Jazz Cup Splatter

I decided to do a splatter pattern today using straws, but, again, I didn't have much success. It was really difficult to get the polish to splatter by blowing through the straw. But anyway, as I was doing these nails, I was reminded of the Sweetheart Jazz Cups, because the colors are so similar. 

I started with two coats of a Sally Hansen white mini that came from an old holiday set. Then, I dipped a straw in b.pretty - sky to create the turquoise splatter. Next, I did the same with Rimmel London - Blue My Mind. 

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Conversation Heart Nails

Here are some more Valentine's Day nails. Check out my pink gradient nails, my heart stamp nails, my pink and red glittery nails, or my valentine's crackle nails for other Valentine's Day nails!

To do these, I started with two coats of Pure Ice - Super Star on my pointer, two coats of Essie - French Affair on my middle finger, two coats of Essie - Lilacism on my ring finger, and two coats of Essie - Mint Candy Apple on my pinky. 

Then, I used a fine-tip brush with Sally Hansen InstaDri - Rapid Red to write the conversation heart sayings on the nails.

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Day 31: Recreate Your Favorite Nail Challenge

I've been wanting to try some splatter nails, so I decided to do another set of nails inspired by a tutorial. I followed Polish You Pretty's tutorial. I started with two coats of Pure Ice - Super Star. Then, I dipped the end of my straw in Pure Ice - Flirt Alert. Like her, I could not get the polish to create a bubble at the end of my straw, because the opening was too big. I chewed on the end a bit to make the opening smaller, and this worked most of the time. Once the bubble formed on the end of the straw, I blew on the straw at the other end, aiming at my nail. This created the splatter effect. 

Then, I repeated this with Sally Hansen InstaDri - Brisk Blue. 

I thought that I didn't get enough pink on the pointer, so I went back to that one, but I got too much on the nail, and it ended up creating this purple blob. 

I cleaned up around the nail with cotton swabs and nail polish remover.

The thumb looked the best, so I finished it with a coat of Seche Vite and snapped this macro shot.

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Nail Challenge Recap

Here are the nails I have done for the past 30 days for the 31 day nail challenge. Day 31 is recreating your favorite challenge. The way I'm going to interpret this is that I can do any challenge over again, rather than recreating the nails I did for that challenge. Check back tomorrow to see what I decide to do! I can't believe it is already the last day of the challenge!

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Day 30: Nails Inspired By A TUTORIAL

I had seen these nails on Cutepolish's YouTube page for nail tutorials, and I thought they were really cute. I'm not sure these really required a tutorial, because they were so simple. Here's the tutorial anyways. 

I started with two coats of Pure Ice - Super Star. Then, I used a fine-tip brush with Essie - Coat Azure for the blue lines and Sally Hansen InstaDri - Rapid Red for the red line.

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Day 29: Nails Inspired By THE SUPERNATURAL

I decided to do some ghost nails for today's challenge. I started with two coats of Sally Hansen InstaDri - Co-Bolt Blue. Then, I used a fine-tip brush with Pure Ice - Super Star for the ghost shape. I dipped the rubbery end of a bobby pin in Super Star - Black Rage to create the dots for the eyes and mouth.

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Day 28: Nails Inspired By A FLAG

Today is my first day in Austria for study abroad, so what's more appropriate than the Austrian flag on my nails for today's challenge!!! I started with two coats of Pure Ice - Super Star. Once that was dry, I taped off the middle section of my nails with Scotch tape. Then, I painted my entire nail with Sally Hansen InstaDri - Rapid Red. Finally, I peeled the tape off, leaving the design below!

The Austrian flag:

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Valentine's Day Stamping

My final Valentine's Day nails before I go to Austria! My flight leaves in a few hours, so I thought I'd publish these nails while waiting at the airport. These were inspired by Beauty & the Glamour's nails. I started with two coats of Pure Ice - Super Star. For the pinky, I used Sally Hansen InstaDri - Pronto Purple with BM09. For the ring finger, Pure Ice - Flirt Alert with BM02. For the middle finger, I sponged on Wet n Wild Wild Shine - Sparked. For the pointer, I used Flirt Alert with BM02 and Pronto Purple with BM03. Finally, for the thumb, I used Pronto Purple with BM17 and Pure Ice - Silver Mercedes with BM03.

Here are the nails with flash:

And without flash:

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Day 27: Nails Inspired By ARTWORK

I think most people are probably familiar with Van Gogh's painting, Starry Night. If not, there is a picture of it below. I have always liked this painting, so it was the first idea to pop into my mind for Day 27. I had no clue how to approach this though, so I used Cutepolish's tutorial. I started with two coats of Ulta - Blue for You. Then, I made the swirls using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pacific Blue followed immediately by Pure Ice - Super Star, so that I could swirl the two colors together before the blue dried. Then, I using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Mellow Yellow to create the stars, and I dabbed some white around the edges of the stars. I used a fine-tip brush and Pure Ice - Black Rage to create the dark object on the left, along with the town along the bottom of the nail. I used a tiny bit of Wet n Wild megalast - On A Trip just above the black at the bottom of the scene. I used the brush to add some white marks at the bottom, as well, to create the look of the town.

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Valentine's Day Crackle

I've been wanting to do a Valentine's Day crackle manicure, and today was really my last opportunity. I'm leaving to study abroad in Vienna tomorrow, and, unfortunately, I will not be able to bring the majority of my nail polish collection with me. :'( But, I'm looking forward to buying plenty while I'm there. ;) I've already scouted out some German/Austrian brands to be on the lookout for. Anyway, I'm leaving my crackle polishes here, so I had to get one last crackle in.


I wanted to use a combo of all six nail polishes pictured below, so I started with Pure Ice - Super Star on my pinky, Pure Ice - Flirt Alert on my ring and pointer fingers, and Sally Hansen InstaDri - Rapid Red on my middle finger and thumb. Once those were dry, I covered my pinky with Pure Ice Crackle - Show Stopper, my ring finger and thumb with Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat - Snow Blast, and my pointer and middle fingers with Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat - Fractured Foil. 

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Day 25: Nails Inspired By FASHION

These nails were inspired by a skirt in the January 2012 issue of Cosmopolitan. The skirt is the Techno Stripe Knit Skirt from Cut25. For these nails, I started with two coats of Love & Beauty - light grey. Then, I taped off the bottom of my nail and painted Pure Ice - Flirt Alert on the tips. After removing the tape, I made the blue and yellow stripes with a fine-tip brush using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pacific Blue and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Mellow Yellow. Next, I used the Salon Perfect Nail Liner in Black to create the black at the base of the nail and the black stripe down the middle. Finally, I finished with a coat of Seche Vite topcoat. 

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Day 24: Nails Inspired By A BOOK

Today's nails are inspired by The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and a little by The Girl Who Played With Fire. The thumb is a snowy, wintry scene inspired by the brutal cold on Hedestad. The pointer finger is a dragon. The middle finger is a framed flower...inspired by the flowers Henrik received every year. The ring finger is fire. The pinky finger is the Swedish flag, since the book takes place in Sweden.

To do the thumb, I started with two coats of Essie - Dive Bar. Then, I sponged on Pure Ice - Super Star. Finally, I used a q-tip to dot on some falling snow. 

For the dragon on the pointer finger, I followed this tutorial. I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Mellow Yellow. I used a fine-tip brush and Pure Ice - Black Rage for the dragon and Sally Hansen InstaDri - Rapid Red for the dragon's eye. 

For this nail, I started with two coats of Essie - Jazz. Then, I stamped on the flower using BM06 and Sally Hansen InstaDri - Pronto Purple. I used a fine-tip brush and Pure Ice - Black Rage to draw the frame around the flower. 

For the flames, I started with two coats of Wet n Wild Wild Shine - Sunny Side Up. Then, I tried using flame stamps on BM07 and BM08 using Pure Ice - Black Rage. They didn't stamp very well, but I used the stamp as a guide for the rest of the design. I used a fine-tip brush with Sunny Side Up, Mellow Yellow, Rapid Red, and Super Star to paint on the flames.

For the Swedish flag, I started with two coats of Essie - Mezmerised. Then, I used a fine-tip brush and Mellow Yellow to paint on the stripes.

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Day 23: Nails Inspired By A MOVIE

These nails are inspired by the movie, Ocean's Eleven. 

Here they are in the sunlight:

And with the flash:

For the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign on my thumb, I started with two coats of Essie - Dive Bar. Then, I used a q-tip for the various dots... Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Mellow Yellow, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Rapid Red, and Essie - Mezmerised. I filled in the yellow polka dot diamond with Pure Ice - Super Star, and I wrote Las Vegas with Rapid Red and a fine-tip brush. 

The 11 is modeled after the 11 in the movie poster (above). I started with two coats of Pure Ice - Super Star, and painted the 11 with Rapid Red and a fine-tip brush. 

I started with two coats of Wet n Wild Fast Dry - SaGreena the Teenage Witch. This is supposed to be like the green felt on a poker table. Then, I painted on three poker chips using a fine-tip brush. The colors are Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Rapid Red, Essie - Mezmerised, and Pure Ice - Black Rage. Then, I used the fine-tip brush with Pure Ice - Super Star to create the dots. 

I thought this one was pretty self-explanatory, but my parents couldn't tell what it was. They are just the card suits. I started with two coats of Pure Ice - Super Star. Then, I used BM19 with Rapid Red to stamp the pattern on the first time. I did this again with Pure Ice - Black Rage.

Here, I started with two coats of Rapid Red. Then, using Super Star and a fine-tip brush, I painted two squares. I create the dots with the fine-tip brush and Black Rage.

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