East Asia Meets The Southwest - Embellished Gel Nail Art

I have been waiting for this day since the beginning of the challenge. Not only because it meant that I had successfully completed the gauntlet for the fifth (!!!) year in a row, but also because I had a manicure that I have been dying to recreate for a very long time.

This beauty of a manicure is completely inspired by 111NAIL salon in Japan. I love it SO much. I tried to copy it to the best of my ability (and materials) and I am beyond happy with the outcome. I just adore the aesthetic of Japanese nail art; it's always so refined and balanced.

Since the challenge is now over, I decided to these in gel and on both hands so I can enjoy them for a while. Here are the products that I used:

Gelish - Hot Rod Red
Red Carpet Manicure - Sandal Scandal
Akzentz Gel Play in White and Black

Gold caviar beads
Triangle studs
Turquoise teardrop charm
Round gold frame

Akzentz Bling On (used to attach 3D embellishments)
Presto Top Gel (thick gel topcoat)
Gelish Foundation (go-to gel basecoat)

These nails weren't hard to do at all; however, they were pretty time consuming.

The drag marble nails are my favorite part and are beyond easy, especially in gel. All you need to do is apply the colors in arced stripes, and then drag a clean striper brush through them to create the patterns. Cure the marbling in your lamp and you're set!

The other nails are basically just dots and embellishments, which I attached using Akzentz Bling On. It's a super strong, thick gel that grabs ahold of your charms or studs and helps keep them in place once cured. It made the process of placing the gold bits a lot easier, especially on a manicure like this with so many elements.

I made sure to finish with a thick gel topcoat to help smooth out the edges on the 3D pieces.

If you have a moment, be sure to go give @111nail_omotesando a follow on Instagram, I have completely copied this manicure from them and there is so much more gorgeous work to be seen on that account.

That's a wrap on the challenge for this year! Stay tuned for my 2015 roundup, and congratulations to those of you who have finished as well!

Previous nails I've honored:

• Rebecca Likes Nails' Candy Print
• Mr. Candiipants' Koi Fish
• Nailside's Abstract 80's Design
• Very Emily's Chunky Sweater Nails

Line Drawings Inspired by Zach Bootz

Today's prompt is "inspired by artwork" and I've done some nails inspired by the artwork of my pal Zach Bootz. He does these really awesome black and white line drawings that combine surreal patterns, geometric lines, architecture and more. While my manicure isn't as intricately crafted as his pieces are, I've tried to draw inspiration from his style and general "feel."

Though Zach's signature style includes black and white, I knew I wanted mine to be in color. I chose LVX Viola and LVX Mineral. Mineral is a light grey, but when I topcoated the design, the blue base seeped through and turned it pale purple. It looks cool, like blueprints, but this is the second time I've had trouble with an LVX polish bleeding through. I'm wondering if maybe it's the combination of their formula with my topcoat?

Afterwards, I finished with matte topcoat as a kind of nod to ink on paper. Be sure to stop by Zach's website and check out more of his work! It's really compelling stuff.

Not too many challenge days left! I can't lie and say I'll be sad when it's over.

Previous nail art inspired by artwork:

• Jackson Pollock's One: Number 31
• Warhol drip nail art
• Kaws' Kawsbob
• Barbara Kruger - Nail Art Is Dead

Pinstripe and Damask Nail Art Inspired by Tory Burch

Ladies that are also attempting the challenge with me... Are you getting tired of this yet? I've hit my yearly breaking point, but as always, I will push through and prevail. Today's prompt is "inspired by fashion," and I've drawn inspiration from a Tory Burch look that was just shown off at New York Fashion Week.

View image | gettyimages.com

I love these patterns and colors together, they're very textile-meets-Hamptons. Bold meets soft. Rigid meets organic.

I used Polish My Life - Saint as the base, and then mixed together Formula X - Glorious and LVX - Paraiso for the pinstripe color. I added the floral designs on with Formula X - Push the Limits and finished with topcoat.

Previously, on "Inspired by Fashion" day:

• Max Azria spring look
• Betsey Johnson bright gradient with "silly string"
• McQueen textured skull scarf
• Donna Karan inky negative space

Electric Carnival Half Moons

Half moon day! I love half moons and every year during the challenge, I say that I'm going to wear them more often and then I never do. So here's my look for this year -- it started out in a different place than it ended up, which is some kind of mix of "electric carnival," "60s mod," and "old wallpaper." I dig it, but had one main issue, which we'll talk about below.

The base of this manicure is LVX Midori, this gorgeous yellow-green shade that I adore. Like, ADORE it.

However.

Midori has this tendency to seep through and discolor any other shades that are used on top of it (even if there's a coat of topcoat between them). It's worse with light colors, but Midori even altered the deep cobalt blue that I used in my stripes. I didn't remember this when I reached for it, and by the time I realized, it was too late. In this case it was okay, because the color palette ended up looking kinda cool and retro, but this was not originally what I had in mind.

The process for these is pretty easy. I put down two coats of Midori plus a coat of quick dry topcoat. Once it was set, I used half moon nail vinyls to block off the moon area, then painted freehand stripes with JINsoon Cool Blue and Deborah Lippmann Whip It. As you can see, Midori turned Cool Blue into "Cool Teal" and Whip It into coral. Oh well!

Next, I removed the vinyls, and added the arcing stripes in the open moon space. The final step, of course, is to finish with topcoat. Carnival chic!

Here are my half moon manis from the past four years of the challenge:

• Sweet and girly leopard half moons
• Retro striped half moons
• Delicate lace half moons
• Autumnal gilded half moon stamping

TUTORIAL: Easy Sideswipe Nail Art with Negative Space

Who's up for a super quick and easy nail art tutorial? This look is a variation on the distressed nail art tutorial that you may have seen around these parts before. I changed the direction, added a bit of negative space, and made it matte. Easy, easy, easy. Perfect for the gal on the go. Hit the jump to check out the tutorial and see this technique in action.




For this look, I used:
Color Club - Je Ne Sais Quoi
Essie - Too Taboo
Julie G - Cabana Boy
Glisten and Glow - HK Girl Topcoat
Essie - Matte About You Topcoat
Kolinsky 777 French/round brush
Pure acetone

If you don't have a round brush, give it a go with whatever clean up brush you have handy! Of course, if you'd rather, you can always go for the classic hole-punch-reinforcement-as-half-moon-stencil method, too.

Mix things up by grabbing different color combinations, skipping the matte topcoat, or using a nail vinyl as your negative space stencil. The possibilities! Share your versions with me on Instagram by tagging @chalkboardnails and hashtagging #hellochalkboardnails.

Cirque Colors Metropolis Collection Swatches: September and October (Glossy & Matte)

Cirque's newest offering is their Metropolis collection: a series of creme nail polishes inspired by New York City. There are new polishes added to the line every month, and today's swatches cover the September and October releases. These polishes are all normal glossy cremes, but since I'm obsessed with all things matte, I wanted to share the shades with a matte topcoat as well. I think they all translate beautifully to matte.

NYFW was the release in September. It's a gorgeous, rich deep cobalt shade. It's a little darker than some of the other cobalts in my range. The formula was great and it covered nicely at two coats.

I've used Essie Matte About You as the matte topper in the second swatch.

Concrete Jungle is a concrete grey creme. Nice formula, covered evenly in two coats. This is a great and versatile shade, and would be a great manicure choice to complement any fall wardrobe!

La Vie Boheme is a black cherry creme. I wore this one as a full manicure, and I kept trying to pin the name of the color throughout the day... Was it plum? Was it raisin? Then finally... BLACK CHERRY! It was the perfect descriptor, to me. It's a very deep shade, looks very dark on the hand, but never so dark as to look black. Two coats.

The Metropolis collection is available now on CirqueColors.com, where each shade retails for $13. Be sure to keep an eye out for the November release, which should be hitting blogs soon!

Glam Polish Welcome to Storybrooke Collection Swatches & Review

Glam Polish has a new collection out, Welcome to Storybrooke, inspired by ABC's TV show 'Once Upon a Time'. I personally watch and enjoy the show; not only am I a sucker for fairy tales slash anything Disney related, but there's lots of good eye candy for both ladies and the fellas. Speaking of eye candy, let's take a look at these Glam Polish shades!

Hat Trick is a multichrome holographic that shifts from a pink-rose to copper to green. I've chosen to layer my swatch over black, because that's how I would wear it out into the world.

The Thing You Love Most is a multichrome holographic that shifts from violet to pink to orange. Again, I've layered one coat over black for my swatches to amp up the multichromatic effect.

A Land Without Magic is a teal-leaning emerald green holographic with iridescent microglitter and shimmer. I used two coats.

Desperate Souls is a deep, blackened purple with a holographic finish. It has a pretty green shimmer to it that shifts to a warm pink when seen at an angle, though unfortunately I had a tough time capturing it in my photos. Two coats.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is a deep, plum colored holographic with a magenta shimmer to it. This is by far and away my favorite of the shades I received to swatch, which is not to say the others were bad! This one is just that good. It's fully gorgeous and luxe. Two coats.

Second Star to the Right is an indigo holographic with blue glass flecks (I called them "sparks" in my notes) that shift to pink/violet. It leans more purple in person; my second photo is most accurate. Two coats.

So, what do you think? My top picks are Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, A Land Without Magic, and Hat Trick. All of the shades had great formulas, and dazzled with their complex finishes. No duds here, it all comes down to your personal color preference.

The Welcome to Storybrooke collection is available now from www.glampolish.com.au. Shipping rates to the USA are $7.95 for the first polish and $1.00 for each additional polish.

National Flags of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Today's 31 Day Challenge prompt is "inspired by a flag," a prompt that no one seems to really care for. It's not my favorite either, but it does often get me thinking outside of the box!

I chose to do nail art inspired by one of my favorite cartoons, Avatar: The Last Airbender. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, there are four nations in the Avatar world: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. I represented each nation's flag on my nails, and put the flag of the Order of the White Lotus on my thumb.

Nail polishes used:
Misa Blueberry Blast
JINsoon Cool Blue
OPI Jade is the New Black
LVX Midori
OPI All I Want for Christmas (Is OPI)
American Apparel Hassid
Misa Great Grape
Polish My Life Stripped

All elements of this manicure were painted freehand. I have the Water Tribes symbol on my pointer, the Earth Kingdom symbol on my middle finger, the Fire Nation flag on my ring, and the Air Nomad insignia on my pinky.

I needed a fifth finger design, and the Order of the White Lotus seemed like a perfect choice! They transcend the four nations, and are good guys in the series. And um, hello, who doesn't love Iroh?

If you are a fan of the Avatar universe, be sure to check back in tomorrow! I've done some Legend of Korra nail art for "inspired by the supernatural." Consider it a double feature!

Previous "inspired by a flag" manicures:

• Racing checkered flag
• Arizona state flag nail art
• Textured American flag nail art

Handpainted Geometric Gradient Facets

One difficult thing about the 31 Day Challenge, for me, is that even if you have extenuating circumstances (like, say, you fall asleep watching Monday Night Football), you still have to get the next day's manicure done. When I woke up on the couch at 1:30am this morning and realized I had geometric nail art to do, it was pretty tough to drag my ass over to my nail table. BUT I DID IT! Because that's how I roll.

Nail polishes used:
Misa Dusty Magnolia (nude)
LVX Orchid (pink)
Misa Loveliest of Lilacs (purple)
JINSoon Cool Blue (blue)

The technique for this nail art is pretty simple to break down. I painted my nails nude, and then began adding geometric facets with a small nail art brush and pink polish. About a third of the way down the nail, I started doing the facets with purple. Two thirds of the way down, I did the facets in blue.

The last step was to blend the gradient. I created custom blends of pink/purple and purple/blue, and painted them in the areas where the colors met. It looks pretty seamless, especially at arm's length.

This year, I've changed the "tribal print" prompt to geometric in an effort to be more culturally sensitive. Here are the manicures I've done in the past:

• Peach and yellow patterned
• Stenciled hand cave paintings
• Navajo blanket weaving

Spifster Inspired Delicate Line Nail Art

Today's 31 Day Challenge prompt is delicate print. This is one of the challenge prompts that inevitably makes people say "WTF is delicate print?", but really it's up for your interpretation! This year, I chose to pay homage to a very talented nail artist known for her incredibly delicate line detailing: Spifster.

Nail polishes used:
Formula X Enticing (camel)
Formula X Extraordinary (grey)
Formula X Memorable (blue)
Formula X Dark Matter (black)
Edinburgh Realism #4 nail art brush

I did my best to channel my inner Spifster on this nail design, incorporating super skinny lines and solid blocks of black. I'll tell you what, doing freehand linework this fine is exhausting. I was constantly correcting my lines, cleaning them up, and holding my breath to keep my hand steady. I think I watched three episodes of Ink Master on Netflix during the time it took me to finish these nails.

Still, I'm very proud of the outcome, especially since I've never been able to achieve such fine linework with nail polish before. Now to keep practicing so I can speed it up!

Check out my previous delicate print manicures:

• Henna style nail art
• Dragonfly patterned nail art
• Delicate glistening spiderwebs

Marbled Blue Swimming Pool Stripes

I like stripes. I do them quite a bit, often freehand (a girl's gotta practice), but today's 31 Day Challenge nail art required the use of nail vinyls. I combined them with the saran wrap marble technique for a blocked, marbled look that reminds me of a swimming pool. Steph Stone did a swimming pool nail art tutorial recently that used the same technique for the aquatic effect. Let's dive in!

Nail polishes used:
LVX Cashmere
JINSoon Cool Blue
Straight nail vinyls

I painted my nails with two coats of Cashmere and added a layer of quick dry topcoat to speed up the drying process. Once the base was dry, I applied both Nail Vinyls brand straight vinyls and KBShimmer straight vinyls with random spacing. The reason I used two different brands was they each had different sizes I wanted to use -- the smallest stripes are from Nail Vinyls while the medium and large blocks are from KBShimmer.

I painted one thicker coat of Cool Blue over the top, and then dabbed wadded up pieces of saran wrap over the wet, freshly painted polish. This removed some of the blue and left it with a cool tie-dye marble effect! The only thing left to do was remove the vinyls and finish with topcoat.

Stripes all day:

• Dusty green tape stripes
• Rainbow blocked stripes
• Green ombre vertical stripes