South American Favela Painting Project Nails

 
Arden: Hi everyone!  Today we're supposed to create "South American" nails in the 33 Day Challenge.  Goodness gracious-- that's a whole continent of inspiration to choose from!  It was quite a difficult task.  I ultimately decided to use this picture for inspiration, created by an artist duo who've painted these awesome enormous mural on the walls of a favela in Rio de Janeiro.  To learn more about the Favela Painting project, click here.  (And if you're interested in how art has flourished in the slum favelas of Brazil, might I recommend the excellent documentary Favela Rising?)

I created these nails by painting the lighter shade of each color on every nail.  I then painted strokes of the darker color on top of each nail using the cloud/stairs method.  Next, I added white jagged lines using our Color Club white striper polish.  Finally, I made little black dots/lines for the windows on the buildings using the Color Club black striper polish.  I added a top coat and they were good to go!

Colors used (thumb to pinkie):
Sally Hansen Barracuda
Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant glosstini Blue Hawaiian
Revlon Minted
OPI Did It On 'Em
CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Coral Silk
Essie Geranium
Sally Hansen Pink Blink
Essie Pink Daquiri
Julep Leila
Sally Hansen Butterscotch

Ok, so these are obviously not in any way a super realistic depiction of the favela murals, but they were bright and fun and geometric, so I still think we can call them a success.

As always, be sure to check out the other entries in today's 33 Day Challenge group after the break.

Abstract Nails

Arden: Hey everyone!  Sorry for my absence last week-- I was hanging out at the beach with my family!  Today's prompt in the 33 Day Challenge is "abstract nails."  Wow, there were a lot of different ways to go with that one!  For inspiration, I googled "abstract art" and found this neat painting:

I started by painting my nails with two coats of Revlon Timeless.  I then dabbed on a bunch of other gray polishes using Saran wrap, before moving on to adding the blue splotches.  I then added a top coat of Essie Good to Go and voila! 

Colors used:
Julep Stevie
Maybelline Color Show Impeccable Greys
Julep Annette
Julep Faye
Butter London Blagger

What do you think?  The blue in the nails doesn't really match the teal in the painting, but I still think these nails can count as abstract.  Up close they do look a little more like swirls than actual paintbrush strokes, but I worried that if I used a brush they would come out all funky.  At least I knew Saran wrap nails would look cool!

Please excuse the chip on my pointer finger-- Saran wrap nails always chip so easily!

Let me know what you think of these nails in the comments, and as always, check out the other entries in today's challenge below!

Elegant Nude Nails + Julep August Golden Mystery Box

Arden: Well, I guess I'm just going to be on a Julep kick this week!  Last month Julep offered a "Golden Mystery Box" in their monthly secret store.  Given how pleased we'd been with the Mystery Box we ordered back in May, I decided to take the plunge on the Golden Mystery Box.

Here's a picture of its contents:

Included were:
-Everyday SPF Hand Cream
-Oxygen Nail Treatment
-3 elastic hair ties
-4 nail polishes: Bunny (white), Drew (hot pink), Layne (sheer nude pink), and Sheryl (gold shimmer)
-3 toffee candies

Overall, I was a little disappointed with the Golden Mystery Box.  I'm not the biggest fan of the hand cream (it kinda has a weird medicinal smell).  I'm not sure what the point of the Oxygen Nail Treatment is; Julep bills it as "makeup for your fingernails" but isn't that what polish should be?  I tried it one day and it left my nails a little sticky (definitely much stickier than regular polish).  Supposedly it strengthens your nails if you leave it on for a week or more; I'll let you know if I ever try that!

I already owned Bunny (look for it to be included in an upcoming blog giveaway), but the other three are pretty nice.  I haven't tried Sheryl yet, but Drew is a great hot pink and I've used Layne several times (including in the below manicure!).

I was about to attend a wedding when my mystery box first arrived, so I decided to try out Layne first and do an elegant, nude manicure.

I was worried about how many coats it would take to make Layne even semi-opaque, so I started with two coats of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu and then added two coats of Layne to pink-en it up a bit.  I finished with a coat of Revlon Snowflurries.

I didn't end up keeping this manicure til the wedding I attended, but it would definitely be a good option if you were looking for a sparkly nude wedding manicure!

Green Worm Nails

Arden: Ok, this manicure is going to require some explanation.  You see, today is my boyfriend Biff's birthday.  (Happy birthday, Biff!)  To celebrate, I wanted to paint my nails with something to honor him.  Biff is a geneticist who works with little bitty microscopic worms all day.  Sometimes, he makes them glow green.  This leads to awesome pictures, like these:

I got this one put on a mug for Biff for his birthday last year.

So, to honor Biff's work, today I am rocking green worm nails!  My method for creating them was basically the same as my colorful feathery nails from a couple weeks ago, except with these I tried to make them more wavy so they could better resemble worms.  (You may remember that that manicure was inspired by a post by the Nailasaurus.  She's now posted a tutorial on how to do her striped nails that's really helpful if you're looking to try these out yourself!)

Nail Art Fail: Rose Nails

Arden: Hi, friends!  After Lisl made rose nail art for the tri-color challenge in May, I decided that I'd like to try them out myself.

Full disclosure: I was SUPER tempted not to blog these nails because they did NOT GO WELL.  But Lisl encouraged me to put them out there so you guys can see what it's like when nail bloggers try something and fail.  So here's to failure!

It started innocently enough.  I decided to use Sally Hansen I Lilac You (which I found in the clearance bin at Target two weeks ago) as my base.  It's the palest lilac purple I own, and I love it!

I then followed the Nailasaurus' tutorial on how to make rose nails.  I painted on splotches in New York & Company Peony Blossom and then added some outlining using Revlon Cherries in the Snow.  I first tried using our smallest nail art brush for this task, then our smallest dotting tool, and ultimately a toothpick.

NOTHING WORKED.  As much as I wanted to paint on nice artsy contour lines, what kept coming out onto my nails were ugly blobs.  I tried to make it better by adding some lighter colored lines using CoverGirl Pink Lady, but that didn't go well either.  This is what I was left with:

As you can tell, this manicure wasn't helped by the fact that Cherries in the Snow bleeds TERRIBLY when you apply a top coat over it.  Both the pointer and ring finger were hit hard by streakage.  

Not that I cared a whole lot, since my poor roses just looked like sad pink blotches.  I don't know, maybe I'll try this design again sometime, when I'm better at using our brushes (or maybe I have a different one?).  But for now, I can attest that this style is not nearly as simple as it looks.

NOTD: "They're like Metallic Volleyballs"

Arden: Today's manicure is a pattern I had been wanting to try out foreverrrr.  I'm not quite sure what this pattern is called, so I'll just go with my brother's reaction when he saw my nails: "They're like metallic volleyballs!"  (But seriously, if you know what this pattern is called, PLEASE let me know in the comments.)

[Update! Many thanks to commenter Kyema for identifying this pattern as the "basket weave.']

To start, I painted my nails with two coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Black Out, followed by a coat of Seche Vite to help dry them quickly.

Then I used my little roll of striping tape and taped off the pattern on each nail.

I started by making a diagonal stripe down the middle, then added several pieces of tape parallel to that toward the tip.  I finished by taping the bottom half of the nail in a perpendicular direction. 

After all the tape was in place, I painted on a coat of Revlon Timeless followed by a coat of OPI On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  I then removed all of the tape immediately from one nail using tweezers before continuing with the next.

Splatter Paint Nails Tutorial

Arden here!  Did anybody else's family do a lot of splatter painting when they were younger?  Maybe it was just me, but I definitely had several articles of clothing that featured some home-made splatter paint when I was in elementary school.  Today's manicure brought back all that 90's awesomeness!

I had been looking to do some really colorful nails, and my original plan was to try a rainbow pattern.  But the more I thought about it, the more tedious, time-consuming, and un-fun painting on a gazillion rainbow stripes sounded.  So I decided to go in another, infinitely more fun direction.  And I'm so glad I did, because this is by far my favorite manicure I've given myself yet!

I started by painting my nails with two coats of Sally Hansen Black Out.

I then started splatter painting!  All you really need to do this technique is a straw.  I did not have a full-sized drinking straw, so I used a little red coffee stirrer straw.  I do think that no matter the diameter of your straw, it probably helps to cut them down so they're shorter.  I ended up cutting each coffee stirrer in thirds.

Next, make a little puddle of the nail polish you want to splatter on a paper plate/wax paper/Ziploc baggie/whatever water-resistant surface you want.  Dip one end of the straw in the nail polish.  Then hold it over your nail, and blow into the other end of the straw.  (Be careful not to inhale the polish!)

It will probably take you a couple of tries to work out all of the kinks.  Here I am practicing on wax paper.  As you can tell, the nail polish didn't so much splatter out of the straw as drip down.  (But that one in the lower left corner looks good!)

I found that blowing a quick sharp breath helped.  Also, it worked better for me when I made a tah sound as I blew, instead of a wah.

Here are my nails after I finished my first color.  They weren't too impressive.

Yeah, that's right, the pinky and pointer finger basically only have small drops on them.

As Seen on Pinterest: Fish Scale and/or Mermaid Nails

Arden here: Today I tried something I've seen a couple of times on Pinterest, a nail design that looks like fish or mermaid scales.  This is one of the favorite ones I've seen:

from http://little-nails.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/picture-polish-blog-fest-2012-pshiiit.html?m=1

I decided I'd try to model my fish scale nails after the most famous literary fish scales of them all-- yes, that's right, I'm talking about The Rainbow Fish.

I started by applying on two coats of Maybelline Color Show Shocking Seas. 

Then I took A BUNCH of colors and dotted on colorful scales!

NOTD: Gradient Fading Dots

Arden here: Aren't these nails super cute?  This might be one of my favorite manicures I've done so far!

It is also by far the most extensive dotting project I've ever taken on.  Previously, any time I saw a design that required an even distribution of dots, I shied away because I just didn't think I could ever possibly make dots that neatly.  But when I saw a similar fading dot design on My Nail Polish Online I fell so in love with it that I knew had to try.  (I also thought that the larger dots might've been easier to pull off than smaller dotting patterns.)

I started with two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  Then I sponged a 3 color gradient on each nail (white, light color, slightly darker color).  This was not a super easy process-- it took a couple tries to get each nail right, and that usually involved sponging on some extra white at the base of the nail.

Colors Used (thumb to pinky):
Essie Mint Candy Apple
Zoya Wednesday
Revlon Dreamer
Essie Bikini So Teeny
Essie Jangle Bangle
Zoya Mira
Essie Navigate Her
Sinful Colors Rise and Shine
Revlon Timeless
Maybelline Color Show Impeccable Greys

Whew!  That was a lot of colors!

Then I used my dotting tool to make even dots across my nails.

Nail Art Nail-Off: Newspaper Nails

If you've spent any time on Pinterest recently, you've probably seen a picture like this floating around:

From this video by Cutepolish

 Those look so cool, right?  And all the videos make them seem not that hard, so we decided to try it.  Arden's attempt first:

I started by painting my nails OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls (I use this so much I don't know why I keep taking pictures of it; I could easily just use an old one.)  I didn't want to wait too long for them to dry, so I then painted a fast-drying top coat (Essie Good to Go) on top.

Next, I cut out small sections of newspaper.  A cursory look at all the newspaper nails tutorials led me to think that one shortfall to most of them is that only a few words of newsprint can fit on each nail.  I decided to try to avoid this issue by cutting out pages with smaller type; specifically, the baseball highlights.

One of My Favorite Things: TOMS Outreach Women's Shoes

Today's nails are inspired by one of my new favorite possessions: my TOMS Outreach Classics that benefit the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project.  To give you an idea of just how much I love these shoes, let me tell you the story of how I ended up ordering them three different times.

A History of My Pretty Sun TOMS, as Told Through Twitter & Instagram:

My new toms arrives and I love them! instagram.com/p/XTSxLxCYDN/
— Arden Ratcliff (@arden_elise) March 26, 2013

Tragic news, friends: my new sunshine Toms were too big! I've had to return then & order smaller ones. Bummed I have to wait.
— Arden Ratcliff (@arden_elise) March 27, 2013

My second pair of these toms arrived & this pair I can keep on my feet! instagram.com/p/XlbyrLCYOn/
— Arden Ratcliff (@arden_elise) April 2, 2013

On the Dot: Dotted Gradient Nails

Hi friends!  It's Arden, and I'm trying out a new recurring feature today: "On the Dot," where I showcase nail designs using dots!  I realized the other night that I really love to make dot designs, but I haven't been doing it as often as I'd like.

Before we begin, I should explain the tools I use to dot: namely, a few different sized wall nails and toothpicks.  I own exactly one dotting tool, which I originally bought to mark paper for easier folding while scrapbooking.  I hope someday to own a set of dotting tools with several size tips, but for now I'll just keep using whatever I can get my hands on!

I Can't Afford That: Kate Spade Saturday Tree Paints

I Can't Afford That: Manicures Inspired by Clothes I Can't Afford

OMG GUYS.  Look at these pants.  THEY HAVE TREES ON THEM. Trees. On the pants. I found these cuties on Fashionista, they're from the upcoming Kate Spade offshoot Saturday's fall collection, and I want them.

I want them, but I cannot have them, because even though 100+ dollars is reasonable to spend on, like, everyday jeans, I can't just go buying tree pants willy nilly, I have to wear regular clothes sometimes. (Full disclosure: right now I am wearing a muumuu).

Back to tree pants.  I couldn't have trees on my paints, so I put trees on my nails.

NOTD: Sunshine Nails

Arden: I've got a quick nail of the day post for you today.  It was a beautiful spring day, and I just wanted something happy and sunshine-y on my nails!

I started by painting my nails light yellow (L'Oreal Creme Puffs).  Then I sponged on a 3 color gradient using Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Lightening, Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant Coral Silk, and Sinful Colors Big Daddy.

But I worried that they looked a little too much like candy corn, so I decided to turn them into sun rays.  Had I been thinking of this in the beginning I would've used striping tape, but it was too late for that!  So I borrowed Lisl's white Color Club striper polish.

 And then I made it sparkly by adding a coat of the gold flakie polish from the Revlon Moon Candy set "Universe" and followed it up with an additional coat of Revlon Snow Flurries.

I wasn't crazy about the finished product (all of the glitter coats on top made it kind of bumpy, even after I added a clear top coat), so I think I will definitely try a sun-themed manicure again in the future!