Simple Vintage Floral Inspired by Lacquerstyle

We are nearing the end of the challenge! Today's prompt is "inspired by a tutorial" and I've taken inspiration from the talented (and Queen of Florals), Lacquerstyle. For this particular look, I've followed her Simple Abstract Floral Tutorial, which not only features a fun and easy design, but has gorgeous cinematography and photography to boot.

I wont detail how to do this look -- if you want to visit the tutorial, just click on the link above!

I used Formula X Cloud Nine as my base. The flowers are painted with China Glaze Make an Entrance, while the blue blossom sprays were done in China Glaze First Mate. I created the leaf shade by mixing China Glaze Take a Hike and American Apparel Crescent Heights.

I love this look, though mine aren't quite as perfect as Kristin's! The smaller blue sprays really add a lot to the completed manicure.

Check out the other tutorials I've tried in the past:

• Cutie owl half moons
• Candy mermaid scales
• Floral pond manicure
• Reverse stamped glow in the dark stars

Simple Vintage Floral Inspired by Lacquerstyle

We are nearing the end of the challenge! Today's prompt is "inspired by a tutorial" and I've taken inspiration from the talented (and Queen of Florals), Lacquerstyle. For this particular look, I've followed her Simple Abstract Floral Tutorial, which not only features a fun and easy design, but has gorgeous cinematography and photography to boot.

I wont detail how to do this look -- if you want to visit the tutorial, just click on the link above!

I used Formula X Cloud Nine as my base. The flowers are painted with China Glaze Make an Entrance, while the blue blossom sprays were done in China Glaze First Mate. I created the leaf shade by mixing China Glaze Take a Hike and American Apparel Crescent Heights.

I love this look, though mine aren't quite as perfect as Kristin's! The smaller blue sprays really add a lot to the completed manicure.

Check out the other tutorials I've tried in the past:

• Cutie owl half moons
• Candy mermaid scales
• Floral pond manicure
• Reverse stamped glow in the dark stars

Paint It Black

For today's prompt, "inspired by a song," I decided to do some nail art inspired by The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black." The song is about depression and loss, and wanting to paint everything black to match those feelings.

If you're familiar with the song, the obvious choice would have been do a red door and then put some black on it, but I wanted to go for something a little more colorful and (only slightly) less literal. I opted for a bright base, splattered and smeared with black paint.

I began with a white base to help the colors above it pop.

Then I cut off a strip of a makeup sponge, and painted swipes of my three base colors directly on to the sponge. I used China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights, and Girly Bits Hip Hoop Hooray.

For the big black swipe, I wiped most of the polish off of the brush of Salon Perfect Oil Slick, and then dry brushed it across my nails. I used a small nail art brush to add the splatters and drips, then finished with topcoat.

See how I've been inspired by songs in the past:

• Tik Tok - Ke$ha
• Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
• Lose Yourself to Dance - Daft Punk
• Undone (The Sweater Song) - Weezer

Bejeweled Galaxy Nail Art

IT HAS ARRIVED! Galaxy day of the 31 Day Challenge! I love this day because I never do galaxies, even though I should, and they're so easy to do, and they always turn out lovely, and the sparkles are overwhelming, and yeah. Galaxies are the best.

As with all my galaxy manicures, I started with a base of black polish.

Then, I tore off tiny pieces of a makeup sponge, and used it to create layers of the following shades:
LVX Cameo
LVX Viola
Girly Bits Hoop There It Is
Color Club Peace Love and Polish

Next I added the bitty stars! I always use China Glaze Fairy Dust for my stars. The key is to swipe it on randomly, instead of covering the entire nail!

The final step was to add the individual stars. I used a pinpoint dotting tool and Polish My Life's Saint, then added some lensflares on a couple of the stars.

I totally love how these came out and honestly they took me maybe 30 minutes to do. A win all around!



Check out my galaxy nails from years before:

• Maroon and yellow galaxy nails
• Hyperspace jump nail art
• The Pleiades Star Cluster galaxy nails
• The Pelican Nebula galaxy nails

Raava and Vaatu - The Legend of Korra Nail Art

Raava and Vaatu - The Legend of Korra Nail Art || It's day two of my Avatar double feature! Yesterday I shared my flag nail art inspired by the nations in the Avatar universe, today I have some supernatural nail art inspired by Raava and Vaatu, the spirits of good and evil, from The Legend of Korra. I painted their markings on my middle nails, and then added their matching tail ribbons on the outer nails.

Nail polishes used:
Polish My Life Stripped
China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle
Michael Kors Impulse
American Apparel Hassid
Polish My Life Don't Snap My Dragon
Misa Peach Passion

These nails were painted freehand. The pattern was pretty fun to paint, actually! I'm not sure what it was, but I just really liked assembling the pieces of their markings.

When the story first introduces these ancient spirits, they are entangled in a battle of good vs. evil. I tangled their ribbons on my thumb to represent that.

On a related note, if you are a Korra fan and haven't seen the trailer for the final season yet -- WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? It's epic. Check it out! (Spoilers, obviously.)

Not (yet) a Legend of Korra fan? All of the episodes are available for watching on Nick.com!

See more of my supernatural nail art:

• Glow in the dark ghosties
• Glittering Edward nail art
• Phoenix feather nail art

Anna Inspired Frozen Nail Art

It's "inspired by a movie" day in the 31 Day Challenge and I've done some nail art inspired by a movie that is sure to be a popular choice among other participants this year: Frozen! These tips are inspired by Anna's dress, which itself drew inspiration from a traditional piece of Norwegian clothing called a bunad. Her look features a black bodice, gold lacings, and flower details.

Nail polishes used:
Formula X Dark Matter (black)
Deborah Lippmann Autumn In New York (gold)
Essie Mojito Madness (green)
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky (yellow)
Misa Loveliest of Lilacs (purple)
Misa Lovely Lychee (pink)

I painted my nails black and then added the gold tips using the fishtail technique. The flowers and stems were painted freehand using my Edinburgh Realism #4 brush, and I used a pinpoint and small dotting tool to add the decorative dots. Everything is sealed in with two coats of Glisten and Glow HK Girl.

I have done quite a few movie manicures in the past! Check out what I've done previously for the challenge:

• Star Wars inspired nail art
• Eye of Sauron nail art from the Lord of the Rings trilogy
• Titan nail art from the movie Hercules

Louis Vuitton Pattern Freehand Nail Art

Today is "inspired by a color" day in the 31 Day Challenge. I always take this prompt to mean "take inspiration from a polish color," particularly drawing inspiration from the name. This year, I reached for China Glaze's Lug Your Designer Baggage from the All Aboard collection for Fall 2014.

Nail polishes used:
China Glaze Lug Your Designer Baggage
Deborah Lippmann Autumn In New York

My inspiration for this look came from Michelle's review of the collection on All Lacquered Up. She mentioned that the name of the polish, plus the color in it, reminded her of a Louis Vuitton trunk. The color alone is really interesting -- it's a dark brown with golden flecks. I needed two coats for coverage.

I initially had trouble creating this pattern, and even came close to giving up on the look entirely. I posted my pinky on Instagram, intending to show off the one nail that had turned out well, but felt so encouraged by everyone's comments that I decided to try it one more time. My final attempt was passable, so here we are!

Check out my "inspired by a color" looks from past years:

• OPI Skull and Glossbones
• China Glaze Kalahari Kiss
• Color Club Wild Cactus

Tattered Monochromatic Spray Marble

I never look forward to the water marble day of the 31 Day Challenge. This year, instead of putting myself through all of the pain, I went straight to a technique that I do have fun with: the spray marble! This technique is a sister to the water marble, and I actually prefer the edgy, tattered outcome.

Nail polishes used:
Polish My Life Birthday Suit
Polish My Life Storm Clouds
Jessica Cosmetics NY State of Mind
China Glaze Ghoulish Glow
Formula X Dark Matter

I started out by using a triangle makeup sponge to do a gradient of cream, grey, and dark grey. Then, I painted on a coat of glow in the dark topcoat, because why not?

The spray marble began with filling a plastic cup with room temperature filtered water and taping off the area surrounding my fingers to minimize mess. I gently dropped one drop of black polish on the surface of the water, and then used a spray bottle to mist a 50/50 mixture of water and apple cider vinegar on the polish. I've seen other people use hairspray, perfume, all sorts of other mixtures to break up the polish on the water, but @madamluck was the first one I saw that used the vinegar mix. It worked great!

I dipped one finger in at a time, removed excess polish from the surface of the water, and pulled my finger out. Remove the tape, clean up, and topcoat; you're done!

The glow was stronger where it was layered over light polish. Looks kinda like alien eggs, doesn't it?

Previous water marble work:

• Turquoise water marble
• Starburst candy water marble
• Soft flower marble

Purple Galaxy Nails, Inspired by the Pelican Nebula

Galaxy nails day for the 31 Day Challenge! I don't do galaxy nails nearly enough. They create such a stunning effect for so little effort. For this year's nail art, I was inspired by a photo of the Pelican Nebula that I found on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). I didn't end up using enough pink in for the look to match exactly, but that's okay. I love the depth in these.

Nail polishes and supplies used:
OPI Who Are You Calling Bossy?!? (black)
Zoya Sailor (navy)
LVX Orchid (orchid)
Misa Loveliest of Lilacs (medium purple)
Nicole by OPI American As Apple Pie (red)
Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt (white)
China Glaze Lotus Begin (light purple)
Formula X Freaky Like Freud (holographic glitter)
Triangle makeup wedges
Edinburgh Realism #4 nail art brush

I started by painting my nails black. Then, I used a torn piece of the makeup sponge to apply a bit of navy on my nails -- admittedly, that part doesn't really show as well as I was hoping it did. Using new bits of sponge for each color, I sponged on streaks of red, then medium purple, medium orchid, and light purple.

I mixed a bit of white polish with acetone for a thinned out, watercolor effect, and used it to do a bit of freehanding inside of the light purple sponging (you can see it in the middle of the large purple nebula sections). A holographic glitter, used sparingly, gave the effect of distant stars, while white polish and a pinpoint dotting tool created some closer objects. The final step was to freehand a handful of stars with cross lensflare.

Go where one girl has gone before:

• Maroon and yellow galaxy nails
• Hyperspace jump nail art
• The Pleiades Star Cluster galaxy nails

Sweet Red Rose Floral Print

I had grand ambitions for today's 31 Day Challenge floral print, but when it came down to it, I just ran out of time. I will save my other idea for another time, though. I think it could be a really great manicure if I give it the time it deserves! I do love the way this rose nail art turned out. I think they are some of the best roses I've done and I like how clean the manicure looks overall.

Nail polishes used:
Models Own - Coconut Cream
China Glaze - Hey Sailor
China Glaze - Velvet Bow
China Glaze - Tree Hugger
Essie - Blanc
Sally Hansen - Night Flight

Okay, before we talk about the nail art, I'd like to take a moment to talk about Models Own Coconut Cream. I bought it kind of on a whim, and I freaking LOVE it. Great formula, beautiful off-white, and it's scented like coconut!

The roses are handpainted; their base is Hey Sailor, and I added the petal detailing with Blanc and Velvet Bow. The leaves are Tree Hugger and their detailing is in Night Flight. Chelsea Queen has a great floral tutorial you should check out if you are interested in rose nail art like this!

Flowers in your hair, flowers everywhere:

• Stargazer lily nail art tutorial
• Magenta floral nail art
• Plumeria print nail art

Stylized Goldfish Scales Nail Art

It's animal print day of the 31 Day Challenge! This is always one of my favorite days. I do a lot of animal print in my regular nail art work, so I like to take the challenge as an opportunity to get inspired by some unusual animals. This year, I've gone with a freehand stylized goldfish scale print, inspired by Queen Otohime from the One Piece anime. Does anyone else watch?

Nail polishes used:
OPI My Paprika Is Hotter Than Yours
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
American Apparel Hassid

Without giving too much about the story away, Otohime wears a kimono with this stylized fish scale print on it. I tried to directly mimic the way it looks in the anime, and I think I did a nice job! I painted my nails with the red-orange first, then added the yellow detailing, and finally finished it off with the black lines.

I'm pretty enamored with this pattern. It definitely looks like fish scales, though I can also see phoenix feathers or dragon scales. Very bold and cool.

Animal print from years past:

• Blue poison dart frog nail art
• Manta ray patterned nail art
• Nudibranch sea slug nail art

Rainbow Pinwheel Nail Art

Ah, the rainbow prompt of the 31 Day Challenge. So bright, so happy! I've done some rainbow pinwheel nail art -- it also reminds me of the top of an umbrella, for some reason. I went for the brightest, most cheerful colors I could find, and freehanded the design over a white base.

Nail polishes used:
China Glaze You Drive Me Coconuts (pink)
China Glaze Sun Worshiper (orange)
China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (yellow)
China Glaze Kiwi Cool-ada (green)
China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle (aqua)
China Glaze Sunday Funday (blue)
China Glaze That's Shore Bright (purple)

I started out with a white base, and then freehanded spiraling blocks of color. I rotated the block placement between each nail for more visual interest. Then, I outlined the sections with black and a small nail art brush. I finished with topcoat and that was that!

I didn't think I'd have as much trouble with this prompt as I did. Unfortunately, it was the first of my challenge stumbling blocks this year. Though I ended up with a design that I actually do like a lot, I tried probably 4 or 5 other manicures before arriving here! So frustrating at the time, but I feel good about it now.

This manicure photographed a little streaky, but of course it doesn't look like that at all in person. The struggle is real.

Taste the rainbow:

• Rainbow half moons with cloud French tips
• Rainbow gradient with black and white glitter
• Lady Rainicorn from Adventure Time