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?!?!?

Peachy Marbled Stone Nail Art

We're at the end of section two in the 31 Day Challenge! Today's prompt is "water marble," so basically I've been dreading it this whole time. I am not a good water marbler, I cannot create a marbling bullseye to save my life... BUT this time, I used that to my advantage! Instead of going for a super perfect and gorgeous water marble design, I opted for something a bit more organic with a marbled stone look. More room for error = happy Sarah.

Quick sidenote, does anyone know what kind of stone I created? Some pals suggested banded carnelian, agate, & jasper... But I can't shake the feeling that there's another one that I just can't put my finger on!



I started with a base of Presto #100 Trillo gel, a soft peachy nude. I've been wearing gel underneath all of my challenge manicures and this happens to be my base for this week!

Then, I dropped drops of white polish and a slow-drying clear topcoat onto the surface of a small dappen dish filled with room temperature water. I used a pinpoint dotting tool to gently stir up the drops until I had a pattern that I liked. Working one at a time (since my dish was so small), I dipped my nails into the swirled polish.

Look guys, I'm never gonna be a great watermarbling resource. Here's a good video for beginners from Hannah Rox Nails with some tips and tricks, if you're interested in learning!

Finally, I used a skill that I do have: freehanding! I added some orange and deep red banding along the white marbling using my tiny nail art brush.

The last step was to add a coat of sheer pink on top to give everything a deeper, buried look. I used Formula X Sheer Strength in Wonderous.

Previous water marble work:

• Turquoise water marble
• Starburst candy water marble
• Soft flower marble
• Tattered monochromatic spray marble

Nude and Mauve Ombre with Lacy Glitter

I recently received a package of some current Color Club shades. As I pulled the bottles out of the box, fate took control and lined up four of the shades from lightest to darkest. They looked gorgeous in an ombre together, and I had to oblige the universe's wishes.

Of course, I was still missing a fifth shade, and while I was searching for the perfect polish, I figured it couldn't hurt to add some glitter, either.

So, the four fated Color Clubs that I was destined to use are:
Color Club Blank Canvas (white)
Color Club Barely There (light tan)
Color Club Get a Mauve On It (mauve)
Color Club Midnight Mulberry (plum)

Then, I grabbed A England Elaine for the thumb, and added a layer of Sally Hansen Eyelet from the Luxe Lace line on all the nails. The glitter density was good, but I ended up with a lot of bubbles on the nails. Not sure what happened there.

I haven't done an ombre in a while, but I totally should wear them more often. They're really gorgeous and chic, especially in shades of nudes/neutrals like this. Big thanks to the universe and to Color Club for setting me up to hit one out of the ombre park (IMO)!

Chunky Sweater Nails Inspired by Very Emily

Today is the final day of the 31 Day Challenge! This month both flew by and went very slowly. Isn't it weird how time does that? The final prompt is "honor nails you love" and I've chosen Very Emily's knitted nail art design. I'm not a knitter myself, but I have been known to enjoy a good sweater! I'm totally enamored with the combination of soft shades and patterns in Emily's work; it feels very "winter luxe" to me.

Nail polishes used:
Contrary Polish Frozen
Cirque Carpe Diem
Cirque Au
Sonoma Nail Art Wine Country Wedding

The knit stitched and the "ball of yarn" nails were painted freehand. For the accent nail I stacked a gold leaf with a white glitter. Gold leaf just felt like the right choice last night. Maybe it was that "winter luxe" feeling I was getting.

On a related note, I want to do the stitching pattern in a million more color combinations! How cute does it look?

Previous nails I've honored:

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

Star Bright - Reverse Stamped Glow in the Dark Stars

We're almost at the end of the 31 Day Challenge! Today's prompt is "inspired by a tutorial" and I took the opportunity to try reverse stamping, a technique I've never tried before. I always like the results other people get from it, and the Challenge is all about pushing yourself, so advanced stamping seemed like the way to go. I did struggle, but the finished product doesn't look too shabby! I used this tutorial from Drama Queen Nails for my guidance.

Nail polishes used:
Formula X Dark Matter
OPI Angel With a Leadfoot
Serum No. 5 I Gleam In Pink
Serum No. 5 Solar Power
Serum No. 5 Orange You Sunny
Serum No. 5 Ultra Violet
Serum No. 5 Indi-glo
Vivid Lacquer plate VL002

If you wanna try out this technique, be sure to visit Drama Queen Nails for her tutorial. The basic gist of it is that you create your own decals by stamping and painting on a plastic bag or a piece of wax paper. You peel the "decals" off, flip them over, and stick them on your nails.

I used five of the Serum No. 5 neon glows for this look, and it was AWESOME in the dark. Tiny little glowing stars, floating around. I love that they glow different colors, too.

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

• Cutie owl half moons
• Candy mermaid scales
• Floral pond manicure

Nail Art Is Dead - Barbara Kruger Inspired Nail Art

This year, for "inspired by artwork" day of the 31 Day Challenge, I tackled an idea that I've contemplated in the past. My nails are inspired by the work of Barbara Kruger, a conceptual artist who often addresses how words and images, particularly in the media, can affect our identities and assumptions about truth.

Her signature style features black and white photographs overlaid with declarative text, often accentuated inside red rectangles. Notable Kruger pieces include "I shop therefore I am," "Your body is a battleground," and "No." I got a little cheeky with my interpretation and chose "Nail art is dead," a sensationalist idea that I occasionally see pop up on my feeds. Clearly I disagree!

Nail polishes used:
Polish My Life Storm Clouds
Polish My Life Saint
American Apparel 7th and Alameda
American Apparel Hassid
INM White Porcelain
OPI Coca Cola Red

I'll tell you what, this was horrifyingly time consuming. The letters are freaking tiny and I needed them to look a certain way to match the font that Kruger uses. The base was easy -- I used a square nail art brush to paint on some brushy marks in the style of the Nailasaurus streaky watercolor nail art.

Then I freehanded the red rectangles and text, which took me a good hour and a half to two hours. I was constantly refining the shape of the letters and had to re-do one of the nails once. Still, I think it is a huge success! Except now I'm blind from the tininess of the letters.

Previous nail art inspired by artwork:

• Jackson Pollock's One: Number 31
• Warhol drip nail art
• Kaws' Kawsbob

Inky Negative Space Nail Art Inspired by Donna Karan

Today's 31 Day Challenge prompt is "inspired by fashion." One upside to doing the challenge in September is that this day always follows New York Fashion Week, so there is plenty of inspiration to browse. I flipped through a massive Harper's Bazaar slideshow and fell in love with this Donna Karan dress. I made sure to include not only the inky shapes, but also the black detailing and negative space of the neckline.

Nail polishes used:
Polish My Life Birthday Suit
American Apparel Hassid
Painter's tape

I taped off skinny triangles at the base of my nail, and then painted on the cream shade. I removed the tape, and used the distressed/dry brush technique to add the inky shapes in black. Then, I used a small nail art brush to add the delicate black V details at the tips of the triangles, as well as a few smaller splatter details.

I love the graphic, splattered look of this, and the black and white palette only enhances the graphic effect.

Previously, on "Inspired by Fashion" day:

• Max Azria spring look
• Betsey Johnson bright gradient with "silly string"
• McQueen textured skull scarf

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

Black and White Mesh Framed Half Moons

Black and white are a classic pairing that never goes out of style. I love looking at everyone's work for black and white day of the 31 Day Challenge! For my look, I've done a negative space half moon mesh manicure, with contrasting thin detail lines and a thick outline.

I blocked off the moons using half moon Nail Vinyls, then painted my nails with Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt.

Then, using a small nail art brush, I outlined the white areas with American Apparel Hassid. This was the trickiest part as I had to keep the thickness of the lines consistent! Tough stuff! I finished the look off by adding some thin black lines for a mesh appearance.

More black and white nail art:

• Tuxedo nail art
• Black and white wiggles
• Midnight smoke nail art