10 Day Nail Art Challenge: Snow

Hey everyone! I've got the next installment of the 10 Day Nail Art Challenge for you today!

I did snowflakes for the last challenge because I didn't look ahead at the next one haha. That's okay because I really like what I did for this one.

I started with two coats of China Glaze Aquadelic for my sky. Then I stamped with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White and Bundle Monster plate BM 301. It was a little faint, so I went over the bottom part with some more white and a make-up sponge.

Then I added some random dots with a dotting tool. I love how frost this looks :) We aren't getting any snow here, so this kinda makes up for it. It's also a nice break from traditional holiday colors.

Glitter Gradient!!!

Between work, school and extracurriculars I have not had any time for the blog! It's so sad! But now that things have slowed down after the start of year rush, I think I've got a better handle of things. And now I've finally got something to show you!

This is one coat of Zoya Yummy and then a gradient with China Glaze Liquid Crystal. I completed my Prismatic collection when they were on clearance at Sally's. They're so pretty!

And I took the above photos with the Photo Jojo wide angle lens for iPhone. I don't need the wide angle aspect of it, but it just makes my photos clearer! Then it also comes apart to become a macro lens. That's how I took the next pics:

I love seeing glitters so up close and personal! It had a hard time focusing because of the curve of my nail, but it still looks pretty awesome :)

Monkey See Monkey Do Monday: Magnetic Gradient

A while ago Laurie from Dressed Up Digits did this awesome magnetic gradient manicure. If you're not following her, you definitely should. She has some awesome manicures. A recent favorite: seashells. Fabulous! Anyways, I saw I had 3 unused Icing/Claire's Magnetix polishes in my untried bin and figured this would be a good way to use them.

I started with a layer of the silver and then did a gradient sponge over with the silver, gold and blue. Once I that was dry I put a non-fast dry top coat over it to make it wet again. I had to use Gelous because that was the only non-fast dry clear polish I had haha. 

Then I held the magnet over it like usual. All my gradients resembled the one of my middle finger, but I didn't hold the magnet to it fast enough, so less of the contrasting particles were pulled up. I still like it even if it wasn't as smooth as Laurie's :)

Check out the other awesome blogs participating in Monkey See Monkey Do Mondays! If you'd like to participate, click on the badge at the top of the page and join the facebook group!

Amber at Amber Did It

Amber at Never Naked Nails

Ana Cris at Esta Cerrada la Drogueria

Arlene at Nails and Vanities

Ashley at Follow the Yellow Polish Road

Basia at Polish My Mind

Carrie at LeSamowen:Life, Love, and Nail Polish

Cristina at The Clockwise Nail Polish

Debbie at The Crumpet

Elizabeth at Nail Polish is My Crack

Emily Esqueleta at Macabre Manicures

Emma at Manicurity

Erin at Erin's Beauty Bumbles

Gwenn at Sweet Sugar

Helena at Nail Wish

Jen at Jens Painted Tips

Jenn at Polished Crazed

Kim at A Polished Addiction

Kirsten at Geeky Owl

Kristin at Manicured Monkey

Laurie at Dressed Up Digits

Layka at Kawaiinize Your Life

Melissa at The (mis)Adventures of a Wanna Be Martha

Misha at Enigmatic Rambles

Missy at Gnarly Gnails

Nayade at Toxic Vanity

Neivys at Maquiclub Girl

Summer Challenge: Summer Sunset

I'm a day late on this challenge :/ And earlier today I looked down and all the polish on one nail just popped completely off! Hence the weird hand position.

I started with a base of Icing Peachy Keen because it was right between orange and yellow. Then I sponged OPI In My Back Pocket, Color Club Almost Famous, and Color Club Blushing Rose. Then I sponged Wet n Wild 9.0.2.1.Orange over everything.

Make sure you check out the other awesome blogs participating in the challenge! Click the image above if you'd like to join us!

Debbie at The Crumpet

Danielle at Little Book of Beauty

Neivys at Maquiclub Girl

Jo at Northern Nails

Arlene at Nails and Vanities

Helena at Nail Wish

Róisín at Cuti-Clue-Les

Katee at A Girl and Her Polish

Sarah at Y Nails...Why Not?

Bec at Lacquer Dreams

Misha at Enigmatic Rambles

Sharon at What Color Is My Coat

Melissa at (Mis)adventures of a Wanna Be Martha

Laurie at Dressed Up Digits

Lucie at Lucy's Stash

Emma at  Manicurity

Caitlin at Caitlin's Creative Corner

Jane at Absolute Varnish

Amber at Never Naked Nails

Vic at Glowstars

Jackie at Mema's Manis

Rychelle at Colorsplash Nails

Stella at My Wet Nails
Missy at Missy's Manis
Kim at A Polished Addiction
Christine at Lost in My Reverie
Angie at Our Painted World
Bazzia at Polish My Mind
Missy at The Manicured Maniac

Untried Month Day 19: Zoya Cynthia and China Glaze Some Like It Haute

I have a final in a few hours, so I'm cramming. But I decided to do this mani before the cram session so I had something that makes me happy. Since I loooooove dark blue, grey and glitter, I decided to combine all those things into this mani :)

This is two coats of Zoya Cynthia and then I sponged China Glaze Some Like it Haute on top. Zoya describes Cynthia as a dark teal. I don't really see teal, but it is definitely a dark blue.

I don't really like my index finger so much. The nail shape is all weird because of the length and the gradient just isn't as nice as I'd like it to be.

This pic me contorting my hand to hide the bad nail haha. My favorite is definitely the ring finger. This glitter is sooo sparkly and I love it a lot!

Be sure to check out the other ladies' untrieds!

Helen at Nail Newbie

Alyssa C at Polish Junkie Ninja

Ashley at One Nail to Another

Nicole at The Epitome of Superficiality

Zoe at Obsessive Compulsive Nail Painting Disorder

Lexi at Finger Painted

Miagi at Pretty Kitty Claws

Untried Month Day 17: Neon Gradient

I recently purchased a couple of the Orly Feel the Vibe Neons and decided to combine them with some other untried neons in a gradient. I painted stripes of each color on my makeup sponge but quickly realized that my nails are not long enough to accommodate all four colors haha. So I decided to randomly combine 2 colors on each of my nails for another skittle mani :)

The gradient looks smother in real life and is much more neon. I sponged over a base coat of Platinum Ice Magic Platinum Base Coat. Neons used: China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, Orly Glowstick, Orly Beach Cruiser and Models Own Hedonist. This was so summery and I got a lot of compliments!

Be sure to check out the other ladies' untrieds!

Helen at Nail Newbie

Alyssa C at Polish Junkie Ninja

Ashley at One Nail to Another

Nicole at The Epitome of Superficiality

Zoe at Obsessive Compulsive Nail Painting Disorder

Lexi at Finger Painted

Miagi at Pretty Kitty Claws

Untried Month Day 16: Glitter Gradient Skittles

The other day I decided to go through my untried box and try to use as many polishes as possible. I found that I had a few multi colored glitter and decided to do a skittle with them! I really love this mani :) It's so sparkly and magical! And the gradient was super easy! I just used a ripped up makeup sponge dipped in glitter and moved up the nail.

From thumb to pink: Prisma Colors purple with Ulta Indigogo Girl, Ulta Alter Ego with OPI Simmer & Shimmer, Barry M Emerald Green with China Glaze Optical Illusion, China Glaze Champagne Bubble with OPI Glow Up Already! and Sinful Colors Flutter with China Glaze Full Spectrum.

Be sure to check out the other ladies' untrieds!

Helen at Nail Newbie

Alyssa C at Polish Junkie Ninja

Ashley at One Nail to Another

Nicole at The Epitome of Superficiality

Zoe at Obsessive Compulsive Nail Painting Disorder

Lexi at Finger Painted

Miagi at Pretty Kitty Claws

31 Day Challenge: Day 21-Inspired by a Color

I got home yesterday and guess what was in my mailbox! a England Tristam!!! Finally. I saw it and it's glittering beauty and set it aside hoping I'd get to use it soon. Then I started reorganizing my untried bin and these beautiful blue glitters kept catching my eye. So that's what inspired me.

I decided to try a glitter ombre. The ombre looked much better in the bottles haha. The glitters didn't look so dimensional, so it was easier to see the gradient effect. The middle three all just look a little too similar. P.S. Look at the crazy way I positioned my hands to show all the nails together. It looked much more painful before I cropped it haha. It was just a little uncomfortable.

Colors used: China Glaze Atlantis, Pure Ice Strapless, China Glaze Dorothy Who?, NOPI Kendall on the Katwalk, a England Tristam. Now I must go find a song to inspire a manicure...hmmmm...

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

31 Day Challenge: Day 10-Gradient

When I thought about a gradient, I immediately though I should do blue since I have so many I haven't used yet. I also kinda wanted to do glitter because I'm obsessed with it. And I think they're easier to gradiate. So I decided to mix the two. Mostly because I didn't want to try to remove all the glitter from my nails. I'm really pleased with the result :)

Polishes used: Orly Sweet Peacock (base), Color Club Blue-topia, WnW Cost Is No Issue, WnW Believe Me It's Real, China Glaze Skyscraper, WnW Back Alley Deals.

I tried to peel a label off a bottle and ruined the thumb :(

Most color accurate photo of the glitter. Glitter is a pain to clean up around the cuticle, so I kinda gave up.

I was really proud of how smooth the gradient was on the ring finger. And I liked the glitter nail in this one too, so I left it.

I also really liked these two nails, even if it is blurry. This is the best gradient I've done!

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!