Simple Constellation Nail Art

Simple Constellation Nail Art || I was due for a fresh set of gel polish this week, and have been craving black and white lately. I don't usually gravitate towards dark nail colors, because I feel like they make my nails look small and (sometimes) weird. #truenailconfessions. BUT, I've been seeing black and white nails all over my feed lately, and it had me wanting it on my own fingers.

Since I try to ride out these gel polish sets as long as possible, I can't slack on the nail art for my right hand. I figured constellations would be easy enough that I could pull off something passable using my left hand.

I started with two coats of my new favorite black gel polish, Presto #060 Minaccioso. Next, I used Wildflower's Art Paints in Powder to paint on constellations and stars. Then, I used two coats of gel topcoat to seal the paint details in. Easy peasy!

P.S. They're all based on real constellations! I wanted to do my zodiac sign, but who knew Sagittarius had so many stars in it?!?!?

Mid Century Modern Nail Art

Mid Century Modern Nail Art || Hello friends! It's been a while since I posted here (thanks to everyone that reached out to make sure I was ok), but I'm back with a couple of snazzy new things to show you! First off, don't miss my new blog header! I wanted something fresh, lighter, and more fun, and so I made it mahself. Second, I'm shooting my photos on a light background! The black background looked too heavy with the blog refresh, so I'm giving this a go.

Now, on to the nail art. This simple look was created by saying "yes, and..." You know that rule of improv where you're supposed to take what your partner says and say "yes, and..."? It accepts what's already put into play and then adds more to the scene. Well in this manicure, I just kept adding pieces! It looked nice at several stages throughout the process, but I decided not to stop and to keep adding elements.

I used the following polishes for this look:
LVX Militaire (base)
LVX Monarch (gold)
Salon Perfect Oil Slick (black)
Formula X Push the Limits (red-orange)

Can we take a second to marvel at the beauty that is LVX Militaire, by the way? It's such a great gorgeous grey with just a twinge of green, and it covered perfectly in two coats.

After applying the base, I used the polish brush of Monarch to dab some random gold shapes on top of it. Next, I grabbed my new Tati Chou Chou detail brush (splurge!) to add the thin black linework. The last step before topcoat was to apply the red and black dots; use a dotting tool for the smaller ones and a pencil eraser for the large ones.

I hope you enjoyed this look, and here's crossing my fingers that the next post won't be another month out! :)

Crop Circle Inspired Nail Art

"Inspired by the supernatural" is another one of the challenge prompts that I'm not usually too enthused about. I started out today attempting a manicure depicting the Galactic Entity from Futurama, but quickly changed my mind (looked too much like my galaxy nails!). I decided to do some crop circle nail art instead, and boy am I glad that I did! I'm super pleased with these and hope you enjoy them too.

I started out by applying two coats of Essie - Mojito Madness as my green base. Then, I used the dry brush technique to add some swipes of Duri - Shocking Twist. If you're unfamiliar, you just wipe most of the polish off of your brush, and then lightly swipe it over your nails.

Then, I used LVX - Avenal to handpaint my crop circle designs. Many of them have geometric elements to them, so I chose to focus on concentric circles as well as lines and triangles.

I finished the nail art with a matte topcoat. I liked the look of it glossy, but to be honest, the reflections of the lights that I use for my photos on my nails made my linework look distorted.

See more of my supernatural nail art:

• Glow in the dark ghosties
• Glittering Edward nail art
• Phoenix feather nail art
• Raava and Vaatu nail art (Legend of Korra)

Crop Circle Inspired Nail Art

"Inspired by the supernatural" is another one of the challenge prompts that I'm not usually too enthused about. I started out today attempting a manicure depicting the Galactic Entity from Futurama, but quickly changed my mind (looked too much like my galaxy nails!). I decided to do some crop circle nail art instead, and boy am I glad that I did! I'm super pleased with these and hope you enjoy them too.

I started out by applying two coats of Essie - Mojito Madness as my green base. Then, I used the dry brush technique to add some swipes of Duri - Shocking Twist. If you're unfamiliar, you just wipe most of the polish off of your brush, and then lightly swipe it over your nails.

Then, I used LVX - Avenal to handpaint my crop circle designs. Many of them have geometric elements to them, so I chose to focus on concentric circles as well as lines and triangles.

I finished the nail art with a matte topcoat. I liked the look of it glossy, but to be honest, the reflections of the lights that I use for my photos on my nails made my linework look distorted.

See more of my supernatural nail art:

• Glow in the dark ghosties
• Glittering Edward nail art
• Phoenix feather nail art
• Raava and Vaatu nail art (Legend of Korra)

Carnaval Netting - X-Patterned Nail Art

Today's prompt is "inspired by a pattern" and I don't even know where I took it today, but here's what I ended up with. The candy colored palette has me thinking of Carnaval in Rio, while the X pattern is vaguely reminiscent of netting.

Wouldn't you know it, my base polish fits the theme! It's Gelish Carnaval Hangover, which is my new gel manicure for the week. I completely finished and cured the manicure before adding the designs.

Using a small nail art brush, I added the Xs with Duri - Shocking Twist (pea green), Sally Hansen - Blue Me Away (blue), and American Apparel - L'Espirit (pale purple). I didn't try to make them uniform, especially not from nail to nail, and instead went for a more abstract feel.

The manicure still needed something else, so after the Xs were done, I added black dots wherever the lines met. I think it contributes a lot to the final look!

More "inspired by a pattern" nail art:

• Dark, matte, and dotted
• Partial checkerboards
• Pretty paisley
• Tori Burch ruby floral

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