A girl and her love of nail polish

Archive for the ‘Nail Art Challenges’ Category

30 Day Challenge Day 7 – Black & White: Dice With A-England Morgan Le Fay

I almost didn’t make it through Day 7 of the 30 Day Challenge without having to buy another bottle of nail polish (*the horror!*). It wasn’t the theme of black & white that was the problem; it’s the fact that I’m simultaneously doing 30 Days of Untrieds.

I only have one bottle of black polish, which I’ve already used, so if I couldn’t come up with a suitable untried white, I would have no choice but to go buy something new.

Luckily (unluckily?), I was saved by A-England, which also happens to be the brand I featured yesterday for the violet day of the 30-day challenge. Loving this brand, so easy to apply, and beautiful!

Dice Manicure With A-England Morgan Le Fay

This manicure includes: two coats of NYC French White Tip under two coats of A-England Morgan Le Fay (untried), with Orly Liquid Vinyl. I finished it with one coat of Poshe fast-dry top coat. I liked the shimmer that A-England Morgan Le Fay brought to the table. There’s more going on here than if I had used a basic white creme.

Dice Manicure With A-England Morgan Le Fay

The dice theme is pretty easy, which is good for me since I am not that comfortable with dotting tools yet. I actually used the head of a pin as my dotting tool, and it worked pretty well for me. I didn’t get them totally uniform in size, but I’m working on it. The Daily Varnish has a great post on DIY dotting tools, if you want to check it out.

Here’s a quick iPhone photo of what I did with my left hand … too complicated to take a one-handed photo with my other camera!

Dice nail art with A-England Morgan Le Fay

Have you used any household items as dotting tools? Let me know what you’ve had success with.

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30-Day Challenge, Indies, NOTD, Swatches

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30 Day Challenge Day 6 – Violet: A-England Elaine With Stamping

As soon as I looked over the requirements for the 30 Day Challenge I knew right away what polish I would be featuring on Day 6 when we got to violet: A-England Elaine. I’m simultaneously doing 30 Days of Untrieds, this covers both challenges.

I got A-England Elaine (untried) along with three other polishes from the company’s The Mythicals line in July when the company offered its mega-sale, and I’ve been dying to try it ever since. It is described by the company as a “smoky violet amethyst.” Yum.

A-England Elaine With Sonia Kashuk Smoke And Mirrors

I’ve read a lot of blogs that sing the praises of A-England and its incredible formula. I’m happy to say that these reports are NOT greatly exaggerated. Elaine is a beautiful polish that goes on very easily with a high-gloss finish.

This is two coats of A-England Elaine. No topcoat, and look at that shine!

A-England Elaine With Sonia Kashuk Smoke And Mirrors

Perhaps I should have left Elaine to her own devices, but I wanted to add some stamping to this mani. I recently bought the Salon Express kit off of Amazon for about $5, which I would recommend as a great starter kit for anyone that is curious about nail stamping but doesn’t want to devote a big budget to it out of the gate.

A-England Elaine With Sonia Kashuk Smoke And Mirrors

I’m still working on getting the stamping technique down, and I don’t yet own any stamping polishes. This is Sonia Kashuk Smoke And Mirrors, a shiny metallic silver polish. I used a larger tri-heart design on my ring finger and then a small heart on my index finger. Then I tried to freehand hearts on my middle finger and pinkie.

Not the greatest results, but I wanted to give it a go. After all, I’m no shrinking violet. 🙂

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 5: Blue – Sinful Colors Rain Storm With Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

I’ve got something a little simpler for Day 5 of the 30 Day Challenge after yesterday’s uber-challenging (for me) fishtail braid manicure, but that doesn’t mean I love this one any less. Day 5 means blue, and since I’m simultaneously doing 30 Days of Untrieds, so this post covers both challenges.

Sinful Colors Rain Storm with Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

This is one coat of Sinful Colors Rain Storm (untried) with one coat of Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing (untried) on top, followed by one coat of Poshe fast dry top coat.

Sinful Colors Rain Storm with Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

Sinful Colors Rain Storm is a very pretty medium dusty blue. It’s a bit of a runner, meaning it goes on thick but really wants to move down the nail. But it was a one-coater for me, so I’m very happy with it.

Rainbow Honey’s The Worst Possible Thing is a glitter top coat with pink, purple, blue and iridescent glitter. It does dry pretty quickly so you need to move fast, but it has great coverage. Mine is a mini bottle, which I still found a little challenging to use, but it was definitely easier to apply than Rainbow Honey Mare Of The Moon. You can buy both at RainbowHoney.com.

Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

Here’s what it looks like mattified with one coat of Essie Matte About You:

Sinful Colors Rain Storm with Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

And here’s Sinful Colors Rain Storm on its own:

Sinful Colors Rain Storm

Guess I’m on a bit of a Sinful Colors kick. How about you? They are on sale for $0.99 at Walgreens through Sept. 8 if you want to stock up.

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 4: Green – Fishtail Braid Manicure

It just got interesting! For Day 4 of the 30 Day Challenge, I really wanted to make this a challenge. Since I’ve never tried a fishtail braid manicure, that seemed to fit the bill. I’m also simultaneously participating in the 30 Days of Untrieds challenge, so this covers both.

Fishtail braid manicure with sinful colors exotic green

If you’ve never seen one of these manicures, you take three colors and alternate them as you paint wide stripes across your nails, making it look like a braid. I modeled mine after a very popular tutorial from Lucy’s Stash.

Fishtail braid manicure with sinful colors exotic green

The theme for the day is green. This mani includes

  • Sinful Colors Exotic Green (untried)
  • Sinful Colors Last Chance (untried)
  • Petites Color Fever Daze (untried) *part of my giveaway haul*

While in theory this isn’t difficult nail art to pull off (swipe, swipe, swipe!), in practice it wasn’t easy. I don’t have much experience doing free-hand nail art, so wasn’t able to get the edges very neat. I wasn’t able to do a very good job with the cleanup, either, so you can see the flaws (poor little make-up brush wasn’t really up to the task).

I did get more comfortable with it as I went along, so I felt good about that and think I will brave it again sometime.

Here’s a look at Sinful Colors Exotic Green on it’s own before the braid, two coats, no top coat:

Sinful Colors Exotic Green

Have you mastered the fishtail braid mani yet? Any tips?

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 3: Yellow- Sinful Colors Let’s Meet

So I had no yellow polish except one that is sort of a green-yellow, so I went out and grabbed one. Yellow’s not my color — on anything — but them’s the rules of the challenge. It is after all, Day 3 of the 30 Day Challenge, and means we’re all committed to yellow today. I’m simultaneously doing 30 Days of Untrieds too, so both are covered.

Sinful Colors Let's Meet yellow nail polish

Sinful Colors Let's Meet yellow nail polish

I picked up Sinful Colors Let’s Meet (untried), which I would describe as a Tweety bird yellow with shimmer. I’ve been looking at some of the other bloggers’ efforts for today’s challenge, and like many of them, my first attempt at this challenge did not turn out as I had hoped so I scrapped it.

But I’m actually quite pleased with my second try, and it’s making me come around to the benefits of bright yellow polish. I’m a little sad that summer is unofficially over because I think this is a perfect summer combo.

Sinful Colors Let's Meet yellow nail polish

This is three coats of Sinful Colors Let’s Meet, and then I applied the rhinestones sandwiched between two layers of topcoat. The idea for the two-stone design came from a post I had seen earlier in the month from Chalkboard Nails, where she featured a work-appropriate manicure she had done for a friend.

Sinful Colors Let's Meet yellow nail polish

That idea stuck with me, and it was something I’ve been wanting to recreate. The ring finger originally was going to be a straight line too, but as I was laying them out on a piece of paper during mani prep they got knocked around a bit and it me the idea for this pattern … a happy accident.

Have you found a yellow polish that works for you?

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30 Day Challenge Day 2: Orange – Zoya Jancyn with Cos Bar Copper

Orange (tangerine?) was definitely the “it” color of the spring. I didn’t even own one before I bought Riveting from the China Glaze Capitol Colors collection back in March; now thanks to some I bought and a cool giveaway win, I have six or seven.

For Day 2 of the 30 Day Challenge, we’re moving onto orange. I’m simultaneously doing 30 Days of Untrieds, so both challenges are covered here.

This is three coats of Zoya Jancyn, with Cos Bar Copper (untried) from the special Shops At Target collection on the tips. I finished it off with some orange/red striping tape and a generous coat of Poshe fast dry top coat.

Zoya Jancyn with Cos Bar Copper

Zoya Jancyn is an almost-neon tangerine. It runs a little toward the thin side, so this took all three coats and really could have used one more but I didn’t have the patience.

Cos Bar Copper is more of a shimmery orange than a copper, though that’s what was called on the Target Web site when the line launched. It’s not too frosty, so I like it quite a bit. Can’t speak much to the formula since I only used it on the tips, but what you see is only one coat, so that’s promising.

Zoya Jancyn with Cos Bar Copper

For the Cos Bar Copper tips, I used Scotch tape as a stencil to get a clean edge. Your base polish has to be really hard and dry for this technique, and even then I recommend putting the tape on your skin a few times before you apply it to your nails just to reduce the stickiness a bit. I read that tip on a blog somewhere but cannot remember where.

I then added the stripping tape. Calling this vintage is not an exaggeration. I’ve had it in my little nail art box since I was in junior high or maybe early high school, so around 20 years. Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s not staying down all that well on the edges despite the top coat. Alas.

Did you go orange-crazy this year? Still loving orange polish or are you so over it?

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through!

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Click here to see all of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge:


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30 Day Challenge Day 1: Red – Savina Ruby and Hearts

Here we go! Today I’m embarking on my first-ever blog challenge, and actually not just one but two. I’m going for both the 30 Day Challenge and 30 Days of Untrieds, inspired by Rachel from Polished Criminails, who is doing the same.

Savina Ruby, Savina Hearts

Day 1’s theme is Red. Not only does this manicure include untried colors for me but also an untried brand, Savina, which is available at Nordstrom Rack. This mani includes:

  • Savina Ruby (untried)
  • Savina Hearts (untried)
  • NYC French White Tip (untried)

Savina Ruby, Savina Hearts, NYC French White Tip

Savina Ruby, Savina Hearts
For my nails I used two coats of Savina Ruby, followed by one coat of Poshe fast dry top coat. On the accent nails, I used three coats of NYC French White Tip, one coat of Savina Hearts and one coat of Poshe.

I didn’t think of myself as a fan of red nail polish, but I actually liked this one quite a bit once it was on. It’s more of a jelly polish with a red shimmer. It went on very smoothly and seemed to dry pretty quickly, though the finish was a little bit bumpy. Definitely needed the Poshe.

Savina Ruby, Hearts

White polish can often be tricky, and NYC French White Tip was no exception. First coat was extremely streaky, second mostly covered, third did the trick. I was a little disappointed with Savina Hearts. Since the bottle is jam-packed with heart-shaped glitter, I hoped it would go on with decent coverage. But that wasn’t the case for me. I had to fish out and place the glitter.

I tried dabbing; that didn’t work so well because I was just getting lots of the base with none of the hearts. In the end I grabbed a toothpick and used that to place them on the nail. It turned out a little messy.

Savina Hearts

Next time I will try to apply a coat of Savina Hearts that has no glitter at all, just so I can build up a good base of the iridescent shimmer first, and then fish out and place the hearts.

What do you think? Any tips and tricks for applying polishes with large glitter?

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through!

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Click here to see all of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge:


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