31DC2013: Day 31 - Recreate a manicure you love

Hi there guys!! We are here, I am finished!! Only 10 days after everyone else!! Woo!! Recap post coming soon where I'll mention favourites and unexpected favourites and other thoughts. This is was a difficult prompt for me cause there are so many amazing nail art designs out there (especially right after this year's 31 day challenge!!) but I really wanted to do one I LOVE and not just really like. This is where Lucy's Stash's one stroke flower nails come in, I'm tried to do something inspired by this before, but this has a different colour scheme and it's just different in general (read: no where near as good but I still like it).

I even used the dark red base (with glitter of course to make it more pink) and very much enjoy it!! Maybe the seasonal trends are rubbing off on me (haha no, that's never the case). I just painted some pink flowers which hold no candle to the original but my version are like a more cartoony version. I've painted better flowers before but this has glimpses of something pretty. I really like the colour scheme (always love a good pink and red clash), it's just nice :)

It's weird that on my last challenge day last year I cut by nails at the same time. I just have things to do and long nails make things that bit harder. Normally I cut them and hate my nails short but for the first time I'm actually quite liking it. Though long nails are my favourite, I'm trying to find my perfect happy medium.

Red base: Nails Inc - Tate and OPI - Excuse Moi!
White: Lovely Me:Ex - White
Black: Lovely Me:Ex - Black
Bright pink: Color Club - Wing Fling
Other pinks: Barry M - Boots Xmas LE 2012 B and Per Una - Pink (no name)

I just posting here will be back to regular posting with my little series that I do, my "full" thoughts on the challenge will be in my recap post. But yays that I finished this business!! Thank you for reading and I hope you have a fantastic day!! :)

Delicate Floral + Funky Gradient

Oh hey there guys!!! I hope you're enjoying this fine Sunday evening, I'm sure not :P Things might be getting more quiet around these parts cause I have to learn things (EXAMS *PANICS*). Wish me luck (or whatever I don't mind either way)? Since I've been delving into floral nails, I thought I'd go for something more intricate. These flowers look like the type I draw, I'm glad I've finally been able to translate them. Also the gradient might be the nicest I've ever done (not like that would be hard considering my gradients aren't that great). I'm super happy with this design, I'm excited to share it!! :D

I was also inspired by Very Emily's gorgeous floral design, it's just beautiful. Not gonna lie, I'm so proud of my flowers!! They actually turned out right!! And (not to sound bad) I think they're pretty :3 Floral nails normally end in fail for me but not this time. I really like the delicate aspect of these:)

For my thumb, middle and ring fingers (calling this the "rock on" accent, hopefully for obviously reasons ;)) I started with Essie - Bikini So Teeny (cause I love that polish), following with Lovely Me:Ex for a white base for the flowers. The thumb flower uses Nails Inc - Baker Street and Essie - Turquoise and Caicos. I liked putting the darker colour in the middle then use the lighter colour to kind of gradient it.
Middle finger uses OPI - Plum And Get It and Barry M - Prickly Pear for the flowers. And my ring finger has Color Club - Wing Fling and Barry M - Strawberry Ice Cream.
For the leaves I used Illamasqua - Nomad and China Glaze - Re-Fresh Mint for contrast. Then I dabbed on Topshop - Razzmatazz for more sparkle.
Finally I used Lovely Me:Ex - Black for all the details. Sometimes thing went wrong and I'd have to do some fancy correction (not really fancy) but thankfully I didn't have to do that too often. I really liked the little dots, they added that little bit of interest.

For the gradient I started with Color Club - Sky High, sponged on some OPI - Plum And Get It. Sealed the gradient with one coat of OPI - Last Friday Night and one coat of Models Own - Freak Out!. Oh man, it actually worked and I was ecstatic. Go floral nail art (oh yeah I changed up my watermark, just for banter but I like the way it looks)!!! :)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!! :)

31 Day Challenge - Day 15 - Delicate Print

Thanks for being vague, I have no clue what delicate print is but I decided to have a stab at it. I had a simple plan, Japanese Rose Garden with the black pen. But I recently got Indian Ocean from Models Own and I had to try it out over the pink. I like it but it would’ve been better without. It looks amazing over purple though and I can’t wait to try it over blue. Anyway my “delicate print” is a wallpaper pattern.

What is that?? I don't even. Slowly I stopped copying the picture and went a little crazy. It looks super strange, its ok I guess. I like the thumb. The shimmer makes it look very purple toned. It’s more “random print” than “delicate print”.

Colours used:

Pink: OPI – Japanese Rose Garden

Blue/Purple Shimmer: Models Own – Indian Ocean

Black: Lovely Me:Ex – Black