A girl and her love of nail polish

Posts tagged ‘Dotting’

Crumpet’s Tri-Polish Challenge Day 1: Dotticure

I’m starting a new nail art challenge today. This is the Tri-Polish Challenge from Crumpet’s Nail Tarts.

The basic rules are that you have to pick three polishes, one coral, one purple and one green, and then use those same polishes to create four different manis. You can also add in white, black, silver, gold and glitter toppers.

Sinful Colors Island Coral, Amethyst, Juelp Courteney

The three colors I chose are Sinful Colors Island Coral, Sinful Colors Amethyst and Julep Courteney.

Tri-Polish Challenge: Dotticure

I went for a simple dotticure, starting with the base color, adding a white dot and then a smaller dot of the base color. The index finger white base is OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, the same white I used for the dots.

Tri-Polish Challenge: Dotticure

Nothing too crazy, just wanted to get back into the nail art game.

Tri-Polish Challenge: Dotticure

Check out the rest of the challenge participants here:



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Nail Art Challenges, NOTD

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Top 5 Nail Art Manicures Of 2012

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. My unplanned break turned into more of an unplanned hiatus, but I’m back now. Exhausted, but back!

I had all of these wonderful plans for year-end posts I was going to do, but alas, it just didn’t happen. So here’s just one, a roundup of my most popular manicures from last year.

No. 5: Vampire Nail Art

Vampire Nail Art

This vampire nail art manicure was part of the 30-Day Challenge I did in September, but it also got big boosts around Halloween and again in November when the last Twilight movie came out!

No. 4: Zebra French Manicure

Zebra French Manicure with OPI Care To Danse? and Pirouette My Whistle

Animal prints aren’t really my thing, or so I thought until I tried this zebra french manicure out for the 30 Day Challenge. The more I look at it, the more I like it!

No. 3: Bold Retro Wallpaper Nail Art

Black and White Retro Dot Nail Art with Color Club Tweet Me

I can’t take any credit on the design for this bold retro wallpaper nail art look since it came from a tutorial I found online, but I did like my color choices.

No. 2: Silver And Gold Gradient

U2 Silver and Gold Glitter Gradient nail art

This silver and gold glitter gradient was actually inspired by the U2 song of the same name, but I think it made for an excellent holiday look as well.

No. 1: Pink Glitter Gradient

Pink Glitter Gradient Nail Art with Essie Luxeffects A Cut Above

You ladies love glitter gradients! This one was part of Breast Cancer Awareness month and was done in honor of my grandmother, so I’m very glad this was my most popular post of the year.

Bonus Manicure: My Favorite

Gradient Dot Manicure: OPI Berlin There Done That with Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

I LOVE dotticures, usually ones that I see on other people, but I really loved the way this gradient dot manicure came out.

Thanks very much to everyone who visited my blog last year. Wishing you health, peace and prosperity in 2013!

Category:

NOTD

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Nail-aween Nail Art Challenge: Matte Dotticure

So this is my Day 2 post for the Nail-aween Nail Art Challenge from datyorkLOVES/Sassy Nails. There are 10 themes, and I have to complete all of them by the end of October, but other than that, it’s self-paced.

Today’s theme is a matte dotticure. I was really happy with the way this one came out, and it was really fun to wear.

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

I started with two coats of Orly Liquid Vinyl on all of my nails except my ring finger, which is two coats of China Glaze Riveting.

I added one coat of Poshe quick-dry top coat. As I did, some of the China Glaze Riveting transferred to the brush and then to my nail as I was painting the next black nail, and it left behind a bit of the orange shimmer. I really loved the way it looked, so I decided to do some minor frankening: I mixed a bit of the two colors together on some wax paper and then painted that on top of the black nails so they’d all have a bit of the orange shimmer on them. Topped all of that off with Poshe when I was finished.

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Then I added dots. I started with Ulta Snow White dots using the head of a pin, then used a small dotting tool for the inner dots: black on the orange nail, orange on the black nails. The accent nail almost looks like a bunch of googly eyes, don’t you think?

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

To make it matte, I added one coat of Essie Matte About You. Unfortunately I didn’t let it dry long enough before I applied it, and it smeared some of the dots. 😦 The matte effect wasn’t very strong, perhaps I needed to add more.

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Here’s a look at the manicure before I added the matte top coat.

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Nail-aween Halloween Nail Art Challenge

Check out all of the NailAween Nail Art Artists!

Category:

Holiday, NOTD

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30 Day Challenge Day 30 – Tutorial: Bold Retro Wallpaper Nail Art

It’s Day 30 of the 30 Day Challenge, and I’m proud to say that I made it all the way to the end without missing a day. Not bad for my first challenge!

Off the top, I’d like to thank Rachel from Polished Criminails for getting this iteration of the challenge going and for organizing the InLinkz codes that made it possible for us all to link to each other. And thanks also to all of the other bloggers that participated. I really enjoyed seeing what everyone else came up with.

So on to the manicure, which is inspired by a tutorial. It’s based on this video tutorial from IndigoNova1, recreated with a slightly different color scheme.

Black and White Retro Dot Nail Art with Color Club Tweet MeBlack and White Retro Dot Nail Art with Color Club Tweet Me
For the base I used Color Club Tweet Me from my September BirchBox, which is a chartreuse creme. I really didn’t like it in the bottle but I thought it would provide a great backdrop to this design, and I’m so glad I tried it out. I like it a lot better on the nail. And first glance I thought it was yellow, but now I see it as more of a green. As far as formula though, it goes on very streaky and patchy. I used three coats here, and had it not been for the fact that I was going to put nail art on top I would have needed a fourth.

Black and White Retro Dot Nail Art with Color Club Tweet Me

For the dots I used Orly Liquid Vinyl and Ulta Snow White, and then Kiss striper polishes in Black and White for the stripes.

Black and White Retro Dot Nail Art With Color Club Tweet Me

As recommended in the notes of the video tutorial, I used the blunt end of a wooden skewer as a dotting tool to create the largest dots. For the smaller ones, I used the head of a pin. This was pretty simple to create and pays off big with a strong visual element. It would look good in a lot of different color combinations.

Black and White Retro Dot Nail Art With Color Club Tweet Me

And here’s a look at Color Club Tweet Me on it’s own:

Color Club Tweet Me

Thanks very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed some of the manicures I came up with for the 30 Day Challenge. Next up for me is the Nail-aween Challenge from datyorkLOVES (not too late to join, if you’re interested) and the Polish Us Pink Breast Cancer Awareness campaign organized by The Subtle Shimmer and several other bloggers (another not-too-taxing one that you can still join).

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that participated in the 30 Day Challenge this month.
I know we all needed a lot of encouragement to get through, so thanks for providing it! Click here to see them:



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30-Day Challenge, NOTD

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30 Day Challenge Day 24 – Book: Put Me In The Zoo

I went to my son’s bookcase for the idea behind today’s post, Day 24 of the 30 Day Challenge, inspired by a book. The book I chose is one we’ve been reading a lot at bedtime lately, Put Me In The Zoo by Robert Lopshire.

Put Me In The Zoo

Put Me In The Zoo Polka Dot Nail Art

If you’re not familiar with it, it’s about a spotted creature who wants to live in the zoo but is rejected by the zookeepers. He meets two children and tries to show them that he should be in the zoo because of all of the wonderful tricks he can perform with his spots (changing color, putting them onto other things, throwing them up in the air). But in the end the children tell him that maybe the zoo isn’t the best place for him afterall. With all of his talents, he should be in the circus instead.

Put Me In The Zoo Polka Dot Nail Art

My manicure is based on the scene in the book where, after changing his red spots to blue, orange, green and then violet, he turns his spots to all of those colors at once.

Put Me In The Zoo Polka Dot Nail Art

For the base I used three coats of The Nail Junkie’s Daffodil, followed by one coat of Poshe quick-dry top coat. Daffodil was an untried for me, for the 30 Days of Untrieds challenge I’m participating in simultaneously.

For the dots I used the head of a pin as my dotting tool with the following colors:

  • Blue: Nails Inc. Baker Street
  • Orange: Kiko 359
  • Green: SInful Colors Last Chance
  • Violet: A-England Elaine

I finished it with one coat of Poshe.

Put Me In The Zoo Polka Dot Nail Art

“With all the things that you can do, the circus is the place for you!”

Have you ever based a manicure on a children’s book?

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, NOTD

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30 Day Challenge Day 11 – Dots: OPI Berlin There Done That

I think technically Day 11 of the 30 Day Challenge is supposed to be polka dots, but I just did gradient dots and realized it a little too late. I actually like it quite a bit, so I hope you do too even though it’s not quite what was called for. I’m simultaneously doing 30 Days of Untrieds, so I fit a few new polishes in as well.

Gradient Dot Manicure: OPI Berlin There Done That with Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

This mani includes three polishes:

  • OPI Berlin There Done That (untried)
  • Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby (untried)
  • Orly Rage

Gradient Dot Manicure: OPI Berlin There Done That with Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

I started with two coats of OPI Berlin There Done That, a taupe creme, on everything but my ring finger, which has two coats of Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby, a bright red jelly-leaning polish.

For the dots, I used the head of a straight pin to do the large dots, starting with Orly Rage, a rose gold foil. I layered over that with large dots in the opposite color of the base nail, and then added some smaller dots with a small dotting tool down the nail to create a gradient effect. Then I want back and added some base-color dots inside the large “opposite dots,” i.e. added red dots to taupe dots, taupe dots to red dots.

Gradient Dot Manicure: OPI Berlin There Done That with Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

I overlapped the dots a bit and also made sure some hung over the tips. My inspiration came from this gradient dot manicure from Chalkboard Nails. I finished everything off with a coat of Poshe fast-dry top coat.

Gradient Dot Manicure: OPI Berlin There Done That with Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

Shade

I was a little sad to have to take this one off to move onto the next challenge!

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, NOTD

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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:



Category:

30-Day Challenge, Indies, NOTD, Swatches

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