day Challenge. It looks fairly complex at first glance, but it's simple when you start to break it down! I just combined dots together in different sizes and colors to create a simple floral pattern. It feels very vintage, don't you think?

Nail polishes used:
DIOSA Dime Piece (light grey)
Jessica Cosmetics NY State of Mind (dark grey)
Jessica Cosmetics Meet at the Plaza (olive green)
Color Club Je Ne Sais Quoi (mustard yellow)
LVX Roux (coral)
American Apparel Berry (burgundy)

This nail art was really very simple, it just took a bit to put all of the unique dot floral pieces together! I used four different dotting tool sizes: my large flat rhinestone picker, a large dotter, a small dotter, and a pinpoint dotter.

I was just about ready to mattify this, but I've been using matte topcoat on so many things lately. I decided to let it rock the glossy look.

Check out more of my polka dot nail art:

• Ladybugs
• Polka dot pyramids
• Punchy dot mix

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Black and White Mesh Framed Half Moons

Black and white are a classic pairing that never goes out of style. I love looking at everyone's work for black and white day of the 31 Day Challenge! For my look, I've done a negative space half moon mesh manicure, with contrasting thin detail lines and a thick outline.

I blocked off the moons using half moon Nail Vinyls, then painted my nails with Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt.

Then, using a small nail art brush, I outlined the white areas with American Apparel Hassid. This was the trickiest part as I had to keep the thickness of the lines consistent! Tough stuff! I finished the look off by adding some thin black lines for a mesh appearance.

More black and white nail art:

• Tuxedo nail art
• Black and white wiggles
• Midnight smoke nail art

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Surface of the Moon Nail Art

It's once again Lacquer Legion day, and I'm cutting it a bit close! The theme is "Weird Science," which is so broad that I was almost paralyzed with indecision. In the end, I chose to try to depict the surface of the moon. Sean just got a really legit telescope and we have been doing a bit of sky-watching lately, and of course one of the first things we looked at was the moon. It's amazing to see the craters in such detail, especially where the moon transitions from the light to the dark side.

In this nail art, I used:
Formula X - Extraordinary
American Apparel - Hassid
Essie - Blanc
Nicole by OPI - Matte Topcoat

I used Extraordinary as the base, but then proceeded to basically cover it up entirely. The other grey shades in this nail art are just mixes of the black and white polishes listed above. I painted them freehand with a small nail art brush, in what I'm going to call a "painterly" style...

I'm on the fence about these nails. I don't know how moon-esque they actually look. My first thought was barnacles, while Sean saw carbon. I guess either of those would apply to the theme as well!

Follow The Lacquer Legion on Facebook or Instagram for once monthly nail art prompts aimed at bringing together the nail polish community!

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Rubik's Cube Nail Art

I'll admit it, I kind of hate Rubik's Cubes. I'm nowhere near smart enough or patient enough to be able to solve them on my own, and usually give up after 30 seconds of twisting the thing around. But! They are cool looking, and an icon of the 80's. So when I saw that Salon Perfect had come out with a glitter topper inspired by the infamous Cube, I had to do some nail art to match.

The first polish I grabbed for this nail art was Salon Perfect Ruby's Cubes from the new Top of the Class collection (available at Wal-Mart). It was the inspiration, after all! I layered one coat of it over black on my pinky, pointer, and thumb.

For the Cube nails, I started with a base of Essie Blanc (white). Then, I painted squares in the Rubik's colors with the following shades, leaving some spaces unpainted for the white squares:
Zoya Arizona (orange)
American Apparel Downtown LA (red)
Lakur Paddington Blue (blue)
Essie Mojito Madness (green)
Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights (yellow)

Next, I painted black lines between the cubes to mimic the black blocks behind the colored stickers. The final step was to round the corners of the blocks. (PS, did anyone peel off the stickers and then re-stick them to pretend like you had solved it? Fess up!)

I think Rubik's Cube nail art is the only way I can enjoy this classic 80's toy. What about you? Did you ever solve one?

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The Disney Diva - Ursula Nail Art

The Lacquer Legion's theme this month is "Fandom." Where do you even start with that one? There are SO MANY POSSIBILITIES! I've actually done quite a few fanicures in my day. Mythbusters, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Adventure Time...the list goes on. This time, I chose to do more Disney villain nail art. You may recall the Queen of Hearts mani I did recently, and here's another powerful baddie: Ursula from The Little Mermaid!

Here's a fun fact: did you know that Ursula's design was inspired by the drag queen Divine? Makes sense to me. Ursula is a pretty fabulous diva, despite being evil and all. There are some pretty diva-licious Disney characters, but for me, she takes the cake.

For my nail art, I've painted her tentacles on my four fingers and her *ahem* bust and necklace on my thumb.

Polishes used in this nail art include:
Floss Gloss Moon Baby (grey base)
LVX Aster (light purple)
OPI Do You Have This Color In Stock-holm? (dark purple)
Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights (yellow)
American Apparel Hassid (black)

I started each tentacle by painting a dark purple spiral and outlining it with black. Then, I filled the spirals with light purple dots, and stacked a smaller dark purple dot inside it.

Though the process for Ursula's tentacles seems simple enough, they took a while to complete. The hypnotizing spirals really demanded a lot of precision, so I tried to take it slow.

Follow The Lacquer Legion on Facebook or Instagram for once monthly nail art prompts aimed at bringing together the nail polish community!

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Off With Their Heads! Queen of Hearts Nail Art

Who can resist a bit of villain nail art? This design is inspired by The Queen of Hearts from Disney's Alice in Wonderland. While she's not my favorite Disney villain (that honor would probably go to Jafar, or Hades), I do like her and have an appreciation for her one-strike ruling style.

Off with their heads!

The thumb is inspired by the front of The Queen's dress. I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow. Once that had dried completely, I blocked off two large stripes stripes using straight Nail Vinyls. Then, I filled in the left side with American Apparel Hassid, the right side with OPI Coca Cola Red, and the center with OPI In My Back Pocket. I freehanded on the black details in the center with my nail art brush, and removed the vinyls to reveal the white stripes.

The playing card nails are inspired by her card guards, of course! The heart and diamond cards were painted freehand with OPI Coca Cola Red, while the spade and club nails were done with American Apparel Hassid.

The entire manicure is finished with a coat of Seche Vite.

An added bonus... If you remove the thumb from this equation, you have a sweet Las Vegas playing card manicure!

Who's your favorite Disney villain? There are so many great ones to choose from!

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Snuggly Pink Christmas Sweater Stamping

Hello my dears! I'm sorry I haven't had a nail post to share with you in a while -- I have been frantically Christmas shopping, running around, working... you know how the season can be! Today I have a stamping manicure that I have been wearing for the past two days or so. I started out thinking, "Oh, stamping! That will be quick and easy and fun!" but soon remembered that I am not good at stamping. Combine a lack of stamping skill with perfectionism and you are in for a long evening of re-dos!

I wanted to use this stamp and couldn't get a red-pink combo out of my head. I think Let Them Have Polish's Merry Pinkmas series is on my brain!

The base of this manicure is Seche Pretty Little Heartbreaker and I stamped the sweater pattern and matryoshka using Nailz Craze plate NC03 and American Apparel Downtown LA. Downtown LA is normally a red creme but it has a somewhat translucent consistency. When I stamped it, it turned a little pink-ish!

I also added some dots around the matryoshka to fill the empty space, but instantly regretted it. They look clunky next to the delicacy of the stamping. Oh well - can't win them all!

I have some great ideas for additional Christmas manicures that I am going to do my best to execute soon! Hope you are having a great and stress free holiday season so far!

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31DC2013 Day 01: Red Mix and Match

It's day one of the 31 Day Challenge 2013, and the theme of the day is red nails! When I first started painting my nails, I wasn't really into red polish very much. It seemed too boring, too "classic" and not funky enough for my tastes. But as I experienced more and more, I found myself being drawn to a classic red nail. I guess it's just one of those things -- like how you don't like beets as a kid but they are one of your favorite foods as an adult (true story!).

For my manicure, I grabbed my favorite red. Those of you that have been reading for a while can probably say it along with me: American Apparel Downtown LA! Then, I wanted to add some colors that would complement the red without taking away from the theme. Two old standbys came to mind: OPI My Vampire is Buff and American Apparel Hassid.

I've been into mix and match manicures lately, and decided to do one with the three shades. I wanted all ten nails to be different, but still feel like they went together. I chose to go for a kind of edgily romantic vibe with hearts, polka dots, and gradient touches.

The gradient bow and XOXO nails were created by painting the silhouette on first in red. Then, I mixed varying amounts of black in with the red to create a range of shades that I could use to gradually darken the lines.

Then, I made sure to include some 3D accents and the rest is history!

It's simple, but I think the black-to-red gradient on my right hand is my favorite. I also really like the black rhinestone triangle and the heart surrounded by dots.

I'm so eager to poke around and see what the other challenge participants have come up with! Be sure to track the hashtag #31dc2013 for easy browsing.

More 31 Day Challenge
View upcoming prompts!
My red nails from 2012!
My red nails from 2011!

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