Inktober Day 31: Crawl

Happy Halloween everyone, and I hope you enjoyed Inktober! I had a blast doing it this year...probably the best year so far! I'm so happy to have shared it with you all, and I hope you like the last entry of this year with these creepy cute little crawling spiders.

The base color is Sandy from Zoya, and everything is hand painted as usual!

Inktober Day 30: Ominous

I watched a good horror movie last night, called Cadaver. I won't give it away, but there were definitely eyes where they shouldn't have been in the film. That gave me the perfect inspiration for today's "ominous" prompt. Watch where you step!

The floor boards were done with two Zoya colors: Louise and Noah. Then the eyeballs were done with White Porcelain and Black Hole (INM), as well as Shore Enuff and Sun Upon My Skin (China Glaze) and Hannah (Zoya). 

Inktober Day 25: Buddy

There's one "buddy" that comes to mind for most people, especially if you're in Colorado right now and the snow is falling. Here's the infamous Buddy the Elf for day 25 of Inktober!

This little Christmas-in-October look with Buddy the Elf wasn't difficult to create, but it did require a few polishes:

• Cement the Deal (OPI)
• Pale to the Chief (OPI)
• Get in the Expresso Lane! (OPI)
• Chyna (Zoya)
• Cece (Zoya)
• Gravitron (Misa)
• Tumble Bug (Misa)
• Loop-de-Loop (Misa)

Inktober Day 24: Dig

There's not much explanation needed for the look I put together for "dig". So here are my little digger ants!

This was an interesting look to put together. First, I put down a layer of a textured Sally Hansen polish called Sugar Fix. Then, I painted one layer of Misty (Zoya) on top. The tunnel colors are also from Zoya - Chanelle with an outline of Emilia. I also used Emilia to add rocks in the sand. The ants were done with Courtney, another Zoya shade. Then, I used a matte top coat over the tunnels, and left the sand and rocks top-coat-less to maintain the texture effect.

Inktober Day 19 and Day 20: Dizzy and Coral

Thanks for your patience about yesterday. I was so wiped out at the end of the day I just couldn't muster the willpower to stay awake and do a thoughtful design. But when I checked what day 20's prompt was, I thought I could combine the two into one! So here is day 19 (dizzy) and day 20 (coral). 

My little seahorse carousel was done with another Zoya Pixiedust shade (Levi) and a hot pink I LOVED (Byrdie), plus a classic OPI I've always enjoyed (My Boyfriend Scales Walls). 

Inktober Day 17: Storm

I've been wanting to make a convincing lightning look for a while, so today's prompt of "storm" was a great push to finally do it, and it wasn't hard to create!

I used a few Zoya colors (Liv, Dory, and Willa) and my super trusty white from INM, White Porcelain.

Inktober Day 14: Armor

I'm so happy with Inktober so far! It's really expanded my horizons and I've loved it so much! Today I got to do some fantastic nail art on a dear coworker and friend, so when I got home, I decided that the "armor" look for day 14 would be a little more simple, but it's still striking if you ask me! 

Here's my little crab, nature's natural knight, all armored up for this debut. 

This was a pretty quick nail art to make tonight, as it only required 3 colors:

• My Boyfriend Scales Walls (OPI)
• Demetria (Zoya)
• Waverly (Zoya)

Inktober Day 11: Disgusting

Ready to be grossed out? By something truly disgusting for day 11 of Inktober? How about some raw meat with maggots on it?

 To get good blending and highlights on the maggots, I needed a LOT of colors, including:

• You're So Vain-illa (OPI)
• Aubrey (Zoya)
• Never a Dulles Moment (OPI)
• Chartreuse (Charlotte Russe)
• Hera (Zoya)
• Emilia (Zoya)
• And some unlabeled Color Club greyish-tan creme

Inktober Day 8: Teeth

Last night, I posted a poll on my Instagram to see if you all wanted to see teeth for today's prompt as "scary" or "cute", and by a vote of 67% to 33%, the winner was scary!

So here's some bleeding gums for day 8 of Inktober. 

I used only Zoya polishes for these freehanded chompers, including:

• Chyna
• Ruthie
• Janel
• Chantal
• Willa
• Claire
• Jacqueline

Inktober Day 7: Fancy

I've made it a week into Inktober 2020! Which design has been your favorite? 

Today's prompt is "fancy", and as someone who isn't willing to pay more for a brand name for the sake of fashion, I consider lots of name brands "fancy". So here's a popular name brand you will probably recognize for today's look.

The two colors used for this "fancy" hand painted design are Elaine (Zoya) and A-Taupe the Space Needle (OPI).

Inktober Day 6: Rodent

Mickey Mouse counts as a "rodent" right? I know that word has a bad ring to it, but it's not such a bad thing to be a rodent, especially in Mickey's case.

The hand painted Mickey is over a dotticure of two Zoya oranges: Paz and Cora. 

Inktober Day 1: Fish

Welcome to my third year of Inktober! (To learn more about it, visit here.) I've loved doing this since I heard about it from someone I follow on Instagram. While it's actually meant for pen and ink artists, it is just such a creative outlet to try new things when I have nail artist's block. I'll be posting each day in October according to a list of prompts, and today's prompt is "fish". 

As you know from my post in April, I started playing the video game "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" to pass the time during quarantine. One of the aspects of its gameplay is taking your character fishing. When you fish in the ocean, you often reel in a sea bass, much to the dismay of players as its a very common fish. So I paid it some homage with today's design. 

Inktober Day 1: Fish

I hand painted everything, which required a sea of mostly green colors, including:

• Zoya: Ireland, Arbor, Scout, and Farah
• OPI: Suzi - The First Lady of Nails, Get In the Expresso Lane, and Push and Shove

Except for the finger with the fish on it, I used a matte top coat.

I hope you keep up with this year's post, and if you follow me and are doing it yourself, tag me for a feature! 

Apples of My Eye

We have all been through a LOT in 2020, and the punches just keep coming. I know I've gotten a lot of "COVID clarity" as I like to call it. There's been some personal realizations that I've made because I was forced to slow down and really take a look at things. One of these realizations is how much I love my job, and particularly the closeness I have with my clients and coworkers. It's been such a relief to go back into work and see my people! I also realized how important creativity is for me, especially to my mental state. 

So when I reached out on my Instagram stories for some Fall nail art ideas, I was happy to hear from a few of you. One suggestion I got was from @mayumbatchibanga, who said "apples" would be a cute look. So these are the "Apples of My Eye"!

Apples of My Eye

I used the following colors from Zoya and OPI for this look:

• Zoya: Cece, Genesis, Willa, Daisy, Linds, Wyatt
• OPI: Make Light of the Situation, My Vampire is Buff, I'm Sooo Swamped!, Meet My "Decorator"

I like how the glitter on the apples coordinates with the other non-nail art fingers! It gives those little hand painted apples a little pop that makes me smile. 

And we all need something that makes us smile! 

Take care!

Bunny Day Egg Nail Art

Happy Bunny Day everyone! If you're in lockdown with a Nintendo Switch, then you've probably bit the bullet and bought Animal Crossing: New Horizon. And if you've done that, then you know exactly where the inspiration for these Easter nails came from. It was no small task, and required a LOT of colors, which I've listed below in no particular order. Happy Bunny Day!

Bunny Day Eggs

Here's a list of the colors I used, some of which needed to be combined to get the right color.

OPI Colors:

• Show Us Your Tips!
• Mermaid's Tears
• Sailing & Nailing
• I'm Sooo Swamped!
• What's the Double Scoop?
• Sorry I'm Fizzy Today
• Life Gave Me Lemons
• No Room for the Blues

China Glaze Colors

• Life Preserver
• Stoked to Be Soaked
• Sun's Up Top Down

Other Colors:

• Milky Ways, Crema de Limon, and Lavendairy (Lime Crime), Sky (piCture pOlish), Load (Illamasqua), Danielle (Zoya)

Inktober Day 31: Ripe

It's the last day of Inktober! I successfully completed 31 days of nail art and it was AWESOME! Which day was your favorite? Let me know in the comments!

For day 31, the prompt is "ripe". If you're an avocado lover, you'll understand this look. Avocados have this way of being so delicious, but only for about 1 day. Right before that, they're tasteless and a little too hard to enjoy. Right after that, they just taste rotten. It's sad when either happens, but it's delicious when it's perfectly ripe.

Inktober Day 31 - Ripe

These ripe little buddies were done with a variety of greens and browns, including Black Onyx and A-Piers to Be Tan from OPI, Jace, Arbor, Tracie, and Desiree from Zoya, and Emerald Tower from lakur.

Inktober Day 30: Catch

One of the simplest sports to understand is baseball. Batters hit a ball thrown at them, fielders try to catch the ball that's hit at them, and if the batter gets 3 strikes, they're out. That's pretty much it! So in honor of the game, here's my "1...2...3 strikes you're out" ode to "catch", Inktober's 30th prompt.

Inktober Day 30 - Catch

I used mostly OPI colors for this look: Alpine Snow, Black Onyx, Having a Big Head Day, I Saw...U Saw...We Saw...Warsaw, and Can't Read Without My Lipstick. Then for the base of the strike numbers, I used Genesis from Zoya.

Inktober Day 26: Dark

I've really been on a gradient kick with this Inktober! So here's a simple dark one for day 26. I blended Zoya colors Courtney and Willa together, then added L.A. Girl's Uninhibited on top for this look. It's so dark it almost doesn't even look like an ombre!

Inktober Day 26 - Dark

Inktober Day 25: Tasty

There are A LOT of options for a prompt like "tasty", especially for someone like me, who has lots of favorite foods.

Pizza.
Ice cream.
Fruit.
Burgers.
Nachos.
Tacos.
Beer.

But probably the most colorful food I consume is in the pastry category. Or the deep-fried category? I'll need to consult my chefing and pastry friends for the distinction. But the prompt asked for tasty, and my answer is "donuts".

Inktober Day 25 - Tasty

There's also A LOT of color options for today's prompt to get the effects I needed for the delicious, delicious nail art, including:

• Zoya: Abby, Lillian, Nyssa, Spencer, Darcy, Ali
• OPI: Alpine Snow, You're So Outta Lime!, Mod About You
• LVX: Icon, Lemondrop, Mink

Inktober Day 21: Treasure

Get ready for the most glittering look of this year's Inktober. Last year I did hand-placed glitter for the "expensive" look. I did a little bit of that for "treasure" this year, around the edges of the opal stones. Then I literally put jewelry on my nails...real treasure! I believe the jewelry is from Born Pretty Store.

Inktober Day 21 - Treasure

This look required a lot of layering, mostly of some flakies I still have in my drawers by Finger Paints (Flecked, Asylum, Twisted, and Motley), as well as additional sparkle and color including Sapphire Sparkle (CND), Saint (Zoya), and OPI shades Black Onyx and My Silk Tie. It got THICK and probably would've taken literal hours to come close to drying. Good thing I have another look to complete!

Inktober Day 16: Wild

"Wild" is one of the easiest prompts for me. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. So here is my menagerie of animals for day 16. I've got a zebra, giraffe, tiger, cow, and leopard.

Inktober Day 16 - Wild

I also used a menagerie of polishes for my polishes:

• Zoya: Chantal
• OPI: Get in the Expresso Lane, It's a Piazza Cake, A-Taupe the Space Needle, and Is Mai Tai Crooked?
  LVX: Sienna
  Color Club: Look, Don't Tusk
  INM: Black Hole