Inktober Day 18: Misfit

Halloween may be THE holiday for misfits, because on that night, no one fits anywhere, and that's why it's beautiful.

But if there were ever Halloween royalty, Wednesday Addams would be its princess. She's the ultimate misfit, and embraces it fully. So from anyone who's ever felt like an outsider, thank Ms. Addams!

Inktober Day 18 - Misfit

I used this design as inspiration for her portrait, and only 3 colors for the look: Black Hole from INM, Sharktooth from Jessica Cosmetics, and Skull & Glossbones from OPI.

Bubble Up

Happy New Year everyone! 2019...it's weird to say. I started this blog 8 YEARS AGO! 8 years ago, I thought what other girls were doing, sharing their nail pictures and playing around with graphic art in blog form, was so cool, that I gave it a shot. I figured, "Why not? I like nail polish too!" It was humble beginnings (check out this early post), and it wasn't really for anyone but me. If someone else read it, cool! If not, it was a good excuse to stay busy after work. Then, it exploded. Posts were shared, tutorials were shared, magazines picked me up, and before I knew it, I was switching career paths to pursue what I thought would be a silly hobby. And here we are, 8 years later.

I didn't make any resolutions this year, but I did get a little bit of an idea I'd like to try to keep up with. While shopping for a new planner, I came across a journal with 300 drawing prompts. Just half pages with words at the top to inspire you to draw. After having so much fun with Inktober, I tossed the book into my basket with the resolve to do some from time to time. No commitment, just some inspiration.

Then I did today's design. Which wasn't inspired by the journal at all.

It was actually an idea taken from this Born Pretty stamping plate. I just simplified it with some basic colors (Act Your Beige! and Black Onyx from OPI).

Bubble Up!

It's like champagne bubbling up from the bottom of a glass. So cheers...to many more years!

Inktober - Thunder

When you think of "thunder" (our prompt for day 27), your mind probably goes to lightning immediately. Mine does too. BUT...I wanted to do something that wasn't just about lightning, so here are my thunder clouds rolling in on my nails for Inktober day 27.

This was a two-color design, both from essie: Bikini So Teeny and Licorice. The thunder clouds are better from far off, but they're not so horrible up close. I just smudged the lines with acetone to give them a more "distant" feeling, and added one lightning bolt for effect.

Inktober - Chop

One of the most fun and satisfying birthday activities I've ever been a part of was when my friend took me to an axe throwing event. In a small warehouse with a bunch of plywood mounted to the walls with targets painted on, we were allowed to hurl axes of varying sizes at the wall. The first time I threw one, I didn't throw hard enough. The instructor actually asked me to put more weight behind it, and when that axe lands on the target (or anywhere near it), it brings an insane amount of satisfaction. If you live near something like that, TRY IT! I'll take chopping wooden walls over chopping onions any day. So I used that as my inspiration for Inktober day 24.

What axe-man wouldn't wear plaid? I thought it applied nicely to my theme, and added a little axe logo for good measure. The bright red base is Carmen (Zoya), and the logo's background is You're So Vain-illa (OPI). I watered down the black plaid lines by adding top coat to Black Onyx (OPI) and stirring it up until it looked runny. Then I filled in the black checks with solid black. Easy.

Inktober - Clock

It's sort of fate that on the night I need to post twice, the theme is "clock" and I feel like it's late enough at night that this day 14 Inktober nail art is exact.

This digital clock art just used 3 colors. The base is essie Licorice, the white is essie Marshmellow, and the green tint is Kiwi Cool-Ada from China Glaze.

That's it! We're finally caught up! Hopefully I can continue this tomorrow with day 15, "weak".

Inktober - Precious

I'm so sorry I didn't get a post up yesterday! I was literally at work from 8:30am to 10:00pm, so I didn't get day 9, "precious", up until today. You'll be treated to 2 lovely posts today though, as I'll post day 10, "flowing", later tonight! Set your timer to get both!

I knew I wanted to do some sort of crystal or gemstone for day 9, and I wanted some sparkle and depth. So I raided the polish drawers and found a few OPI glitters that were pure inspiration for this crystal nail art. Simple, but effective!

I used 4 OPI colors: Two Wrongs Don't Make a Meteorite, My Favorite Ornament, Shine for Me, and Black Onyx as the base. This look only took me about 15 minutes, but I love the contrast of the glitter against the black.

Day 10 is coming later tonight, so stay tuned for "flowing"!

Inktober - Star

My design for Inktober day 8 is not the most unique, and it's literally literal, but I adore it and it got tons of compliments!

This was a fun design to create too, and I can redo it with any colors. It needed to be a little Halloween-y though, so I used a really pretty orange from Misa called Shoot the Chute. 

I reached for my fullest and closest black and white, which are essie Licorice and Zoya Snow White, respectively. 

Now with this posted, I can start planning for tomorrow..."precious". Wish me luck!

Inktober - Poisonous

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw earlier today that I'm following a challenge unique for October, and actually not exactly designed for nail art, but practically meant for it - Inktober.

This challenge gives a prompt each day in October for artists and illustrators, all themed appropriately for the year's spookiest month. Here's a look at the prompts:

As you can see, today's prompt was "poisonous". Here's today's poisonous nails. Feels good to have nail art on my hands after a long, much needed break.

I only used a few polishes for this look. The yellow base for the danger skull is Funky Yellow (Kleancolor), and the green is TLC (Kleancolor). My black fingers are Licorice (essie), and the Uninhibited (LA Girl) is the black matte sparkle for my thumb.

Tomorrow's theme, tranquil, has me thinking, but if you have ideas, send them my way! I'd love to collaborate!

Gold Chain Born Pretty Store Review

Remember my chain nail art tutorial? Well that's a 2D look that you can get with any two colors.

But if you want the true chain effect and you really want it to pop off your nail, then you might consider getting an actual chain to attach to your nails!

Born Pretty Store (BPS) offers several varieties of chains, and today I'm reviewing the 1.6mm gold chain for you!

This chain is 100cm long (about 40 inches), and quite small (1.6mm), running at $2.99 (and their always-free shipping). Use my coupon code, C10X31, for 10% off!

The chain comes in a teeny ziplock bag, but it doesn't come out all tangled like necklaces tend to be.

To apply it to your nails, I recommend using a dab of nail glue, at least on the ends of the chain. To place it, apply it to still-wet nails (I prefer to apply it to the top coat layer rather than the polish layer) so you can position it properly. When it has dried, to being almost tacky, carefully lift the each end with tweezers and dab a bit of nail glue. This will keep your chain in its position, but you can always use more glue if you plan on roughing up the design. And let's face it...this kind of look is begging to be roughed up a little. Rawr!

I'm obsessed with letting the chains hang off my nails in different ways like I've done for this look. It's odd, and not necessarily appropriate for all occassions, but damn...it's awesome!

The colors I used for this look included Sun of a Peach (China Glaze) and Stranger Tides (OPI) with lines of Black Onyx (also OPI). I also did some cutouts of my bare nail.

Which finger do you like the most? How would you wear chains? I've seen some fabulous designs, including Sammy's looks, Lexi's take, and Whitney's! I have another review of a silver look coming soon too.

Thanks BPS for the chains!

Pick your's up here, and don't forget to use the coupon code for 10% off.

 

These products were sent to me by Born Pretty Store. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Sugar Lace

Ah finally, some nail art for nail art's sake. I continue to be busy and it's all exciting, so sporadically spicing up the blog now and then with some lovely nail art 'just cuz' is perfect for a little relaxation.

I got the design idea for this from Nails at 2am on her Instagram. I wanted to do something fun and intricate, and Sugar High (China Glaze) matched the skirt I wore today just perfectly!

The details on my left hand were done with a striping polish, and I used a black nail art pen for my right. Obviously the right isn't as nice looking, so I'll spare you the look.

Center of the Tribe

So this design was originally meant for a tutorial, but after trying to recreate the steps I did on paper, I realized it wasn't as simple as I'd hoped. It took a lot of retracing steps to make the lines look nice, and even still, it was a bit of a pain in the ass, so rather than a tutorial, here's some tribal eye candy instead! (Don't worry, another tribal look is on its way!)

I used four colors for this. Ali from Zoya, Sand Tropez from Essie, and two stripers from Color Madric in black and white.

Color Society - Halo Hues

Click the icon to visit the Color Society page.

Installment #2 of the Color Society series, and unfortunately, it doesn't involve the sunlight I wanted. Every chance I've had at sunlight have been thwarted, either by snow, rain, or work. All troublesome when you're trying to bring out the gorgeous holoness of the Color Club Halo Hues!

The Halo Hues shine like diamonds, and reflect a gorgeous rainbow across all your nails. What's more, they apply beautifully and completely in two even, quick-drying coats. It's really the best of all worlds, and they're all readily available!

To honor the diamond look they give, here's some diamond nail art, using my own diamond tutorial.

The base color is Pastel Teal from Kleancolor. The diamonds were created with the first color, Over the Moon. This is a vibrant and beautiful blue. It's not a dark blue, but it's not a faded silver. I love it, it's the perfect mix.

The other color in the society is Beyond. A black holo, with its own charm, but not quite as stunning as Over the Moon. I'd love to see it used as a gradient with a neon pink! It's like oil, with it's blackness and rainbow beauty.

Interested in applying to be part of the Color Society? Fill out the application here to apply!

These products were sent to me by Color Society. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Candy Coated Plaid

Exciting reviews are coming up at Nailed It! I've got polishes, embellishments, new brands, contests, and kits coming down the pipeline, so any chance I can get to squeeze in a 1-hour nail art post to share is clutch in my book. I also bought a new video camera that I'll be using to create some videos with to share tutorials!

A simple plaid look is tonight's. The base is Candy Coated (Sinful Colors) and the stripes were done freehand with a black striping polish from Color Madric. I love straight lines, especially those done with a striping polish. It really couldn't get much easier and simple.

But like I said...the simplicity will be short lived, and the excitement is just beginning!

Grungy Glamour

I can't get enough of gradients, or as they're more and more often called, ombre.

My hair's got an ombre gradient, my favorite, albeit holey, sweater has a gradient, and my favorites on Instagram often contain a gradient.

This grungy gradient was inspired by this pin of ombre tights. The purple is from Savina, and it's called Dream. It also uses Black Onyx from OPI. The square studs are my package of Born Pretty Store square studs that I reviewed here. 

Blood Red Bandana

A little Southern exposure for you tonight, with some bandanas!

They're not bloody or sweaty, but I was sweating to create the tiny lines, and the blood red is the lovely Snap Happy (Essie). The details were done with Alpine Snow and Black Onyx (OPI).

I had a bandana phase for a little while in elementary school. Unfortunately, living in Southern California, there were some bandana colors we weren't allowed to wear because of their affiliations with gangs. I wish I'd known about nail art back then, because this would've been an awesome way around that rule.

So if you're looking for a little Southern flair, but you're afraid of your school's dress code, try it on your nails. I bet they won't notice.

Cartwright's Blouse

I'm back! And I missed sharing things with all the readers.

For example, did you know that I'm shamefully running out of room for polishes as my collection grows larger and more colorful? Did you also know that I'm looking for a new pad for the summer? That means that my ever-growing collection will soon have a desk to live on, and an area to be stored in.

I've seen so many beautiful polish rooms, and so many great ideas for storage and organization of polish. Do you have a clever solution to your lacque-clutter? Tell me about it, I'd love to hear!

Tonight's look was inspired by an outfit I saw Karen Cartwright wear during a beautiful performance on "Smash" (a television show in the U.S.) Her red skirt had a gold embellished belt, and her blouse was a white silk number with black polka dots. It's almost a literal translation!

The colors I used include Peterhof Palace and Carmen (Zoya), and Alpine Snow and Black Onyx (OPI).

Lace Tutorial for Lulus.com

Lace isn't just for your grandmother's coffee table anymore, and it's certainly not restricted to special occasion outfits like the upcoming Easter best dresses ladies will soon be dawning.

Lovely lace adds instant femininity to any outfit, and depending on the color, can really spice something up to be sexy as well.

I wanted to bring the black and white embellishment on these lace trimmed matador pants onto my nails with today's Lulus.com tutorial.

You can read more about the look and what I think of it at the Lulus.com blog here.

Angled Onyx

Quick post as I get ready to go out!

An angled french, with a base of the light and delicate You Callin' Me a Lyre? (OPI). Freehanded Black Onyx (OPI) tips create a cool effect on my nails, and that's all accented with some gold striping tape.

Kind of love this look, and I wish I could gush about it further, but I've gotta go! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Copper Saran Wrap

I needed a short break from reviews to do some nail art just for the sake of nail art. I have a lot of awesome requests coming in from a variety of companies asking me to review products for their sites, and I've gladly accepted most of them. However, I do feel guilty coming up with nail art ideas just so I can incorporate the products to review. So tonight, no review, just some fun nail art.

I've been asked on several occasions where I come up with my inspiration for my designs. There's never an easy answer, unless "The World" counts as one. For example, while eating at Salt tonight, I needed to use el baño. The walls in the restroom were gorgeous! They had this textured copper look splattered all over them. They literally looked exactly like someone had gone over them using my Saran Wrap technique, so, I did a nail translation and voila!

I used Poetic from China Glaze, and Black Onyx (OPI) as my base.

China Glaze Color Blocking

Inspiration for a manicure can come from the strangest places. You'll never guess where I was inspired for tonight's.

It was actually a commercial that briefly showed a girl riding a bus. Her bus seat had a pattern similar to this:

The colors were close too. I recently organized all my polishes, so I knew I had colors that would perfectly to recreate the bus seat I had seen. Most are from China Glaze, including Exotic Encounters, Igniting Love, Ride the Waves and Desert Sun. The only non-China Glaze is Black Onyx, an OPI.

Now that you know the manicure was based off of a bus seat, you can't seem to get that image out of your head can you? Sorry about that.

Where's the most random place you've seeked out inspiration?