Autumnal Orange Plaid Gel Nail Art

Today's 31DC prompt is "orange." Not many people tend to reach for orange when choosing a nail color -- I think that it and yellow are the redheaded stepchildren of the polish world (or would it be orangeheaded?). That's the great thing about the challenge though, it forces you to use colors and techniques that you wouldn't normally use.

For this manicure, I started with a base of OPI GelColor in A Great Opera-tunity. Then, I freehanded the plaid striping using OPI GelColor It's a Piazza Cake, Gelish Tiki Tiki Laranga, and Wildflower's Art Paints in Bright Blue.

I finished with a layer of gel topcoat to smooth it all out.

If you've got the need for more orange, be sure to check out my past orange challenge manicures!

• Mario Batali's Crocs nail art
• Orange gradient chevrons
• Orange fruit tips
• Orange with dotted accent

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NCC presents; french and paris inspired nail art

De la lune et retour. To the moon and back. The theme for the Nail Challenge Collaborative for July is Travel. I just love travelling and visiting new places. I have such a huge "bucket list" of places I want to go to. The moon is not one of them, and Paris I've been to a couple of times. But I do like france and wouldn't mind going there more times too.

For the nail art I decided to make something nude/pastel like with black details, feminine but still not too sugar sweet. So, pink lines, freehanded little lace thingy's, freehand text and Eiffel tower.  I which I would have made the "retour" a bit smaller, since the "R" isn't visible from all angles. Hope you like it. :)

Polishes used:
L.A. Colors Art Deco - Baby Pink
R de L Young - Black
Rival de Loop - 502

An InLinkz Link-up

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Vintage Striped Wallpaper with China Glaze Desert Escape

Have you guys checked out the China Glaze Desert Escape collection yet? I really dig the color makeup of it. There's something for everyone, you know? You've got a neutral, a metallic, a squishy red, a girly pink, a funky turquoise, and a silky magenta.

I reached for four of the six shades from the collection to put together this easy nail art. I think it's kind of charmingly vintage, yeah? Like, maybe you'd see it in your grandma's bathroom, and she's had it like that since the 1960s.

And gueI think just about anyone could pull this off. All you need to be able to do are vertical stripes (the easiest of all the stripes) and dots!

The shades I used are:
China Glaze What's She Dune? (nude)
China Glaze Don't Mesa With My Heart (pink)
China Glaze The Heat Is On (red)
China Glaze Meet Me In the Mirage (rose gold)

1. Begin by applying a base of the nude. 
2. Use a nail art brush to paint on a wide stripe of rose gold down the middle of your nail. 
3. Stack a medium red stripe on top of the rose gold stripe.
4. Stack a thin pink stripe down the middle of the red stripe, then add two sets of two thin pink stripes at the edges of each nail.
5. Add red and pink dots in pairs of two in the open spaces.

Unlike China Glaze collections you may be used to, the Desert Escape collection is only available on LockandMane.com. Each shade retails for $7.50. Have you picked up any? Do you have plans to?

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Girly Gradient Nail Art with EverGlaze by China Glaze

This spring, China Glaze throws their hat into the ring of longwearing polish systems, joining the ranks of lines like CND's Vinylux and Sally Hansen's Miracle Gel. These systems are set apart by claims of gel-like wear and shine, without the need to cure in a lamp or the lengthy removal process. China Glaze's EverGlaze system brings CG's signature bold colors and fun finishes among more traditional color choices, ensuring that there's a shade for every type of gal.

The system includes a nail prep solution, the range of colors, and the EverGlaze Active Top Coat. The prep solution is similar to a nail dehydrator, and it is meant to remove dirt and oils from your nail plate before polishing. This helps the polish stick longer! The Active Top Coat comes in a UV protected bottle.

For this nail art, I used:
EverGlaze Case of the Mondaze
EverGlaze Adrenaline Rush
EverGlaze A Toast to You
EverGlaze Back to Black

Case of the Mondaze is actually a gorgeous cobalt blue, but when I sponged it over Adrenaline Rush in my gradient, it turned purple! A happy accident, I say!

The Active Top Coat is thick and shiny, dries quickly, and doesn't smear nail art. It's a winner, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it (I can be very picky with top coats, you know).

Unfortunately, I'm unable to do a wear test of my own at this time -- nail school is tough on polish, and even my full-fledged lamp cured gels don't hold up sometimes!

EverGlaze is available now in Sally Beauty stores and on SallyBeauty.com.

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Stripes in white over pastel green

Did some white stripes over my Manhattan - 71S manicure and below is the result. As I said in that post, 71S is indeed green, but very pale and graytoned and I thought that the white stripes maybe would enhance the effect. I don't know about that but I do like this manicure. For more and probably greener manicure's you can check out Green Wednesday. :)

Polishes used:
Jordana Pop Art - Contemporary White (have you seen how miserable my bottle looks? Must buy a new white striper)
Manhattan - 71s

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Nailbox Pre-Fall '14 Trendbox Geometric Gradient Nail Art and Giveaway

As you may recall, back in August I showed off the Nailbox Pre-Fall 2014 Trendbox, which I curated! The box includes four nail polishes plus a matte topcoat, and I've used all five bottles in my nail art today. Nailbox has also given me the chance to offer a giveaway for the box, so head to the end of the post to enter to win!

Nail polishes used:
LVX Cashmere
NCLA Santa Monica Shore Thing
Orly Hot Tropics
Priti NYC Chyrsanthos
Essie Matte About You

I love the way these colors look together. I'd hope that I would, anyway, seeing as how I chose them! You've got the nice neutral base, two bright and fun shades, a metallic for some pizzaz, and a matte topcoat (because I am obsessed with all things matte).

The gradient effects are entirely handpainted. I didn't use tape or vinyls in this look, and honestly, these days it's just become easier for me to try to freehand it than to go through the process for anything else. The lovely periwinkle color between the aqua and the pink was created by mixing the two together, and I brushed it on loosely to sell the transitional effect.

My Pre-Fall 2014 Trendbox is available as a single box for $35 (a $65+ value) or you can purchase the one year subscription for $126. Boxes are curated by nail bloggers and trendsetters. GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!

Feeling lucky? Try your hand at winning a Trendbox! Giveaway is open to US residents and ends October 28th, 2014. Prize provided by Nailbox.

Nailbox Trendbox Giveaway
Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in the Pre-Fall Trendbox, but was not paid for this giveaway. Good luck!

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Metallic stripes and rhinestone flowers

Did this while back, last year actually and I'm really happy with the result. The stripes makes the nails look super long and I like how the rhinestones looks like flowers. :) For more nail art you can check out Nail Art Sunday.

Polishes and materials used:
5MM rhinestone in purple
2MM rhinestone in light purple
HM Matte Metallic -  Silver
L.A. Colors Art Deco - Metallic Pink
L.A. Colors Art Deco - Black

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Marbled Blue Swimming Pool Stripes

I like stripes. I do them quite a bit, often freehand (a girl's gotta practice), but today's 31 Day Challenge nail art required the use of nail vinyls. I combined them with the saran wrap marble technique for a blocked, marbled look that reminds me of a swimming pool. Steph Stone did a swimming pool nail art tutorial recently that used the same technique for the aquatic effect. Let's dive in!

Nail polishes used:
LVX Cashmere
JINSoon Cool Blue
Straight nail vinyls

I painted my nails with two coats of Cashmere and added a layer of quick dry topcoat to speed up the drying process. Once the base was dry, I applied both Nail Vinyls brand straight vinyls and KBShimmer straight vinyls with random spacing. The reason I used two different brands was they each had different sizes I wanted to use -- the smallest stripes are from Nail Vinyls while the medium and large blocks are from KBShimmer.

I painted one thicker coat of Cool Blue over the top, and then dabbed wadded up pieces of saran wrap over the wet, freshly painted polish. This removed some of the blue and left it with a cool tie-dye marble effect! The only thing left to do was remove the vinyls and finish with topcoat.

Stripes all day:

• Dusty green tape stripes
• Rainbow blocked stripes
• Green ombre vertical stripes

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Mario Batali's Orange Crocs Nail Art

Are you familiar with celebrity chef Mario Batali? He's known for his Italian food, cheerful demeanor, and, possibly most importantly, his orange Crocs. Those foam clogs are so darn memorable, and people either love them or hate them.

Whenever I do my perforated leather nail art look, people inevitably comment that the nails look like Crocs. So this time, I decided to embrace it and use the technique to represent Mario's orange clogs for orange day of the 31 Day Challenge!

For this nail art, I used:
OPI In My Back Pocket
OPI Matte Topcoat
Essie Blanc
American Apparel Hassid
Perforated leather nail art tutorial

So of course we've got his crocs on my middle and pointer fingers. Then I freehanded a chef coat on my ring finger, with a bit of negative space, and striped accent nails on my pinky and thumb to represent a patterned apron.

I personally find these nails hilarious. I love when nail art is a bit cheeky! What do you think? Too much, or just enough?

Want more orange? Here are the orange manicures I've done in the past:

• Orange with dotted accent
• Orange fruit tips
• Orange gradient chevrons

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Crab Print and Nautical Mix

It's the beginning of the #31DC2014! The first prompt, of course, is red nails, and I've done this crab print/nautical combo that I just love. Every element of this manicure was painted freehand, even the stripes on the thumb!

The crab print was a brilliant idea from my friend Kristi, and I decided to add a bit of nautical flair into the mix with the thick stripes and anchor. I painted all of the elements freehand with one of my new liner brushes from Stylish Nail Art Shop.

This nail art uses:
Model's Own Hyper Gel in Naked Glow
Nicole by OPI American As Apple Pie
American Apparel Hassid

I love the way this miniature crab print turned out, and I'm especially proud that I freehanded the stripes on my thumb. I still struggle with horizontal stripes so this feels like a real win for me!

My past red manicures:

• Barielle - Elle's Spell
• Red watercolor
• Red mix and match

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Simple Piglet nail art

Hi! For today I have something very simple to show: black stripes over a pink base! Well, I imagine it to be simple Piglet nails (from Winne The Pooh). Apparently this was the only decent photo I took (therefore it's been sitting in my finished archive pile and is so old that it has the old font I used before.) Almost forgot, pink enough for Pink Thursday! :D

Polishes used:
China Glaze - Hang-Ten-Toes
L.A. Colors Art Deco - Black

And some other news; I've got a new banner from Born Pretty Store (placed in left side of my blog):

 

I therefore have a new 10% discount code for you to use if you want to do some nail polish/nail art shopping, which is NGL91. I've also changed the code in all previous posts so you wont use the wrong one. :D xx

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