Abstract Nail Art Challenge Day 15: Recreate Fav!

Wow! It's the last day in the Abstract Nail Art Challenge! This challenge has been SO fun. I have loved seeing what these talented nail artists have come up with. This month has completely flown by. Today we were supposed to recreate one mani that our challenge buddies came up with! Let me tell you this was soo difficult! I had to make lists and then eventually ended up doing a coin toss competition where I assigned one as heads and one and tails and after many coin tosses I settled on recreating Emily's Day 13 Combination of two techniques!

How cool is this combination of textures?! There is so much going on here and I love alllll of it. Emily really knocked this out out of the park creating it! Since I don't have the exact polishes she used I started off with Sally Hansen White On then sponged on China Glaze Hang-Ten Toes, China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard, China Glaze Flirty Tankini, and finally China Glaze Sun-Kissed. The neon colours really pop on the white base and the black saran wrap on top? I'm losing my mind at how much I love this! The black I used was my go to, Wet n Wild Black Creme.

I've got a serious case of sausage fingers going on in these pictures, but focus on how cool my nails look!! Like Emily's nails when I did the saran wrap it picked up some of the neon polishes and allowed some of the white to show through. It's a mad cool look and I think I'll be rocking this again at some point in different colour combinations!

Oh man I want to wear these for a loonnnnggg time. They are so punk and edgy and just completely rock! I'm glad my coin toss tournament landed me on these bad boys. Although I'm sure any mani I recreated from these fine artists would have me swooning. I anticipate I'll be recreating their creations for a looong time to come.


This challenge was insanely fun to do! It was great to practice some new techniques and build on some that I've tried before. It was really neat to get creative within a defined technique. I'm going to miss waking up and checking right away what these ladies have come up with!


Don't forget to stop by my wonderful challenge buddies to see what nails they chose to recreate!

The Lacquerologist

BeautyGnome

Manicurator

Abstract Nail Art Challenge Day 14: New Tutorial

Today is the second last day in the Abstract Nail Art Challenge! Holy Cow! I can't believe it's almost done, aaannnd I can't believe I just said holy cow. This sickness is getting to me. The criteria for today is a New Tutorial. I decided to go with the Fishtail Nail Tutorial done by Sarah of Chalkboard Nails! 

I was surprised at how much I love this design! It really was incredibly easy to do and has a really flattering and nail elongating effect! To start off I used Nailtini Grenadine which I think is my new favourite pink. It is so hot and vibrant! And could almost be a one-coater. I used two for good measure. Then using Nailtini Silver Slipper I added the first fishtail and then using Orly Bailamos added the second fishtail! All done with the polish brush this was incredibly easy to do :)

I realized after I did this that my colour scheme was incredibly similar to the one that Sarah used in the tutorial. Oops I guess I just had the image in my mind and went with it! Oh well it is try a new tutorial day right? lol 

This was really fun to do! I had been wanting to try this look for awhile and I'm really glad I did! Obviously there are endless colour combinations and I can see this look making an appearance again and again on here. 


Do you like the fishtail/chevron look? Have you tried this? In what colour combinations? I'd love to know! 

Don't forget to stop by The Lacquerologist, BeautyGnome and Manicurator to see what tutorial they attempted! Also make sure you come back on Friday to see what we all recreated! 

Abstract Nail Art Challenge Day 13: Combo of Two

Today is the 13^th day in the Abstract Nail Art Challenge! It seems so crazy that June is almost over and that this challenge is almost done. I’ve had a great time seeing what these fabulously talented girls have been coming up with.

The criteria for today is Combo of the Two. This means that any of the previous criteria can be combined to create a manicure. Let me tell you, this was actually hard! I kept going back to thinking of doing something with dots. But I do a lot of dotticures and I was trying to think of something a little different. I eventually settled on something I don’t think has been combined before! Splatter and V-Gaps!

This wasn’t exactly as I had envisioned it. I think I had imagined that all the nails would look more like my index finger, which was my favourite. Unfortunately I splattered the green last and it kept coming out in big globs so most of my nails looked green! Ah well I think the effect is still pretty cool!

                                                                                                                      

The polishes I used to create the Splatter V-Gaps were as follows, I splattered them in this order.

Orly Royal Navy
China Glaze Vermillion

Essence Wanna Be Your Sunshine

Ardene Neon Green

The base and the V-Gap were done using my current go to white crème Sally Hansen White On.

I only wore this for about 24 hours (this seems to be the case with all of my nails these days LOL) but in that time I got a bunch of compliments! I really liked the primary colour combination. I think that this could look interesting in a bunch of different combinations and I already have another one planned!

How do you like my Splatter V-Gaps? Would you try something like this? Or is it a little too bold for your liking?

I can’t wait to see what combinations my challenge buddies came up with! Remember to stop by and see what they did :) 

The Lacquerologist

BeautyGnome

Manicurator

Abstract Nail Art Challenge Day 12: Watermarble

It's Day 12 of the Abstract Nail Art Challenge!! I can't believe there is only a week left in June! Where has the time gone? The theme in todays challenge is Watermarble. Me and the watermarble have come a loooong way in my journey through the nail world. A few months ago I used to attempt them, trying all different types of water and different types of polishes and NOTHING would work. The polish wouldn't spread and then I couldn't draw a design and I would end up spending hours getting frustrated and usually end up crying. Yes I know that sounds pathetic. During the last challenge that I did I finally did my first semi successful marble! And I think this one is even better! I really think practicing has helped. Yes I have some water marbling bloopers that I haven't shown on here or I'll do one or two nails to practice and then decide to go for a completely different manicure. Alas here is my marble for this challenge!

I think my favourite nail of the bunch is my pinky! That was the original design I was going for however I didn't figure out how to place my nail in the water to get that until I got to that nail lol! I did a  white base using Sally Hansen White On and then marbled using China Glaze Don't Touch My Tiara, China Glaze Gothic Lolita and China Glaze For Audrey. I chose these colours because they are all the accent colours on my blog!

I loved all my nails except for my thumb. I got a wicked split in my nail and I was attempting to repair it using the teabag method, and it worked great, except for the fact that I cut the teabag too big so it went right down to my cuticle. Since I don't wear polish right down to my cuticle it looks a little awkward. Normally I would have redone the whole thing, but I was in a slight rush so I just left this one. Please forgive me :) Also when I was cleaning the polish out of the shot glass the toothpick rubbed my mani just a tad. So that's why there is this awkward mark. My bad.

Overall I'm really pleased with this manicure! The dreaded watermarble is no longer quite so dreaded. Maybe one day I will do a water marble that isn't for a challenge and post it on here! lol!


Do you have a technique that you struggle with again and again? Do you love to marble? Let me know!! 


Don't forget to stop by my challenge buddies and see what they came up with for their water marble! 

The Lacquerologist

BeautyGnome

Manicurator

Abstract Nail Art Challenge Day 11: Household Item

Today is day 10 in the Abstract Nail Art Challenge! Were heading into some of the more 'different' criteria in the challenge, today's being a household item. I was thinking about what to use for this challenge and wanted to try something a little different. There are a couple different things I was thinking of using, first I thought about a straw, or saran wrap, maybe tinfoil? Then I got this crazy idea into my head. What if I used a hairbrush? So I used a hairbrush to come up with this mani!

To create the hairbrush look I started off with 2 coats of Color Club Metamorphosis. Once this had dried I added a coat of Barielle Grape Escape and then added Color Club Wing Fling. Before this had dried I grabbed my hair brush and made strokes through the polish. It ended up being a really interesting effect I think. 

On some places on my nail I didn't wait long enough for Metamorphosis to dry so the brush ended up going through to the bottom of my nail. Although this was not my original intent I actually think having a little bare nail looks kind of cool! What do you think?

The end result of this was kind of fun! I think the glassflecks in the Color Clubs really help bring a couple dimensions to this manicure which I think looks pretty darn cool. Yup I just said darn, I sound like such an old lady lol. 


What do you think of my hairbrush nails?! Did I go too far in using a hair brush or would you try something like this? I'd love to hear what you think of my hairbrush nails. 


Remember to stop by The Lacquerologist, BeautyGnome and Manicurator to see what they have used for their household items nails! 

Abstract Nail Art Challenge Day 10: Stripes

Woowweee! We've made it two thirds of the way through the challenge! Before we get to today's nails I just want to say how awesome my challenge buddies have been doing! They are kicking some serious ass with all these manicures they're coming up with! So if you haven't been checking out their posts you should! After you've read mine of course ;P 


Today's criteria is stripes. If you have been following along with me since the beginning you know that I loooovveee stripes. One of the first things that I got into in nail art was using my stripers to well create stripes! For todays's nails however I went with a diagonal stripes that were created using striping tape. 

First off let me apologize about the slight tip wear. I took these pictures a few days after I did them because I did them when I was back home for awhile. I didn't have my lighting set up so I had to wait for the sun to come out! I even found some flowers in my moms garden to take pictures with :) 


I started off with two coats of Sally Hansen White On. Then working one nail at a time I used striping tape to create diagonal lines across my nails. I took 3 stripers from the Art Club Brights Striper Set, the Orange, Yellow, and Hot Pink. Using these I filled in the space between the striping tape. Then peeled off the striping tape and moved onto the next nail! I switched the direction of the lines on each nail on purpose. 

I actually got a ridiculous amount of compliments on these nails. A cashier at the grocery store stopped me at I was getting change and asked where I got them done and I was very proud to say that I did them myself! My mom and sister also loved these guys. 

They just look like candy in a garden to me! I got the feeling like they were little peppermints or candy canes! I will totally be using this method again come Christmas to make candy cane nails. 


These are one of my favourite stripey looks that I've done. So fun and bright and just perfect for summer! 

What are your thoughts on my candy like nails? Are you a fan of stripey nails? Would you wear these? 


Don't forget to stop by my challenge buddies and see what they have come up with! I'm sure their stripey looks are awesome!

The Lacquerologist

BeautyGnome

Manicurator

Abstract Nail Art Challenge Day 9: Sponging

I can't believe we are already at the 9th day in the challenge! It's going by so quickly! Today's challenge is sponging. With the gradient taking the nail polish world by storm I decided to throw my hat in the ring with this trend! 

I started with two coats of Sally Hansen White On and then using The Nailasaurus method to create my gradient with White On and Sally Hansen Hot Magenta. This method really creates the smoothest  gradient! I mean look at it! I simply love it! 

The one thing to watch when trying this technique is to make sure your 1st colour is completely dry. You can see on my thumb where I was a little ambitious in creating the gradient and it ended up looking a little lumpy. Any nooobody likes lumps in their manicures! 

As much as I loved the gradient on it's own once I had done it I had an urge to stamp over it! I'm catching this stamping bug I swear...

I used my lovely Konad plate m83 and Wet n Wild Black Creme to stamp this super cute image onto my nails. I still need to practice as this was only my second time stamping, you can see where the image scrunched up a little on my middle finger, but I didn't want to redo the gradient so I left it teehee. 

I then grabbed Wet n Wild Hallucinate which is a holo microglitter topper to give the mani a little bit of extra sparkle and shine :) Topped off with a coat of NYC In a Minute top coat and I was all done! 

I really liked the outcome of this and this is the mani that I wore for 4 days during my hell week of exams, assignments and interviews last week! 


I love the gradient trend that's been going around and Sammy's tutorial just makes it so easy to do. I'm also starting to get the hang of stamping I *think* lol! 


Do you like my gradient or my stamped mani? Are you all over the gradient trend or do you find it's been overdone? Let me know! :D 


Don't forget to stop by The Lacquerologist, BeautyGnome and Manicurator to see what they have done for their sponging manicures! 

Abstract Nail Art Challenge Day 8: Ombre

Today is the 8th day in our Abstract Nail Art Challenge. Can you believe we're over halfway through this thing already?! It's been so much fun and I'm sure the second half will be just as fabulous. The criteria for today is Ombre. Now there has been some confusion between the terms gradients, ombre and skittles. The Swatchaholic has a great post summarizing the main differences between all of them. Ombre nails describes shading from nail to nail which are applied one full colour on each nail. I went back and forth between trying to decide between blue or the classic black to white when I finally settled on yellow to red! 

I actually really liked the softness of these nails. They aren't outrageous and have a really nice muted tone throughout the nails. It's a perfect spring manicure! The polishes I used are listed below,


Thumb: NYC Lexington Yellow
Index: Essie Haute as Hello
Middle: Revlon Sorbet
Ring: Essie Vermillionaire
Pinky: Revlon Red Hot Tamale

I have to say I'm a fan of the ombre look. Anyone can recreate it all you need is 5 polishes in the same colour family. It's a great way to stay on trend if you don't have any nail art supplies! 

How do you like my yellow to red ombre manicure? Would you wear this? 


Do you like the ombre trend? What colour family would you try it in? Have you tried it before? I'd love to know! 


Thanks so much for stopping by! 


Remember to head on over to The Lacquerologist, BeautyGnome and Manicurator to see what they have done for their ombre manicures!