31 Day Challenge, day 7: Black & White


Hi everyone! Welcome to day 7 of the 31 Day Challenge; black and white. I love black and white manis so I was very excited about this one. I expected myself to do a full nail black and white pattern but eventually these skittled zigzag tips were the result. Basically I made randomly zigzagging black tips and added the white and colored triangles later. It reminds me of the fierce French I did a while back, only funkier. :-) Thanks for stopping by!

South Africa?


Hello everyone! I'm interrupting the 31 Day Challenge for this colorful tape mani. The reaction that I heard most about this mani is how it looks like the South African flag. While it wasn't intended, I agree it kind of does. Not just the design, but even the colors are a bit similar. However, this mani was actually a result from adjusting and experimenting with an earlier design; the fifty-fifty mani. I had worn the corally pink color (H&M Wildflower) for a day and added the muted teal the next morning. And though I already liked how that looked, I had to do something that would cover up my slight tipwear, hence the purple chevrons which you see in the last picture. That was cute too but it wasn't quite finished until I added the little black chevrons. Amazing how much of a difference a bit of black can make. ^^

This mani was also a great oppurtunity to try out two new polishes from Etos (Dutch drugstore), #122 (teal) and #118 (purple). Etos recently released a whole bunch of new exciting colors and I'm thrilled about it, because both their quality and price are quite reasonable (€2.50 for 5ml/0.5 fl.oz). Thanks for reading!

Big thank you to my little brother for taking this picture for me. ^^

31 Day Challenge, day 6: Violet


Day 6! Which means violet nails... Like my last challenge, it's a leopard print look, but with a different take. The violet basecolor is China Glaze Gothic Lolita. I immediately knew I somehow wanted to use it for this challenge because I just love the color and I'm smitten with the subtle shimmer. After a coat of Seche Vite I could start on the leopard half of this fifty-fifty mani. To do that I covered half of each nail with tape, then I applied the blue (China Glaze First Mate) as thin as possible and stamped over it with a silver polish and Konad imageplate M57.

I've got mixed feelings about the final result, it looks almost too tacky but I somehow kind of like it too. Is that a bad thing? :-P Anyhow, I enjoyed working on it and I'll see you soon! :-)

31 Day Challenge, day 5: Blue


Blue nails! For this challenge I decided to bring out my stamping tools. The basecolor is Essence Via Airmail! from the Ready For Boarding collection. On top I did a leopard print in black with Konad imageplate M57. Stamping isn't a technique I often reach for because I always think too much about the mess afterwards that I'd have to clean up, especially when I'm using my opaque and therefore hard-to-remove black polish Color Club Where's The Soiree, like in this case. But clean-up actually wasn't that bad this time because I rubbed a bit of greasy handcream on the skin around the nails, making it harder for the polish to stain. :-) Even the pattern transferred okay on the nails! It's definitely not perfect, but that's the nice thing about leopard print: imperfections are hardly noticeable from a distance. ;-) So all in all I was quite pleased with how this mani turned out. I really should do stamped manis more often...

Nubar - Reclaim


Hi everyone! For the green nails challenge I initially wanted to use Nubar Reclaim. But I just couldn't add any form of nail art to it, because it was already perfection on its own. And I do insist on nail art with each challenge, otherwise it wouldn't exactly be a challenge, would it? ;-) So Reclaim isn't included in the challenge, but it's pure awesomeness nonetheless and totally deserved its own post. My pictures are taken in artificial light and as you can see it already reveals that linear holographic finish, which only gets better in sunlight. This was two coats, no topcoat. Absolutely love it! 

31 Day Challenge, day 4: Green


Hi guys, time for some green nails! :-) This week I had a party for which I did simple, stunning, silver glitter nails to match my red dress. I used China Glaze Millenium and a coat of Silver Lining on top, also from China Glaze. I didn't have an idea for my forth challenge yet at the time, but when I saw the dense silver glitter sparkle on my fingertips I just couldn't wait to combine it with a bright green. So the next day I made these V-gaps with Barry M's Spring Green. I love, love, love the color. It's so vibrant! Almost like a neon. I didn't manage to capture its true color in the pictures though, where it looks a bit turquoise. In real life it's more like a Hulk-green, wild and strong. ^^ What do you think of today's green nails?